Fried Green Tomatoes

The going away lunches, dinners, etc, have already begun. I tried a new place last week. Its been getting alot of buzz lately and I had to confirm whether or not it was truly worthy.

It is.

Salum
4152 Cole Ave
Dallas, TX 75204
214-252-9604

From my understanding the owner is of Lebanese ancestry but grew up in Mexico. Thats an interesting combination so I anticipated interesting offerings. I was not dissapointed and I can only categorize the fare as ecclectic, since they repel any other label.

As I scanned the menu two items popped to the front: Fried Green Tomatoes and Shrimp, Corn and Tomato Risotto.

Since I spent quite a bit of time in the South I consider myself a Fried Green Tomato expert, I know I've had my share of the classically southern dish. FGTs are famously easy to ruin; your tomatoes could be bitter or too hard, your coating too thick or thin, they are easy to overcook and bless your heart if you can't get the sauce right. Salum rockets right past expectations, not only preparing them to technical perfection but enhancing them with chopped candied pecans and a sauce that was perectly balanced between creamy, savory and spicy.

The risotto was as good as any I've had, the shrimp were sparse but the three that appeared were large, moist and very spicy against the conservative base of the risotto. Risotto is also one of those tricky dishes, balancing the time you cook the rice with the desired consistency still eludes me. But that could likely be because I drink alot during the 45 minutes of continuous stirring it requires to make the dish.

Salum is located conveniently at the corner of Fitzhugh and Cole in a low-profile strip. Parking is easy. Prices are reasonable for lunch but they jump up a bit at dinner. To me Salum is a good choice for business lunch and date night since the atmosphere is conservative, sophisticated and pleasantly devoid of the many Dallas theme-based cliches.

Salum
Dallas