Claremont Adds Preston Hollow Style to the Classic American Grill

A friend of mine likes to describe a certain type of Dallas restaurant as “fancy Chili’s.” Chili’s is, of course, a Dallas-founded institution, but my friend contends that our city’s favorite food is that same style, dressed up with better cooking and a more sophisticated atmosphere. This is not always a compliment, but I most definitely mean high praise in the case of Claremont Neighborhood Grill, the latest from restaurateur brothers Nik and Greg Katz. This kitchen seamlessly imports the bar-and-grill canon into Preston Hollow’s social world.

Compared to the Katzes’ previous dining rooms at Beverley’s and Green Point, Claremont is warmer in its colors, decorated with prints and textiles from West Texas. It has the casual-elegant feel of a Marfa vacation house, and very light, mostly agave-based cocktails to match. I’ve heard people describe Claremont as family-friendly, but when I was a kid, my parents didn’t take me to places this graceful. My brother and I got kicked out of a Bob Evans. Preston Hollow children are built different.

Claremont does offer one clear difference from its sibling restaurants: its unabashed carnivorism. Greg told the Dallas Morning News he was thinking of South African braai cookouts, but maybe the meatiness is a reflection of this neighborhood’s habits, too. By my count, and excluding sides, almost every dish here features critters. The restaurant’s centerpiece is grilled meats, done extremely well. My table marveled at the can’t-do-this-at-home tenderness of the pork chop, from the well-marbled Duroc breed, and enjoyed the smoky char on an appetizer of grilled chicken drums. In both cases, Claremont tailors sauces to complement the grill’s gentle taste of fire: a pork-bourbon jus for the chop and a gently sweet honey mustard alongside the chicken.

Step away from the flames, and other items are executed with similar refinement. Brisket sliders use meat from Zavala’s Barbecue, one of the region’s best spots. (Joe Zavala tells me that Beverley’s is one of his two or three favorite restaurants.) In cooler weather, the bowl of Texas chili is topped with all the fixings (apart from beans, of course) and is so thick and hearty, with such finely ground meat, that I could easily imagine spreading it out on a plate of nachos. Tortilla soup, a tribute to the recipe of Greg’s old boss and mentor, Dean Fearing, is so flavorful that I could imagine the rack of spices and chile powders above the stovetop. Baked beef-and-pork meatballs, bathed in a gently spicy tomato sauce and smoked mozzarella, have ideal texture, loose and soft, not overmixed.

We’ve been talking a lot about “neighborhood restaurants” recently. The term is slippery to define, but generally, it means a kitchen that specifically designs its qualities to meet the tastes of the people who live nearby. Claremont feels like a perfect example. In Casa Linda, it would look stuffy; in a more veggie-conscious neighborhood, its menu might sound heavy. But for Preston Hollow, it’s practically a living room. The folks around here needed a fancy Chili’s, and they got the best possible version. 

This story originally appeared in the June issue of D Magazine with the headline “Carnivores Welcome.” Write to [email protected].