It is literally impossible for any foodie anywhere not to like York Street.  Need proof you say?  Okay.  Are you interested in a restaurant that really changes their menu on a nightly basis based purely on the ingredients they get?  I’ve never seen even remotely the same menu twice.  Ever been irked when you’ve gone to a top notch restaurant on, say, a Tuesday night only to learn the chef typically takes off Tuesdays because it’s a slow night and the sous chef will be preparing your meal?  Well, owner/chef Sharon Hage is ALWAYS in the kitchen at York Street.  I mean, God bless the aspiring sous chef but if I’m spending the money for a fine dining experience, I want the top toque behind the stove.  Has it ever bothered you that we’re normally a good 6 months to a year behind restaurant food trends in New York (braised short ribs, pork belly, high end corn dogs as recent ones)?  Chef Hage is Dallas’ premier trendsetter, continually pushing the envelope with outside the box thinking on food products, trends and deliciously unusual preparations.  Finally, have you had enough of the big glossy, showy zillion dollar funded dining halls?  York Street is the proverbial hole in the wall/hidden gem with very little glam factor.  And, most importantly York Street – without question - turns out some of the most interesting and scrumptious food in the city.

Let’s get this out of the way.  There is nothing fancy about York Street.  It’s across the street from a convenience store on a side street in Lakewood.  Valet?  Yeah, not so much.  Inside, there are 13 tables.  The room is crisp and white with frosted windows and fresh flowers.  You won’t feel out of place in a suit or dress but you won’t feel out of place in jeans either.  Call it the Lakewood vibe.  Call it eclectic.  Whatever.  It works and the lack of pretentiousness and dress code concerns keeps your focus squarely on the food (as it should be).

I’m honestly getting a little tired of the litany of restaurants that have feloniously latched on to the popular moniker ‘we change our menu daily based on the freshest available ingredients’.  Too often that translates to the same basic dishes every night with a slight tweak here and there to warrant their assertion.  Lamb with rosemary instead of fennel, sea bass with butternut squash puree instead of mashed sweet potatoes, pork chop instead of pork tenderloin, well, you get the idea.  And many of those same restaurants buy their meats and produce from conglomerate purveyors and wholesalers with no real consideration to local farmers.  In contrast, York Street is passionate about letting the purity of their ingredients dictate their menu every single day.  You might not see one common menu item from one night to the next which is a testament to Chef Hage’s skill and creativity. Most nights after dinner service you will see her methodically scribling down ideas for the next day's menu.  They are also one of only a handful of restaurants who work directly with undisputed harvest king Tom Spicer for the freshest and most unusual produce.  Believe me when I say that makes a huge difference.  As their website says, York Street’s menu changes daily, reflecting the seasons and the availability of the freshest ingredients from small, owner-operated suppliers. Supporting sustainable, responsibly raised food lies at the heart of what we do best.  One trip to York Street and you’ll have complete trust in their proclamation.

An early fall visit started off with a very interesting white almond gazpacho with green grapes.  I’m honestly not a huge fan of gazpacho.  That is to say, I’m not crazy about the common form of gazpacho which is essentially cold and chunky tomato soup.  As I learned at this meal, white gazpacho made with almonds, bread, garlic, vinegar and oil is quite common in Spain and for very good reason.  Pureed to a silky milkshake consistency, the sweet almond flavor is balanced wonderfully with the savory components and a few grape halves provide another layer of texture and freshness.  A swirl of quality Spanish olive oil completed the dish. 

A roasted stuffed quail lovingly scented with lavender was another of our starters on this trip.  While a lot of restaurants insist on weighty, overpowering stuffing for these evocatively gamey little birds, it was quite refreshing to find their Texas raised version stuffed with a light pear and endive salad.  The bitter crunch from the endive and sweetness from the pear provided a superb contrast but still kept the bird in the spotlight.

In lieu of a traditional amuse bouche, our early winter visit started off with a tray of herb swaddled Spanish olives and toasted walnuts.  That was followed by a double your pleasure crustacean dish of homemade shrimp cocktail and a peeky toe crab salad.  Not to be confused with a super jumbo shrimp cocktail you’d find at a big dog steakhouse, these shrimpys were more of the 50 ct size but were tremendously flavorful and served with a chunky and spicy cocktail sauce.  The sweet crab salad came with a base of celery root cubes and lightly flavored with tangerine infused oil. Both were outstanding and were the perfect kick off to our meal. 

