Hey, y’all! Paula Deen does Dallas; Sissy’s serves lunch
ARNOLD WAYNE JONES | Life+Style Editor
If you’ve stopped by the website of Sissy’s Southern Kitchen any time in the last five months, you’ve seen “lunch coming soon” promised. Well, “soon” finally arrived. Lisa Garza’s Henderson Avenue eatery, already Dallas’ favorite destination for fried chicken, began serving lunch Tuesday. (And that lunch comes now from chef de cuisine Chris Ostlund, following the recent departure of founding exec chef Jeffrey Hobbs.)
The lunch menu has only one total newcomer to the menu — the New Orleans-style muffaletta sandwich with slaw, pictured … and it’s as authentic as you can get without being flooded out. The rest of the menu turns some familiar dinner entrees into lunch-sized versions, whether turning the fried oysters into the kitchen’s first po boy sammich (always a good idea) or wrapping the chicken-fried flatiron steak in a bun, stacking on some crisp onions and providing the essential accompaniment: A side of white cream gravy for dippin’.
There’s a definite Low Country bent at Sissy’s, which shows especially at lunch, from the po boy to shrimp and grits with a jambalaya-influenced sauce. That should hit home with down-home Savannah chef and TV cooking icon Paula Deen. The goddess who believes butter can make everything from grits to iced tea taste better will be the headliner, along with Bobby Flay, at the MetroCooking Dallas Show. The inaugural expo of cooking and entertaining features celebrity appearances by Flay and Deen, but also demonstrations and tons of vendors (including many local purveyors, offering everything from artisan oils, jellies and sauces to health supplements and specialty foods).
The two-day event takes place at the Dallas Convention Center. For a full listing of events and prices (adult general admission is $24.50), visit MetroCookingDallas.com.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 21, 2012.