Sevy’s is like that ‘go to’ pair of shoes in your closet.  Yes, fellow foodies, we know we’re probably entering uncharted waters recommending a restaurant with a shoe analogy but indulge us for just a sec.  Back to your closet.  You know the ones we’re talking about, right?  Yeah, those.  The pair you can count on.  The ones you continually reach for regardless of the occasion.  With the look that never goes out of style and the ones that still look new when they’re polished up.   With such a comfortable fit and great look that you feel confident wearing them with a suit or a pair of jeans.  Every closet should have a pair of go to shoes just like every foodie should have a go to restaurant like Sevy’s. 

You could say (and we are) that Sevy’s is the very best representation of what a true Dallas restaurant should be about.  What’s that mean you ask?  Let’s face it foodie nation, our little town is quite complicated. So a true Dallas restaurant is one that can appeal effortlessly and equally to that melting pot of people we call Dallasites.  And the proof that Sevy’s deserves that label smacks you in the face before you can even say hi to the hostess.  The crowd is a collection of wildcatters, Parkies, botox beauties, golfers, urban cowboys, soccer moms, corporate suits, cougars, senior cougars, trust funders, Bibled up Baptists, empty nesters, MILFs, DINKs, and every other societal acronym out there.  Hell, we even saw Joe the Plumber there a time or two.  And it’s this stamp of approval from the many factions that convinced us Sevy’s is the prozac that has somehow tamed the multiple personality disorders of Dallas old and new.

So, what’s the attraction?  Well, from floor to ceiling, cocktail to coffee and starter to dessert, Sevy’s strikes a perfect balance between humble yet refined, impressive yet welcoming.  The décor is fancy and contemporary enough for you to feel right at home in your custom suit but also restrained enough where being cowboy cool in your jeans and boots, or in your shorts and golf shoes (soft spikes only please!) is just fine too. 

And then there’s the food.  How does a restaurant tackle the evolving likes and dislikes of the fickle Dallas crowd?  First things first, you need an actual chef in the kitchen.  Sí!  Next, you gotta serve steak and lobster for the big-time and refined set.  Check.  You gotta have a couple of great sandwiches.  For sure.  The skinny Minnies’ will need a solid lineup of salads.  Yep.  Wild game is a necessity.  Shoot yeah!  A comfort food option is crucial when the weather goes sub-50.  Yum.  Diverse wine list that’ll match up with whatever menu option you choose.  Drink up!  And, finally, you absolutely have to be able to shake up a stellar martini.  Sturdy and Dirty!!

On the starters we love the venison, scallops, and shrimp cakes.  Good ole Texas venison is cured and smoked sausage style then grilled up and served with Sevy’s house made bitchin BBQ sauce and pickled vegetables.  There’s just something magical about the combination of cooler weather and jabbing these little morsels with a fork and smearing them in BBQ sauce, popping them in my mouth and chasing it with a big boy red wine.  Maybe it tickles my extremely faint Lonesome Dove fancy (though I don’t think they were slurping down cabernet on the cattle drive)?  Not sure but I seem to find a plate of it in front of me every time I go.  Now, we’ve often said the best scallops are the simplest ones.  Sevy’s simply sears theirs and mashes them gently into a heap of truffle whipped potatoes.  Crispy leeks on top offers another texture profile.  Smoke is a recurring them on the menu at Sevy’s thanks to their wood burning grill stacked full of both hickory and mesquite woods.  So don’t be surprised to see a smoked shrimp cake instead of the much more common crab version.  But don’t think of the shrimp cakes as the crab cake’s black sheep cousin, no, no, no.  In fact, we prefer the hunks of shrimp to the shredded crab you get in most crab cakes.  Throw in the hint of smokiness and the herb lemon aioli and punch of red pepper pureé and these little jewels are showstoppers.

For all your rabbit food eaters out there, the chop salad at Sevy’s is different than most – meaning its not drowning in an overly tangy dressing that thwarts any hope of you actually tasting the lettuce and other ingredients.  Their oregano vinaigrette is just right and the inclusion of yellow and red peppers makes this positively Texas.  For soups, on one of your visits, a bowl of the corn chowder is a must.  It’s nothing fancy or ground breaking.  It’s just a soul satisfying bowl of creamy soup with jags of fresh corn floating throughout.  Go getcha some.

Based on what we’ve written, you just know Sevy’s has a great burger right?  We’ll go ahead and end the suspense..yeah, it’s pretty damn good.  If you ask nicely they’ll bring it out for dinner but it’s a mainstay on the lunch menu.  It’s under 10 bucks so we’re not going to throw into the hâute hamburger category but it’s as good as any around.  Big enough to fill you up but still small enough to get your mouth around; it comes with smoked bacon and a thick slice of cheddar.  And just to remind you this ain’t no drive through burger, they serve it on a toasted Kaiser roll with a home made coarse mustard sauce.  Sided up with crispy fries, this will chase down a hangover faster than a bottomless mimosa.  Headed to or from the golf course?  Can’t handle a big steak but the thought of what’s in your fridge is frightening you and you’re kind of feeling tingly from the final, final in the 19^th hole?  No prob.  Belly up to the bar and order up a Sherry Plaza Club.  Don’t expect to find any pre-sliced processed and preservatived meat on this triple decker either.  Grilled chicken, hand cut ham with bacon, cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato all served up on grilled sourdough.  You gotta love a meat eaters sandwich. 

