ANOTHER RESTAURANT BITES THE DUST, AND THEY CAN BITE ME

Dang, I’m either dangerous or stupid. In the February issue, Teresa Gubbins and I announced our picks for the ten best new restaurants in Dallas. By the time the magazine hit the stands, Chris Svalesen of Go Fish was fishing for a new restaurant, Tutto’s exec chef and owner Joseph Gutierrez was back in Phoenix, and Todd Erickson was no longer the whiz kid at Hector’s. (For the record, owner Hector Garcia did call.) I will never write about any of these flakes again. They all knew the issue was coming–we took their pictures for crap’s sake–and none of them had the courtesy to call me.

So, what happened when I turned in my Tony’s Prime Steakhouse review for the May issue? Eagle-eyed copy editor Laura Kostelny, the Lois Lane of D Magazine, called to fact check. They were closed. In operation only 62 days. (Nice business plan.) The owners I’d interviewed didn’t call, but chef Kenny Mills did. So, Kenny, this never-to-be-published review is for you:

May 06
Taste
Newcomer

HED: Where Happy Feet Meet to Eat

SUB: Longtime supper club owner Tony Taherzadeh gives his customers what they want. He’s turned Stone Trail Steakhouse into a dining jazz club and opened Tony’s Prime Steakhouse, a white tablecloth, upscale chophouse in Addison.

By: Nancy Nichols

After more than 30 years in the restaurant business, Tony Taherzadeh has learned how to change with the times without changing too much of a good thing. By good thing, I mean the supper club-a restaurant where you dine on one side and dance the calories away on the other. In fact, Tony has almost single handedly kept the dinner and dancing concept alive in Dallas. Over the years, he’s successfully supplied diners with elegant, upscale-places-to-date spots like Papillon, Farfallo, and Stone Trail Steakhouse. You can always count on Tony for good food, good jazz, and a good time.

So, when I learned that Mr. Taherzadeh was developing Tony’s Prime Steakhouse, a fine dining and dancing restaurant in the same parking lot as Stone Trail, I was baffled. Color me stupid, but why would a restaurateur open his own competition? I smelled something fishy in the cow business in Addison and I set out to investigate.

We took our seats in the dimly lit dining room where veteran waiters supplied us efficiently with menus, bread, and water. Hah! I recognized one. “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” I asked in my super sleuthy investigative reporter voice. “Why yes, I’ve worked at Stone Trail for many years,” he said. “But when the owner decided to move here, I came with him.”

My inner Inspector Clouseau was ablaze. “So what’s going on at Stone Trail,” I asked, feigning nonchalance as I slid my reading glasses down my nose and perused the dinner menu. “Well, the crowd has changed and the owners decided to make it more of a club. You know it’s become a big hangout for blacks who love to dance. They changed the menu, you know, added a few fried items, and they are only open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.”

Very interesting, I thought as the information seeped to my brain. And very smart of Mr. Taherzadeh to capture and adapt to the changing demographics of Addison. A gentle shame on you to the waiter for his off-color remarks but, hey, there we were, two seemingly trustworthy WASPy fiftysomethings looking for dinner and a dance and carrying on like we’d just found our new home.

Face it: Tony’s is a real chophouse and, along with the country club, one of the last vestiges of the American WASP dining culture. Tony’s new dining club is the 21st century version of a 1970s supper club right down to the traditional smoky mirrors, dark wood accents, and Lyonnaise potatoes.

Thanks to Three 6 Mafia, we know it’s hard out there for a pimp, but inside Tony’s Prime Steakhouse it’s easy to get a great steak. Or veal chop, lamb chop, or pork chop. And we ordered one of each plus a porterhouse.

The pork was “Kurobuta.” “Huh, wassup with that?” we jokingly jived our waiter. He didn’t know but returned shortly to tell us that the pig had “lived a free life running around the woods eating roots and berries”. (Oh, how I miss the ’70s.) We also learned that the swine was a Berkshire pig, a breed specifically known for its tender, more flavorful meat. Our chop was intensely rich, marbled, and cooked to just piggy pink. Thanks to executive chef Kenneth Mills, who excelled at The Capital Grille for four years before heading up the kitchen at Tony’s, for bravely venturing past the done-to-death pork trend. Double thanks to him for the spicy warm chutney on the side.

The gargantuan veal chop was gorgeous: bare and pink and juicy. And the porterhouse steak, too. Mills’ rule seems to be the simpler the better. Plates are garnished sparsely with a bit of watercress and tomato. If you want extra fuss, you can choose from his selection of side sauces: Jack Daniels, béarnaise, Courvoisier cream, garlic butter, green peppercorn, bordelaise, of Roquefort butter.

Sorry to say that the lamb was the only dish that broke Mills’ rule. The chops were torturously dredged in mustard and crumbs and sautéed–a horrible thing to do to a Colorado lamb chop. The taste of the poor little lamb was lost in mustard and salt.

Thankfully, there’s nothing tricky about the side dishes, most are standard steakhouse fare like sautéed spinach, grilled asparagus, and sautéed mushrooms. But we loved the Lyonnaise potatoes-big crusty potato chunks all tangled up with caramelized onions. Ditto for the salad of lovely hearts of palm cut slantwise and mixed with slices of mango.

Tony’s is a true blue chophouse right down to the last bite. Key lime pie, with a solid smooth texture, was the natural jaundiced color of the real deal, not an electric green imitation. The velvety chocolate cake was deliciously fresh and would have been perfect except for unnecessary puddle of pink fruit sauce on the plate.

With the exception of the social faux pas by one waiter, service was otherwise polished, professional, and well timed. The wine list, designed by Tony’s son, Amier Taherzadeh, owner of Chateau Wine Market and Bodega Bar, is extensive and not overly expensive. Well-written descriptions of each bottle take a lot of the guesswork out of choosing what you like. The bar also pours what one of my veteran reviewer friends called “a real man’s martini”–on the rocks, served in a solid “neat” glass with “a mess of olives.”

As we left, Bobby Young and the Uniques were starting their set and the club side was peppered with bubble headed blondes dangling a Chardonnay in one hand and a Virginia Slim in the other. Several couples were already tripping the lights on the dance floor. It’s nice to know that Tony has done it again. And as WASP’s we were almost drawn to the flame, but we had to get home. Law & Order was calling our name. 14831 Midway Rd. Addison. 972-774-1900. $$$ Full Bar