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Food

Tune in July 12, when 4 Dallas-area restaurants star on new food TV show

Dallas is one of the best food cities in the South, say brothers Ted and Matt Lee, hosts of a new TV show debuting this summer called Southern Uncovered with the Lee Brothers. Not Houston, not Austin: Dallas is the only Texas city they visited for their six-part series focusing on the unexpected cuisine of the South.

"Some people don't consider Texas as part of the South," Matt Lee says, noting its Southwestern and Mexican influences. "But it is. We want to make a case for that."

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Tex-Mex and barbecue reign supreme here, they say. Their quest for Southern Uncovered is to tell stories -- and eat plenty of good food along the way -- that show nuances to typical southern food.

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They're familiar with Dallas, as their parents moved to North Texas in the '90s so their mom could lead the Hockaday School. They remember eating Tex-Mex for the first time at places like ZuZu Fresh-Made Tex-Mex in Dallas. They're envious of the expansive selection of dried chiles at our grocery stores; they can't find chiles like that at their childhood home of Charleston, South Carolina.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned in Dallas, Matt Lee says. Here's one: 'Dallas increased our knowledge of how to use fire.'

The brothers have won two James Beard Awards and now travel the country cooking, writing and exploring food. Southern Uncovered debuts June 14 on Ovation network and runs weekly for six weeks. The episode featuring Dallas-area restaurants airs July 12.

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Here's a sneak peek at the restaurants they visited in North Texas.

First stop: Mesero. 

Owner Michael "Mico" Rodriguez made two styles of enchiladas: traditional cheese, covered in meat sauce; and chicken with mole sauce at his restaurant Mesero.

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"Tex-Mex is having a moment nationwide," Ted Lee says. "We were trying to get to the heart of what makes Tex-Mex ... and Mico was the perfect person to explain that."

Rodriguez showed how to make a simple red salsa by blowtorching serrano chiles, garlic and tomato. He then muddled the cooked ingredients into a chunky sauce. It was a good reminder that sauces made with fresh ingredients need not be complicated, the Lees said.

Next up: Smoke. 

A cameraman films as chef Tim Byres (left), Matt Lee (center) and Ted Lee shoot part of...
A cameraman films as chef Tim Byres (left), Matt Lee (center) and Ted Lee shoot part of 'Southern Uncovered with the Lee Brothers' at Byres' restaurant Smoke in Plano.

Chef Tim Byres' restaurant Smoke (which originated in West Dallas and spawned a second location in Plano) is changing the way Texas diners think about fire. Byres served the Lee brothers Eisenhower steaks, which are cooked straight on hot charcoal. He also made oxtail jam.

Ted Lee called Byres' food "unconventional barbecue." Matt Lee vowed to cook his steaks directly on hot coals this summer.

"He taught us courage in live fire," Ted Lee says.

Then: Mozzarella Company. 

The Lees call Mozzarella Company owner Paula Lambert "the food mayor of Dallas." She put the Lees to work making mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone in Deep Ellum.

There's an important Dallas food story at Mozzarella Company. Lambert makes traditional, European-style cheeses with a Texas twang. That means queso fresco mixed with chiles, for instance.

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A mozzarella shop in Dallas is "hugely unexpected," says Ted Lee.

Last stop: Bohemian Cafe.

The Lees got a lesson in kolache-making (and kolache-eating) at Bohemian Cafe on Greenville Avenue in Dallas.

[UPDATE July 9: Bohemian Cafe has since closed. They plan to move but don't have a new storefront yet.]

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"There were two things that really surprised us about the dough," Matt Lee says: "The first is, it was quite sweet. The second is, the yeast took over and turned that sweetness into something quite beer-y and fermented and sparkly. And really attractive and fun. We weren't prepared for that."

Ted Lee (left) and Matt Lee are in search of the best Southern food in the country.
Ted Lee (left) and Matt Lee are in search of the best Southern food in the country.(Brian Elledge)

The brothers helped makes kolaches with several fillings, including picadillo -- a spicy, peppery ground beef mixture Ted Lee said was like "a Mexican bolognese sauce."

Delighted by their adventures in Dallas, the Lee brothers stayed just a few days, then moved on to their final Southern Uncovered city, New Orleans.

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If you watch

The show on Ovation network will spotlight these six Southern cities:

  • Charleston (airing June 14)
  • Atlanta (June 21)
  • Asheville, North Carolina (June 28)
  • Louisville, Kentucky (July 5)
  • Dallas (July 12)
  • New Orleans, Louisiana (July 19)

The Lee brothers aim to answer this question with their new show: 'What can I get here that I can't get anywhere else?'