Posts in category: Press

Aspen, CO – January 18, 2008 – Jazz Aspen Snowmass’ annual fundraising dinner, Sauté & Swing Celebrity Chef Dinners, has a new date! The dinner, which in past years has taken place in July prior to their annual gala, has
been moved to Saturday, March 15, 2008. One of Aspen’s most unique fundraisers, Sauté & Swing features celebrity chefs in Aspen’s most exclusive homes, paired with incredible wines and emerging jazz musicians, creating
spectacular culinary experiences, raising funds for music education. JAS Special Events Chair Nancy Rogers joins Sauté & Swing chair Carolyn Powers and cochair
Susan Plummer in planning this amazing evening.

This year’s dinner will include two spectacular chefs in one exceptional home, not to mention fabulous wines and outstanding jazz music. Chef Dean Fearing of Fearing’s at the new Ritz-Carlton in Dallas and formerly of The Mansion on Turtle Creek, will be collaborating with Chef James Boyce from Montage Laguna Beach formerly of Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenician. Together these Chefs will prepare a culinary masterpiece paired with exceptional wines and champagne compliments of Veuve Clicquot. Dinner will take place at the home of Michael Goldberg.

Entertainment for the night will be provided by acclaimed jazz vocalist Annie Sellick. Sellick combines a dazzling stage presence with a beautiful voice. An unusually engaging performer, she has won a large devoted following and earned rave reviews. To quote the L.A. Times, “Sellick’s buoyant singing brings to mind the question of how Janis Joplin might have sounded had she been born 40 years later and focused on Jazz. But there’s more than Joplin in Sellick’s well formed style, which also includes traces of Anita O’Day’s roughhewn rhythms, Ruth Brown’s blues and even more – her own utterly unique musical personality.” Only fifty seats are available for this special evening at a cost of $2500/each. Seats can be purchased by calling the JAS Office at 970-920-4996.

All proceeds benefit the education and performance programming of JAS. The mission of Jazz Aspen Snowmass is to present and preserve Jazz, Americanand popular music through world-class festivals, performance and education programs. For more information on Sauté & Swing and JAS programming, please visit www.jazzaspen.org.
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Press: Andrea Beard (970) 920-4996 or abeard@jazzaspen.org
Dean Fearing: Long known as the “Father of Southwestern Cuisine” and now the creator of a newer generation of highly-flavorful dishes, Chef Dean Fearing spent 20-plus years at The Mansion on Turtle Creek before opening his own acclaimed restaurant, Fearing’s, in August 2007 at the new Ritz-Carlton Dallas. Fearing’s
Restaurant received its first major award just weeks later, winning America’s “Restaurant of the Year” and “Table of the Year” in the November 2007 issue of
Esquire Magazine.

Fearing’s whirlwind debut can largely be attributed to the lively personality and flavorful menus of Chef Dean Fearing. With his “Elevated American Cuisine – Bold Flavors, No Borders” and a focus on Texas’ rich cornucopia of fresh farmto- market ingredients, Fearing has created an indoor-outdoor culinary experience
that is like no other in Dallas.

A popular TV celebrity chef Fearing has long been a beloved fixture on the Dallas restaurant scene. He has cooked for visiting celebrities, rock stars and heads of state, many of whom have spread the word about his larger-than-life personality, his friendly demeanor and the colorful boot embroideries on his chef’s whites. Dean captured The James Beard Foundation Restaurant Award for “Best Chef in the Southwest” and led earlier restaurant teams to win Mobil Five-Star ratings from 1995 to 2001 and the AAA Five Diamond award from 1990 to 2006. He is the author of two best-selling cookbooks and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
James Boyce: With his experienced, inventive approach to the culinary arts and dynamic leadership qualities, James Boyce was tapped to be the anchor of Studio when it opened in 2003. Now, four years later, there is no question that Boyce has and continues to be the motivating talent who has raised the bar for high-end dining in Southern California at the signature restaurant at Montage
Laguna Beach.

A longtime scholar of food history, Boyce describes his artful approach to cooking as “modern French with Mediterranean nuances and very strong California influences.” His renowned cooking is also characterized by rich, robust flavors – artfully enhanced by fresh, artisanal ingredients from the region. Seasonal produce, daily-caught seafood, farm-raised meats and game are showcased on the ever-changing dinner menu.

