IMPRESSION: Far-Out, Dallas
- andychalk
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
by Andrew Chalk
It used to be that the residents of southeast Dallas loved the police so much the Dallas Police Department sent out two of them in each patrol car to reciprocate the gesture. Now the area around the underused facility of Fair Park may be changing.
At the corner of Haskell Avenue and Barry Avenue veteran Dallas restaurateur Chris Jeffers (Bolsa, Chicken Scratch, Smoke, Star Canyon) has purchased three and a half acres of land prepopulated with a Quonset Hut, a house, open space, and geneous parking (cf. The Arts District, Knox Street, Deep Ellum). The big story there, right now, is Far-Out, a local-farm-to-table restaurant for which Jeffers, knowing exactly what he wanted, enlisted Misti Norris (FT33, Small Brewpub, Petra and the Beast x 2) first as the menu consultant, then as chef-partner. To blend in with the neighborhood I took my supermarket cart and a stolen credit card on Saturday night to check it out.
The name is multi-entendred. Far-Out is far out of most people’s restaurant orbit. In fact, it is quicker to get to from Uptown than other parts of Uptown, because everyone is going north- south. If you drive east on Haskell from Central Expressway, nobody notices. And you can’t miss the restaurant -it's the only Quanset hut for miles, and it's large enough to look like one of those markets that used to be a Zeppelin hanger.
The far out theme continues with the site, it's planted with hundreds of cacti, inside and out. And, as Jeffers points out, there is no art on the walls because he views the iconic feeling of the building, from inside, to be a Work Of Art.
Also far out is the menu, which has the straight outta’ Misti directness of Petra and the Beast or Small Brewpub. Just nine shareables, each one a standalone (as if to give Escoffier and his view on menus the finger). Eight savory, one dessert. Each is plenty for two and you order until you can’t eat any more.
We auto-started with white bean dip. I say auto-started because it was presented without being asked for, as an amuse bouche, but was itemised on the bill ($12). No big deal. It was deliciously garlicky white bean dip, house chili oil, and housemade chips (almost the size of tortillas), that were succulently moist with the fat they were fried in, and delicious on their own. They should package these. Together, the dip and chips are crack (more on that neighborhood vibe).
If Misti Norris put “Glass of Water” on the menu it would resemble no glass of water that you had ever seen. In the same idiom, the Bibb lettuce salad ($17) at Far-Out would stun any lettuce-creating lawyer from Kentucky. Fully described in the litany style required of farm-to-table menus it is Profound Bibb Lettuce, Bread and Butter Shallots, House Ranch, Gorgonzola, Bacon, Crispy Shallots. Just the crispy shallots are a portable masterpiece, adding texture, sweetness, and an allium bite to the dish.
The tostada ($16) (cured hirimasa [sic] tostada, avocado, peppercorns, preserved lime, chiles toreados) was my favorite. A tostada slathered with mashed avocado, then the remaining ingredients piled on. Superbly creamy, sinewy, fishy textures and flavors all over the mouth.
The Moll wanted to try the tri-tip ($28) (smothered Texas tri tip, potato cake, French onion sauce, farmdal cheese). Since she was pushing the supermarket cart on the way home I had to defer. It’s a photogenicly arranged set of two blocks. One block is a set of thick beef crosscuts, pressed next to it the other is the delicious potato cake made from slices of potato pushed together, presumably with their own starch, lapped with the sweet and piquant French onion sauce and sprinkled with the cheese. A super-tasty meat course.
We were beat, so had to pass on the strawberry cobbler dessert ($15), despite it sounding heavenly (Texas strawberry cobbler, thyme whip, pickled strawberries, burnt strawberries, mint).
The beverage focus here is cocktails, with a wide, very reasonably priced, selection. Wine is one chardonnay, one pinot noir, one cabernet sauvignon. They aren’t listed on the drinks list, nor are their names voluntarily divulged if you order one. We were offered a taste and that gave me the opportunity to decline in favor of the beer made 100 yds away at the other end of the Quonset (Biju lager $7). Maybe Jeffers would consider offering some Texas wines if the wine list does appear. I presume BYOB is off the table since Far-Out has a mixed drinks license.
Service is attentive and classy. By which I mean these folks are smart enough to make guests feel welcome (including the couple with a baby in a carrier who sat near us) and see their jobs as going beyond just delivering the menu and reciting the dishes. For example, I could not get a reservation on a Saturday via Resy, as it was all blocked out. I sent an email to Info@FarOutDallas.com asking what the wait would be at a specified time on Saturday night, expecting to get the usual non-response or hopeless response of “Info” email addresses. Within just a few hours the restaurant replied, requesting my phone number, and made the reservation on Resy for me from the restaurant’s back end. Resy matched the number and sent me the confirmation. That’s realizing service starts before the customer steps through the door.
This quirky, character-rich restaurant has all the pieces: great food, great service, great atmosphere. It was full by 6:30pm so the word is getting out. It is a major addition to the Dallas restaurant scene that may feature in this year's Michelin Bib Gourmand list.
