I Might Have to Start Driving to Addison

To get a chocolate-banana shake from Topz, a “Healthier Burger Grill” imported from California. We went there for lunch today to investigate the claim that these burgers—Black Angus, ahi, turkey, veggie—are as tasty as they are good for you. (Totally cool aside: the nutritional information on the web site tells you how many Weight Watchers Points each menu item is. Nice!) I admit the beef burgers are pretty tasty—and 444 calories without sauce—and the baked fries and onion rings will definitely do in a pinch. But oh my, the shakes! Made with low-fat ice cream and real fruit, they are the stars here. True, the chocolate-banana shake is 460 calories (9 Points), but we split it three ways. So we felt like we were being oh-so-bad. And it felt good.

Re: How To Look Hot on a Date

Thank you to all the sweet people who commented on yesterday’s post. And hooray for men who like women who eat! However, in my date’s defense, he has never had a problem with how much I eat; in fact, it’s what we love to do together, and we often joke that we are pigs! It was just my silly way of talking about the Word’s Most Enormous Chicken Pot Pie, although I did not lie about eating the whole thing. (I ended the night alone for other reasons. Alas.) And to the other guy’s point that his meals at The Grill have been less than stellar, I should add that we were disappointed in the $40 beef medallions with a tasteless blue cheese sauce. Salt, anyone?

P.S. I’m always up for pie—especially the chocolate cream at Strongs.

Stainless Steel Chef: The Winning Dish

Here are, in the words of the chef, the winning dishes prepared by 62 Main chef, David McMillan:

Red snapper carpaccio with golden beet vinaigrette and spiced key lime juice.

Rainbow chard salad and brunoise of roast shiitakes and red beet.

Sautéed red snapper with fennel shallot puree

Butternut squash, blood orange, and pomegranate, kaffir, ginger, and chervil broth.

Huh? I guess that is all chefspeak for good. He did all that in one hour. One. Hour.

More Great Grits for You

Agreed, Stephen. Lets make grits a new culinary trend. Another place that does them well is Hattie’s. The low-country shrimp and goat cheese grits with Tabasco-bacon pan gravy is about as good as it gets.

Pics from Stainless Steel Chefs

As Nancy reported here and Tim has reported over here, last night’s Stainless Steel Chefs party was a huge hit. David McMillan’s red snapper was deemed the tastiest, and Casey Thompson was named runner-up. What the chefs chose to wear was also worth noting. Casey was in a bright green chef’s jacket, Tim Love and his sous were both in cowboy hats (natch, they also took shots of Tuaca–possibly why it took so long for them to present their final dish?), and Tre Wilcox chose to forgo a traditional jacket in favor of a gray tee-shirt that said “Chef.” Follow the jump for pics of the above.

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RE: Food Fight At Fearing’s

Remember this juicy tidbit from November? A new comment hit this morning and it’s delicious.

Smoked Gouda Grits: Kitchen 1924

I’ve never cared for grits. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been served one too many bland bowls of mush with a stick of butter on top. No thanks, I’ll pass. That is, until last night.

Kitchen 1924 has Smoked Gouda Grits as a seasonal side dish, and they’re good. Real good. It’s a welcome replacement for the mac & cheese you’ll find just about everywhere else. Served smoking hot, they’ve got a great texture and just enough cheese. A little brown on top for that satisfying crunchy-chewy goodness, and each “grit” was cooked just enough. No mush, and not too chewy. More please.

I could go on about the rest of the meal (the awesome scallops, the great house made desserts), but go find out for yourself. Kitchen 1924 was also named one of the Best Neighborhood Restaurants in the new issue of D.

Stainless Steel Chef Awards: A Night To Remember

Oh lordy, my achin’ back and feet: last night was a total raucous blast. The Milestone Culinary Arts Center  was a mosh pit of foodies, celebuchefs, sponsors, Junior Leaguers, and distinguished members of the Dallas culinary scene. Working with the chefs who participated—Casey, Tre, David, Kelly, Tim, and Kevin—was quite an experience. We’ve all watched plenty of culinary competitions on the tube, but to be in the kitchen with them and experience the serious energy they produce was really something. (BTW, Timmy has pictures up on FrontBurner.) I (almost) felt sorry for Tre, he drew the exhibition station that was in the front room and guests taking pictures and asking for autographs surrounded him as he attempted to cook. Highlights for me? The “Dine With D Magazine’s Dining Critic” live auction item fetched $1,700! Tim Love’s whole red snapper was as beautiful as it was tasty. Meeting the nerdy-in-a-good-way seafood guy from Waxahachie. Catching up with Matt Martinez . Seeing Jim Severson and his wife Amy’s sassy new hairdo. And remembering—cue the violins—that Dallas is full of great chefs and restaurateurs who freely donate their time, money, and product to this city. Somebody at City Hall needs to take this city by the culinary gonads and sell them to the world. Paula Lambert can’t do it on her own. Developing.