Have you ever taken a bite of something so delicious that you thought to yourself, “I have to tell someone about this!” I’m sure you have because we all feel that way sometimes. It doesn’t matter if it’s savory, sweet, or both, we just want to tell someone about how perfect a dish was. After traveling around in 2021, eating and visiting with chefs and restaurant folks, I had an idea. I wanted to spread a little deliciousness among my friends; I wanted to share with everyone the BEST DISHES I ATE in 2021.
2021 was our most successful year at locating creative chefs and delicious dishes. We traveled through 10 different states, logging our most miles ever and visiting a record number of chefs and restaurants. I wanted to highlight some of the most unique and delicious dishes you should try in 2022. These are my top restaurants with dishes, and there’s a big variety so there’s something for everyone!
I enjoyed visiting and eating with some of the best chefs and restaurant folks in the business. Each dish has been carefully chosen and is a chef-driven dish prepared by the best! They only use fresh ingredients, vegetables, and spices to create some bold, modern flavor profiles that everyone will love. Most of the eats are simple dishes that are prepared with passion, love, and creativity. Remember, a simple dish is sometimes the most difficult to facilitate because all parts must be complete perfection. I believe that in most cases simple is better because it gives each ingredient that culinary jingle to create deliciousness.
It’s going to be a fantastic 2020 for the food and drink scene in Texas.
I have some exciting news for everyone that loves to eat savory, sweet, delicious brunch in cowtown.
Celebrity Chef Stefon Rishel who won Top Chef a few years back has opened his new award-winning Wishbone and Flyntspeakeasy and restaurant concept.
That’s correct, Chef Stefon is back and he is slinging deliciousness for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner.
The restaurant is located about a mile south of downtown Fort Worth off Main Street at 334 Bryan Ave 76104.
The Wishbone and Flyntconcept was created by Chef Stefon and his partners. They have a colorful menu loaded with a variety of creative, savory, sweet, and delicious dishes.
Top Chef Stefon Rishel!
The interior of the restaurant is cozy. It’s decorated with eclectic furnishings with old world charm that make it the perfect spot for a dinner date, doing business, or just chowing down on one of Chef Stefon’s award-winning dishes. The atmosphere is vibrant and welcoming. The award-winning Amber Room is the attached speakeasy. It’s full of cozy little spots to sit and enjoy a glass of wine, a creative craft cocktail, or some Texas vodka and whiskey.
It is one of the coziest little spots in Texas to have some fun and enjoy some delicious bites. It is perfect for socializing with that special someone, a group of friends, or just for having fun.
We tried a few dishes off the BRUNCH menu and they blew me away. Of course, I knew they would be extremely creative and delicious.
I’ve loved and respected Chef Stefon for years. He is truly one of the most creative culinary geniuses of his generation. A self-taught chef that literally can create some of the most amazing sweet and savory dishes that are mouth-watering, colorful, picture-perfect, and just “Stupid Delicious”!
Stefon’s creativity knows no bounds and he will stop at nothing in the pursuit of the best and most creative culinary delights.
The brunch menu is fantastic and is loaded with dishes like;
Tiramisu French Toast, Wild Rice & Blueberry Pancakes, Enchilada Stack, Stefon’s Special Chilaquiles, Roasted Chili Relleno, and so much more.
I have to tell you that the Tiramisu French Toast was just “Stupid Delicious”! Yes, I said STUPID DELICIOUS because it is so insanely flavorful. It’s simply addicting.
It’s prepared with vanilla brioche, espresso custard, whipped mascarpone, espresso syrup, fresh berries, and a little bit of freaking deliciousness.
The Stefon Burger was prepared with a custom burger blend; Brisket, chuck, short rib, & belly. Seared in duck fat, topped with Vermont white cheddar, on a soft custom brioche bun. Yeah, I said seared in duck fat, baby! Talk about a succulent hamburger. His burger will be winning hearts and stomachs all over Texas.
If you follow me then you know I believe food always tastes better with a story so here you go.
When they sat the Tiramisu French Toast in front of Jana, the aromatics lofted in the air with deliciousness.
