May 17, 2013

Bobaddiction, a Bubble Tea Truck, is Rolling into Dallas on July 1

boba

Randy Hu, one of the guys behind this new boba truck business, emailed me an hour ago to tell me about Bobaddiction. He wondered if I’d be interested in a story about bubble tea, a Taiwanese tea-based drink that started in Taichung. Recipes for it consist of fruit, milk, tea, and tapioca balls that can be slurped up through a thick straw.

I quickly emailed him back: “I’m Taiwanese. I have been waiting for a boba truck ALL MY LIFE.”

It’s true. My best friend, Teresa, once considered quitting med school to open a boba truck. I told her she was crazy. But deep down inside, I really wanted to say yes. If bubble tea didn’t cost $3 bucks a pop, I’d probably bathe myself in milk tea every single day. I’d rub my hair with tapioca balls and… anyways, I’m getting off topic.

Continue reading "Bobaddiction, a Bubble Tea Truck, is Rolling into Dallas on July 1"

Buy Tickets to the Bishop Arts Dishcrawl on Tuesday, May 28

Every week or so, I get another email about Dishcrawl. I think this means it’s doing quite well. Another Dishcrawl thingy is happening on Tuesday, May 28, at 7 p.m. If you buy a ticket for $75, you’ll get to eat from three great restaurants under the span of 3 hours: Mesa, Bolsa, and Boulevardier. Only 20 tickets available, but if you want one, go here. Now.

Bits & Bites: Things to Do and Chew in Dallas This Weekend, May 17-19

The Blonde Bombshell (photo by Matthew Shelley)

Beer, beer, and more beer (photo by Matthew Shelley)

I would just like to take this time, again, to remind you all that D Magazine’s 100 Best Restaurants Party is taking place on Wednesday, May 22, at 3015 Trinity Groves. This is your once-in-a-lifetime chance of pieing Nancy in the face. Do ittttt.

Friday

Every year Addison upstages all the other suburbs and holds its own food festival, Taste Addison. I’m jealous that Carrollton doesn’t have one. But Addison isn’t too far, and 60 Addison restaurants + carnival games + music from Blue October means everyone’s bound to have a good time. Buy tickets online or at the door. It runs from Friday to Sunday.

Saturday

Guys, it’s still American Craft Beer Week. The fun hasn’t stopped. There’s the Lakewood Brewing Co.’s All-Cask Tour from noon to 3 p.m.

There’s also this list of other American Craft Beer Week events happening on Saturday. I’m sorry I lied and never updated it. Whoopsies…

Continue reading "Bits & Bites: Things to Do and Chew in Dallas This Weekend, May 17-19"

Where Do You Go for Ramen in Dallas?

Word comes that Justin Holt isn’t done with his ramen pop-up shops. He’s doing another one this Saturday at Ten Bells Tavern. Just a little over a week ago, Teresa Gubbins posted on CultureMap that the Lucia-turned-Driftwood chef decided he would take a break from mass-producing his noodles in disposable bowls. But the ambitious man hasn’t slowed down, and he told Steven Doyle he’s gonna stick to his “road to ramageddon.”

I have to admit I wasn’t too sad when Holt said he was done with midnight ramen for good. I know a lot of people have given Holt’s handmade noodles positive reviews, so maybe I had a weird batch at Ten Bells that February night he opened his pop-up shop, right after a successful run at Tradewinds. But I also can’t help wondering if maybe – just maybe – people in Dallas are so overhyped about ramen (Ten Bells was scarily packed that day. It felt like Shanghai.) they think anything that resembles ramen tastes like the stars and planets aligning. That Saturday, I overheard several people say Holt’s ramen was fantastic – and the pork belly definitely was – even though the broth tasted overwhelmingly like soy sauce. It was so salty I could feel the insides of my cheeks swell up. It was like getting my wisdom teeth pulled all over again. But, like I said, it could have just been an off day for Holt. I’d be happy to try his ramen again at a sit-down place where hungry masses aren’t going haywire.

Jump for more.

