Restaurant review: Wayward Sons picks a promising direction

It’s no surprise that Wayward Sons is one of the hottest new restaurants in Dallas, given all that it has going for it: prime location on Greenville Avenue, savvy owners and a renowned chef.

When all those things are combined, they conjure a certain energy, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The team behind it is a big part of the draw.

Owners Brandon Hays and Phillip Schanbaum have built a reputation for their small but growing portfolio of bars, some with food, including So & So’s on McKinney Avenue. Where they go, the Uptown bons vivants will follow.

They have partnered with chef Graham Dodds, formerly of Bolsa, Central 214 and Hibiscus, and one of Dallas’ most acclaimed chefs. He brings the forward-thinking foodie crowd as well as a sense of gravitas, ushering the young bar owners into the realm of fine dining.

At Wayward Sons, Dodds continues his mission of championing seasonality and local ingredients. There are signature dishes such as the Windy Meadows chicken and dumplings ($20), like the inside of a chicken potpie, and a $15 burger made of beef from Texas-based 44 Farms, served with thick wedge-fried potatoes reminiscent of the triple-cooked fries he did at Central 214.

But the menu digs more aggressively into vegetables, in a direction new for Dodds and Dallas, with vegetarian and vegan options conceived with a rare degree of creativity.

The pacesetter was the garden charcuterie ($22), a vegetarian version of the popular cured-meat sampler, served on a round of wood that was literally a horizontal slice of a tree. Its ingredients change but might include pickled root vegetables, olives, goat cheese terrine, a crumbly “sausage” made from lentils, and a fake foie gras made from sunchoke puree, topped with a dark, glossy mock aspic.

Salads were gorgeous, including arugula ($12), wild and peppery, with poached pears, spicy pecans and blue cheese; and a Waldorf ($11) with pine nuts, julienned celery root, escarole and grapes.

Entrees ran from the familiar, such as fried catfish ($18), to novelties such as gnocchi ($22) made from parsley root and served with mushrooms and artichokes, always with enough of a twist to intrigue.

Smoked lamb brisket ($22) was a new-wave version of barbecue, served with a slaw made of strips of parsnip and carrot, and thick slices of pickle. The lamb had a shaggy black salty crust and fell apart in soft, shredding chunks. A strip of tough fat ran through the middle but it was easy to push aside.

Mushroom tamales ($16) were an exercise in upscale Mexican. Three tamales were filled with chopped mushrooms and served with a burnished mole, plus a chunky guacamole and a radish salad with the slices of radish cut paper-thin.

A vegetarian could also make a meal out of the generously portioned sides from choices such as Brussels sprouts ($8) with apple butter, grits ($9) with goat cheese and mushrooms, or a “risotto” ($8) made from shredded cauliflower topped with a shaggy dusting of Parmesan cheese.

Cocktails ($12), such as the namesake Wayward Son with gin, cilantro and cucumber, are an imaginative group that makes use of ingredients from the kitchen. The smartly composed wine list boasts unique labels such as the rosé of pinot noir ($13 for a glass) from Napa Valley’s Onward Wines.

You’ll have to fend for yourself as you order, since service can be spotty.

But the atmosphere atones, with spot-on rustic woods and an adjoining patio overlooking a garden with chard and other vegetables headed for your plate.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Restaurant review: Wayward Sons picks a promising direction."