OUR REVIEW OF DEL FRISCO'S DOUBLE EAGLE

You just don’t see many double eagles anymore – unless you frequent cafes favored by extremely old Russian royalists waiting for the Romanovs, like the Old South, to rise again. The double eagle was a symbol of a European royalty both genteel and intermarried, before World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution brought that world crashing down around their heads.

As we see clearly at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, the latest entry in Houston’s upscale carnivore wars, royalty loved nothing better than watching other people work. At this sparkling, two-story palace in the Galleria’s growing Restaurant Row, this is accomplished by having the kitchen downstairs and the dining room up – not the best idea for your own house but a fine notion for watching waiters slog plates full and then empty up and down a wide, thoroughly regal staircase. In another doff of the hat to royalty, Del Frisco’s subscribes to a style of service called “swarm,” in which any waiter near enough to help at your table is expected to. The result for diners is feeling pampered and privileged, as though at your manor surrounded by lots of servants. The result is feeling, well, royal.

How Del Frisco’s got to this point is as an odd story, even by restaurant standards. The first Del Frisco’s opened in New Orleans in the early 1980s. Despite some success there, we imagine it ran up against the fact that New Orleans had room in its heart for only one local steakhouse, Ruth’s Chris. As a result, after several years, the place gave up on the Crescent City (as homebase, anyway) and decamped for Dallas – a place with a bigger heart, thicker wallets and a greater sense of dining curiosity. Nothing is worse for restaurant diversity, after all, than too much customer loyalty. Del Frisco’s flourished and flirted, as people, places and things tend to do in Texas, finally arriving at a liaison with Sullivan’s that allowed it to “marry money.” As a result, there are now Double Eagles going gangbusters in dining and convention destinations like Las Vegas, Orlando and New York City. And now… Houston.

There is, without a doubt, a certain sameness in what each major steakhouse can do, whether it’s national chains like Del Frisco’s, Fleming’s or Ruth’s Chris, or proud local upstarts like Pappas Bros., Vic and Anthony’s or Perry’s. USDA Prime steak is a great start, built out with the now-mandatory seafood, plus indulgent and hopefully varied appetizers and side dishes, plus decadent, usually gargantuan desserts. It’s not their fault so many steakhouse menus look alike – it’s ours. We know what we want when we go, more than with most other restaurant concepts. If it wants to win a place in our rotation, a new place in town had better serve what we want.

In some places, appetizers represent the kitchen’s only chance to get wild and crazy. At Del Frisco’s, starters couldn’t be more traditional, but they are wonderful. Shrimp cocktail and New Orleans-style shrimp remoulade (the first of several references to Del Frisco’s long-ago hometown) are first-rate but blown away by the same jumbo shrimp simply marinated Italian-style in olive oil, garlic and onion. Speaking of onion, the rings are thick and lightly batter-fried, and deliriously pumped up with flavor. For soup lovers, the lightly creamed seafood broth is better than the New Orleans turtle. And for salad lovers, there’s a nifty iceberg wedge with homemade blue cheese, or a less fattening tomato and sweet onion that’s as satisfying as it is sprightly. Everything, of course, comes in large amounts on even larger plates, so be prepared to share. Personally, we don’t think non-sharers (you know who you are) should be allowed to dine out anyway.

Del Frisco’s is a steakhouse, and that means it had better serve great steaks. It does, though the art and science of doing so has made that achievement more commonplace now than ever before. Buy prime meat is the start of the mantra, then cook it in high-tech, high-heat broilers that no home chef could afford in a million years, then serve it with panache on large platters with very large knives. Del Frisco’s does that. In the Panache Dept., it offers several cuts familiar with the bone out with the bone in. For all the predictable jokes about eating like Fred Flintstone, cooking meat bone-in is a wonderful play for maximum flavor, even more than it’s a bit of tableside theatrics. We like the bone-in ribeye, strip or porterhouse best, but we’re sure the anti-chew brigade who prefer filet mignon will be happy at Del Frisco’s too.

Lobsters are of the Australian cold-water variety, thick and succulent tails broiled just until a bit caramelized on top. The halibut with citrus vinaigrette is a seafood winner, along with two thick medallions of sushi-grade tuna offered with the perfect interplay of sweetish soy and tiger-stripes of pungent wasabi mayonnaise.

