Encina brings together chef Matt Balke and restaurant veteran Corey McCombs on West Davis Street in the Bishop Arts District, with a menu the two describe as uncomplicated yet adventurous, built around seasonal, fresh ingredients.
The range is wide: a beef cheek pastrami with Granbury pimento cheese and sweet tea gastrique, devils on horseback, a mezze platter with hummus and fried olives, kurobuta pork jowl, 44 Farms beef tartare, a Berkshire pork chop over poblano cheddar grits, blackened redfish, Sonoma duck leg confit, goat guisada tacos on Oak Cliff tortillas, and braised short ribs in sherry jus.
Balke has spoken about cooking inside a building with history, saying, "There is a lot of history here. I set out to honor that history, but also make it my own."
Regulars describe the room as upscale and attentive, the kind of place worth the premium for a celebration.
The range is wide: a beef cheek pastrami with Granbury pimento cheese and sweet tea gastrique, devils on horseback, a mezze platter with hummus and fried olives, kurobuta pork jowl, 44 Farms beef tartare, a Berkshire pork chop over poblano cheddar grits, blackened redfish, Sonoma duck leg confit, goat guisada tacos on Oak Cliff tortillas, and braised short ribs in sherry jus.
Balke has spoken about cooking inside a building with history, saying, "There is a lot of history here. I set out to honor that history, but also make it my own."
Regulars describe the room as upscale and attentive, the kind of place worth the premium for a celebration.