Off of Sevy’s Specialties, a few lunch entrees have made our day over the last several years.  Mack’s Five Pepper Chicken is, well, chicken with 5 peppers – red, yellow, green, poblano, and pepperoncini.  They bread a big chicken breast then swaddle it in the peppers and bake it off in the oven.  The overlapping peppers meld to form a little fortress for the bird and give just enough kick to make this anything but just another chicken dinner.  Served over linguini tossed in basil oil, we seem to always make a happy plate when this dish shows up in front of us.  And isn’t there something homey, comforting and warming about a good serving of meatloaf?  We think so and Sevy’s rocks.  Again, in a place like this you expect it to be fine-dining-ized and it is.  They serve their savory, moist slab over a heaping mound of truffle whipped potatoes accompanied by roasted haricot verts (or little green beans for all you anti-Frogs out there).  A ladle full of wild mushroom sauce over the top makes this one of the best cold weather dishes in out there but its only good for 2^nd place at Sevy’s.  And that’s because of their Kobe Pot Roast.  Hopefully my mom won’t read this, but I’ve never had a more tender and tasty serving of pot roast in my life.  

You’ve heard us say it before about duck – or if you haven’t listen up!  Confit is hands down the best way to eat Daffy, Donald and the rest of the gang.  The whole confit process is centuries old and isn’t all that difficult, just pretty time consuming.  But, that’s the chef’s problem not ours right?  Sevy’s serves their rendition with a hint of Asian flair to it with a spicy sweet glaze, edamame, and crunchy wontons all over a salad of mixed greens.  Considering the duck is cooked in its own fat, this is more of a meal salad and not one of those you order when you’re trying to move from heavyweight to middleweight.  Hey, you can diet when you’re dead so live it up a little while you still can!

Of course you know there’s gotta be a rockin’ steak on the menu.  Smokey shows up again on their center cut filet, hickory smoked and grilled with a pool of classic cabernet sauce and fried onion strings as plate mates.  Wanna do the Texas 2 step (that’s steak and lobster in snootyfoodie speak)?  No problem, you can add a tail to any steak.  But if there’s one dish we always think about when we’re driving toward Sevy’s, it’s definitely the Wild Game Mixed Grill.  The meats rotate but most recently this included cumin crusted venison medallions and a bacon wrapped Texas quail served over spicy grits and drizzled with a smoky sweet chipotle raspberry sauce.  Literally, this dish makes me want to go fill out an NRA application.

We love extensive wine lists but they have their place and are candidly only appropriate at a certain type of restaurant.  At Sevy’s, with its appeal to all comers, refined casual approach it only makes sense to have an all in one menu/wine list combo.  So, Sevy’s has their list at the back part of the menu for your perusal.  You won’t find any real surprises there and that’s just fine with us.  You’ve got a few home run bottles and the requisite vintage Champagnes for those that have come to celebrate their most recent kazillion.  But, for the most part it’s a pocketbook friendly, California heavy list that waltzes in step with the menu.  Not too extravagant but just enough panache to remind you it’s a fine dining joint.

Jim “Sevy” Severson is the affable exec chef/owner, known throughout the industry as one of the good guys.  Most nights he’s dancing around the room greeting regulars and new comers alike.  No doubt every successful restaurant needs an identity and Sevy is the face of this place (though GM/co-owner Jimmy Fell, chef/partner Buzzy Zeve and Mgr/Partner Stefaan Vandemoortele are fixtures as well).  With our golf references above you might guess he’s an avid golfer, and it’s not all that unusual to see him on the patio having a putting contest with one of his guests.  It’s this type of personality that just exudes the “we’re glad you’re here so get comfortable and stay awhile” attitude.  And this extends down to the wait staff as well.  A more than capable group that eases around the dining room with assuredness and a welcoming disposition.  You just know you’re in good hands.

Perhaps you’ve passed right by Sevy’s and wrote it off as some high falutin’ Parkie hangout as you turn into Houston’s to pay $12 for spinach dip.  Well, think of Sevy’s as what Houston’s will be when they grow up and move to Dallas.  And, don’t let the location, location, location fool you.  Sure, Sevy’s is on the edge of zip code elite-dom but this joint is anything but a place that prides itself on the feedeth of the eliteth.   In fact, these guys are damn near contentious about being pretentious.  As the vast majority of fine dining restaurants scramble to embrace the movement to a more casual fine dining experience, Sevy’s was essentially founded on this principle and has puttered along for 11 years now with this mantra as its foundation.  Sure, you can slap a business casual label on it if you want but, to us, it’s just quintessential Dallas.  And everyone here knows what that is.