Goodbye, Dallas!

I'm sitting in the Continental President's Club at the Dallas airport, enjoying the refreshments and the wireless internet. It's good to be leaving Dallas, finally, but it is a bit unfortunate that we're heading out just as the temperature has dropped enough to make walking around town bearable.

Despite the heat, a bunch of us went to the Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in the West End on Monday night. It was by far the best meal I've ever had at a colloquium, and probably the best restaurant meal I've had so far in 2008.

I started with the house salad, which was an astonishingly delicious combination of greens, candied pecans, goat cheese, and apple. Sommer and I split the mixed grill, with a buffalo filet mignon, elk chops, and quail. I also ordered the Gouda mac and cheese and a piece of chocolate cake with raspberry coulis.

Luckily everyone was willing to share, so I got to try a taste of the pheasant ravioli and what was very likely the best pork chop on the planet. This was the first expensive meal I've had all year that was actually worth the price.

It was so good, in fact, that I might actually want to come back to Dallas, just to eat there a second time. It certainly is preferable to Orlando, which was a dining wasteland. Ditto with Lansdowne and Anaheim. At least the next trip to Atlanta will be near The Varsity. Not fine dining, but hopefully good.