Boyce’s passions and allegiance to terroir have been duly noted since Studio’s opening. The restaurant has most recently been recognized by Robb Report as one of “America’s Finest Dining Restaurants,” has also been named one of Esquire Magazine’s “Best New Restaurants in America” and Food & Wine Magazine’s “Top 50 Hotel Restaurants”. Studio has also earned the “Best of Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator and is rated one of Zagat Survey’s “America’s Top Restaurants”

Dallas: FEARING’S marks the solo debut of Southwestern cuisine pioneer Dean Fearing, who left the famed Mansion on Turtle Creek after 21 years. Here, sommelier Paul Botamer offers some nuanced surprises from his varied wine list. Take, for instance, a dry Marcel Deiss muscat with Fearing’s signature torilla soup, or the smoky, chocolate overtones of Chateau Camplong’s Le C de Camplong from Corbieres for buffalo tenderloin. A crowning glass of Rotta’s Black Monukka sherry from Paso Robles tames all those feisty flavors with its caramel nuttiness.

– Bill Addison

By RON RUGGLESS

DALLAS (Dec. 10) —Dean Fearing, the pioneering Southwestern-cuisine chef who personified fine dining at the opulent Mansion on Turtle Creek here for more than two decades, has brought a more casual flair to Dallas since opening Fearing’s Restaurant at the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Dallas chef Dean Fearing sought a more casual setting for his signature Southwestern cuisine at his new epymous restaurant.

And at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, the luxury hotel’s dining room reopened without Fearing last month but with a more casual atmosphere after a major overhaul.

The moves toward casualization already appear to be paying off for Fearing in his new entrepreneurial venture.

After taking an 18-month sabbatical upon leaving the Mansion, Fearing launched his restaurant in August to critical acclaim and avid crowds.

“If I would have known it was going to do this well, I would have made it bigger,” he said.

Fearing’s Restaurant seats 160 inside in three separate dining rooms and accommodates 40 more guests outdoors in the Ritz-Carlton’s Ocaso dining garden.

Fearing’s biggest reward is “after this many years of being in the business, having your own namesake restaurant,” he said. “That’s everybody’s dream. My dream went a little further. The buck stopped with me on every phase of this restaurant’s design.”

Fearing licenses the space from the Ritz-Carlton.

“People want the look and feel of the different dining rooms,” Fearing said. “If they want upscale dining, they can go into the gallery. Or they can dress down and have fun in Dean’s Kitchen.

He said his menu is broad enough that guests could come two or three times a week and have a different dining experience. In the style of such Fearing signatures at the Mansion as lobster tacos and tortilla soup, the chef’s new restaurant is featuring his barbecued shrimp taco with mango-pickled-onion salad, and “surf and turf” of barbecue-spiced beef filet and chicken-fried lobster over corn-queso fresco potatoes.

The new restaurant’s Rattlesnake Bar also has become a popular hot spot in Dallas.

Bill Addison, restaurant critic for the Dallas Morning News, said “after years in the Mansion’s starched surroundings, Mr. Fearing very publicly declared that Fearing’s would have no dress code and that the same menu would be offered throughout the restaurant.”

Fearing said Dallas’ diners are much more educated now and love bold flavors. He noted that he had “helped raise the flag on that over the past 25 years.”

“It’s food that’s different,” he said. “There is a ‘wow’ to the taste buds. I would say 90 percent of the people who come in here are looking for something they can’t do at home, and that’s mostly a flavor profile.”

The construction and the timing were challenging, he said.

“Since your name is on the door, you want everything to be right from the beginning,” he said. “We started with a green kitchen crew and a green front-of-the-house crew.”

The restaurant employs 120 people, with 40 in the kitchen and 80 on the floor.

“The Ritz-Carlton’s recruiting has been unbelievable,” he said.

Just a few blocks away in the area north of downtown Dallas, the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek restaurant reopened in early November after several months of renovation, providing a more contemporary atmosphere and a more casual setting.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts of Dallas, which owns and operates the signature 143-room property, is in the midst of a $20 million renovation of the hotel.

“The restaurant and bar are steeped in Dallas history and have served countless royalty, rock stars, presidents, professional athletes, visitors from across the globe and Dallas residents alike,” said Duncan Graham, managing director for Rosewood Mansion.

“Originally built in 1925 by cotton mogul Sheppard King, the Mansion was transformed into a world-class restaurant by Caroline Rose Hunt in 1980 and has garnered numerous awards and accolades through its 27-year history,” Graham said. “Today, that same pioneering spirit leads us into the next era, and it is evident in the new design, service and cuisine.”

The opening of a formal, 20-seat Chef ‘s Room, overseen by Mansion chef John Tesar, also is scheduled to occur before the end of the year. It will be in the mansion’s former library, which has been restored with a plaster ceiling, stained-glass windows and a wooden mantel. Tesar intends to offer a three-course prix-fixe menu and tasting menu options that include a vegetarian offering.

