By Chris Houston
The Porch Dallas Review
Like so many other things in Dallas, The Porch Dallas restaurant and bar at 2912 N Henderson sports a nearly imperceptible façade, concealing what lies below the urban bustle of Uptown. Not unlike women with beach-blond hair and unembellished black eyebrows or men with $150 polos who valet 15 year-old Corollas, (both of which were on display at The Porch Dallas last Saturday), the restaurant claims to be something it is not—as stony and waspy as the environment in which it’s located.
Once the stress of finding a parking space is shed, allowing blood to flow back to your knuckles, The Porch Dallas’s well… porch can be seen from Henderson, nestled quaintly between two alleyways garlanded by arching trees and accompanied by stone walkways and solid oak benches. The cacophony coming from within, ebbing and flowing with each swing of the front door, reminds patrons of exactly where they are in Dallas, but the menu reminds them why they came.
After a brief wait in the arboretum-like ally, perhaps enjoying a local Texas brew from the tap, of which there were at least 10, expect to be escorted promptly and seated curtly at one of the many diner-fashion booths in the humming restaurant. At first, the menu may look underwhelming by Dallas standards, but under closer scrutiny ingredients like “beer braised pei mussels,” “foie butter,” and “sorghum-whiskey glaze” betray the level of sophistication and artisanal quality sought after by the modern foodie.
To start, the “Jalapeño Corn Bread with Honey Butter” will give your Blood and Honey a sponge, so that by the time dessert comes, there are taste buds alert enough to savor the “Salted Caramel & Chocolate Bread Pudding.” The corn bread is the perfect complement to many of the hearty “Specialty” items on the menu, including the “House Smoked Texas Chicken” and the “House Smoked Brisket & Barbacoa Enchiladas.”
Its fresh jalapeños peer through the crust before the skillet is placed on the table, giving a mild, sweet crunch to the dish, seamlessly pairing with the ice-cream-scoop-sized dollop of honey butter slathering the top. Half the dish will be gone before the entrees come, but don’t be surprised if, by the end of the meal, all hands at the table are scrapping the crumbs from the bottom of the skillet after sampling a piece of cornbread with a bite of this entree or the next.
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When the eyes gaze the mandolin-thin slices of radish on top of the enchiladas, a conclusion arises—these are not ordinary enchiladas. The smoke from the brisket used within the thin corn tortillas can literally be smelled a block away, and the joy that ensues when the realization is made that that smell is coming from your plate at your table is nothing less than spiritual. With a meticulous dusting of sweet, tangy BBQ sauce, fresh avocado, and cotija cheese, each forkful will land on the tongue, both refreshing and satiating.
It is some time between when the server lays down the silverware, (wrapped in the same coarse, thick, white and red-stripped napkins that could just as easily be found in a rural diner that’s been open since the ‘60s), and the second spoonful of homemade vanilla ice cream that garnishes the top of the “Salted Caramel & Chocolate Bread Pudding,” where the black flecks of fresh vanilla bean polka dot the surface, that you recognize the New York noise of the restaurant wasn’t bothersome at all, that the service was unprecedentedly crisp and friendly, and the food was surprisingly… humble. So the next time a hankering for downhome southern cooking beckons like a dinner bell, ingest the irony, head Uptown, and peer through the veneer at The Porch Dallas.