Filament Earns Four Stars; Lower Greenville's Wayward Sons Is A Hit

Since Filament opened its doors, we've been waiting eagerly to learn whether or not Matt McCallister’s second concept would fare as well with the critics as FT33, his five-star New American establishment.

Texas Monthly critic Pat Sharpe and the Dallas Observer's Brian Rhinehart have already filed overwhelmingly positive reviews of Filament, and now Dallas Morning News critic Leslie Brenner has weighed in on the Deep Ellum hotspot.

According to Brenner, Chef Cody Sharp’s Southern cooking "sings," especially when it comes to the restaurant’s small plates. Brenner particularly enjoyed the deviled shrimp and crab dip, but found the family-style main courses "unexciting," with one notable exception:

But wow, the exception is truly exceptional: a mammoth 21-day dry-aged double-cut Heritage Berkshire pork chop, cooked gorgeously juicy pink and served in luscious slabs sliced off the bone. Sharp dresses it with warm onion-bacon marmalade and serves it with braised greens and gently charred Tokyo turnips. The $46 dish – which would easily be dinner enough for two along with a couple of small shared plates (and great to share among three or four if other dishes are involved) – is one of the most delicious things to eat in Dallas right now.

High praise indeed. Four stars.

At the Dallas Observer, Foodbitch scoped out Wayward Sons, Chef Graham Dodds’ obsessively-local Lower Greenville concept, and she’s feeling pretty good about Dodds’ veggie-focused concept:

So perhaps "modern Texas cuisine" is right on. Maybe modern Texan means meat-where-appropriate, locally sourced ingredients and  (gasp!) healthy options. Chef Dodds encourages his diners to leave the meat-heavy menus to the special occasion steakhouses and visit his neighborhood restaurant often for food that "makes them feel good." Real Texans come in all shapes, sizes and dietary preferences, after all. "I’m fanatical about knowing where stuff is from. I want people to leave feeling good."

Elsewhere, D Magazine’s Matthew Shelley raved about a delectable Reuben sandwich at Highland Park Village’s Royal Blue Grocery, calling the nontraditional take on the classic sandwich "the right kind of lunch."

The Observer’s Alice Laussade showcased TJ’s Seafood’s new "Meet The Seafood And Chill" offering, a massive $115 tiered platter of seafood featuring oysters, shrimp crab, ceviche, and other wonders of the sea that's probably perfect for your Valentine's Day plans.