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Have you ever feared trying out a new classy restaurant because you feared eating in a restaurant that had good furniture and excellent service but bad food? Bad food for over $50 per person really leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Well, never fear, Fearing’s is here!

I went there for restaurant week and it was so scrumptious, I cancelled my Abacus reservation and returned to Fearing’s for their regular menu meal a couple days later. I’ll give you the 411 on Abacus in a separate review. Anyways, here’s my Fearing’s review:

ATMOSPHERE: All other restaurants simply have seats and tables in a room. Other than Antares atop the reunion tower, this is the only restaurant that has a truly unique dining atmosphere. You dine in a glass rotunda inside a classical garden. You feel like Louis XIV dining at Versailles. Wow!

FOOD: Just looking at the menu, you’d never guess that the food is excellent. I mean, tortilla soup? Isn’t that in every Tex-Mex joint in Texas? Salmon? Prime Rib? Corn bread? All very common Texas fare. However, their attention to detail makes the difference. The cornbread was addictive. Get this, I’m on a low carb diet but I end up requesting 3rds on the corn bread. It was fragrant, rich, with a jalepeno punch. The Salmon was tender and not overcooked, smoked to a fragrant finish. The Sangria is NOT cool-aid with rum in it like the chain restaurants. It is made from homemade blueberry juice and quality liquers. My wife who normally doesn’t drink gulped down nearly the entire pticher. My only complaint is that the prime rib was a bit overcooked even though I requested rare. It is good, but not great like a Lawry’s Prime rib (but who in the universe can claim a better melt in your mouth prime rib than Lawry’s?). They tend to smoke all their meats so if you don’t like a rich smokey aroma on your meats, then this is not the place for you.

SERVICE: Impeccable. Within reason, the staff will never say, “no.” I loved their corn bread that I had for dinner, but it was not available for lunch on a subsequent visit. I inquired about it and the waiter said that the chef will SPECIALLY PREPARE some for us. Wow!

CONCLUSION: For impeccable service and great dining in a restaurant that leaves you feeling like you just dined at Versailles, Fearing’s cannot be beat. As long as you like your meat smokey and you don’t order prime rib, you cannot find a better dining experience at Fearing’s in Dallas. I went to 2 dozen top restaurants for Restaurant week and Fearing’s is in my top 2 for food and top 1 overall. I give Fearing’s 5 stars out of 5.

Norman’s, the fine dining restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando, celebrated its fifth anniversary Sunday with a lavish five-course meal co-cooked by Dean Fearing. Fearing, who, like Van Aken, is a James Beard Foundation award-winner, rose to fame as the chef of the estimable Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. He now has his own restaurant, Fearing’s, at the Ritz-Carlton Dallas.

Van Aken, of course, was one of the innovators of New World Cuisine, also known as Floribbean, that caused a culinary sensation in the late ‘80s. Van Aken and others, including Mark Militello, recognized that Florida didn’t really have a cuisine of its own, so they co-opted the cooking techniques of the islands and adapted them to Florida’s ingredients.

Saturday’s sold-out dinner filled the posh restaurant with regulars who paid as much as $250 per person for the special occasion. The evening began with a champagne reception with tapas, including wonderful ceviche served in spoons and doughy pot stickers.

Guests were seated at 10-top tables that circled the marble-floored room. The first course was a chilled salad of red and yellow beets garnished with a dollop of apple wasabi sorbet, toasted pistachios and a bit of paddlefish caviar, which gave the beets a delightful little pop. The salad was accompanied by a Portuguese white wine, a 2005 Quinta Do Feital Alvarino “Dorado.”

Dean’s barbecued shrimp taco was next, a fresh flour tortilla rolled more taquito style and served with mango-pickled onion salad. A 2007 Melville Estate viognier, which had a wonderfully fruity nose and complex tastes of peaches and apricots in the mouth. A delightful little sipping wine, with or without food.