Our next course was an incredible duck salad.  A blend of field greens featured strands of crispy yet moist duck confit and housed a baseball sized poached duck egg.  Put simply, this could very well be the single best dish I ate in 2007.  The yolk from the pierced egg served as the dressing for the salad and the duck egg offered a pronounced difference (both in size and taste) from the more common quail egg.  Folding in the confit created a perfectly unforgettable salad. 

Our entrees were highlighted by a dish of Day Boat Scallops and Pork Tenderloin.  Much smaller and more ivory in color than the more popular Diver scallops, Day Boat Scallops (so called because they are fished and brought in on the same day, as opposed to traditional scallop boats that will stay out for up to 10 days before returning) are the most flavorful scallops you will find.  Chef Hage served hers with a savory cream and tangerine ver jus sauce.  These were so good we could’ve eaten a dozen more with no problem.  Had it not been for the above lauded duck salad, this would’ve been top dish of the night. 

It seems to be tougher and tougher to find a creative way to cook pork tenderloin.  Subscribing to less is more, York Street prepared theirs simply with a high heat induced crust and a juicy, juicy interior.  Served over sautéed bitter celery leaves and pancetta this pork was anything but boring.  The flavors were spot on.  Technique was flawless.  And the result was a soulful and satisfying dish.

Four incredible desserts were delivered for the table, each remarkable in its own way.  LIGHT:  Creamy meyer lemon custard had a graham cracker crust, cream brulee-ish texture and the prominent spike of the tart lemon.  HOMEY:  A crumbled apple and blueberry crisp was simply to die for.  Very straightforward and unencumbered by an obnoxious wallop of vanilla ice cream like so many others, all you could taste here was the fresh tartness of the fruit and the buttery sweetness of the crumbly crust.  DECADENT:  How great is a great chocolate pots de crème?  Though it came out looking like a meringue-less mini chocolate pie, one stab from your spoon and you could tell the thickness and consistency were much more intense.  The dark chocolate taste was powerful yet sweet and all chocoholics present were in self-induced purgatory.  DIABOLICAL:  I have had some very good and very bad bread puddings over the years.  Oftentimes, the better ones you’ll find are rustic in presentation and flavor profile.  Though York Street’s sublime blend of bread, liquer, eggs, and caramel came in a more refined package, there was no shortage of flavor and guts in this dish.

Granted there are only 13 tables at York Street but the two or three waiters manning the room do not miss a thing.  It’s a ‘staff’ comprised of in the know industry vets that appreciate how special the place is and are captivated by their customers that feel the same.  How refreshing it must be to serve, by in large, foodies that appreciate the food you’re serving as much as you do serving and discussing it.  Hell, this might just be the holy grail for foodie waiter types. 

It should come as no surprise that the wine list is comprised to accomplish exactly what a wine list is supposed to.  No, I don’t mean double the restaurant’s profits.  I mean, wine is meant to compliment your food and enhance your overall dining experience and the list of selections here certainly achieves that.  Very few big names, very few big overpowering labels, plenty of half bottles, and a whole host of interesting ‘sure I’ll try it’ mid-priced options. 

The closing on this feel good recommendation might be better off accompanied with a tale of self taught culinary artistry and school of hard knocks triumphs.  However, Sharon Hage actually graduated from the prestigious CIA and honed her craft at several kitchens in New York before returning to Dallas as Executive Chef at Harvey Hotels, Neiman Marcus, now gone Salve! and Hotel St. Germain.  She took over the reins at York Street in 2001 and has since transformed it into the undisputed go to spot for working chefs and those in the food industry.  Her affinity for clean and unfussy preparations and unadulterated passion for ingredient driven cuisine has prompted more than a few credible food critics to refer to York Street as the Chez Panisse of Dallas.  I say, just give it time.  Chez Panisse may just become the York Street of Northern California before it’s all said and done.