 |
 |
|
 |
|
707
Preston Royal Shopping Center
Dallas, TX 75230
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
| Restaurant
Review |
By KIM PIERCE / Special
Contributor
BACK HOME: After some bumpy years and a
flirtation with corporate ownership, Popolos
celebrates the decade mark firmly ensconced in its
original neighborhood niche. New executive chef
Jesse Moreno, formerly of Seventeen
Seventeen and in the kitchen since early fall,
has also spruced up the Mediterranean-inspired
menu. What this means is predictable consistency
without a lot of fanfare – or failure.
SIMPLE FOOD DONE WELL: Popolos depends
on a wood-fired oven and a hickory grill to create
enduring favorites such as pizza and steaks. These
come in traditional treatments, such as pizza
margherita and rosemary-garlic-glazed chicken or
fish. But Popolos also covers more familiar New
American bistro fare with items such as pizza with
turkey andouille sausage and roasted spicy
peppers, and that same grilled chicken or fish
with ginger tamari or lime-chile pepper glaze.
Bruschetta comes in a couple of variations,
including fresh mozzarella with tomatoes and basil
pesto, and chicken with grilled onions, goat
cheese and olives.
The appetizer special ($8.95) on our visit was
about as complicated as a dish gets at Popolos: A
thin trout fillet rolled around bready crab
stuffing stood on end atop a galantine of wilted
baby spinach flecked with red pepper and napped by
vivid orange coulis of sweet red pepper. The trout
was like a neutral palate for the more flavorful
"colors" around it. Long, thin tendrils
of pickled carrot made a stylish garnish.
Rustic Mediterranean salad ($5.95 small, $8.95
large), graciously split for two, showed how a
dish can be understated yet memorable. For all its
ingredients (romaine, tomato and cucumber chunks,
black olives, slivers of green pepper and goat
cheese), the salad was a fresh, simple toss in a
restrained red-wine vinaigrette. Warm, herbed
focaccia was accompanied by chopped red pepper,
onion and olives in olive oil.
OUT OF THE OVEN: Because the pizzas and
grilled items are long-standing favorites here, we
gave a nod to other menu categories and sampled
veal piccata ($17.95) and rigatoni tossed with
vegetables ($11.95). The veal was classically
perfect, tender and sautéed to the right
crispness with a balanced sauce of capers, lemon,
shallots and white wine. The two veal slices were
perched against a mound of scallion-mashed
potatoes and a matching peak of spinach and garlic
sautéed in olive oil. More winning understatement
followed with the al dente rigatoni and matching
chunky asparagus, grilled eggplant, roasted
tomatoes, grilled portobello and wilted arugula,
bathed in a mild tomato-basil sauce.
With such nicely done, often rustic-style,
Italian dishes, you'd expect more Italian
selections on the wine list. But, no, it's
dominated by California bottles and tends to a
pricier range than the food requires. Look for
specials, such as the Farina Ripasso on our visit
($38), which matched the food so well that it even
worked with the salad.
The best dessert we tried was uptown peach
cobbler ($6.50), a wafer of pastry with firm,
not-too-sweet peach slices, a drizzle of caramel
sauce and vanilla ice cream. Three-layer chocolate
mousse cake ($6) was cloyingly sweet. Other
reviewers have touted the crème brûlée.
What began as auspicious service, starting with
the substitution of black napkins because we were
wearing black, disintegrated into long waits for
our waiter by dessert time. Support staff, which
noticed and replaced missing silverware and
whisked away dishes regularly, was more attuned.
Multitiered dining areas keep each table
intimate at Popolos, and faux-aged, Moulin
Rouge-style paintings enhance the bistro mood. At
the same time, gray walls with glossy white trim,
bare wood floors, brass accents and tall, narrow
windows underscore Popolos' all-American
character. While it will never be mistaken for a
spot on the Italian Riviera, it could just
transport you, ever so briefly, to the sunny
shores of La Jolla, Calif.
Food – 
Service – 
Atmosphere –
Published in
The Dallas Morning News: 04.02.04