Jana hasn’t tasted one of Chef Stefon’s dishes so when she picked up her fork I was watching her close. I was watching her for one reason because I wanted to see her expression after she took her first bite. I’ve been eating Stefon’s food for years and I always love to see the expressions on people’s faces when they taste it for the first time.
She had a big smile on her face and said, “OMG. Trey, this is one of the best dishes I’ve had in a year! I can’t believe how flavorful this dish is.”
I responded, “That’s my boy Stefon, the culinary genius that knows no bounds to create sweet and savory dishes. His food will dance around on your pallet like a bunch of professional ballerinas dancing across the stage at a fine broadway production. His food will make you smile. It will warm your heart and soul. It’ll have you so hooked you can never put your fork down. He is, simply put, a culinary self-taught genius”!
Do yourself a favor and head over to Wishbone and Flynt and grab you a big ol’ plate of Stefon deliciousness.
Grilled Atlantic Salmon: granny smith apples, bitter greens, lobster caramel
Back in the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, long before there was any social media platforms, entertainment facilities, and organized bar events we had luxurious dinner clubs.
These clubs had first-class service where the staff catered to every customer’s need. No matter what they needed, the staff and the dinner club would make it happen.
I know this because my family-owned restaurants and two meat companies in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at that timeframe. My granddad, along with his sales staff, would make sales calls on dinner clubs and gambling halls offering all kinds of meat products. I heard all the stories about how vibrant, interesting, and classy those clubs were back in the day.
My granddad and grandma would visit these places in the evening time, socializing with clients and their customers. It was a different time and place back then, and at times I wish as a society we still had some of those values.
Lobster Potstickers: soy-ginger dipping sauce
If you’re one of the three million or so folks we reach every month then you how much I love to socialize, listen to great music, and slingback some cocktails. They say the apple doesn’t far from the tree and my case that is true.
I’m passionate about locating the very best food and drink experiences in Texas for everyone to enjoy. That means when I get a call, or I hear about a new place, I always make time to visit and see what it’s all about.
When I heard there was a new dinner club in Dallas I wondered if it would be a true dinner club or one of those places that just called themselves a dinner club.
As we were riding up the elevator to the dinner club I was getting excited about the possibility of certifying this place as one of the only true dinner clubs in DFW for our followers.
I’m happy to say I was extremely excited by the time the doors opened on the elevator.
Roof Top Bar and lounge area
The Clover Clubis everything you could imagine and more. It’s a vibrant club with fantastic music, delicious chef-driven, flavor-packed menu, with a classy retro feel. I’m in love with the 1950’s vibe and the 2019 sound.
Chef Anthony believes in using only farm fresh vegetables and ingredients to achieve bold flavor profiles in every dish.
Eddie “Lucky” Campbell, who also owns the Parliament and the Standard Pour, partnered with Chef Anthony Van Camp to create dinner club magic in Dallas.
Season of Summer: Citrus infused vodka, lemon verbena, watermelon, yuzu, sea salt, soda…
They have an entertainment director onboard as well. They organize the big band entertainment to ensure they keep the first-class standards that makes the Clover Club truly an original in Dallas.
After you eat and listen to some amazing music, or if you just want to take a little break, you can head upstairs to the rooftop bar and lounge area.
I truly enjoyed the rooftop it has amazing views of the Dallas area. You can grab some cocktails and take a seat on some comfortable patio furniture. If you like the bar area you can sit there too, or stand and gaze over the city of Dallas while you enjoy the beautiful evening in Texas.
I’m excited and thrilled to say I’m in love with The Clover Club. The offer real dinner and music experiences for everyone who walks through their doors. All I can say is: ” Clover Club is a place where one can eat, drink, and listen to some amazing music in a vibrant atmosphere. It’s truly a Dallas original and I’m glad they decided to create this beautiful place for everyone to enjoy.”
Button’s Soul Food is now a Fort Worth tradition and everyone should visit this soul food and music heaven!
Chef Keith Hicks is always slinging deliciousness and good times at Button’s. Trey’s Chow Down always loves a visit to Button’s it fills you full of energy, good times, and great food! Chef Hicks explains, Buttons is built around the idea the love of great food and music are universal, the idea that diversity is beautiful and that all people have much in common.
