{"id":225833,"date":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/big-bold-and-meaty\/"},"modified":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1970-01-01T08:00:00","slug":"big-bold-and-meaty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/big-bold-and-meaty\/","title":{"rendered":"Big, bold and meaty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Frank Sabatini Jr.<\/p>\n

Long live those dinners that start with martinis and shrimp cocktails and progress to baked potatoes, creamed corn and lush steaks crowned with saut\u00e9ed mushrooms. Since the early 1800s, the American steakhouse experience has survived myriad culinary trends and economic depressions. The Texas-based Del Frisco\u2019s Double Eagle Steakhouse is no exception; it\u2019s been around since 1981 and has become synonymous with epicurean luxury in nearly 20 cities around the nation.<\/p>\n

\"Big,
Thick-cut bacon in bourbon-molasses glaze (Photos by Frank Sabatini Jr.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two-story restaurant arrived to San Diego in late October with a $10 million modern design featuring bars, dining rooms and outdoor patios on both levels \u2014 your first clue menu prices aren\u2019t cheap. Anchored in the new InterContinental Hotel, and with somewhat tricky points of entry, customers are greeted by a dizzying wine collection shelved in glass-paneled walls that follow you along the interior stairway. In terms of views, the upper level puts you in eyeshot of San Diego Harbor.<\/p>\n

Portions for most dishes are Texas-sized. Take the thick-cut Nueske\u2019s bacon au poivre. As a twosome, we expected a few slices of the bourbon and molasses-glazed pork, similar to what I\u2019ve encountered in trendy restaurants over the past decade. To our shock, this was like an elongated steak offering chunky mouthfuls of smokiness, sweetness, and heat from rings of red peppers on top. I\u2019ve never been served bacon this big and beautiful.<\/p>\n

The \u201cchilled shrimp tasting\u201d was also substantial. It featured six perfectly cooked jumbo shrimp divided in pairs and set in three different sauces: classic cocktail, mild garlic, and a mayo-heavy remoulade, which least complimented the sweet flesh of the crustaceans.<\/p>\n

\"Big,
Chilled shrimp with three sauces<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Conversely, the Caesar salad that our waitress touted because of its \u201caward-winning dressing\u201d measured up to a mere single serving. Using romaine lettuce leaves in their long form, the salad tasted more garlicky compared to other Caesars, yet not earth-shattering. Even after a few inquiries, I never learned where the supposed honors for the dressing originated.<\/p>\n

The main event of the dinner \u2014 two different steaks \u2014 resulted in a partial letdown. My companion\u2019s 22-ounce bone-in prime rib-eye was cooked to his exact liking (medium-rare plus), but it lacked depth of flavor. The fine marbling inherent to prime grades of beef also seemed missing. He rated it as \u201cgood but not great.\u201d I concurred after taking a couple of bites.<\/p>\n

\"Big,
Prime rib-eye (Courtesy of H2 Public Relations)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My prime strip steak, cooked medium-well, was everything I expected \u2014 nicely seared, beefy, and naturally firmer than the rib eye. Much to my liking, it was seasoned decently with black pepper and restrained measures of salt.<\/p>\n

For reasons that are probably meant to showcase their lusciousness, the steaks are served plainly on white plates with nary a garnish adorning them. The presentation may appear sexy to some and sadly lacking to others.<\/p>\n

\"Big,<\/p>\n

Perhaps it\u2019s also because the days of inclusive steak dinners are long gone, with no more potatoes and veggies filling out the plates. Everything\u2019s a la carte, which here includes options such as three preparations of potatoes \u2014 au gratin, mashed or baked. The latter features fontina cheese and shaved truffles on top.<\/p>\n

\"Big,
The pineapple-infused VIP martini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s also onion rings, asparagus, creamed spinach and Brussels sprouts. We chose creamed corn accented with shishito peppers, plus a medley of saut\u00e9ed mushrooms strewn with pearl onions. Both dishes were commendable, particularly the mushrooms because of their diverse variety.<\/p>\n

In addition to a good number of dry and wet-aged steaks, not to mention pricey wagyu beef hailing from Japan, Australia and Texas \u2014 each sold in 3-ounce portions \u2014 carnivores can indulge in dry-aged Colorado lamb, king salmon, broiled lobster tail and roasted Jidori chicken.<\/p>\n

Our drink intake included glasses of earthy Del Frisco Cabernet from Sonoma and a beautifully structured blend of syrah, grenache and mourvedre from Washington state. We also tried \u201cThe VIP,\u201d a sweetish martini made with Svedka clementine vodka that\u2019s infused in-house with pineapple. The loveliness of the fruit sprang forward with every sip.<\/p>\n

For dessert, a slice of six-layer lemon cake was as humongous as the \u201cchocolate motherlode\u201d cake you\u2019d find at Claim Jumper. Unfortunately it was a similar case of quantity over quality, as the frosting was too sugary and the crumb was dry and flavorless. But my companion\u2019s butter cake was irresistible. The light, spongy construct was draped in caramel sauce and served ideally with butter pecan ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Big,
Butter cake with ice cream and caramel sauce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Del Frisco\u2019s aims ambitiously for robust flavors, sizable portions and a wide breadth of food and drink choices. The operation is well-staffed with attentive servers, some of whom cohere to fine-dining decorum better than others. But regardless, the spirit of indulgence descends upon you.<\/p>\n

\u2014Frank Sabatini Jr. es el autor de \u201cSecret San Diego\u201d (ECW Press), y comenz\u00f3 su carrera como escritor local hace m\u00e1s de dos d\u00e9cadas como miembro del personal del ex San Diego Tribune. Puedes localizarlo en fsabatini@san.rr.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Frank Sabatini Jr. Long live those dinners that start with martinis and shrimp cocktails and progress to baked potatoes, creamed corn and lush steaks crowned with saut\u00e9ed mushrooms. Since the early 1800s, the American steakhouse experience has survived myriad culinary trends and economic depressions. The Texas-based Del Frisco\u2019s Double Eagle Steakhouse is no exception; it\u2019s […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":225834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11548","_seopress_titles_title":"Big, bold and meaty","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-la-mesa-courier"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}