Vegan Everything

Dallas poke restaurant expands menu with trendy vegan dishes

West Village poke restaurant is expanding its menu.

Photo courtesy of West Village

Trail-blazing Pok the Raw Bar, the West Village restaurant specializing in the Japanese-Hawaiian seafood dish poke, is jumping on another trend with the expansion of its selection of vegan offerings.

The new Beets and Sweet Potato bowl offers diners a hearty, non-seafood option full of colorful vegetables. Served with Pok's new miso dressing, the bowl features beets, sweet potato, avocado, and serrano, and is topped with matcha-salted taro chips. A cauliflower rice base rounds out this veg-focused dish.

There is also a new yellowtail pineapple bowl with citrus ponzu, pineapple, serrano, micro cilantro, and crispy onion.

When it opened in early 2017, Pok was among the first restaurants out of the gate in Dallas to serve the raw fish trend taking the country by storm. Upon opening, it began with a menu of seven signature bowls, including albacore mango, salmon Asian pear, and spicy ponzu tuna.

But even when they opened, they included a vegan option — shiitake tofu kimchi, with cured shiitake, green onion kimchi, hijiki, red onion, togarashi, and Pok’s classic sauce — that's become very popular.

Vegetarian and vegan foods have been at the top of the list for trend-watchers such as Baum & Whiteman, a New York industry consultant, which forecasts that the No. 1 trend for 2018 is that plant-based dining will go mainstream. Fearing's, one of Dallas' top fine-dining restaurants, just introduced a new all-vegetarian menu for lunch and dinner in early November.

Pok has also added new items to its matcha tea bar. Fresh additions include uber-trendy turmeric — adding a boost of anti-inflammatory healing to matcha's already powerful superfood benefits. The Golden Matcha boasts a blend of ceremonial grade matcha, almond milk, turmeric, and dates. The Matcha Sunrise offers a dose of citrus-induced Vitamin C with a splash of orange juice.

In early September, Pok shifted to a cash-less model, allowing payment only via credit card, a trend that's been emerging at restaurants across the country.

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Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

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