A few years ago I heard about this brunch event. After my diligent research, I found that it was centered on brunching. I was like, “One price for a bunch of chef-driven brunch dishes AND it includes cocktails too? Sign me up folks. I’m there.”
This event was forreal a fantastic brunch event filled with incredibly delicious brunch cuisine like powdered donuts, candied bacon, biscuits and gravy, maple and chocolate pancakes. I can go on forever. It is areal foodies dream come true.
Just A Brunch’in!
The events name is the “Dallas Observer – Morning After Brunch”, and it’s truly a Texas sized brunch that doesn’t compare to anything you’ve ever seen before. I’ve never seen so many mouth-watering, knee-slapping, chef-driven brunch dishes in one spot! There are so many, you couldn’t get to all of them. We only made about eighteen, or twenty, before we had to jump in a wheel barrel to roll ourselves out of the Dallas Farmer’s Market.
We had a bit of trouble trying to jump in the wheel barrel to make our exit with empty cocktail glasses in both hands, powered donuts in our jacket pockets, and four or five strips of Doc B’s delicious candied bacon stuffed in our shirts, but we managed to make it work. I felt like a food thief piglet at an all-you-can-eat late night buffet in Las Vegas. I was on a brunch high like no other!
When I tell you they had cocktails, I’m talking about serious cocktails. They didn’t just have a few selections of beer and wine they had it all; Deep Ellum Distillery Vodka, KORBEL Champagne, Wine, Jack Daniels whiskey, Bloody Mary’s, Creative cocktail mixes, much more. They offered custom Bloody Mary’s too! Oh it was a cocktail lovers dream. If you would have seen me with all that food and trying to hold cocktails in both hands, you might think I had a serious partying issue.
Trey’s Chow Down T.V. Best Burgers of 2018 Fox 4 Good Day with Lauren
This years list was crazy! We chowed down on 120 burgers and visited over a 100 different burger joints and restaurants to complete our list.
For the past five years at Trey’s Chow Down.Comwe’ve researched and compiled a list of the best burgers I’ve eaten that year. The first year it started at Fort Worth Magazine with what I thought was the best burger I ate. As time went on, more and more folks would ask me what I thought about this burger or that burger. In 2017, I increased my dedication to research and the number of burgers for the list. I had to increase the list to the TOP 15 BURGERS in DFW because there are many places promoting and selling delicious burgers. I needed to be fair, accurate, and credible. Our “Best Burger List” has become so popular (251,000 views in 2017) that I’ve decided to make some changes for 2018 and for the future of our Trey’s Chow Down Best Burger Contest. I’ve created TWO NEW burger categories and a BEST ALL AROUND WINNER for 2018 and beyond.
The NEW categories will be as follows:
– BEST OLD FASHION Burger
– BEST CRAFT Burger
– BEST ALL AROUND Winner
I truly love a delicious burger but the beef industry has changed so much in the last five decades. I felt I needed to make the decision to create the NEW categories for fair judging and a TRUE BEST BURGER LIST.
To me, a CRAFT burger is completely different in creation and flavor profile. They can be prepared with delicious creative toppings, a variety of expensive fresh meats, premium aged cheese, with a fancy bakery fresh bun. A craft burger can get expensive depending on how it is created. When it comes to craft burgers my flavor profile has a wide range. I will try anything to see what kind of burger deliciousness a chef has created to achieve the number one tasting burger in the burger wars. There are lots of crazy flavor profiles for craft burgers. Plenty of the craft burger creations have the ability to send your taste buds to the flavor rodeo and have you screaming giddy up with each bite.
Every once in a while folks will say, “You should see this place it’s amazing”. They sometimes say anything to get your attention about something new they’ve tired. Folks just want to share their happiness! This was exactly what I was told about Restaurants On Lamar and I just had to see it!
