Best Dishes In Texas

Food & Wine taps famous Texans to pick state's 20 best dishes — and DFW wins big

As part of the magazine's November 2014 issue, Food & Wine devotes attention to the 20 best dishes in Texas. Rather than send some clueless Yankee to tour the state with little more than an outdated Zagat guide and a GPS, the magazine wisely asked a few high-profile Texans to select their favorite spots.

The panelists — Fort Worth celebrity chef Tim Love, Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn and Austin hotel owner Liz Lambert — deemed four dishes from Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants worthy of inclusion. Not everything on the list is meaty — like the date pudding at Cochineal in Marfa or the bean burrito at Elva's Taco Casa in Odessa — but most dishes are, including all the ones in DFW:

Whole pig's head, CBD Provisions
Open-face beef cheek sandwich, Knife
The Big Rib, Smoke
Lamb brisket, Woodshed Smokehouse

Love calls the pig's head at CBD, which comes with salsas, cilantro and tortillas, a "showstopper," an "outlier on the steak-and-burger menu" and "a challenging dish for Dallas." He also likes that it's presented "in grand style, just like St. Francis."

Vaughn drives the commentary about the other three picks, starting with the open-face beef cheek sandwich at Knife (which also got props in Esquire recently, as one of the country's best new restaurants): "I've eaten plenty of beef cheek in barbacoa tacos, but I've never tasted any as tender as [John] Tesar's," Vaughn writes. "Normally, if you roast it for that long, it won't have any flavor. Tesar cooks his sous vide and then dresses it with a creamy, rich morel gravy."

About Tim Byres' Big Rib at Smoke, Vaugh coos, "It's a sight to behold. It's giant, served on green-chile hominy with chimichurri on top. To me, the chimichurri is Tim's way of saying: 'Screw you, barbecue purists. I like chimichurri, so I'm going to put it on my beef rib. Deal with it.'"

Vaughn also praises his fellow Texan in this endeavor, Love, for his lamb brisket, to which Love adds smoke and rosemary seasoning. "Woodshed is a fun place; it's right on the Trinity River, with a lot of picnic tables," Vaughn adds. "There are dogs and live music and plenty of people drinking."

For those keeping score, Austin leads the way with six dishes, including brisket from Franklin Barbecue and crudo from Qui. Houston walked away with four, including bone-in pork belly from Killen's Barbecue and mesquite-smoked roast pork at Underbelly.

Rounding out the list, San Antonio had three dishes, and Marfa, Odessa and Taylor each had one.

Daniel Vaughn (left) was one of the Texans tapped by Food & Wine.

Daniel Vaughn, Aaron Franklin and Justin Fourton at Meat Fight in Dallas

Photo by Cecily Johnson

Daniel Vaughn (left) was one of the Texans tapped by Food & Wine.

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Doughnut News

Downtown Dallas restaurant debuts special Japanese-inspired doughnuts

Sandoitchi

A stack of Sandoitchi doughnuts

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sandoitchi is debuting an exciting new addition to the menu: doughnuts.

Sandoitchi is the Japanese-inspired concept at the Joule Dallas Hotel that's famous for championing the Japanese sando, that foodie delicacy featuring sandwiches on white milk bread, very neatly presented in a pleasing package.

Now it has expanded with an all-new pastry program led by chef Audrey Scheib, who previously served as director of pastry innovation R&D at The Salty (previously known as The Salty Donut).

Doughnut news of any kind is inherently exciting, but the doughnuts they're serving at Sandoitchi are unique: Japanese Sweet Potato doughnuts, highlighting Japanese flavors with a modern twist — from matcha-glazed to ube drizzled to yuzu curd-filled confections.

"We’ve always been inspired by the balance of tradition and innovation in Japanese cuisine,” says Sandoitchi co-founder Stevie Nguyen in a statement. “Chef Audrey brings the creativity and pastry expertise to extend that philosophy into our new pastry program, starting with a lineup that feels familiar but distinctly Sandoitchi.”

The pastry program marks another step in Sandoitchi’s expansion from its signature sando menu into a wider range of Japanese-inspired offerings, with an emphasis on premium ingredients and thoughtful presentation.

Scheib is a major catch. She has a background in fine dining that includes having graduated from The Culinary Institute of America specializing in pastry, and becoming a pastry chef at just 24 years old. She worked at a high-production bakery in Napa and a Japanese-inspired restaurant on the pastry line before joining The Salty, just as they were about to open their first Texas shop. She also worked in a front of the house capacity for Written By the Seasons at The Quad.

"I've known Stevie since we were kids working for Uchi in Houston years ago," Scheib says. "We always lightly talked about him wanting some pastry help over the past few years, so the minute I was free I reached out and we got started! It’s been so great to be back in the pastry game and we’ve been having a lot of fun collaborating."

According to Sandoitchi co-founder Keith Tran, the doughnuts are $6, and are available in limited quantities.

"We have been rotating the flavors every few days," Tran says. "They are available every day that we are open (Wednesday-Sunday). They’ve been selling out by about 1 pm everyday. We plan to add more flavors and up the rotation and quantities as time goes on."

Sandoitchi doughnuts Sandoitchi

Offerings include:

Japanese Sweet Potato Donuts
Matcha Glazed
Hojicha Glazed
Japanese Sugar
Yuzu Glazed Japanese

Sweet Potato Filled Donuts:

Kinako Crumble with Salted Sweet Cream
Ube Glaze with Mango Curd
Citrus Sugar with Yuzu Curd

Seasonal Bakes:

Black Sesame Banana Bread
Kabocha Pumpkin Bread

Sandoitchi had already expanded its menu beyond sandwiches and they're also expanding their footprint, with openings penciled in for Costa Mesa and Houston.

doughnuts desserts openings