Pyramid Restaurant – Lifestyle Cuisine
Located in the heart of bustling downtown Dallas
is a classy, yet relaxed, restaurant that prides itself on being Lifestyle Cuisine friendly – having a menu that is sensitive to guests with diet-dependent conditions and lifestyle choices. The Pyramid Restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel and Resort is all about the local garden to table dining.Combining locally sourced market fresh produce with herbs and vegetables from their 3,000 square foot rooftop garden. This four-star dining establishment does not stop at just growing their own seasonal vegetables and herbs, they also have two apiaries, also known as beehives, to help pollinate the garden and supply honey to the many delicious menu items.
The Gimlet
Because they serve locally sourced ingredients, many of their menu selections change with the seasons. On this particular visit, I started the meal with the Flaming Rosemary Gimlet. No, the drink does not come to your table in flames. Unfortunately, there were issues with customers trying to relight or modify the amount of flames, so now the “flaming” part is under the watchful eye of the chef in the kitchen.
Gimlet is a gin-based drink that has been around since the mid-1900’s. Commonly it is a mix of gin, sweetened lime juice, and soda water. The Pyramid shakes it up a bit by adding green Chartreuse, a French liqueur originally made by the Carthusian Monks of Grenoble. True to Pyramid’s love of herbal flavors, Chartreuse is a distilled liqueur with 130 herbs, plants, and flowers.
Sharables
One of the options that I like about the menu is the sharables section. They are a perfect meal for two people to share if you want something on the lighter side that is not “super-sized.” The sharables offer a unique combination selection to satisfy any palate ranging from vegetarian Spring Toast made from roasted eggplant to pork and apples to a Salami and Cheese board to rabbit rillettes and steamed mussels. I have to admit, they all sounded yummy, so I tried several.
The presentation of the pork and apples was fun with little bite sized pieces of pork seared to juicy perfection and mini steamed apples rolled in candied pecans. The chef paired this with a burnt honey mustard with just a hint of horseradish.
I was surprised to see Rabbit Rillettes on the menu because rabbit is not a standard menu item. So naturally, I had to try it. If you are not familiar with the term rillettes (I had to look it up), it is a French term for a type of meat preparation. It is similar to pate in that it is heavily salted, chopped, and cooked slowly in a sauce until it is tender. Even though heavily salted in its initial preparation, by the time it was placed on my table; the flavor was not overly salty to me (I am not a big salt person). It had a well-seasoned flavor without being over-powering. It went very nicely with the toasted pain au levain (sourdough baguette slice) and the pickled daikon and carrots.
My favorite dish, the Salami and Cheese Board because of its simple elegance, and it pairs nicely with a glass of Pinot Noir. The chef selected a variety of cured meats – salami and prosciuttos, along with a selection of hard, semi-soft, and blue cheeses. Complimenting them was crispy sourdough baguette slices, pickled shallots and yellow carrots, fresh berries, and a wedge of honeycomb. Arranged on a natural wood platter, it was reminiscent of a bountiful harvest.
Any Day Can Be Special
Pyramid’s cozy seating, attentive staff, and unique menu make it a perfect spot to unwind at the end of a long week or to reconnect with friends. In short, Pyramid turns any day into a special occasion. Next time, I am going to have to make a point of not filling up on sharables so I can try some of the desserts!
