Wednesday, June 29, 7:00 pm
Members $90, guests $115

Texas. Just say the word and it conjures up a vast array of images: cowboys, ranches, beaches, hunting, fishing…and increasingly, a new style of cuisine that takes indigenous Texas ingredients and gives them a sophisticated new twist. Jason Dady, owner and executive chef of the two-year-old Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills, kicks up his New American cooking with Italian and French country influences and local products. The result is a collection of dishes that would make any Texan proud.

“For a boy born and raised in Nebraska, Jason can compete with the best of the big-city chefs, and the proof is on the plate,” wrote Southern Living. The grandson of a tavern owner and butcher, Dady beefed up his industry upbringing with a degree in hospitality management from Texas Tech and a culinary degree from the California Culinary Academy. He worked at San Francisco’s Stars Bar before heading to Napa Valley to study food and wine pairings with chef David Frakes at Beringer Vineyards. Today, Dady runs the Lodge Restaurant with the help of his wife, Crystal, and his brother, Jake.

“Here at last is the romantic restaurant that San Antonio has needed,” wrote John Griffin of the Express-News, who raved that Dady’s dishes were “prepared with great care that occasionally veers into the realm of the inspired.” The Lodge Restaurant was named the Express-News Critics’ Choice for Most Romantic Restaurant, and the paper’s readers voted it Best Place for a Special Occasion. It therefore came as no surprise to locals when Dady was named one of Restaurant Hospitality’s Rising Stars of 2004. The magazine’s Patricia Fernberg wrote that Dady “strives to make every meal memorable with extraordinary hospitality and phenomenal food.”