Articles for August 27th, 2009

What I’m Drinking Now: Sake

posted by Hayley Hamilton | August 27th, 2009 5:07pm | filed under Texas Sommelier Conference, Wine & Spirits | 3 Comments »

rihaku wandering poetAs noted, the top sommeliers in Texas converged in Dallas at the Four Seasons a few weeks ago.  The best sommelier in Texas was tested and selected, and public and trade seminars were held for over 200 attendees. 

One session in particular opened my eyes to flavors that I was familiar with, but hadn’t ever really taken the time to get to know.  Master Sommelier Keith Goldston led a Sunday morning session explaining the origin, nuances and uniqueness of sake, with its Korean roots, and unchanging Japanese production, and almost ceremonial enjoyment. 
Sake, known as Nihonshu in Japan, is as important to the Japanese culture as Bordeaux and Burgundy are to the French. 

Continue reading "What I’m Drinking Now: Sake"

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AIWF Folks Announce Winners of Best Restaurant Week Wine and Food Pairings

posted by Sarah Eveans | August 27th, 2009 4:28pm | filed under Chefs, Restaurant Week 2009, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

red-wineThe members of the American Institute of Wine and Food’s DFW Chapter have been doing a lot of eating lately. They had to, in order to find who had the best wine and food pairings at restaurants participating in KRLD Restaurant Week (17–23).

The winning chef and somm get a week’s stay at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in Cali.

Here’s a hint: the winning restaurant served a grilled Texas peach salad with a Brazos brie crouton.

Jump for the winners.

Continue reading "AIWF Folks Announce Winners of Best Restaurant Week Wine and Food Pairings"

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Celebrating Texas Cheese With the Winners of the American Cheese Society Competition

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 27th, 2009 1:26pm | filed under Awards, Celebrity Diners, Cheese, DideDish CheeseHead, Events, Silly Reasons to Celebrate, Twitter | 28 Comments »
Art by Bob Dob.

Art by Bob Dob.

In early August, I reported on the Dallas area cheesemakers who won big time national awards at the 25th Annual American Cheese Society Competition in Austin. I’ll wait while you read the post…

…Okay, so now you know Latte Da, Lucky Layla, and Mozzarella Company made our region proud. In a follow-up post, I printed a 2,500 word document detailing the complete list of winners and judges. At the bottom of the lengthy post,  I typed: IF YOU ARE STILL WITH ME, YOU ARE AN OFFICIAL SIDEDISH CHEESEHEAD AND IF YOU SEND ME AN EMAIL YOU WILL BE INVITED TO A VERY SPECIAL CHEESE EVENT. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Please use this form rather than sending an email.]

Three of you, drum roll please: Worzel (shocker, I know), Meaders, and Douglas replied. They are now official SideDish CheeseHeads. But here is the even better news: I am putting together a small FREE event to celebrate Texas cheese and Texas wine. It will be in late September. So let’s start a list below so I can get an idea of how big to blow this out. Lists, I love lists. Go. Sign up. Be a SideDish CheeseHead. We will make Wisconsin blush with envy.

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How Bad Do You Miss Chef John Tesar?

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 27th, 2009 11:33am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News, Silly Reasons to Celebrate, Wine & Spirits | 4 Comments »

Come on, admit it. You said you didn’t love, love, love John Tesar but deep down inside, I know you did. Well, if you are willing to drive to The Woodlands, starting next Tuesday (Sept. 1) you can see him at Tesar’s, A Modern Steak & Seafood. Deets below. Continue reading "How Bad Do You Miss Chef John Tesar?"

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The Best Onion Rings in Dallas? Guess the Restaurant!

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 27th, 2009 10:44am | filed under Awards, Cheap trick for comments, Contests, Food Fight!, Food Porn, Twitter, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 86 Comments »
Diamonds in the rough.
Diamonds in the rough.
Eat these now.
Eat these now.

I love onion rings. I love them big and tall. I love them greasy and small. Recently I ordered onion rings at a restaurant in Dallas and I was shocked—these are the best rings I’ve had in Dallas in a long time. Since Restaurant Week basically kills the food news biz, let’s play another game today: Can you guess where these onion rings were cooked? Go. Somebody will win something.

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER:

GJ @ August 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm _

Bailey’s in Cedar Hill ?

Yes! Congrats, GJ. Send me an email.

86 Comments »

SideDish TableTalk: Three Jews, Zinsky’s Deli in Dallas, Six Opinions

posted by Evan Grant | August 27th, 2009 9:48am | filed under Chefs, Delis, Ethnic Food, Food On TV, Foodie People, Neighborhood restaurants, Reviews, Sandwiches | 24 Comments »

three_stoogesWe hope to start an occasional feature here on SideDish in which one of us adventurous eaters endeavors to discuss a restaurant experience with either some dinner companions or a couple of Dishers who might have expertise in the area.

For the first installment of SideDish TableTalk, I knew just where to go to round up a couple of fellow Chosen People to talk about Zinsky’s Delicatessen. What follows is the transcript of that conversation (or, if you prefer, complaint fest). We all seem to like Zinsky’s very much, but that doesn’t stop myself, “The Pastrami Kid,” and “Harry” from finding something to kvetch about. Below we discuss important Deli issues such as the one-handed sandwich, kasha knishes, and bagels. You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate this, but it helps.

Continue reading "SideDish TableTalk: Three Jews, Zinsky’s Deli in Dallas, Six Opinions"

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2009 KRLD Restaurant Week: Reader Reviews

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 27th, 2009 9:17am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Diners, cheap eats, Restaurant Week 2009 | 16 Comments »

readerreviews_krld20091Comments are open. Operators are standing by. (Is this thing over yet?)

[UPDATE: Steve Field's, Al Biernat's, Fearing's]

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