There are more side dishes offered here than the law ought to allow, so just dig in and order your favorites from childhood. In addition to some great (huge, naturally) baked potatoes for sprinkling with Del Frisco’s apple-smoked bacon, get at least the creamed spinach and the incredible creamed white corn. You’re allowed onion rings at this point only if you didn’t have them as your appetizer. Since by now there’s never any room for dessert, have some anyway and cart the rest home. Best bets are the lemon “dauberge” cake (lemon pound cake meets the French New Orleans favorite) and the whipped, air-filled cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR 12-8

ITALIAN CAN BE HEALTHY
On this week’s show, we launch a new segment created with the editors of Houston Health & Fitness Magazine and devoted to the secrets of “healthy chefs” all over town. We start the monthly series with Anthony Russo of New York Pizzeria, who shares some of the ways his Italian cuisine is not only one of the world’s most ancient but one of the world’s most life-giving. We agree already, Anthony, but we can’t wait to taste the samples you bring to help make your point. Health & Fitness editor Rod Evans joins the fun.

THE WINE SERENADE
Carlo Cignozzi wanted the vines that produce his wonderful, deep-ruby Il Paradiso di Frassina wines in Tuscany to be healthy. And what better way, he figured, to keep a living thing healthy than to play lovely music for it? In the beginning, he played the accordion in his vineyards, but in moré recent years, first-rate sound technology has rescued him from his vine-side vaudeville act. As Carlo explains (and his wife translates), the Brunello vines of Il Paradiso have not only been carefully crafted but lovingly serenaded with Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi and Scarlatti.

LOOKING FOR GOOD SPACE
In keeping with this show’s theme – talking with one healthy chef and then with the maker of healthy wines – we couldn’t resist also inviting two of the healthiest people we know, pilates master Melody Morton of The Good Space and our yoga instructor Selise Stewart. Both women are remarkable since both have worked in terrific restaurants (Selise as a chef) - and both now manage to be healthy while continuing to enjoy the very best in food and wine. As the holidays make ye olde clothes fit tighter by the day, we ask them in desperation for their secret.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
HONEY-JALAPENO PARTY DIP

1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 ½ teaspoons seeded and minced jalapenos
4 teaspoons honey
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire
¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Whisk the mayonnaise with the remaining ingredients, cover and refrigerate. Serve with tortilla chips.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR DEC. 1

CORK OR NO CORK
Wine lovers everywhere love to pop the cork. But what was once a given of the industry is now more of a question, with traditionalists standing tall for the tradition but a host a growing (and surprising) voices sounding off for artificial corks as well as what we all once dismissed as “screw caps.” Author George Taber, who once chronicled another wine revolution – California’s victory over French wines in 1976 – joins us to talk about his new book. “To Cork or Not to Cork” gives all the arguments for all the sides, in a really fascinating way.

HOP IN THE DIRECTION OF SCOTCH
In the past few months, we’ve been lucky enough to sit down with several representatives of Scotch whiskey distillers and learn more about their revered product – and especially those examples of the tradition now known as “single malt.” We’ve been known to partake happily of blended whiskies from Scotland, so all the better when we sit down for a tasting with our new best from Macallan. We’ll surely taste again how soil, climate and craft affect the taste of a fine Scotch, just as they do a fine wine.

THEATER WITH A MESSAGE
Here, just by chance, is another segment inspired by Scotland. A theater troupe born on that northernmost of British Isles has recently spun off an outlet right here in Houston – and when Acting Up puts on a show, its actors aren’t just hoping for a round of applause. Acting Up does theater with a message in mind, one usually having to do with on-the-job safety, and it puts its talents in service to oilfield companies and others who need to hear it. We chat with the Scottish recruiter who set up the program, and the local actor chosen to make it real.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
WARM GERMAN POTATO SALAD

5 potatoes
½ pound bacon
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
½ teaspoon chopped fresh basil
½ cup bacon drippings
½ cup cider vinegar
½ cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked, then peel and slice while still warm. Fry the bacon, drain and crumble. Add the ½ cup bacon drippings to the pan. Saute the onion, celery, tarragon and basil for 5 minutes, then stir in the vinegar and water. Bring to a boil. Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, celery seed and pepper. Combine the dressing with the potatoes and serve warm. Serves 8.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 24

MOTHER OF MEXICAN CUISINE
For 35 years, Carmen (Titita) Ramirez Degollado has been cooking the food of her native Veracruz in her restaurant in Mexico City. Recently, during the Star Chefs International Congress in New York City, we caught up with Carmen and expressed to her our love of Mexican cooking. Of course, when we say that, we generally mean the Tex-Mex wonders we find here in Houston. So in the course of our interview from New York, we explore the many-splendored differences between Mexico City, Veracruz and the borderlands that have given our world so much flavor.

NOT YOUR GRANDMA’S HAM AND CHEESE
You might think you know all you need to know about prosciutto di Parma and the same city’s globally famous cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, but that’s hardly what Fabio Trabocchi would say. The chef, who recently uprooted his career from the Washington, D.C. area to the Big Apple, is also the author of a cookbook celebrating the cuisine of his own native region, Le Marche. Not as well-known as Tuscany or Umbria in the north or Calabria or Sicily in the south, Le Marche has inspired a cooking demo of the most intriguing ham and cheese dish we’ve ever tasted. Fabio is here to tell us all about it.

