Roots Southern Table is all about Chef Tiffany Derry’s southern upbringing.  Eating with the seasons and never wasting anything were mantras of her family.  She has been nominated for James Beard awards in a couple categories.  The far north Dallas location opened in June of 2021 in a strip-like shopping center.  That means there is plenty of parking but it gives the place a slightly sterile atmosphere.  Reservations are a must and even with one we were kept waiting for 15 minutes as other guests were seated.  We were out with friends that evening so Frankie made less of an appearance and I didn’t make as many notes on our food.  Pictures will give you a good feel, though.  The food did have a nice amout of flavor but even with all the vegetables I left feeling heavy on the starch.  Our server could have helped with that but he was ‘all about the bread.’  They have a full bar, the noise level is high and portioning is variable.

 

We started with the Cast Iron Cornbread that was brushed with Steen’s syrup and served with smoked salted butter and apple cranberry preserves.  It was hot from the oven and good.

 

Fried Shrimp and Grits were jalapeno cheese grits, fritter style on a sausage tomato stew.  The liquid shrimp and grits were inside the fried ball, so it wasn’t a strong shrimp and grits flavor.  They were best with the tomato sauce.

 

They are known for their fried chicken, as Chef Derry cooked this at previous restaurants.  This chicken was brined and marinated before it was fried in duck fat.  They offer a family style plate for $56 of 10-12 pieces that also comes with a plate of biscuits and a bottle of hot sauce.  The chicken had a fair amount of crispy coating and was reasonably moist, but it was still just fried chicken.  The biscuits were nice but heavy after having the cornbread.  It easily fed 4 with some sides.

 

Southern Greens were baby turnips with potlikker, smoked pork and hot water cornbread. Not very smokey, these greens came topped with onions.  The greens had texture.  The cornbread was dull after the first dish.

 

Duck Fat Fried Yams were mixed with tamarind, Steen’s, Chile, mint, dill, lime and pecans.  These sounded really good and the server was a huge fan but came off mostly dull.  The peppers were the saving point of this dish, as they added a kick to the sweet.

 

Jerk lamb chops came with hoppin’ john, smoked ham and pickled sweet peppers.  The lamb was tender and cooked nicely but it made the chicken look like the deal of the day.

 

Duck dirty rice was another favorite of the server.  It was not very heavily seasoned and just okay.

 

Desserts were offered and we partook.

 

Orange juice cake is a warm butter cake with orange sauce and creme fraiche.  It did come out hot.  The cake itself was on the dry side but when dipped in the sauce it was quite good.  The cream also added needed moisture.  It had good flavor but we ran out of sauce in the leftover dish.

 

German Chocolate Cake came with a coconut-pecan frosting with a touch of sea salt.  It wasn’t nearly as large as the orange cake but was packed with frosting and coconut.  A good cake helped this one succeed.

 

Frankie took home the leftovers.  She thought the containers were nice.