Is Fearing’s Still Putting on the Ritz?

It feels like it’s always splurge season in Dallas, so on a quiet Sunday evening during the tropical pre-spring season I popped into Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton to have the tasting menu created by chef Dean Fearing. Okay, I didn’t actually pop in, I made a reservation. But I could have because the dining room was more than half empty and, other than myself, seemed to be mostly servicing hotel customers.

The vibe

If you’ve been to Fearing’s, you know the restaurant itself is beautiful and does a great job with a small-ish dining room. Much of the area is occupied with private dining rooms near the entrance. The decor is modern and industrial with Southwestern touches that can largely be found in the use of woods from the area.

While the dress code suggests well-appointed cocktail or business attire, I’ve noticed the Gen X-aged cohort at a plethora of upscale dining establishments (including Fearings) are opting to dress in extremely casual gear. On this evening, I saw T-shirts, shorts, all manner of things that weren’t quite athleisure but weren’t well-appointed. The dining room is less than full, which is fortunate because there is only one server on duty (another called in sick). In the course of running down the menu for the evening, the components of numerous dishes were misidentified. However, the server did track down every detail I requested to know more about.

On the menu

Fearing is known for his use of wild game, the antelope with mole is a much-talked-about dish, as well as his tortilla soup. He is considered to be one of the fathers of Southwestern cooking, so all those classics are on display on the menu.

I had the tasting menu, which is a decent value compared to other Dallas spots. It offers five courses, plus bread and three “gifts from the kitchen” for $175 per person. The Shiner Bock bread is by far and away the tastiest of the bread course, although the brioche rolls have excellent texture and consistency. It is served, as always, with smoked butter that, when released from its glass container, smells so wonderful that it creates anticipation for the next course, a “gift” of small goat cheese pancetta with fig reduction. Unfortunately, the pancetta was too cold to properly dig into with my small spoon and lacking in flavor, although the reduction was rich and well-crafted.

Next came a bowl of Fearing’s beloved tortilla soup. The broth is rich and meaty, and added to the bowl of diced chicken, fresh vegetables, and tortilla strips tableside. The crunch of those vegetables is a huge part of what makes this dish so different, and a spoonful of the broth with sour cream is heavenly. Next is a shrimp taco served with barbecue sauce, which ate like a burrito with heavy cheese and light seafood, and was a gorgeous example of taking Southwest dishes and fusing them. That is followed by a plate of perfectly seared Eastern shore sea scallops served with grilled artichokes, ricotta-stuffed ravioli, fresh seasonal vegetables and micro greens, and a buttermilk sauce with citrus and butter.

The main course was Texas surf and turf: a wagyu filet from R-C Ranch (found south of Houston) and a deep fried Maine lobster. The medium-rare filet is cooked flawlessly and the crust on the fried lobster is akin to what the perfect chicken fried steak crust should taste like, but I’m not sure I’m convinced that a lobster needs to be fried. It is served with a taco stuffed with fresh, lightly cooked spinach, all of Fearing’s tortillas are made at Luna’s Tortilla Factory in Dallas. Everything is served over a bed of mashed potatoes with tomato gravy, including the taco, which is not its best showing but works well for the meat.

After a brief interlude with a small dish of prickly pear sorbet sprinkled with black salt, a palette cleanser that harkens back to a centuries-old tradition in French and Italian fine dining, a massive dessert arrives. Truly, it is as large as the main course. It’s also the platonic ideal of Southwestern food: butter pecan profiteroles with candied pecans and warm chocolate sauce. The final gift from the kitchen was a small box with two chocolate hearts filled with chocolate and raspberry chocolate ganache.

What to drink

I opted to show up early for a before-dinner drink at the Rattlesnake Bar, just outside the restaurant. I went with a classic gin martini served lightly dirty with two olives and let the bartender suggest my gin, given the confines of being less pine-y than Tanqueray and not floral. He immediately went for the Hendricks, which was the correct choice. Being a little fussy with a martini at this sort of place shows you what kind of bartender you’re working with and this guy was on it.

I allowed the waiter to suggest a Sauvignon blanc to go with the first three courses and wished I hadn’t, it was too sweet and despite giving me a taste, he began pouring before asking if it was what I wanted. I opted for the Texas-based tempranillo from the by-the-glass menu for the next few courses and it was excellent.

Best seat in the house

Eating alone? It’s the tables up by the kitchen, where you get an unobstructed view of the action. Eating with a group of four or more? It’s the booths. Eating with two to four? Any of the four-top tables in the restaurant give you a view of the dining room and the open kitchen. There are really no bad seats.