Have you ever heard of Tre Wilcox? He was on Top Chef: Season 3, he didn't win, but if my meal today was any indication, he should have.
He started out at Abacus and now he's the executive chef at Marquee Grill, as well as being nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef for two consecutive years. If you aren't familiar with him, take a few minutes and visit his webpage: http://cheftre.com and immediately make yourself some reservations and go. The food was brilliant in every way, from the service to the plating all the way to the dessert. As I always say, I have 3 favorite restaurants in Dallas, now I guess I need to make that 4 favorite restaurants. I found it to be very well priced for the quality and creativity, the plates were works of art, the service was impeccable (Thanks Antonio!) and the decor was nice - clean and modern. We paid about $24 per person for a combo plate that consisted of a starter and an entree, so that's not much more than what you'd pay at Chili's.
MARQUEE GRILL
32 Highland Park Village
Dallas, TX 75205
Starter Courses:
Poached Lobster & English Pea Risotto with Citrus Brown Butter
This was my starter dish. It was delicious with that nutty brown butter and a hint of coconut milk surrounding an only slightly creamy risotto that was studded with asparagus slices and good-sized chunks of lobster. The rice was cooked to the perfect bite and the brown butter sauce gave it a taste was reminiscent of a vanilla anglaise sauce. Odd combination but it totally worked.
Marinated Jumbo Texas Shrimp with Chipolte Cheese Grits and Tequila Lime Sauce
This was Stephen's starter dish. As much as I enjoyed the Risotto, I thought his dish of Shrimp and Grits was better. The shrimp were perfect, juicy and tender and fresh, sitting atop creamy grits that were really flavorful, boldly spiced with jalapenos, chipolte and cheese. They epitomized the new trend of Southwest Cuisine, man, they were good. The tequila lime sauce was an afterthought, I thought, until I tasted it alone and tasted that cream with a tang of lime. Yep that was a goooood afterthought.
First Courses:
Lump Crab Cakes & Wood Grilled Iron Steak with Jalapeno Pico
This was my First Course/Entree combo plate. The first thing I noticed was the unique shape of the Crab Cakes, they were cylindrical! Topped with watercress and sitting on a sauce I couldn't get a description of. The crab cakes were very nice meaning they had no filler, only crab and that is good in my books. The sauce was a bit tangy and maybe had some tomato and cumin in it, but no one was giving any info on that. The steak was wonderful, too. It was prepared to a perfect medium well and topped with a reduction sauce and pico. It was fatty and tender and salty and sweet, just everything good in one bite.
Tomato - Mozzarella Salad & Marinated Chicken Breast with Grilled Asparagus
This was Stephen's combo plate. That was the most delicious restaurant chicken I have ever had. It was so moist and juicy and so flavorful. All the veggies beneath it were tasty and the sauce was almost identical to my sauce, but a little zestier. The salad of Mozzarella and Tomatoes was just a regular Caprese Salad. It was fresh and pretty but not anything you couldn't get at Maggiano's.
DESSERTS!!
Chocolate and Chile:
Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Guajillo Ganache and Red Corn Tortilla Ice Cream
Now comes the time I have less than stellar things to say about Marquee. I admit that these desserts were innovative and chef-interpretive, but you don't taste with just your eyes. The chocolate cake was good, just a dark chocolate cake, sitting on some nondescript mousse-like cream that honestly had next to no flavor. I couldn't tell exactly what was in it. The ice cream was the biggest surprise of all. It honestly tasted like a corn tortilla, weird as all get-outs. I doubt I'm ever going to want that again.
Caramel Banana Bread Pudding with Spiced Caramel and Smoked White Chocolate Ice Cream
This was Stephen's dessert. Dang it, that was good stuff. I was jealous. I was openly lusting over his dessert. The bread pudding tasted they way it said it would - like bananas. It was light and gooey and sweet and wonderful, like ooey gooey banana bread surrounded by divine caramel sauce. Just perfect all by itself, then along comes the Smoked White Chocolate Ice Cream. The best way I can describe it is imagine eating vanilla ice cream with Liquid Smoke in it. Yeah, it was like that. It was something that neither one of us could stomach, even worse than the tortilla ice cream was. Some coffee ice cream or caramel ice cream would have been a better choice.
With all that said, I highly recommend Marquee Grill. It was an unexpected delight.
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