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It’s not often that the smell of mesquite-smoked turkey and fresh bread greet me when I go to work every morning. Last Thursday, the enticing aroma of home-cooked goodness was not the product of a pleasant dream, but part of the hunger-inducing experience of spending the entire day shadowing one of Dallas, Texas’s finest new executive chefs, Daniel Pittman at LUCK (Local Urban Craft Kitchen).
LUCK hit the dining scene in 2013 as part of the innovative Trinity Groves restaurant project, a plan to bring creative cuisine to a part of Dallas that had lost its luster. The restaurant focuses on comfort foods – the type of cuisine you’d want to be enjoying with LUCK’s amazing selection of 40 local, Texas-only beers on draft. As a result, not only will you come across some phenomenally priced and beautifully paired beer dinners held here, but also some creatively conceptualized dishes where beer is a primary ingredient (read: beer ice cream). It’s hard to believe beer can be improved upon, yet LUCK defies expectations with their imbibed offerings.
Part of a core team of three owners, Daniel’s the man behind what he likes to call “homestyle swag,” and his day starts out in his home away from home – LUCK’s small but efficient kitchen. Line and prep cooks were chopping onions and preparing sauces for what was expected to be a busy lunch rush that day, and Daniel made his rounds to check on each cook’s progress. At the entrance to the kitchen are several sheets typed up breaking down the necessary components to every dish (all the way down to clarifying the butter), and it’s Daniel’s job to not only remember every nuance, but also to assign each task to a cook or tackle the job himself. The first-shift cooks don’t only prep for the lunch service but also for the dinner crew – from 11 a.m. on, the restaurant’s open for business, and hungry diners mean a slammed kitchen if things aren’t prepared in advance.
On top of the actual execution and oversight of the kitchen and the staff, Daniel’s got to keep up with the consumer demand and ensure the restaurant is well-stocked, especially with some of its more popular items. On one recent Saturday alone, the restaurant seated 400 guests, 90 of whom ordered their now-famous pastrami sandwich (it’s killer, folks). In one week, the crew sautés, roasts, smokes, bakes, fries, or cures 8-10 cases of brisket, 50 pounds of shrimp, and 40 pounds of redfish (I did myself a favor and didn’t ask about the beer kegs they go through). Ordering the necessary supplies requires daily, and sometimes hourly, maintenance. On the day I was there, lunch service was 58% busier than normal, necessitating an additional trip to a restaurant supply shop for more provisions.
The food may have Daniel’s heart and soul (and it shows), but education is also a big part of LUCK’s mission and a responsibility that he takes very seriously. Even though the lunch onslaught required Daniel to move from his typical post expediting the orders to composing the dishes, he followed a hectic two hours of meal prep with a cooking presentation at Dallas Market Center. Daniel’s days can be randomly punctuated with different public appearances and events, and it’s a big shift from the steaming pans in the busy kitchen to the shining lights of a stage. But in the end, it’s still all about the food, and Daniel wooed the crowd that day with a LUCK favorite – his signature bierocks, addictive fluffy rolls filled with seasoned beef, cabbage, and cheese.
The main event as always is dinner, when the work day is done and customers can order a beer to get the full experience of dining at LUCK. While the dinner rush ebbs and flows, Daniel’s got his sights set not only on the perfect presentation of the meals that night but also on what’s in the pipeline for tomorrow – what needs to be ordered, who will be working and on what, what tasks each kitchen member will accomplish, etc. I was thankful for the calm before the dinner storm when I could plant myself at a bar stool and finally enjoy one of their stellar draft beers; Daniel, however, had yet to sit down that day and wasn’t stopping until dinner service was winding down and diners were full and happy.
It wasn’t until later that night that I dined on their rich, spicy pozole and the decadent porter-infused brownie – a treat truly worth the wait. As always, I left LUCK that night feeling incredibly full and deeply satisfied – and a lot more enlightened about the commitment Daniel and the team at LUCK makes every day to put some damn good food on our tables. I highly recommend you grab a stool at the bar, order a local pint or two, and let LUCK’s thoughtful food bring a whole new meaning to the word “comfort.”