Last month I was invited to tour the NEW Restaurants On Lamar at the Omni hotel in Dallas. I thought to myself, it must be some restaurants inside the Omni Hotel? If I’ve learned anything in my five decades on this earth in the food and drink business is that one should NEVER EVER have preconceived notions about anything. Especially when it comes to restaurants nowadays. Making assumptions can sometimes lead ya to be wrong.
That’s exactly what happened to me when it came to Restaurants On Lamar. What I thought about it before seeing it was nothing like it actually was… not even close!
When I pulled up to the Omni I drove past a cluster of restaurants across from the Omni on Lamar Street. It was at this point I started to grasp what was happening. Restaurants On Lamar is an amazing new concept at the Omni Dallas. They have eight different restaurants, three different bars, each with beer, drinks, or creative cocktails. Each location falls under one blanket drinking permit so you can walk around with your drinks while you dine and socialize. It also includes one of the largest sports bars I’ve ever visited with private booths and VIP areas available. These restaurants are eight separate concepts complete with skilled chefs with creative farm-fresh chef-driven menus at each one. They have award-winning cuisine with impeccable customer service. They have creative and colorful cocktails that number in the hundreds tasting like heaven. To make this new concept even better they have FREE parking for customers. I’m talking about over 400 spaces plenty of parking NOT like you normally find in the DFW area these days where you’re hunting for a parking space or walking a mile after parking. FREE parking in downtown Dallas, WHAT? Well now! Free parking, eight different restaurant concepts, three bars, a sports bar, four patios one with a big outdoor fireplace, and a roof top patio and bar all in the same location? Boy, now you have my attention!
Think about the holidays, birthdays, parties, events, and anniversaries that can be celebrated at Restaurants in Lamar. I want you to stop and think just consider this fact for a minute… You have family in town, but it’s hard because so many folks like different cuisine and they just can’t decide where to dine. Well, at Restaurants on Lamar that is not an issue. You can visit several locations and enjoy different food cultures and food groups. Maybe you want to have a special anniversary you can eat in one spot, have dessert at another spot, and then have a few cocktails after that. You never have to leave Restaurants On Lamar.
Here is my favorite situation of all, the family trap. Honey our house isn’t big enough to have all your family members; I don’t want them all over here at the same time! What do we do? Well, Trey’s Chow Downjust saved the day, your relationship, and your families combined over all happiness. Invite them all to meet you at Restaurants On Lamar for an evening or daytime packed with family fun and deliciousness. Heck, have them meet you at the Biergarten On Lamar first get them all to lighten up before you head out on your restaurant tour. If they’re coming from out of town they can book a room at Omni and BAM you meet them at Restaurants On Lamar a.k.a. a Trey’s Chow Down delicious destination.
Now that I have your attention I want to discuss each restaurant concept so you understand what we are talking about at this delicious destination.
East and West collided in 1852, when Matthew Perry of the USA Steam Navy was assigned to open ports to the west trade. Saltwater stained his metal ships black as he made his way to Japan and therefore, the Japanese referred to them as ‘black ships’. The story is brought to life in traditional Japanese, Korean and American dishes.
Bob’s Steak & Chop House is a nationally renowned steak house specializing in the finest corn-fed, Midwestern prime beef. The menu formula at this Dallas culinary landmark is simple: incredible meat, gigantic shrimp, fabulous salads and decadent desserts. Classic steak house food prepared and presented in a manner that Bon Appétit calls “the kind of fare you’ll want to go back for again and again.”
Quality and service are two of the main ingredients that make up the culture, along with a quintessential Dallas dining experience. Because of the caliber of the product, servers exude a friendly confidence that charges the atmosphere and restaurant with vitality. Award-winning food, educated service, and warm, classic décor make dining at Bob’s Steak & Chop House an outstanding experience.
In 1971, Momma Herrera opened her first restaurant with the familiar recipes she grew up within Mexico. Fast forward to 2015 and the family tradition is carried to Omni Dallas’s Restaurants on Lamar with the Herrera family continuing to showcase the authentic, upscale Mexican cuisine including classic enchiladas, street tacos, and signature margaritas. Vibrant colors and fixtures complement the textures of Mexico the Herrera family grew up in and give guests a lively backdrop to a fun foodie adventure.
