The Busy Gourmand

17552 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75287, (972) 818-0068
www.maguiresdallas.com

As I am sitting down to write this I am perplexed by the fact that I have never attempted to write a review for Maguire’s Restaurant. I dine at the restaurant at least three to four times per year. The food runs from solidly good to very good. It has a pleasant atmosphere. The service is consistently good. Maybe it is one of those things where you know it so well you just take it for granted.

Last night I attended one of their signature wine tasting dinners. For some time now Maguire’s has been presenting “wine dinners” where a vintner comes in and presents a selection of wines with a four or five course offering from the restaurant. The fixed prices run from $69 to $89 per person plus tax and gratuity. This is a real bargain when you consider the complexity of the undertaking.

I have to admit I approach such things with trepidation. The menu is decidedly very different from the restaurant’s usual offering and you have to dine with complete strangers. Sometimes this can be an adventure other times a total disaster. Last night it turned out to be one of the best dining experiences I have had in Dallas.

The wines were provided by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, a brand that I am familiar with, but at a price point I would not normally venture into unless it was a special occasion. The menu contained both safe selections (steak au poivre) and innovative selections (stuffed sea bass, wrapped in prosciutto, in a sun dried tomato pesto). The wine presenter was good at presenting the wines in a brief, breezy manner, allowing for a few questions but more importantly a lot of time to taste the wines with the food. And time to discuss the food and wine with the people at our table. It was kind of fun discussing the wine with total strangers, who all happened to be very nice.

The menu was thoughtfully prepared, beginning with a delicious carrot & fennel soup, followed by a panko crusted soft shell crab over a mixed green salad, followed by the stuffed sea bass, then on to the steak au poivre, and a nice finish with a mango custard. The sea bass was definitely my favorite. Wrapped in prosciutto and served with sun dried tomato pesto and paired with a merlot (Red wine with fish? Of course!), this was just a dream on the plate. This was a most improbable selection of ingredients that worked perfectly.

As for the wine, I would add the Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (2007), and the Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon (2007) to my list of wines to buy. I am not a big fan of white wines but this Sauvignon Blanc was very full bodied and well rounded. It was not overwhelmed by the food, unlike many similar wines. The Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine made famous by the movie “Bottle Shock,” is a wonderfully dry, full-bodied red wine. It paired well with the steak au poivre. At $21 and $52 per bottle, respectively, they would make a good special occasion selection.

I would suggest you subscribe to the Maguire’s e-mail list for these dinners. It makes for a great evening. And, let’s face it, when is the last time you had a five course meal, and tasted five different expensive wines for under $100 per person?

Thinking back to the everyday Maguire’s, I think I figured out why I did not write a review earlier. While I like their menu it tends to the usual steaks and chops that are all too common in Dallas. It is the only restaurant in Dallas where I will eat the pork chop, so the steaks and chops are excellent. I wish they would take more of a walk on the wild side once in awhile and offer the sea bass wrapped in prosciutto or some other similar experiment.

I heartily recommend the restaurant. It gets an A+ for consistency. Now if we could just throw in a bit more innovation like we saw at the wine dinner, I would eat there with greater frequency.