The fish course featured a salmon fillet rolled with lapsang souchong, a black, smoked tea, sitting atop creamy Yukon Gold potatoes and topped with three pearl onions and crispy wafer fashioned out of salmon skin, which people either loved or hated (it had a nice salty taste). Patz & Hall’s 2005 Pisoni Vineyard pinot noir from Santa Lucia Highlands in California was the accompanying wine. It was chosen, we were told, because the sauce with the fish was made with pinot noir. I didn’t quite taste the connection, but I loved the wine nonetheless.

But the best wine came with the meat course, a buffalo tenderloin crusted with maple and black pepper. The meat was surprisingly tender—grass-fed, we were told—and the plate included jalapeno grits and a wonderful taquito filled with butternut squash.

Two wines, both made with syrah grapes, were offered with the meat course, a 2006 French Crozes-Hermitage Silene from Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, and a 2005 Domaine Serene Rockblock from Seven Hills Vineyard in Oregon’s Walla Walla Valley. The French wine was fine, but the Oregon Rockblock, so named because the vines grow in rocky soil, blew it away. The Oregon wine had rounder notes with tastes of black cherries and currants. Rockblock

The meal ended with stylized “s’mores” fashioned out of crushed graham crackers topped with brandied chocolate ganache and toasted marshmallow. A Spanish dessert wine, a 2004 Bodegas Olivares Dulce Monastrell, was offered, but I preferred to stick with the Rockblock.

It’s wonderful to have a restaurant of Norman’s quality as part of Orlando’s fine dining scene. Here’s to many more years of innovative cooking.

Iconic chef Dean Fearing got so many accolades after opening last summer there’s little wonder that Fearing’s Restaurant has become a top scene-and-be-seen destination.  Whether it’s the Rattlesnake Bar off the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas hotel lobby, the buzzing Live Oak Bar accessible through the restaurant’s front door, outdoors at Ocaso bar, or supping in one of the three dining rooms (we love Dean’s Kitchen), Fearing’s is as much about energy as food and service.  The cowboy-booted chef has successfully reinvented his signature Southwestern-accented cuisine with a more refined touch.  Fearing’s at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, 2121 McKinney Ave., 214.922.4848 or www. Fearingsrestaurant.com.

Despite its elegant address, it’s all about comfort (think: deviled eggs) at this Ritz-y winner.

WHY FEARINGS:  There’s much about Fearing’s that could easily intimidate the casual business diner. First, it’s located at the Dallas Ritz-Carlton, a swanky address if ever there was one.  Second, this is Dean Fearing’s new kitchen.  After decades at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Fearing – the granddaddy of Southwestern cuisine – is armed with a pedigree and panache that puts his peers to shame.  Finally, since its opening in August 2007, the restaurant has been lauded by such publications as Esquire (best new restaurant 2007), Forbes (America’s top power lunch spot), and The New York Times.  Intimidated yet? Don’t be.  Whether you’re a seasoned gourmand or tastebud challenged, Chef Dean has made Fearing’s a five-star experience minus the five-star formality.  Murano chandeliers and rawhide fixtures mix and mingle with stylish aplomb.  Bespoke suits sit beside designer denim.  A team of servers attends to every need without being obtrusive.  Best of all, the fare is both challenging and familiar: “chicken fried” lamb chops, buffalo cheesesteaks, and butterscotch custard with apple fritters.  Comforting? Yes. Common? Never.

WHAT TO EAT:  For lunch, start out with an ideal appetizer for two: buffalo taquitos and smoked chick mango quesadillas.  The bite-sized flautas are crispy, rich perfection while the quesadillas are an ideal sweet and smoky foil.  The accompanying guacamole is good but seems unnecessary.  Salads range from a Southwestern spin on the ubiquitous Caesar with its red chili dressing, grilled radicchio, and San Pedro cheese to an heirloom tomato salad with crumbled blue cheese, crispy onions, and basil dressing.  Entrée highlights include the aforementioned cheesesteak, Carolina barbecued pork tenderloin on fried green tomatoes and jalapeno creamed corn, and chili braised short ribs.  However, the entrée that best sums up Chef Fearing’s culinary point of view is the palm sugar-mopped beef tenderloin.  Used primarily in Thai cooking, the golden brown sugar lends the buttery beef a sweet edge, balancing out the meat’s richness.  A spinach salad with warm bacon-blue cheese vinaigrette and a simple yet lovely deviled egg (yes, a deviled egg) completes Chef Fearing’s trifecta of unusual ingredients, bold flavors, and homey touches.

