Soon after Dean Fearing opened his namesake restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas in 2007, I dined there. Other than the restrooms (they are unisex and got nasty as the night went on), the food and service were spot on.

Recently, Mike and I dined at Fearing’s for our first anniversary.  The food was still great, and the servers were very attentive.  What bothered us was trivial but still impacted our experience.

Do you recall those small, round side tables from the 1980s that had the three screw in legs, which were normally covered in a floral cloth with a white battenburg lace overlay?  They were small; maybe three feet in diameter.  I honestly think that was the base for the table at which we were seated.  There was no other table that small in the room.  We shared an intimate and romantic evening with the two doctors at the next table.

The table was so small, and the space so tight, that my knife was about 6 inches farther away from me than my fork.  We were so wedged in that if I had put my purse on the floor, I would have had my head in the lap of either my husband or the doctor at the next table in order to retrieve it!  (The London Ritz needs to teach the Dallas Ritz about the secret purse hiding place under the table…it is a space saver!)

The table would have comfortably seated one.  Due to the curvature (because it is so small), the flatware would have still been farther away from the diner than the plate.

So, my word of warning would be that when you make your reservation, if for two, tell them you are claustrophobic and need a large table.

We had the coconut lobster bisque, scallops, filet and lobster, banana pudding and cappucino.  All was fabulous.  Even the restrooms seemed cleaner.  Or maybe we just did not stay late enough for them to get bad.

So those were the foods we ordered.  On the house, they also served us an amuse bouche which was a cream of celery shooter, an intermezzo which was a mini mango smoothie, and sent us home with a boxed mignardise of a small chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie.  You don’t get freebies at Chilis!

Out of respect for the fellow diners, I chose not to take photos that evening.  Please check out the Fearing’s website for full menus and images.

The next time you are in Dallas, check it out.  It is really good, sophisticated food that you are sure to enjoy!