Continue reading "Where Do You Go for Ramen in Dallas?"

Food Feedback Friday

Happy Friday, SideDishers! What tasty foods did you eat and where did you dine this week? Tell us the good, bad, and the ugly.Here’s what you wrote last week.FoodFeedback

May 16, 2013

Missing Pillow Alert: Somebody Swiped Iconic Baby Donut Pillow from Hypnotic Donuts

pillow

Pillow-Gate: If you see this pillow please call Hypnotic Donuts ASAP.

Who could do such a thing. Hear the folks at Hypnotic Donuts cry:

REWARD!!! Our beloved Baby Donut Pillow has gone missing…since Sunday, May 12th. BDP has been a part of our Hyppie family long before we opened our White Rock location. As seen in this picture with a young Hyppie, BDP is about 14” in diameter, fuzzy tan cloth with pink “icing” and sprinkles, and displays cute little eyes and a smile that welcomes our customers. We have contacted the Pillow Police and they are actively pursuing leads and reviewing our security camera footage, however, we are asking the Hyppie community to keep an eye out for our beloved Baby Donut Pillow. We are offering an award of donuts for anyone that can bring in BDP in one piece…no questions asked.

Jolie/Pitt Miraval Rose is Hot Ticket at Sigel’s in Dallas

The winemakers.

The winemakers.

I don’t understand the appeal of celebrity wine but I’m, once again, in the minority. A couple of days ago Jasper Russo of Sigel’s sent word that the store had a limited supply of Miraval Cotes de Provence Rose 2012 bottled by Jolie-Pitt & Perrin. He writes:

Do you love rosé wine? Do you love Brad Pitt? Do you love Angelina Jolie? Do you love ALL THREE of those things at the same time? If so, you can be among the few lucky people to purchase the first release from Ch Miraval. The wine is from the French vineyard owned by the famous couple, who partnered with Marc Perrin, of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, to create the label. Grown at an altitude of 350 meters in clay and chalk soils, the vines are cultivated 100% organically, without the use of herbicides, pesticides or chemicals.

Somebody in the United Arab Emirates loves all three. They contacted Russo and asked him to ship his whole inventory ASAP. The cost of shipping one 44-pound case which retails for $240 would be $650. However, Russo doesn’t have access to the federal customs paperwork necessary to complete the transaction so the order was declined. Russo is down to three cases at the Greenville Avenue store only. And it’s on sale for $19.99 (reg. $24.99). 5757 Greenville Ave. 214-739-4012.

Chef Najat Kaanache is Staying at Private Social

Najat Kaanache and Stephan Pyles at Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap.

Chefs Consulting: Najat Kaanache and Stephan Pyles at Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap. (photo courtesy of  Najat Kaanache.)

Feisty executive chef Najat Kaanache is digging in her heels and staying in the kitchen of Private Social. Kaanache is in the process of putting together a new Awesome Texas Food menu which she will debut next week. I reached Kaanache this morning and we chatted about some of her ideas.

This gal, who writes a blog called The Pilgrim Chef,  has some serious credentials. Her parents are Moroccan but she grew up in Spain where her passions for cooking and science collided. She has worked with modernist chefs such as Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller, and Grant Achatz. When I learned of the changes going on at Private Social, I wrote: “I can’t imagine she will stick around to do awesome things with Texas food. Somebody needs to back her in a Moroccan restaurant.”

Color me wrong. Kaanache is turning Texan. She learned a lot about Texas food when she consulted on Stampede 66, Stephan Pyles’ salute to his fifth-generation-awesome-Texas cooking. Pyles is a huge fan of Spanish modernist cooking (miss you, Fuego!) and he has been injecting modernist techniques into his cooking for some time. His Stampede 66 combines the right blend of Texas and weird science.

“I spent several months living in Dallas working as consultant to Stephan Pyles creating his whole menu concept, recipes, and hands-on training his staff for Stampede 66,” Kaanache says. “I even designed a menu with him that we executed together for the Buffalo Gap Wine and Food Summit last year at the Perini Ranch.”