WHERE TO SIT:  Fearing’s is a bit like an adult culinary Disneyland: Each room has its own feel and appeal.  Dean’s Kitchen with its open kitchen is the liveliest and most casual of the bunch.  The Gallery is elegant and upscale.  The Sendero is reminiscent of European conservatories and has a lush garden-like feel.  The Wine Cellar is intimate and romantic.  With its vaulted ceilings, oak table carved from a single tree, and rustic trappings, it’s more appropriate for special occasions (holding up to 16 seated).  Wherever you sit, though, conversation is easy and tables are spaced appropriately to keep your business secrets to yourselves.

Due to an overwhelming response for KRLD Restaurant Week, Fearing’s regrets to announce that we are fully committed for any Restaurant Week reservations. We are excited to be a part of this charitable event, and hope to see you next year for Restaurant Week.

By Richard Leong

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Dean Fearing takes an eclectic approach with his American cuisine, but don’t call it fusion.

His namesake restaurant, which showcases his Southwestern roots, at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Dallas has garnered wide acclaim since it opened last August.

The 53-year-old is also a musician, who founded the country music band, The Barbwires, with fellow chef Robert Del Grande.

Fearing spoke to Reuters recently about his passion for cooking and music.

Q: How do you describe your cuisine?

A: “I call it ‘no borders’ cuisine. I think that’s the way people like to eat. Sashimi starter, then a chicken-fried lobster, barbecue filet over corned-whipped potatoes. If we do Texas-style cuisine, there isn’t a sushi twist to it. I don’t mix and match cultures, ethnic boundaries and all of that.”

Q: Who inspires your cooking right now?

A: “My sous-chefs. They are adding their own little say to the plates they are doing. In my younger days, it was the Wolfgang Pucks and Alice Waters of the world.”

Q: What was the origin of The Barbwires?

A: “Robert Del Grande and I have been playing together since we first met in 1983. We’re old frustrated musicians. When we were traveling together, we decided we would just bring out guitars and we would just play in our hotel rooms. We are call it the ‘Room Service’ tour.”

Q: Does your music reflect your cooking?

A; “When I think up a new dish or a new song, it fits in the same format. It’s what I love about life. It’s creating.”

Q: What do you cook for yourself when you have to eat alone?

A: “I could literally eat pasta everyday. That would be number one. I’m a tomato gravy kind of a guy; I love all the variations of tomato sauce. Number two would be curry. Number three would be anything on the grill”

RECIPE

Comache Buffalo Tenderloin with Maple and Black Pepper on Jalapeno Grits (Serves 4)

Comache Buffalo Tenderloin

1 cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

4-6 ounce center-cut buffalo filets trimmed of all fat and silver skin

Salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Jalapeno Grits (Recipe to follow)

4 sprigs fresh cilantro

1. In a small bowl, combine maple, black pepper, garlic, shallot, sage, thyme and pepper flakes. Stir to combine and add filets. Let the buffalo filets marinate in the maple mixture for 6-8 hours. Remove the filets from the mixture and season with salt and pepper.

2. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, lay buffalo in skillet and brown for 4 minutes. Turn and brown for an additional 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness is reached.

Jalapeno Grits

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

4 oz onion, diced

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper, minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

6 cups chicken stock

2 cup Anson Mills white grits

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 oz Tabasco sauce

1. In a large saucepan (grits will expand in volume during the cooking), bring to medium high heat add oil and onions, saut for 2 minutes or until translucent.

2. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and thyme. Add 6 cups of chicken stock, bring to a boil.

3. Sprinkle in the grits a handful at a time, stir constantly. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the grits about 25 minutes, until they are thickened and soft in texture. Stir the grits occasionally as they cook.

4. Add the smoked paprika, Tabasco, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINN1732102120080722?pageNumber=4&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true