MEANWHILE, A CHEF FROM TEXAS
Of course, to close out a show from New York City, we had to find someone wonderful from Texas. And thato we did – longtime New Southwestern pioneer Stephan Pyles. Along with Houston’s own Robert del Grande of Café Annie and Dean Fearing of the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Stephan provided a seriousness and credibility that a cuisine based on chicken fried steak and a handful of chile peppers had long lacked. We touch base with Stephan about the state of Texas fine dining – and about his current project in Dallas, a place called… Stephan Pyles.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
SALAD GREENS WITH PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA
AND WARM BALSAMIC DRESSING

Few of us are capable (or interested) enough to make Chef Fabio Trabochhi’s version of ham and cheese, a kind of cheese ice cream with ground prosciutto sprinkled on top like nuts. Here’s a much simpler to prepare and enjoy these two classic products from Parma.

6 cups mixed salad greens, torn in bite-size pieces
3 ounces thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma cut in wide strips (about 1 cup), divided
3/4 cup lightly packed Parmigiano Reggiano shavings (about 1-1/2 ounces), divided
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts, divided
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, divided
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves, torn
1/2 cup bottled balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

In a large bowl, toss the greens with half the Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts, red onion and all of the basil. Pour the balsamic dressing into a microwavable cup and heat just until warm, about 30 seconds; pour over salad and toss gently. Divide salad among four plates. Garnish with remaining Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, pine nuts and onion rings. Serves 4.

SHOW & RECIPE FOR NOV. 17

THOUGHTS ON STAR CHEFS
Recently, Delicious Mischief traveled to New York City – to a new highrise overlooking the site of the former World Trade Center, in fact – for an annual event called the Star Chefs Congress. Though at times no more impactful than the Congress in Washington, this event offered a chance to record several shows for you featuring chefs whose reputations transcend the ones we know in Houston. It also was a great chance to check out dishes and ingredients and ideas destined to turn up on all our plates very soon, since that’s what all the chefs in attendance were talking about.

WINES FROM BRAZIL
It’s a safe statement that these days the wines we find on the shelves of Spec’s hail from countries we didn’t even knew produced wine a mere generation ago. That doesn’t mean the wine operations there are “new,” since some have histories going back a century or more. But our awareness of them is new. On this week’s Grape & Grain segment, we sit down for a tasting in New York City with two leading wine people from Brazil to tell us all the whys and wherefores – one a representative of the industry itself, the other a member of the Miolo family that brought its Italian winemaking heritage to this brave new world.

THE ART OF THE DEAL
Most people who talk about opening a restaurant assume they’ll make a small fortune doing it. And, to quote the old joke, unless you’re starting with a large fortune, that’s highly unlikely. Restaurant ownership is a complicated and difficult way to make a few bucks, even though most of the chefs attending the StarChefs Congress were hoping for their own place someday. In our final segment, we talk seriously with a globetrotting consultant named Adam Block, who has put together a lot of those “celeb chef” restaurant deals that have transformed Las Vegas and virtually everywhere else.

This Week’s Delicious Mischief Recipe…
APPLE-BRINED SMOKED TURKEY

1 ¾ quarters apple juice
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
3 quarts water
3 Texas oranges, quartered
6 slices fresh ginger
15 whole cloves
5 bay leaves
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14-pound) turkey, cleaned
¼ cup olive oil

Bring the apple juice, brown sugar and salt to a boil. Dissolve the sugar, cook for 1 minute and remove from heat. Let mixture cool to room temperature. In a large (5-gallon) container, combine the water, oranges, ginger, cloves, bay leaves and garlic. Stir in the apple juice mixture. Submerge the turkey in this apple “brine,” cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. (Use heavy weight to keep turkey submerged, if necessary.)

Set up your grill for indirect cooking using soaked wood chips for smoke. Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry. Tie the legs together with string. Lightly brush the turkey with olive oil. Set on a rack inside a heavy foil pan and cook over medium heat until wings are golden brown, about 45 minutes. Wrap the wings in foil to prevent them from burning. Continue roasting until the breasts are golden brown, about 1 hour. Cover entire turkey with foil and cook until the juices run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife, or the internal temperature reaches about 180 degrees. Estimate: 12-14 minutes per pound. Transfer turkey wrapped in foil to a cutting board and let meat rest for 20 minutes before carving. Use the pan drippings to make a gravy, if desired. Serves 8-10.