I had to ask: Does Pyles view Kaanache’s Awesome Texas Food as competition?

“I believe he thinks there is competition but there is not competition,” Kaanache says. “He uses more modern techniques than me.”

Pyles sees it differently. “The only competition I’ve seen came when she opened Private Social and she tried to hire away some of my staff,” Pyles says. “My question is why isn’t she doing Moroccan or Spanish. I wouldn’t open a tapas place in San Sebastián or a sushi joint in Tokyo.”

Kaanache is sending details on the new menu and other changes to the restaurant. Whatever they decide to do, Private Social has a big battle ahead of them. I checked the TABC’s Mixed Beverage Tax Receipts for the month of March 2013 which was posted on April 22.  The list, which is public information, shows the tax remittances of restaurants with liquor licenses. The amount of the tax paid represents 14 percent of total liquor sales price. (To figure total sales, you divide the amount of the tax by .14.) Private Social paid $3,205.75 which translates into approximately $22,898 total liquor sales. Their next door neighbor, Del Frisco’s Grille, paid $34,303.50 which translates into approximately $245,025 total liquor sales.

Fasten your seatbelts, Dishers. It’s going to be a bumpy road to recovery. (I really wish she would open a Moroccan restaurant.)

UPDATE: Kaanache’s details below. The menu… Continue reading "Chef Najat Kaanache is Staying at Private Social"

Texas Monthly is Announcing its Top 4 BBQ Places on Twitter RIGHT NOW

 

Go Brew-B-Q on Memorial Weekend

image002It’s too dreary outside for me to type. Or maybe I’m just using that as an excuse. Either way, I’m going to let Tait Lifto from Deep Ellum Brewing Co. take it away. He’s more eloquent about beer than I ever will be.

“Announcing our 3rd annual Brew-B-Q and this year should be bigger than ever! The 1st Brew-B-Q we held in the parking lot at Life-In-Deep-Ellum as the brewhouse wasn’t quite open yet. Last year for our 2nd Brew-B-Q, we sold out at max capacity around 800 people. This year, we’ve expanded the brewery into the entire building and thus have more room to spread out but we’re still going to cap the tickets to prevent overcrowding.

There are two different tickets available this year:

General Admission – Brew-B-Q Commemorative Glass, beer, Pecan Lodge BBQ, live music including Vic Duncan Band, Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos, and local headliner Sugarfoote and Co., ‘live’ art by local artist Jason Ice, on-site screen printing of limited edition shirts by ArtLoveMagic co-founder Justin Nygren.

VIP Admission – Brew-B-Q Commemorative Glass, beer, Pecan Lodge BBQ, live music including Vic Duncan Band, Grant Jones & The Pistol Grip Lassos, and local headliner Sugarfoote and Co., ‘live’ art by local artist Jason Ice, on-site screen printing of limited edition shirts by ArtLoveMagic co-founder Justin Nygren, one-hour early admission, access to the air-conditioned VIP front tasting room, special tappings of limited DEBC brews in the front tasting room and early admission to Pecan Lodge BBQ.

Sunday May 26, 2013, 5pm-10pm (VIP allowed in at 4pm)

Tickets can be purchased here. Tickets will sell out. Up-to-date info on our Facebook page.”

Texas Monthly‘s 2013 Top 50 BBQ List


View Tx BBQ in a larger map

 
Holy.. I am late on posting this, but Texas Monthly has released its list of Top 50 BBQ Joints in the great Lone Star State. Pretty incredible. This only happens every five years-ish. The last time they came out with a list, it was in 2008. There are 16 out of 50 joints that have made BOTH 2008 and 2013′s list. This probably means the BBQ landscape of Texas is changing fast and rapidamente. (You’ll see that Dallas’ two joints weren’t even on the list in 2008. Back then, Baker’s Ribs was top gun.) And see how this list favors the east? Bradford Pearson, in whatever free time he had, decided to map all the places out for us to see.

