Category Archives: West Dallas/Sylvan Thirty

Lovers Seafood and Market

West Dallas is swimming in fresh, delicious seafood thanks to one of its newest restaurants, Lovers Seafood and Market, opened last month by duo Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing who brought us Shinsei. LS&M took over the space occupied by longtime seafood restaurant at Lovers and Inwood, Rex’s Seafood, and they did quite a bit with the space. I hear you can order some of this super seafood through order seafood online services. The Nantucket-esque interior makes you immediately feel like you’re in for great seafood … and you are.

: Picture courtesy of LS&M

With Chef Aaron Staudenmaier in the kitchen, the fresh seafood doesn’t have to carry itself, though it could. The menu offers some exquisitely simple seafood options with some classic, “down home” options. If you’re wanting to try your palate at other sensational seafood restaurants, there are many others all over like Finns Seafood Restaurant.

Before the meal began, I was delighted that they had little things to nibble on like truffle popcorn and pot bread. (Bread made in a pot … obvi.) Start your meal with their dips–Grilled Shrimp Dip and Pimento Dip–which are surprisingly delicious, or opt for their tuna poke (because everyone’s doing it) or the avocado toast.

The seafood is as fresh as it could be, so their market fish of the day is prooooobably going to be a good pick. Have a conversation with your waiter to see what they’re offering and how the chef recommends it prepared.

More into a little less cooked seafood? Check out their raw bar that offers options like oysters and buttery sashimi. Sit down and talk it out with the chefs while you enjoy those options, or even their more unique sea urchin and crab.

: Courtesy of LS&M

: Courtesy of LS&M

As the name implies, Lovers Seafood and Market has … a market. They offer daily features of fresh fish and shellfish along with select beef cuts. Stop in and get the best Dallas has to offer from LS&M. Remember: the fresher and higher quality the meat/seafood you start with, the less you’ll have to do to make it taste amazing.

No time to cook a meal yourself, or want to have fresh seafood for a get together? Call ahead and pick up a dozen oysters, shrimp cocktail, or poached salmon.

The new spot has already become a neighborhood favorite, and for a good reason. Pop in and find out how the former Rex’s spot has so much more to offer.

Lovers Seafood and Market
loversseafoodmarket.com
Facebook | Instagram
5200 West Lovers Lane (West Dallas)
(214) 414-9880

Take a Tiki Peeky at Pilikia

Guys … I’m so f**king excited for Pilikia, Dallas’s first-in-a-long-time full-time tiki bar, to open this Thursday … and for so many reasons.

First, I’ll clarify the intro. Pilikia will be the “first in a long time” as we had an awesome tiki bar here in Dallas, Trader Vic’s, in what is now The Highland Hotel, that closed in 2010. RIP. Also, it will be a “full-time” tiki bar because our friends at Rapscallion are currently spoiling us every week with their mind-numbing (in a good way) Tiki Tuesday drinks thanks to bar badass Ravinder Singh.

Thanks to the dudes behind The Tipsy Alchemist, brand new ILL Minster Pub, and Deep Ellum club Truth & Alibi and their partner in the deal, Patrick Tetrick (owner of Three Sheets), we’ll be getting another outrageous concept that will have the Uptown crowd flocking. (Ok … I’m going to be flocking, too, as is my mom, your boss, and just about everyone else in town that remembers Trader Vic’s or gives any sort of a shit about tiki bars.) The team has created some winning concepts, and we’re hoping this will be another to add to their list of successes.

So what can we expect? Kitsch, and plenty of it. (Are you excited yet?) The team was inspired mostly by the Beardon brothers’ favorite outrageous London tiki spot, Mahiki (which happens to be where I spent my 21st birthday), but are making a space all their own.

They took over the former Three Sheets space that closed to make way for this Polynesian heaven. Some renovations were made including a wall of golden skulls backlit by LED lights that will eerily change progressively, an additional outdoor bar, and a larger fireplace and a small stage for live music on the patio. The furniture is a mix of loungy bamboo chairs, some really incredible wooden pieces brought over from Bali, and hammock chairs that will rock you to sleep after a sip too many from one of their potent potables. And don’t worry, they’ll still have plenty of TVs out there.

