Mignon By Jim White Driving north on Preston Road, the growth never ceases to amaze me. Business is booming! Housing, retail and restaurants popping up on the prairie like mushrooms (I’ll have those sautéed in a red wine sauce, please). It’s not unusual to see shopping areas dominated by multiple eateries. One of the latest to arrive was carefully conceived in a corporate laboratory at Carlson Restaurants (TGI Friday’s). The e.brands group is a consolidation of all the Carlson "boutique" restaurants including Stephan Pyles’ creations Star Canyon, AquaKnox and Taqueria Canyonita, along with Samba Room, Bossa, Mignon and more. Americanized French bistros are hot. Mignon is Carlson’s answer to the steak frites craze. Mignon is slick, pleasing to the senses, and an altogether pleasant place to have a business lunch in Far North Dallas. Cast-iron chicken ($6.75) is a tasty appetizer. The tender morsels of skewered chicken are dribbled with honey-dijonnaise. They, like most everything in the house, are served with a mound of pommes frites. I found the fries overcooked and too salty for my taste. The award for the best house salad I’ve ever had goes to Salad Mignon ($5.50). It’s a delicious mixture of field greens, bacon, a poached egg, croutons and Dijon vinaigrette. A big burger, an omelette and a number of sandwiches are offered on the luncheon menu. Thank goodness a "half sandwich option is offered". We ordered half a Jambon—house smoked ham with white cheddar ($7.50/12 whole)—and could only eat half of the half! Main courses include a tasty, herb marinated half chicken ($11), chicken pot pie—so popular they were out of it ($10), and of course, steak frites ($14) and steak au poivre ($15)—both satisfactory versions of the venerable French classics, and better than I’ve had in Paris (better meat). Service is friendly and accommodating. The outdoor patio will be extremely popular when nice weather returns. Mignon lives up to its name. It’s a prime choice for an upbeat, casually upscale business lunch. Mignon 4005 Preston Road, Suite 518—Plano (972) 943-3264 Send me an Email: jwdineline@aol.com