So now, dear folks, you know why TM decided to hire Daniel Vaughn. They needed a voracious man to eat and review and deliver. And, yes, I think he delivered. Here’s the list, unranked. The ranked list comes out on May 22.

ALAMO

The Original Willie’s Bar-B-Que

AMARILLO
Tyler’s Barbecue

AUSTIN
Franklin Barbecue
John Mueller Meat Co.
La Barbecue
Lamberts Downtown Barbecue*
Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew

Jump for the rest.

Continue reading "Texas Monthly‘s 2013 Top 50 BBQ List"

Farm to Market Report: Weekend of May 18

farmersMarket_02_char11The bout of colder temperatures at the beginning of the season has delayed the harvesting of some plants, unfortunately. That might mean fewer strawberries and other fruits, but also an extended season for leafy vegetables. Still, you should be able to find what you’re looking for this weekend, along with plenty of breads, honey, and spices to enhance those recipes.

Coppell Farmers Market: Coppell has had an exciting week so far, selling out tickets to their third annual Farm to Table Dinner on June 8 in just 10 days! The dinner showcases the best produce from the market prepared by chefs and culinary students from The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Dallas and Le Cordon Bleu.

While you might not be able to attend the dinner, come pick up some of the fresh ingredients yourself and try a new recipe. Expect to see lettuces, arugula, kale, beets, turnips, onions, radishes, pecans, and sweet potatoes. Be sure to grab some spinach, as quantities are winding down. Early potatoes, green beans, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots may be available.

793 S. Coppell Road
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Collin County Farmers Market: Grass-fed meat will be available at many markets this weekend, and Collin County is no exception with two vendors – True Hill Farms and McLemore Farms. In addition, look for onions, beans, soup mixers from Custom Café, herbs and flowers from Spring Creek Organic Farm, biscotti from ENA Baking Company, and gourmet bread from Village Baking Company.

3314 Central Expressway
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Continue reading "Farm to Market Report: Weekend of May 18"

May 15, 2013

“Southern Roots” Dinner at FT33 with Matt McCallister and McCrady’s Jeremiah Langhorne

buddies

Matt McCallister and Jeremiah Langhorne, foraging buddies 4 lyfe


Get a little taste of Charleston with this sweet dinner event happening on June 17. I’m still waiting for the day when Matt teams up with Oxheart’s Justin Yu. That food will be CRAY.

WHAT:           FT33 and Executive Chef and Owner Matt McCallister welcomes McCrady’s Chef de Cuisine, Jeremiah Langhorne, for a guest chef dinner and one-of-a-kind dining experience.

Chef de Cuisine of the award-winning Charleston, South Carolina restaurant, shares McCallister’s passion for foraging, fresh ingredients and Southern fare. Together, McCallister and Langhorne present guests with a variety of small bites and an innovative eight-course menu inspired by flavors of the South.

COST:            $125 per person for the eight-course menu, excluding tax and gratuity; $75 for complementary wine pairings selected by FT33’s General Manager, Jeff Gregory.

WHEN:           Monday, June 17, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.

The Funny Emails We Get at D Magazine Headquarters

Blah, blah, blah. I’ve already talked about Matthew Shelley once today, so I’m pretty sure I’ve hit my quota, but this email is too good not to share. You guys already (or should already) know that Matt writes the “Into Shelley’s Belly” column once a week. He’s also our I.T. tech guy. This morning, some of us at D were getting spam. Tim shares Matt’s email to the whole company on Frontburner. Amusing, right?

BYOB Bingo Nights at Hypnotic Donuts are Rated R. I Wonder What That Means…

Hypnotic-Donuts-directoryGet your B-I-N-G-O gear ready, Dallas. Hypnotic Donuts is hosting Bingo nights every other Wednesday night, starting May 29. “Hypnotic is doing this because it is fun- that simple. We will have Bingo on Wednesday nights because it will be something to look forward to during the middle of the week,” says James St. Peter. He’s the same brilliant man who came up the Hypnotic Donut Dash, which Liz Johnstone wrote about in our January 2013 issue.