The restaurant’s new look is highlighted by sleek furnishings, contemporary fixtures and works by Texas artists. At the restaurant’s entrance, two signature grape leaf columns, original to the King home, have been enhanced with a white antique finish and gold-leaf accents.

After his Act One halcyon days at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, gentlemanly chef Dean Fearing is recasting his stellar reputation – as one of the top sculptors of Southwestern cuisine – for Act Two. His new namesake restaurant – Fearing’s, at The Ritz-Carlton – offers big flavor (but in a more clean-lined way), big statements in the interior design (ditto), and big prices to complete the pretty picture (which most don’t blink an eyelash at, given the posh setting).

The food is superior – this much we could have guessed. The surprise element is the restaurant’s layered and innovative design, making us want to return often to experience its many components. A variety of dining areas sport different personalities. There’s the opulent, art-filled Gallery; the glassed-in, octagonal Sendero; the alfresco garden Ocaso; the Wine Cellar for an intimate party of 16; the tony Rattlesnake Bar just off the lobby; and the more casual Live Oak Bar outside. Foodies will no doubt take to Dean’s Kitchen, with its L-shaped chef’s counter anchoring a softly lit, svelte space beneath rawhide chandeliers. That’s where Chef Fearing can most often be seen courting patrons and quietly overseeing his staff.

On a recent evening, the courting came easy with Scharffenberger sparkling wine and Domaine Laroche Chablis, two soft starters. And soon after that, an amuse bouche sipper of BLT – a refreshing tomato broth with little bits of bacon and julienned lettuce – which proved a true delight.

Conversely, Fearing’s much-ballyhooed BBQ shrimp taco, with mango and pickled red onion salad and a smoky citrus vinaigrette, was good, but frankly, for one taco, it wasn’t $20 good, which disappointed. Lifting spirits again, though, was Fearing’s iconic tortilla soup, just as swoon-worthy as ever. Delicately crafted with rich roasted tomatoes, it was served from a small pitcher in a bowl outfitted with tiny pieces of chicken, avocado, and whisper-thin tortilla strips.

Sure to be one of Fearing’s most-ordered entrées is his fun take on surf and turf: a pan roasted spiced filet with chicken-friend Maine lobster. At $50, it was an investment in adventure, but our bets were on the lobster being as touch to swallow as the price. We were wrong. It was one of the most tender lobster tails we’ve ever enjoyed, despite its being fried in a light, crispy batter. Equally enjoyable were the griddled day boat scallops, beautifully seared and sumptuously fresh, with wilted Brussels sprout leaves, tender-crisp vegetables, smoked Kentucky ham, and a dreamy tangerine essence. Truly, Fearing’s is Dallas at its best.

D. Gee

Because his restaurant was just named the best in America.  Which has more to do with Dean Fearing’s rock-star persona than his $22 crab cakes.  By Nancy Nichols

 Dean Fearing is currently the most famous chef in Dallas, lauded nationally and beloved locally.  But I haven’t always been a Dean Fearing fan.

When I moved back to Dallas in the early ’90s, Fearing, the high-profile chef at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, was at the height of his culinary career out of the kitchen.  He was in the first wave of “celebrity chefs,” and he spent a majority of his time taping TV shows, doing personal appearances, and signing books.  Rumors of disgruntled employees wafted from the Mansion kitchen.  Wearing a spotless apron, Fearing made obligatory rounds of the tables at the Mansion, lapping up all the glory, but chef Amador Mora, now at Trece, and the rest of the kitchen made the magic happen on the plate.

 I watched the local dining scene evolve thanks to chefs like Avner Samuel and Stephan Pyles and Kent Rathbun – chefs who worked hard and continued to create innovative dishes while Fearing rested on his tortilla-soup-and-lobster-taco laurels.  My opinion of Fearing lessened.

Odd that the person who would begin to change my opinion was a real estate developer.

Denny Alberts is the former president and chief operation officer of Crescent Real Estate Equities Company, the developer of the Ritz-Carlton project.  Besides the lofty title, he is also a longtime friend of Dean Fearing’s.  Alberts wanted Fearing for the Ritz’s new restaurant, and when he waved his magic wand, Fearing left the Mansion to open his $6 million fairytale dream, Fearing’s Restaurant.

Then, an even stranger thing happened.  Dean Fearing, the original rock star chef, tackled the project like the hard-working pro I didn’t think he could be.