On that note … let’s talk tiki. Their not-too-overwhelming menu (which is unique at a joint like this) will offer 6-7 traditional tiki drinks including the Trader Vic’s Mai Tai and some other goodies like Painkillers, Zombies, and the like. (They have such fun names, no?) Not to be tired, they’ve also come up with some tiki concoctions of their own and will also be serving LARRRRGE format punches in smoking treasure chests and scorpion bowls with a heft price tag of up to $2,000. Not.fucking.kidding.

Not into the tiki thing? They have something for you … a door to walk out of. Kidding. Pilikia will have a full bar and bottle service for the less inclined. And even better, they’ll serve food from a menu that Rodman Shields (Common Table) put together for them. Having a few bites of chicken skewer means you can drink more … right?

: Courtesy of Aaron Wang

So, some other important details and things to look forward to:

The name Pilikia means “trouble” in Hawaiian
Their happy hour is coming soon. When it starts, it’ll be 2-7pm, Tuesday-Friday
At some point, they’ll start opening one Sunday a month to host legit luaus complete with a pig roast
Once it warms up (good joke) in the spring, they’ll be offering live music to make use of the new stage on the patio

Tiki is “so hot right now”, so it’s fitting that Dallas is jumping on the super kitschy bandwagon, and with a drink in-hand. Stop in for their soft opening on Thursday, January 26 starting at 8pm to see what all the fuss is about. Grand opening details are coming soon.

Let’s get into some trouble, shall we?

PILIKIA
PilikiaDallas.com
Facebook | Instagram
3113 Ross Avenue (Downtown/West Dallas)

Open Tuesday – Saturday, 8pm-2am
Closed Sunday and Monday

Jettison at Houndstooth Coffee

There’s a new cocktail den in town, and it quietly opened on October 21st in the burgeoning Sylvan Thirty community in West Dallas. I paid the beautiful and intimate bar a visit last week to check out what magic bar manager George Kaiho (formerly of Tei-An and Parliament) conjured up with his sherry- and mezcal-centric drink menu.

The space itself is intimate, dimly-lit and real damn sexy, with a sleek, dark wood bar top that seats ten people max. The bar stools are the most comfortable I’ve sat on in recent memory, and there’s something about the ceiling that, for whatever reason, is reminiscent of a well-crafted guitar to me.

It’s definitely a good date spot, perfect for pre-dinner cocktails or a tasty nightcap. (I suggest the Manhattan, TX for that – it features four different spirits in one glass, so hold on to your seat.)

Since Jettison’s opening, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling a variety of the cocktails that George created. Here are some of my recommendations beyond the aforementioned Manhattan, TX:

The Flip Side, which features East India Solera sherry, Cardamaro, egg (yes, a whole egg, which is what makes the drink a flip), bitters, and a brûlée garnish, freshly torched in front of your very eyes. The egg adds a silky creaminess which is aptly juxtaposed with the crunchy caramel topping.

The ‘Spro Fizzo, with rum, cream, espresso syrup, soda, egg white, and freshly grated nutmeg. The drink is light, deceptively easy to drink, and pleasantly whimsical. I’d refer to it as a perfect sunny afternoon cocktail. It makes me think that I’m at boozy soda fountain shop.

The One of Those Nights, with Cognac, Amaro, lemon, Curacao, orgeat, cold brew, and star anise garnish. This is one of the few cocktails I’ve had that feature coffee without being cloying. The cold brew highlighted the other flavors in the drink rather than overpowering them.

Jettison_One of Those Nights_Tiffany Tran

Picture by Tiffany Tran

Jettison is a welcome addition to Sylvan Thirty and the Dallas cocktail landscape. With many different bar concepts opening around town in the next six months, it’s refreshing to have a new cocktail den in the midst that’s not afraid to be a quiet voice amongst the noise and pageantry.

Works for me. Let the guests do the talking. We’ll keep coming back.

Jettison at Houndstooth Coffee
1878 Sylvan Ave., Suite E150 (Sylvan Thirty)
Tues-Thurs, 4-11PM, Fri & Sat, 4-12AM