Any run that makes you eat donuts before and after the race sounds so horrifyingly fantastic.

But don’t worry, donuts aren’t the main feature. Bingo is. “The kitchen will open at 6:30pm and serve chicken biscuits and a variety of cake donuts. Non- alcoholic beverages will be available for sale. Alcohol will be BYOB and is highly encouraged. Bingo will be from 7pm-9pm and Rated R.”

Wait, wait, wait. Rated R? Bingo? Is this strip bingo? Bad words bingo? In any case, this probably isn’t safe-for-kids bingo.

To reserve your spot at this mysterious bingo night, be one of the first 20 people to RSVP (214-668-6999). A $15 credit card deposit is held and only charged for no-shows. If you win bingo, you’ll get a prize. (A mystery prize. A rated R prize?)

Jump for the details. Continue reading "BYOB Bingo Nights at Hypnotic Donuts are Rated R. I Wonder What That Means…"

Rudy’s Chicken Really is “So Good You’ll Slap Yo Mammas Mamma”

Fine thighs and legs (photo by Matthew Shelley)

Some mighty fine thighs and legs (photo by Matthew Shelley)

Ever since I stumbled upon Rudy’s Chicken’s Facebook page, I’ve been meaning to visit this South Dallas icon at 3115 S. Lancaster Rd., where the neighborhood goes for its chicken. And, truthfully, any page with the tagline of “CHICKEN SO GOOD YOU’LL SLAP YO MAMMAS MAMMA” gets my blood flowing. It makes me want to yell “chicken” the same way Mel Gibson drags out “FREEEDOOOOMMM” for 8 seconds long, right before he gets beheaded in Braveheart.

Yesterday Matt Shelley and I arrived in front of an unassuming, white building at 1:30 p.m., where the drive-thru line for Rudy’s Chicken was about five cars long, and the stand-outside-pick-up line had 6 to 8 people waiting. But the lines at Rudy’s move quickly. You’d think there might be little green elves inside, but no. Employees wear red polo shirts, rushing to fill orders as they received orders. “What you got?” called a man from the back. “Two breasts and two legs!” I shouted through the thick, hazy smell of oil. “That’ll be seven dollars,” said the woman operating the cash register. “It’s cash only.”

Matt grabbed his separate order of 13 thighs, legs, and breasts (it came with 14, but he gave one of the legs away to a homeless man standing nearby) and we drove off. There’s nowhere to sit inside at Rudy’s Chicken. If you want liver and gizzards (7 of each for $5), it’s a 10 minute wait in the hot, hot sun. So we stuck with fried chicken, got our order and buzzed outta there. It felt like we were carrying gold in our hands.

Continue reading "Rudy’s Chicken Really is “So Good You’ll Slap Yo Mammas Mamma”"

What To Drink Now: Coquerel Family Wine with Winemaker Christine Barbe

IMG_7384

We love good wine here in Texas. We love it even more when made by one of our own, though the debate is still heated on where the grapes come from and who is making it…mainly, I just want it to be good whether it is made in Napa Valley, Sonoma, Willamette, or Hill Country or made from grapes grown in throughout the state or in other parts of the country. Dallas residents and Texas natives Dr. Clay and Brenda Cockerell fell in love with the wines of Bordeaux, driving them to find a vineyard in the northernmost part of Napa Valley where they are growing stellar Bordeaux style, oak and stainless steel aged Sauvignon Blanc, calling the wine Coquerel, taking the French spelling of their name.  They also grow a few other varieties on their property and source fruit from other vineyards around Napa for their Petit Sirah, Merlot, Verdelo and Chardonnay.

