Texsom 2008: Updates to Photo Gallery

I’ve added about 20 new pictures to the gallery.

Fake Restaurant Wins Wine Spectator Award of Excellence

From the “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up” department and Dr. Vino:

If you decided to get a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for you restaurant wine list, what would you need? The answer according to Robin Goldstein is $250 and Microsoft Word. Restaurant not actually required. Goldstein, the author of The Wine Trials, has a posting up on a new web site describing how he invented a restaurant name, Osteria l’Intrepido, a riff on “fearless.” Then he typed up a menu (”a fun amalgamation of somewhat bumbling nouvelle-Italian recipes”) and then put together a wine list, and submitted both to Wine Spectator-along with the $250 fee. The list was approved and given an Award of Excellence (see screenshot).

Nice. Either this is a hoax or WS has already wiped the listing from their website. I couldn’t find the original.

Morton’s Set to Move to The Grotto Space in Uptown

Morton’s, the Steak House has just signed a lease to move into the space formerly know as The Grotto on McKinney and Pearl across from the Crescent.

Let’s Ask Nikki: What is Stevia and Can We Smoke It?

Amy Severson bought a couple of stevia plants at Northaven Gardens. I asked her if she smoked it and she said no, she chews on them. They are very sweet and calorie free. D senior editor Zac Crain’s wife, Nikki, works at Northaven Gardens. Nikki, details please. (Oh, no! here comes that song.)

Restaurant 101: Credit Cards, the Fees Restaurants Love to Hate

Miss Amy is back from vacation and ready to roll out a new subject for us all to chew on. Today she explains a restaurant’s cost of doing business with credit cards. As customers, we don’t think twice about flipping a card out to pay for a meal while the restaurateur has to deal with tons of paperwork and fee assessments. Yuck-a-doo, I hate math. Here she goes:

Ask any owner, and they will groan about the fee amounts, the charge complexities, and the required software upgrades to their point-of-sale equipment. Since 2001, the cost of processing credit card transactions has dropped considerably but merchant fees have risen over 133% , a fact that has lead the National Restaurant Association to join with other small merchant groups and support the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. To summarize, small business owners would like to know what they are paying for–merchant statements can include over 12 lines of various charges, depending on the type of card that was used. (more…)

Share Our Strength’s Touring Chefs Dinner This Sunday, August 24

This Sunday, August 24, join Stephan Pyles, Dunia Borga of La Duni, Scott Romano of Charlie Palmer at The Joule, Abraham Salum of Salum, and a group of traveling chefs (Zach Bell of Café Boulud, Palm Beach, FL; Jason Robinson of The Inn at Dos Brisas, Washington, TX; and Bradford Thompson of Lever House, New York, NY) who are preparing a beautiful multicourse meal to raise money to wipe out childhood hunger through Share Our Strength. Cocktail reception starts at 6 pm; seated dinner begins at 7. Tickets are $175.

Disher Review#16: Steve Field’s Steak and Lobster

Incoming report from Steve Field’s Steak and Lobster in not-so-Plano:

We arrived early for our reservation at Steve Field’s Steak and Lobster Lounge. I’d heard about the Plano restaurant before and based on their extensive RW menu offerings, made a reservation for four on Sunday night.
Upon arrival, our table was not yet ready so we enjoyed a glass of wine (all-day happy hour on Sunday) and enjoyed the live jazz piano performance in the bar. Once our table was availabe, we settled into our cozy booth and the server passed out a restaurant week menu as well as the normal menu so we could review all of our choices. He was very laid back and easy going, which made us feel extremely welcome and not rushed like some reviewers have felt.
The “fourth course” offering was a mini crab cake (you could use your coupon or pay $5 extra). We ordered two with our coupons and the kitchen split the order into four portions for us. The crab meat was sweet and delicious with hardly any other filling or breadcrumbs.
Most of our group enjoyed the wedge salad, but some chose the crab and corn chowder and it was my favorite dish of the meal. The wedge was great with a spicy vinaigrette, bleu cheese, tomato, and bacon garnish.
For our entrees, we each tried something different. Every entree came with smoked cheese mashed potatoes and julienned veggies. Our four entrees included the filet, the prime rib, salmon, and lobster tail. Each portion was generous and everything was cooked to perfection. We were just feeling a bit full when we remember that dessert was on the way.
I’d love to describe all the desserts but our party chose the raspberry chocolate cheesecake and the caramel buttercream chocolate cake. Did you read that? Caramel. Buttercream. Chocolate. Cake. Individually? Wonderful. Together? A dream dessert.
Our server was extremely attentive and friendly. He wanted feedback from us at the end of the meal since it was our first visit and we had only good things to say!

I love a story with a happy ending. Thanks.

Orange Cup Set to Open in Frisco

A few months ago, the lovely and talented Sarah Eveans blogged about Orange Cup opening at NorthPark Center. Well, it seems the city can’t get enough yogurt, so location No. 2 is set to open at Stonebriar Center during Labor Day weekend, with more locations coming to Galleria Dallas, West Village, and the Shops at Legacy. The official grand opening celebration takes place September 5-7, with a concert by local musician Patrick Ryan Clark on Friday, from 7-9 pm, and free yogurt on Saturday, from 2-4 pm. Between Orange Cup, Natsumi, Berry Berry, and lord-knows-what-else, I’d say we have a yogurt epidemic on our hands.

Reservations for Six at Abacus Up for Grabs

A Disher holding a reservation for six at 8:00pm tomorrow night (8/21) can’t make it. She offers them up to the first person who emails me. Hit me: nancyn@dmagazine.com.

Hamilton Rousseau III, R.I.P.

Dallas has lost one its unique foodie characters–Hamilton Rousseau III, former owner of Ifs Ands & Butts, the eclectic soda and tobacco shop in the Bishop Arts District, passed away on Wednesday, August 13^th. He died after a long struggle with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a rare bleeding disorder. More on Rousseau from one of his dear friends: (more…)