Just one year till Savor Dallas spreads
another smorgasbord of food and wine

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Friday, Feburary 24, 2006

Now, this is Mr. Metroplexual's idea of heaven, or any other utopia with an amazing food court: gourmet dishes and fine wines, all laid out in a room the size of two Goodyear blimps.

I was completely unaware of how intoxicating this bounty could be before I began my tour of the second annual Savor Dallas food and wine show. Think of it as a kind of geeky trade show where everyone walking around is a foodie.

An inveterate epicure who much prefers grazing to gorging, Mr. Metroplexual was absolutely made for Savor. With its attendees dressed up in sleek Prada or down in hip-skimming jeans, Savor attracted just the right discerning crowd, people who knew their carpaccio from their cappuccino -- and who might fawn over a superstar local chef like Dean Fearing as if he were the Dalai Lama.

The first dilemma of the evening was, where to start? I let my eyes choreograph my evening's program of food and wine.

Having recently spent some quality time in Costa Rica, the land of ceviche, my taste buds were primed to compare the rock shrimp and cape scallops version, marinating in a mix of fresh orange and lime juices and stippled with onions and chiles. It was appropriately bracing.

But I had no time to dwell on this delightful tapas starter, as I was being summoned by the woodsy aroma of a wild mushroom risotto, a starchy cradle for some braised lamb shank (from Ferrari's Italian Villa).

An event like this requires an ecumenical appetite for both fish (raw or cooked) and all manner of meat. Fortunately, I made an easy segue from that sublime risotto to some marvels of the sea, including a tuna tataki dabbed with a pungent ponzu sauce or a seared ahi tuna daubed in Cajun spices (the latter from Sullivan's Steakhouse).

Suddenly, beckoning me from what seemed like a mile away was a miniature pot pie from Hector's on Henderson -- though it was slight in heft, it was magnanimous in its use of smoked ham and sage. After inhaling three of the mini pucks, I suddenly craved a substantive bit of pasta. And presto, I couldn't have dreamed up a better plate of "orecchiette" or "little ears," all swabbed in a vodka-tomato cream sauce.

Armed with a wineglass, like my crystal passport, I began what I thought would be a mostly white-wine tour. First stop was a sassy glass of Dancing Bull sauvignon blanc. I followed that with a couple of sips from an astringently dry Lake Sonoma fumé blanc.

Showing virtually no discipline for my white-only wine plan, I couldn't keep myself from sampling a swoon-worthy red: Beaulieu Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon.

Because the price for savoring a bit of everything was nothing, it was time to take my wine-tasting to a whole new level with a stop at the elite Perrier Jouet champagne station.

Even with the prudently small sizes of all the samples, all the food and wine conspired to send me floating out of Savor's tasteful festival -- and counting the days till next year's edition.

Hip tips

Ferrari's Italian Villa
14831 Midway Road
Addison
(972) 980-9898

Sullivan's Steakhouse
17795 North Dallas Parkway
Dallas
(972) 267-9393

Hector's on Henderson
2929 N. Henderson Ave.
Dallas
(214) 821-0432

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