Their winemaker, Christine Barbe, was recently in town with Brenda and Clay and I had a chance to visit with her a but before they headed to Abilene (Brenda and Clay’s hometown) for the Buffalo Gap food and wine festival. I was thrilled to have a chance to sit down with Christine and Brenda before they headed out of town. Continue reading "What To Drink Now: Coquerel Family Wine with Winemaker Christine Barbe"

May 14, 2013

Private Social Goes Under the Knife Again: Changing Menu From Modernist to “Awesome Texas Food”

The saga of Private Social continues. The trendy restaurant on McKinney that opened in September 2011 is already going for its third concept. According to the eagle-eyed Whitney Filloon on Eater, Private Social, recently renamed P|S, will showcase an Awesome Texas Food menu next week.  Opening chef Tiffany Derry stepped out in January and talented chef  Najat Kaanache, who studied under modernist chefs such as Ferran Adria, Thomas Keller, and Grant Achatz, took center stage.

I can’t imagine she will stick around to do awesome things with Texas food. Somebody needs to back her in a Moroccan restaurant. Remember our conversation about restaurant names? I think Private Social is a good example of a bad name. It was too insidery and confusing. P|S certainly didn’t translate either. They should ditch the whole idea of the name and call it Awesome Texas Food.

Updates on Lower Greenville: Trader Joe’s, HG Sply Co., and Dallas Beer Kitchen

The shell of TJ's coming to life.

The shell of TJ’s coming to life.

Lots of changes are underfoot in Lower Greenville. Yesterday I was walking along the street – just minding my own beeswax – when I noticed all these new places pop up. Lower Greenville is in the midst of a Restaurant Renaissance.

Though I haven’t seen any movement on chef Jason Boso’s food truck park, I’m guessing it’s waiting for Trader Joe’s to finish up construction work because the two areas will be sharing a common parking lot. Carnival Barker’s will open its ice cream shop in the truck park, and kids will be running around Lower Greenville like the crazies they are. Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House owners are fixing to move into 1919 Greenville Ave. for their new restaurant, The Blind Butcher, pretty soon. They still haven’t said when it’s opening yet. Mums the word.

So here’s what we do know, for sure: Trader Joe’s is making progress. Look! (See above photo.) The exterior is almost done. Cookie butter will soon be closer than ever.

Continue reading "Updates on Lower Greenville: Trader Joe’s, HG Sply Co., and Dallas Beer Kitchen"

Fluellen Cupcakes To Open Downtown

Can't wait until these are my neighbors! Photo by Jennifer Singleton.

Can’t wait until these are my neighbors! Photo by Jennifer Singleton.

There is so much going on downtown. On Saturday, I took the dog to his favorite store, Downtown Pawz, and let him pick out a treat. After taking him home, the husband and I walked over to Freshii and got lunch. Then we moseyed over to TenOverSix to check out the store’s accessories. Afterward, we stumbled across a downtown garage store, and then we checked out Homegrown Festival. Exhausted, we walked the block back to our apartment, and took a nap.

I’m almost scared to say it, but, here goes: I think Dallas may finally have its downtown.

I’m not the only one who’s noticed. Hospitality Sweet opened last week, then Freshii (which is actually open long enough for downtown residents to use), and now we’re getting something called WingBucket (don’t have info for you on that), and Fluellen Cupcakes.

Fluellen is run by Keith Fluellen, a real estate developer and co-owner of Dimples Cupcake Factory in Frisco. You remember Dimples, right? The owners we wrote about are no longer part of the organization, recipes have been adjusted, and vendors have been paid. “We take care of our employees,” Fluellen says.

With all these changes, Fluellen thought it was time to branch out on his own. In his job, he couldn’t help but notice what was happening in downtown Dallas. “I could see the revitalization,” he says. “I was blessed to find a good spot.” That spot is at 1408 Elm Street, between the Jimmy John’s and CVS, one block from DART (and, as luck would have it, one block from me!). While cupcakes will be the store’s bread and butter, it will also have a coffee bar with coffee from Distant Land Coffee, headquartered in Tyler, Texas.

And the very best part? In the beginning, the store will be open until 9 most nights and 10 on Fridays and Saturdays. Fluellen says they’re taking their time with construction, and making sure they do everything right. He says the store will open the second week in June.

So there you have it. I’m just waiting for the day when it isn’t news that a store is opening up downtown. I think that time is quickly approaching.