Jon Bonnell - Jon Bonnells Fine Texas Cuisine

When I opened my first restaurant, I named it Bonnells, Fine Texas Cuisine as a way of defining my own personal culinary style. The concept was somewhat misunderstood at first since fine dining and Texas havent always been synonymous. The confusion would go something like this:

My personal culinary style and interpretation of Texas food reflects my passion for fine dining and Texas-style cooking. Texas has traditionally been known more for comfortable and casual food than for white linen tablecloth fare. In recent years, however, Texas has influenced the food scene of the entire nation with inventive and creative strides in the fine-dining arena. I chose the words Fine Texas Cuisine to describe my restaurant, because it defines exactly what we strive to provide. Im passionate about fine cuisine, and Im passionate about Texas heritage and Texas ingredients.

I began the concept for Bonnells by researching Texas farms and ranches to find the highest quality and most unique ingredients. It wouldnt make sense to serve Georgia peaches when my neighboring county throws an annual festival dedicated to the peach-season harvest. I prefer the Parker County peaches that get to my door after only one trip in one truck to any produce sent via air, boat, or interstate. Its that intimate relationship with local food products that begins to truly define fine Texas cuisine.

Once the freshest farm ingredients are obtained in their peak of ripeness and freshness, my design work in the kitchen begins. My seasonings, flavors, and techniques come from those places Im proud to call neighbors in a culinary sense. From our neighbors to the south, I borrow the Tex-Mex traditions that I grew up on, along with a few authentic Mexican tricks of the trade thrown in for good measure. From our easterly neighbors (past Dallas, of course), there will always be a special place in my heart for the New Orleans Creole flare that I picked up while working for the Brennan family in the French Quarter. I tend to bring a lot of southwestern ingredients into my kitchen as well, including various dried chiles and spice combinations. By borrowing a little inspiration from great neighbors, then applying it to farm-fresh ingredients that are Texas born and Texas bred, Ive created my own brand of what customers now understand completely as Fine Texas Cuisine.

Without a doubt, appetizers are my favorite category on any menu, including the one in my own restaurant. When I arrive at any type of gathering, from a birthday party to a wedding, I can pretty much tell how the evenings going to go by the end of the first round of appetizers. Its the zone where chefs and hosts love to show off just a little bit. Anyone throwing a dinner party really sets the mood for the night with that first hors doeuvre tray or cocktail platter.

In the restaurant, customers seem to seek out the appetizers as a way to sample the chefs talent without the total commitment of choosing a full-size entre. The most exciting thing about appetizers for a chef is the complete lack of rules, which leaves all options open. They dont have to have a vegetable, starch, sauce, or garnish. Appetizers are not supposed to fill someone up, although its more than acceptable if they come close. With just a little tweaking, any dish that you can dream up can be shrunk down and fancied up to be the coolest, trendiest, most fashionable little canap. On the appetizer page, we get the freedom to create one-biters, mini-size entres, shooters, or exotic combinations with no creative limits. I recently cooked a dinner at the James Beard House in New York City for some of the most discerning palates in the nation, and I started them off with barbecued pork sandwiches, miniaturized to fashionable bite-size cocktail portions, and rabbit loin corndogs. Carnival food can be elevated into fine dining, and sophisticated cuisine can become casual nuggets of comfort food when served properly as appetizers.