Texas Spice, serving three meals daily, captures the true flavor of Texas with an emphasis on local ingredients and southern style offering a twist on hometown classics. The innovative farm-to-market concept incorporates the freshest ingredients to create great food and a casual dining experience. The rustic interior was designed with repurposed materials that include red brick walls, garage-door-style doors, and wood details. Whether dining in the main dining room, a private dining room or on the spacious outdoor patio, every guest is sure to feel connected to the history of Dallas while enjoying the comfort of a home-cooked meal.
Texas Spice “Recently named a Diners’ Choice Winner by OpenTable.com.”
The Owners Box at Omni Dallas Hotel is a sports lover’s dream with state-of-the-art features and the latest technology including a 16-foot screen for viewing the game. The full-service bar and authentic menu is just the start to an amazing sports bar. Never miss the game again with private game-watching tables that include sound isolating technology and interactive scheduling to fit your needs. Enjoy the big game from every angle on multiple LCD HDTVs, patio dining and oversized seating areas.
After 9:00 p.m., guests must be 21+ to enter The Owners Box. This time is subject to change due to special events; please contact the hotel with any questions.
Pegasus Bar is overlooking restaurants on Lamar and is Texas chic. Great drinks, cocktails, trendy décor and good vibes. You can see the big restored neon Pegasus Bar from the windows. They also have a big outdoor patio to enjoy with a big floor space if you so desire to move about.
One of my favorite things in this world is eating biscuits. Any type of biscuits, in any dish, in any form! I’ve been pondering on the idea of writing a story on biscuits because they are so delicious. After TWO whole years of research, I finally decided to let all my fellow foodies know where the best biscuits are located. I waited for TWO years because new eateries kept opening. Here we go everyone hop on the biscuit train!
Dictionary.com defines biscuits as…Any of various hard or crisp dry baked products: such as
(1) British : cracker (2) British : cookie
b : a small quick bread made from dough that has been rolled out and cut or dropped from a spoon. They’re just so much more than this.
When I read this, I laughed and thought we need to have a good ol’ Texas version of a definition for what biscuit means. So here it is…
Trey’s Chow Down defines biscuit as: a delicious lil flour-based treat cooked until golden brown perfection. It is fluffy, flaky, soft and should be covered with gravy or slathered in butter and jelly. It can be used for a sandwich, breakfast, or brunch treat.
I’ve been looking all over DFW for the best of the best biscuits. I’ve found some really delicious ones along with spreads to top them with. I hope you enjoy these lil bites of goodness as much as I enjoyed eating them. Head over to any of these places and let me know what you think! Be sure and tell ’em who sent you!
I grew up in Texas in the ranching/beef/restaurant business. One would think I would be a beef man! A person who only consumes beef! That is far from the truth. My family history in the ranching business has given me all the opportunity in the world of beef from raising it to selling it for private sale. I grew up in the family restaurant business and even handled the moving, cutting, packaging of the beef, and making our custom chili in the meat company. It was a lot of work, but gave me great insight and knowledge in the food business.
I do enjoy all kinds of food. I love chicken! Especially LOVE fried chicken. There is just something about rolling that chicken in a delicious batter, setting it into a fryer, and ending up with a beautifully crisp chicken. It comes out of the fryer all hot, crispy and crackling… Your senses seem to go into what I like to call, “Full Tilt Chicken Boogie”. OMG the crispy skin and the soft delicious meat can make anyone go crazy. I find it hard to control myself!
A lot has changed in the last 20 years within the culinary world. Chefs have gotten more creative with fried chicken dishes and flavor profiles. This combination of creativity and fried chicken has made the business better than ever. I set out to find the most delicious fried chicken. I’m talking all types of fried chicken. Fried chicken on biscuits, fried chicken and waffles, spicy fried chicken, and regular old fried crispy fried chicken. You name it!
Please enjoy the best Fried Chicken Trey’s Chow Down has ever eaten in the Fort Worth and Dallas area.
Every once in a while folks will say, “You should see this place it’s amazing”. They sometimes say anything to get your attention about something new they’ve tired. Folks just want to share their happiness! This was exactly what I was told about 
