Mansion on Turtle Creek throws $500-a-plate truffle and Champagne dinner

7 pounds of caviar (photo: Dean Fearing)

Saturday night at the Mansion on Turtle Creek was all about truffles, bubbles, anniversaries and reunions.

“The Mansion is going to be 35 years old next year, so we wanted to start the celebration off right,” Tracy Fitz, the Mansion’s marketing director told me at the dinner, where I was an invited guest. “Everybody who grew up in Dallas has a story about the Mansion,” Fitz said. “This is a storied restaurant. Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, dates, everybody’s celebrated something notable here.”

So the hotel brass rounded up a bunch of Mansion alumni chef, teamed up with the James Beard Foundation (plus its James Beard House in NYC) and recruited a few notable chefs to throw a big dinner that chomped through seven pounds of Siberian sturgeon caviar and six pounds of white Alba truffles (hence the $500 per person ticket tag).

Mansion alums Tim Byres, Brian Zenner, Dean Fearing and Michael Corvino were all there, serving small bites loaded with heaps of Siberian caviar. Then invited celeb chefs Bryan Voltaggio, Paul Kahan, Scott Conant, Michael Cimarusti and Jose Mendin took over.

Bruno Davaillon, the top chef of the Mansion on Turtle Creek restaurant, must have shaved a kilogram of truffles on this pheasant dish with Brussels sprouts, butternut squash and chestnuts. But, then, Scott Conant of Scarpetta Las Vegas probably used two kilos on his classic tartuffo risotto.

Scott Conant’s truffle risotto recipe probably required six pounds of truffles (photo: Dean Fearing)

Here’s what else went down:

Smoked Salmon Tartare + Roasted Jalapeño Crema
Dean Fearing

Smoked White Fish Crudo + Iced Tomato Water
Tim Byres

Red Beet Nest + Black Trumpet Mushroom + Crème Frâiche
Brian Zenner

Buckwheat + Pumpkin
Michael Corvino

Confit Potato + Smoked Cream + Meyer Lemon Salt
Bruno Davaillon

Cold-Poached Pork Loin and Tuna
with Grilled Chicories and Preserved Baby Peaches
Dom Pérignon Brut 2004
Paul Kahan

Salted Butter-Roasted Scallop with
Crushed German Butterball Potatoes and Scallop Nage
Ruinart Brut Rosé NV
Michael Cimarusti

Shrimp and Buckwheat-Yellow Corn Grits 
with Smoked Parmigiano Reggiano and Fra Diavolo
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Vintage Brut 2004
Bryan Voltaggio

Suckling Pig Rillettes with Kartoffelsalat,
Pickled Celeriac, Apples and Shiro Shoyu-Caviar Jus
Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Rosé 2004
Jose Mendin

Risotto with Farm Eggs
Krug Grand Cuvée MV
Scott Conant

Pheasant with Foie Gras Albufera, Chestnuts and Butternut Squash
Dom Perignon Rosé 2003
Bruno Davaillon

Pears with Honey, Brioche, Brown Butter Ice Cream
and New Mexico 16-Year-Aged Balsamic
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Demi-Sec NV
Nicolas Blouin