The value of the location becomes doubly obvious when you compare it to nearby Coast Global Seafood, hidden from view and therefore languishing, despite its elegant decor and similar style of food.
Seasons 52 menu drivers#
So does the address, right on Legacy, where its handsome outdoor patio equipped with a blazing fire pit winks at passing drivers on their way to and from the Tollway. (You can see the same thing at Bistro Babusan in the Shops at Fairview.) Overall, the atmosphere clones Hillstone (formerly Houston’s), right down to the piano situated in the middle of the bar.Ĭhanneling Houston’s has a lot to do with Seasons 52’s success. The colors are all caramel and mahogany and spice, and that includes framed racks of actual spices used as decoration, a look inspired by Spice Market in New York. Inside, it is dark, glamorous, and masculine, with warm woods and shelves of colorful glass objects that create peekaboo walls. The sleek exterior is clad in sedimentary stone. It’s a big, classy place appointed with loads of natural materials, inside and out. Weekend nights are booked days in advance. But you need only walk in and try to get a table without a reservation to realize that mission has been accomplished. It’s funny that a restaurant would need to soft sell the low-fat deal, but we don’t like our self-indulgent dining experiences to be ruined by reminders that we might not be that bright about the way we eat.Īs parent to chains such as Olive Garden and Red Lobster, Darden seems like an unlikely agent in the mission to make low-fat restaurant food a success. And, by the way, none of these dishes has more than 475 calories. The company promotes the chain’s other features: its fresh produce, seasonal ingredients, splendid wine list. But that’s not the first thing you’d know about the place. Seasons 52 is its venture into foodie-ism, which also happens to have a menu on which no item exceeds 475 calories. That’s how they’re doing it at Darden Restaurants, the Florida-based chain that opened the 13th branch of Seasons 52 in Plano in October. With low fat, the wiser path is to keep it on the down low. Remember Larry North’s well-intentioned, short-lived NorthSouth restaurant in the Quadrangle? No? And when’s the last time you ordered a McLean burger?
The rare restaurants that have specialized in low-fat food or even tried to offer low-fat items haven’t exactly profited. They might say they want low-fat food, but when it comes time to order in a restaurant, they get the burger with fries-and dessert, too. When the subject is low-fat food, people tend to say one thing and then do another.