By Lauren Drewes Daniels

Asador in the Renaissance Hotel, Dallas, TX, has just announced the arrival of new executive chef Brad Phillips.

Phillips has worked his way up the chain of chef Dean Max’s restaurants, including 3030 Ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and, most recently, the Brasserie in Grand Cayman, where he mixed produce from an on-site organic garden with fresh Caribbean ingredients. Many a vibrant fish were surely plucked out of that little plot of water in the photo above too.

Phillips is carrying on with the local movement that his predecessor David Trubenbach created at the Asador. Phillips has already added some new seasonal dishes using produce from Hudspeth Farms, like a grilled flat iron steak with smoked gouda au gratin stuffed sweet onion and pea tendrils with chimichurri.

Trubenbach, who hoofed it back to Florida, struggled with his ambitious farm-to-table programme at Asador, which was sometimes at the whims of hotel guests. In a previous interview he said this about his grass fed burgers: “They’re just here to get a hamburger and don’t know why they’re paying $12 for it when they can go to Whataburger and get a whole meal for five bucks. Some people ask, ‘Can I get the grass on the side?'”

With that we want to send out a big ol’ “Howdy and welcome to Dallas, Chef Phillips!”

No really, the collective palate is shifting. This’ll be fun. Promise.

For more on this story go to:

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2012/08/asador_announces_new_executive.php