BBQ and grilling guru Steven Raichlen visits new Dallas’ 18th & Vine BBQ, Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse

 

A couple of weeks ago, cookbook author, TV personality and James Beard Award winner Steven Raichlen, in town for a private American Express event, joined me at a couple of notable Dallas restaurants for a quick beef fix.

First up: Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse, for a taste of chef/partner Samir Dhurandhar’s ultra-premium Japanese Ohmi, Miyazaki, Hokkaido and Kobe beef.

“This is really something special,” Raichlen told me. “I thought Wagyu was as good as it gets, but this is a whole other dimension.” An off-the-menu special at Nick & Sam’s, the super prime beef rates higher than Kobe beef’s marbling scale goes…and so does its super-premium price (the Hokkaido “snow” beef, noted for its snowy white intramuscular marbling, sells for $63 an ounce).

The following day, we popped into newcomer 18th & Vine, a classy new restaurant on Maple Avenue that blends Kansas City-style barbecue (ribs, sausage, brisket, chicken) from pit master Matt Dallman with fancy chef dishes like gnocchi with pork rib tips and smoked cauliflower steaks with herb oil from former Bijoux chef Scott Gottlich.

“This is better than most of the barbecue in Kansas City,” Raichlen told Gottlich and Dallman. “You guys have a winner on your hands.”

I’ll have more to share with you about 18th & Vine next week…