Encina fires up date night

Opposite page: The 44 Farms NY strip, the Kinkaid cocktail and the Cactus Jack. Above: Kurobuta pork jowl appetizer.

DATE NIGHT DONE RIGHT

Romantic dinners and packed-house brunches define Encina

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photography by KATHY TRAN

ENCINA SERVES ONE THING

THAT OUTSELLS every other menu item — blue-corn pancakes with butterscotch, salted butter, cajeta and bacon — even though it’s only available five hours a week during Sunday brunch.

“There’s at least one order on every table,” says co-owner Corey McCombs.

If you want these pancakes, make a reservation for brunch. Repeat: Make. A. Reservation.

The restaurant fills up every week, and unless someone cancels, walk-ins won’t fit.

“We’re very walk-in friendly any other day of the week,” she says. “But Sunday brunch is so full that we just can’t.”

The restaurant plans to add Saturday brunch soon, once the owners work out how to staff it.

Meanwhile, chef/co-owner Matt Balke and a full-time five-man kitchen crew continue turning out their famous beefcheek pastrami ($16), which is brined for 24 hours and smoked, and duck-leg confit ($35) with chorizo braised blackeyed peas, poblano caramel and crumbled cornbread.

Another popular menu item is the Berkshire pork chop ($45) an enormous portion served with poblano-cheddar grits, bacon and braised collard greens.

The 44 Farms New York strip ($50) is served with mascarpone-whipped potatoes and sunflower-seed gremolata.

And the Kurobuta pork jowl appetizer ($14) is served with cherry mustard, jalapeño puree and coconut.

Some menu items are holdovers from Encina’s predecessor, Bolsa: The “devils on horseback” appetizer — blue cheesestuffed dates with bacon and apple butter, and the “twig flatbread” with goat cheese, grapes and arugula — for example.

The most popular cocktail is the Cactus Jack, which has tequila, Italian bitters, sweet peppers, dill, lime and Tajín. The Kinkaid is served with gin, French bitters and elderflower liqueur, tarragon and lime.

McCombs and Balke opened Encina in 2020, early in the pandemic. They’re partners in business and in life, and food is their hobby as well as their work.

Balke recently spent one of his Mondays off cooking at Uchiba’s monthly guest-chef event, Uncommon Ramen, and the couple took a winter getaway to the Napa Valley.

He’s currently on a hunt for the perfect burger, and they took an overnight trip to Chicago to try Au Cheval’s highly lauded cheeseburger, as well as everything else they could fit in.

There is a burger on the menu at Encina, but it’s only available at brunch. You know what that means: Reservations are a must.

Encina, 614 W. Davis St., encinadallas.com Hours: 5-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday-Tuesday MARCH 2022 oakcliff.advocatemag.com 15