In celebration of National Soul Food Month, Chef Keith “Buttons” Hicks and the team at Buttons Restaurant including investor, Herbert Hughes, hosted a stylish event at their Addison restaurant on the evening of June 20th. Hughes provided a quick background of the vision to have a diverse social scene that would include diverse ethnicities, good food and good music. There are currently two locations, Fort Worth and Addison with another hot spot coming soon to Houston. The celebration included several new items from Chef Buttons’ signature Southern Cuisine menu. It was thrilling to see how so many new items included fresh vegetables or in Buttons’ terms…fresh plants! Chef Buttons shared, "It is importance for food not only to taste good but to be health conscious, as well."
The new Wedgeburg Salad includes a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce with sliced ham, onions, eggs, tomatoes, bleu cheese crumbles and bleu cheese dressing. Surprisingly even non-bleu cheese lovers will find this starter to be quite surprising. Even vegans will agree with the absence of ham, the bleu cheese dressing had a smokey flavor that is lite and tasty.
Another starter to remember is Buttons’ Fried Green Tomatoes. This crudité includes thick, hand-cut, fresh green tomatoes battered in Buttons seasoned corn flour, deep fried and served with an over easy egg, grilled sliced ham, red eye gravy and béarnaise then garnished with a colorful spring mix, tossed with jalapeno ranch dressing. This delightful starter will have you asking for more.
One of the entrées featured in the tasting was Chef Buttons’ Fire Grilled Chicken and Plants. The course includes herb marinated chicken breast served with grilled ratatouille in a caper, butter, and white wine sauce. It had a soirée of fresh vegetables including eggplant, squash, zucchini, asparagus, red onion and plump cherry tomatoes.
Buttons is taking a new approach to combining hip, fresh whole foods and entertainment by now including theatre.
On June 24th, Buttons will premiere a Sunday night dinner and theatre event. The first presentation in Addison will feature local playwright Ty Ford’s Forbidden Love. Coming in July, Buttons will feature its first Dinner Mystery, a type of whodunit for an entertaining interaction with dinner patrons. So stay tuned and make your way to Buttons for whole soul foods, music and cool socializing.
Have a favorite restaurant that serves whole foods, plant based goodies? Share them with us at eatgreen@eatsoulgood.com.