We all arrived here for the long holiday weekend and chose a slate of
all new places that have opened in the past year and everything has
been truly a treat so far.
Our first night was an adult dinner before the opera and we stopped by
the adorable wine bar in our hotel (The OMNI Ft Worth) called the WINE
THIEF for a quick sip. Will tried the flight of sparkling wines
consisting of 2005 Marques de Gelida Cava Brut which was quite tasty
and yeasty. The other two were Flor Proseccos, a brut and a Rose that
was the driest rose around. I opted for the chardonnay flight with a
tasty bright Millbrandt 2006 from Washington State, and over the top
Hahn SLH 2006 from California that was just too old-style California
for drinking alone and a yummy Charles Wiffin 2007 from Marlborough,
New Zealand.
Dinner was at ELLERBE Fine Foods (www.ellerbefinefoods.com) in a new
up and coming neighborhood just 5 minutes southwest of downtown. A
converted 1920's gas station has concrete floors, brick walls, nice
table linens (but wrecked by that large piece of brown paper!), not so
comfy wooden chairs and exposed ceilings with a stellar staff headed
by owner/manager Richard King and a kitchen run by owner/manager Molly
McCook, who hails from Louisiana, and had brought her home style
recipes with her to Texas.
Our server Woody raved about the salads and said all the produce is
very local, so Will opted for the Scott Farm Heirloom TOMATO Salad wit
Carter Farm HARICOTS VERTS, Creamy Basil Dressing, Brazos MOZZARELLA,
Crispy PANCETTA and Marcona ALMONDS--it was worth raving about. My
RABBIT CAILLETTE ad CONFIT on Frisee with Spring PEA Coulis, House
Made Mustard and Country Bread was really two items. A simple rabbit
sausage with pistachio was divine on the salted/peppered toasted bread
and the salad with a mustard-oil dressing on the frisee and confit.
The coulis on the side was great as a little "sauce" on the sausage,
but the frisee/confit combo was the highlight.
We had ordered an ANAM CARA PINOT NOIR "Nichols Estate" Chehalem
Mountain 2006 served in quality Spiegelau crystal was a huge
flavorful Oregon Pinot that won us over. The first round of bread (LA
Brea Bakery Baguette flown in from LA) did not excite us, but the
PLUGRA Butter from France and Red Hawaiian Sea Salt made this a
special treat in itself. The second small plate of bread came out warm
and made this an entire course you would want to order!
The main courses were superb. My Grilled HERB CRUSTED (parmesan) VEAL
T-BONE came out extremely rare, which was fixed very fast and cooked
fine after a second heating. A rich and creamy SHERRY CREAM sauce (not
too much) was generously sprinkled with fresh local MORELS. It was
served with tasty FARRO and B&G Gardens ASPARAGUS. The meat was divine
and the dish just heaven. Will went for the BRAISED Leg of LAMB
LASAGANA with Kalamata Noodles, Crumbled Bazos FETA, Curry Bechamel
and Toasted Pine Nuts--a real stroke of genius in the kitchen here.
Woody suggested we try to Texas Bay SHRIMP & Louisiana Maque Choux
side dish, which we could have eaten as a main course. This slightly
creamy and slightly spicy dish with tasty shrimp, fresh corn,
scallions and a crunch from pancetta.
We could not resist splitting one dessert and chose MAWMAW's BREAD
PUDDING, a segmented muffin with creamy and caramelly WHISKEY Sauce
and Pralined Texas Pecans. The recipe did really come from the chef's
grandmother, but while tasty, was not our favorite or outstanding, but
it was quite good. Yummy French press coffee came with mini-DUCLE di
LECHE Linzer torte-style cookies.
We left full and knowing that Ellerbe's in on out list of must-return
spots in Ft. Worth.