His first agenda was designing a restaurant like no other in Dallas.  He envisioned a space with multiple dining areas, each with a different style.  Fearing worked well with the designer, Bill Johnson of Johnson Design Group in Atlanta.  “He’s an old hippie and I’m an old hippie,” Fearing says.  “We knew we had to do some Mansion white tablecloth stuff, but I wanted to do a clean, galssed-in room like a restaurant I visited in Lake Como, and I wanted paneled wallas in another space, and I wanted the whole place to have a timeless feel.”  Somehow, the two managed to put all of their pipe dreams together under one roof.

Fearing then made another startling but important decision: he hired most of his key staff from outside of Dallas, a move that raised ire among available local talent.  “So many people asked me why I didn’t hire local people,” Fearings says.  “You can only imagine, 21 years at the Mansion with all of those people.  I mean I love them to death, but it was 21 years, and it is now so nice to be around new trains of thought and ideas.  Now I won’t have to be the only one thinking.”

Or, more important, the only one cooking.  His chef de cuisine, Joel Harrington from the Ritz-Carlton Laguna niguel, is the the main man in the kitchen and his apron is always dirty.

Fearing even imported a maitre d’ – a huge risk given how movers and shakers demand instant recognition and the best tables.  He picked Alex Aland, a 28-year-old former assistant manager at Hali’imaile General Store, a popular spot in Maui.  Aland sports thick-rimmed black glasses and roams the dining rooms in a baggy suit.  Chances are he would have been denied a table if he had walked into the Mansion in the late ’80s.

“Alex doesn’t know the VIPs,” Fearing says.  “And the VIPs don’t know Alex.  They’re gonna have to get to know each other.”

So far, the results of his bold moves have been successful.  “I’m seeing a crowd I’ve never seen and would have never gotten at the Mansion,” Fearing says.  “Like a guy in a t-shirt ordering a $850 bottle of Chateaux Haut Brion without looking sideways.”

THE SCENE

Despite what I think about Fearing or his restaurant, the place is going to shoot Dallas onto the international culinary spotlight.  Texas hospitality is “in,” and Fearing’s delivers plenty of it.

And, honestly, isn’t that what we in Dallas really care about?  We don’t want the latest European fancy-pants-bells-and-whistles delicacies (or foam) on our plate.  We want a nice meal in a flashy atmosphere with an upbeat, down-home, local superstar chef who knows your name – no jackets required, price no object.

Baby, that’s Fearing’s.  That’s Dean.

No chef in Dallas does big and sassy better than he does.  Fearing’s charm extends way beyond the kitchen.  Other top chefs in Dallas with less refined people skills would give their family secret recipes for an ounce of Fearing’s charisma.  One former Mansion kitchen alumnus said, “When his sunlight is beaming down on you, you feel great.  He has that transformative thing.”

Have a seat in the luxurious new digs of Fearing’s and before you can say “lobster taco no more,” chances are Fearing will have already stopped by your table and patted you on the back.

Despite the elegant surroundings, this is not “fine dining.”  His new mantra is “no rules!”  The food is “Elevated American. Global! No borders!”  Fearing’s is a finer dining free-for-all.  Wear jeans!  Ask the chef to make anything.  He’s at your service.  Y’all eat anything you want anywhere in the restaurant!  Giddy-up!

Anywhere you want?  What does that mean?  Well, you can choose to dine in one of seven rooms, each with its own distinctive vibe.

            Feeling sexy?  Reserve a table in the Sendero Room, a glass dining pavilion with floor-to-ceiling doors that open to allow cool Texas breezes to set off the twinkle of hundreds of hanging strips of Murano glass dangling from the chandelier above.

Need a good people-watching fix?  Have a seat in the warm glow of honey onyx in the Rattlesnake or Lobby bars and nosh on a plate of lobster nachos ($22 for six).  It’s the hottest bar scene with the stiffest pours in town.  There’s also an outdoor verandah with comfy couches around a pine-burning fireplace.  If you want to get gussied up and impress a date or a boss, choose a table in the elegant Gallery, a white tablecloth, fine dining room.  Feeling a little more laid-back?  Have a seat under the rawhide chandeliers in the open Kitchen area where they set up a row of the best two-tops and four-tops in town.  Ego need a boost?  Reserve the elevated chef’s table for the ultimate Dallas dining experience: it puts you a notch above your fellow diners.

            No matter where you sit, you’re front-row center, and Fearing is the dashing ringmaster, always up close and personal.  When he snaps the whip, servers, busboys, and kitchen workers risk their lives on the high wires to make him happy.

THE FOOD

He snapped it hard the first night we dined.  Six weeks after the restaurant opened, the place was a real circus.

