$40 for scallops

I love food. And nothing thrills me more than trying a new fabulous restaurant for the first time. This affinity is so far removed from The Husband's idea of a good time (he prefers Celebration restaurant to fine cuisine) that my friend Renee, also a foodie, indulges with me. So last night we pulled up to the uber-fancy Ritz-Carlton in uptown, where we had made reservations three weeks in advance at Fearing's, named by Esquire as the best new restaurant of the year. Needless to say, we were just a little bit excited.

After strolling into the ornate lobby (four people, yes four, opened doors for us on the way in), we realized we were about 10 minutes early for our reservation. So we took the opportunity to explore the hotel a bit. The bathroom was our first stop. This might not seem like an exciting exploration for the average person, but I have to contend that, if they can get the bathrooms right, we were in for a treat. As expected, I felt like a queen while taking a pee. I really did.

We strutted through several long corridors before finding a ballroom, where we both remarked that we could never get married in a place like this. It was too fancy, too over-the-top. We'd feel like homeless people, even in wedding dresses. So we made our way back to Fearing's, where we sat down in the lounge on a plush sofa and chair. We had barely taken our seats before a very well-dressed barman appeared with a tray of tiny margarita glasses filled with chef Dean Fearing's signature margarita. We sipped our yummy, lime-flavored drinks, which were laced with organic agave nectar.

Happily, our table was adjacent to the kitchen, which delighted us to no end. We could watch Dean's team of culinary experts at work. I love the sounds of a kitchen, so our table (which was also next to a very large picture window -- see image above) was in the perfect spot. The service was some of the best I've experienced. Unexpectedly, there wasn't an ounce of pretention in the entire place, which you can't even say about some less-fancy establishments in Dallas.

In the end, we both spent entirely too much money on our meal. But it's certainly not an everyday kind of place, and I have to admit the money was well spent. My $40 scallops were expertly seared, and the southwest ceasar was too gorgeous to eat. I also discovered my purpose in life -- to eat a gelatinous green tea and ginger concoction in a shot glass served before the dessert course. Heaven. My only dislike was a starter crack-a-lin-corn soup served before the appetizer (again, in a shot glass) that had entirely too much lime juice.

We spent about two hours completely engrossed in the majesty of this restaurant. It was really quite beautiful. Some might ask how I could get so excited about a restaurant. I guess I just love food.