We sat at table 242, on a gorgeous forest-green leather bench seat facing a large open space and a beautiful painting of a trail winding through the woods.  From our post we could see both entrances to the room and the waiter’s station below the painting.  At first we didn’t mind sitting for 15 minutes without a nod, because it was amusing to watch the servers, sommelier, managers, and hostesses rushing around and bumping into each other like characters in a not-so-silent Charlie Chaplin film.  One dropped a tray of martini glasses and four silver shakers as he tried to dodge a busboy.  Booze, ice, and glass scattered across the floor.  Two women returning from the bathroom didn’t seem to mind: they giggled and wobbled arm-in-arm across the crunchy mess, which the staff hurried to clean.

            Poof, Fearing appeared at the table next to us.  “Hi, I’m Dean,” he said to the foursome.  “If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know.”  His voice was hoarse.  One look at him told the tale – he was exhausted and running on fumes.  I felt sorry for him when one of the guys at the table launched into a series of mishaps that had taken place at their table throughout the evening.

            Fearing stood in a daze with a wide smile frozen on his face.  He listened to their complaints, then turned to a group of servers who huddled around him.  Quietly he called the play, and within minutes complimentary drinks and desserts were delivered.  All was well.

            However, the pace at our table was slow.  Our amuse bouche – a spoonful of salmon tartare with horseradish cream, roasted fennel, and teeny slivers of shoestring potatoes – arrived before our wine.  Finally, our very nice waiter, wearing a lovely soft yellow Alexander Julian-designed shirt with cufflinks, appeared with menus.  New versions of Mansion dishes were everywhere: tortilla soup, shrimp taco, chicken-fried lobster, comfort food for the upper class.

We indulged in the familiar.  The shrimp taco, Fearing’s replacement of his famous lobster taco, is destined to become a new Dallas classic, specifically because the shrimp is slathered with barbeque sauce made daily in the kitchen of the original Sonny Bryan’s on Inwood.  Fearing’s tortilla soup is, well, Fearing’s tortilla soup – rich broth poured over bits of chicken, avocado, and fried tortilla strips.  The “surf and turf,” a pan-roasted spiced filet served next to chicken-fried Maine lobster, was subpar.  Ordered medium rare, the steak was served well done.  The lobster bites were a bit on the doughy side, the breading adhered to the lobster when you cut it, but it separated into paste once it hit the mouth.

Personally I don’t think lobster should be chicken-fried, but when I brought this issue up at a later interview, Fearing made me eat my words.  “Yes, I did it at the Mansion,” he says.  “And when [John] Tesar [the new Mansion chef] took it off the menu, I said, ‘Too bad, buddy boy, that’s a half a million dollars right there.’  I’ll take it.”  In other words, Fearing’s Texas-chic surf and turf sells, big time.

            I returned to the Mansion – I mean Fearing’s – four times and each time I found something fabulous and something not-so-fabulous.

The aforementioned lobster nachos are not worth the $22 price tag, and neither are the crab cakes, five quarter-sized discs for the same price.  The garlic-basted chicken breast was overcooked on two visits, and the service always started off slow.  We heard or witnessed dishes dropping every time.  However, the crust of the pan-browned halibut gave way to a moist, flaky fish that I could eat every week, along with the pork tenderloin glazed with rosemary mustard.  And my hard-to-please steak expert fell for the prime rib-eye mopped with molasses, beer, and vinegar.  It’s pure Texas taste on a plate.

THE SUCCESS

            Eight weeks after opening, the sales numbers are astounding.  According to Harrington, “Lobster is flying out the door.”           

In the month of September they sold 1,100 shrimp tacos and 1,484 surf and turfs during the dinner hours.  “Lordy, we’re bringing in 120 pounds of Lawton, Oklahoma, buffalo a week,” Fearing says.  “These are the same numbers we were doing at the Mansion in the late ‘80s.”

Despite the early returns, Fearing and his dream team are under extreme pressure to perform.  The restaurant was open about a month before Esquire magazine’s food critic, John Mariani, named Fearing’s the “restaurant of the year.”

In the entire country.

How does that happen? How does a restaurant, no matter its chef’s reputation, get recognition like that in its first few months?  It’s like awarding the Super Bowl trophy to a team in the preseason.  It’s not fair to Fearing, the restaurant, or the paying public.  Expectations are immediately set at an impossible level. 

Again, how does that happen?  It’s not because Fearing’s serves the best food in town.Or the most innovative cuisine.

It’s because Dean Fearing, when he’s working hard in the kitchen and on the floor, puts on the best show in town.  And that’s all Dallas really cares about.  Right?