Articles for May, 2010
George Catering in Dallas Presents a Seasonality Spinwheel
George and Katie Brown of GEORGE Catering are celebrating their 11th year in business by focusing their culinary attention to seasonality. When they aren’t driving their triplets to karate lessons, they devote time to their catering business and fundraising events for causes close to their hearts (see one below).
Somewhat frustrated by clients asking for peaches in February or Texas tomatoes in December, they have developed a Seasonality Spinwheel (take one to Firewheel!) that shows all Texas’ in-season produce per month. (Print out your template here.) Also check out their recipe for Spiked Raspberry Lemonade. Yummers. Continue reading "George Catering in Dallas Presents a Seasonality Spinwheel"
2 Comments »Special Report: Urban Crust in Plano’s Tour of Spain Dinner
Wherever there is wine, there is Andrew Chalk.
A couple of weeks ago we went into deepest East Dallas to visit Jimmy’s Food Store for a wine tasting. This week we headed north to Plano where we attended a “Tour of Spain” at Urban Crust. We arrived about 15 minutes after the appointed starting time becuase every car ever built was on Central Expressway. By that time, the first floor of the three floor restaurant was packed with tasting participants, cheek by jowl, as they say. The wood floors and brick walls combined to create a deafening buzz that rendered conversation with the person opposite on the family-style seating nearly impossible.
Below is the menu, prepared by Chef/Partner Salvatore Gisellu, Chef Keith Browning and Chef Raul Hernandez. The wine was supplied by Republic, who supplied representative Kim Merrill who bravely attempted a description of each wine to the lively crowd and is probably investigating laryngitis cures as you read this.
Jump for the whole story. Continue reading "Special Report: Urban Crust in Plano’s Tour of Spain Dinner"
1 Comment »Four Seasons Market at Firewheel Market in Garland: That’s What a Weekend Market’s All About
Yow. Zah. Check out the vendor list (below) for this weekend’s Four Seasons Market at Firewheel. Great show! Wonder if they’ll have space for this after In-N-Out opens. Continue reading "Four Seasons Market at Firewheel Market in Garland: That’s What a Weekend Market’s All About"
Rumors Behind the Restaurant News: New Restaurant on Maple is “Hush Hush”
Nobody will go on the record, but a big birdy in the business says that long-time Arthur’s Prime Steaks owner, Mohsen Heidari, is “moving a concept in across from the Capital Grille on Maple.” Old Montaigne Club space? Not sure. Nobody’s talking.
2 Comments »It’s Hanna Raskin Day on SideDish! Share the Love!
Last week we loved, loved, loved on Teresa “Gumshoe” Gubbins. She’s a hell of a reporter and can bake a mean rhubarb muffin. She mows her own lawn and she swears a lot. She’s old Dallas.
- Hanna has loaded up a truck and moved to Dallas.
Today, we welcome a new restaurant reviewer to Dallas, Hanna Raskin. Beginning June 1, she will cover the local food scene for the Dallas Observer. She just pulled into town a couple of days ago and is currently hunting for a place to live. (I like that she is so risky!)
Hanna comes to Dallas via Ashville, North Carolina. She rides a bike, plays loads of Scrabble and miniature golf, and is married to an insurance salesman. In her spare time, she blogs on SlashFood where she recently covered the North Carolina’s Museum of the Albermarle’s “Dine With a Pirate” program.
Since she doesn’t know much about Dallas, perhaps you guys can tell her what restaurant she should review first!
Jump for a Q&A with Hanna.
Continue reading "It’s Hanna Raskin Day on SideDish! Share the Love!"
7 Comments »Dallas Cowboys Jason Witten and Kyle Kosier Hang at Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth
- Dallas Cowboy Kyle Kosier, Chef Tim Love, Belvedere Head of Spirit Creation and Mixology Claire Smith and Dallas Cowboy Jason Witten.
FOOD & WINE and Belvedere teamed up for an event in Ft. Worth, Texas, as a third in a series of “Curators of Taste” dinners. Last night, F&W’s restaurant editor Kate Krader and chef Tim Love co-hosted a cocktail pairing dinner for Ft. Worth and Dallas tastemakers at Love’s restaurant, Lonesome Dove. Attendees sampled Love’s creations paired with cocktails created by Belvedere’s Head of Spirit Creation and Mixology Claire Smith. Attendees include Christina Grdovic from FOOD & WINE, Dallas Cowboys football players Kyle Kosier and Jason Witten, former football player and wine bar owner Rick Dudley and his wife Melissa, and chefs/restaurateurs Kent Rathbun, Brian Forella, Brian Olenjack, and Michael Thomson.
Jump for more pics. Continue reading "Dallas Cowboys Jason Witten and Kyle Kosier Hang at Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth"
6 Comments »Restaurant News: Bits and Bites
Dallas Farmers Market. Hit the DFM every Saturday through October for ‘Chef at the Market’ Cooking Demonstrations series. The outdoor cooking demonstrations will be on the Pearl Plaza and will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Jump for the line-up of talent.
Mockingbird Station Market. Today! Peaches and blackberries! Lightsley Farms will be joining us today with their fresh picked peaches, blackberries, and assorted produce (no, the tomatoes aren’t ready yet). The Lightsley family has been in the business for more than 65 years and are known for their fruits and vegetables. I picked up a bag of their peaches at the Corsicana Brick Street Market last Saturday and they have been a sweet addition to my morning bowl of cereal every day this week. Another new vendor, Luscombe Farms, will also be joining us. Luscombe uses only the freshest, Texas-grown ingredients in their Jalepeno Jelly, which has been described in the local media as “to die for.” And there is more. Jump it, now.
Fearing’s Rattlesnake Lounge. Officially launches “Late-Night” this Saturday from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and is scheduled to take place every Saturday evening through summer’s end. Yes, upscale disco dining is back. Check it out below.
Milestone Culinary Arts Center and The Viking Cooking School. Sauces, Reductions, and Emulsions! It’s all in the Sauce! Chef André Bedouret, W.M.C.S., will teach you how to make average meals spectacular with the right sauce. I love this. I am going. Deets below.
Wolfgang Puck Catering. (I have reservations about posting this, but I guess it’s my job.) “Looking for some smokin’ BBQ? Cater to guests by indulging them with Southern favorites?” Yes, the Austrian-born chef is now slinging barbecue. Okay, it’s not him, but still. “ As the spring season gets into full swing, Wolfgang Puck Catering introduces menus built around Southern favorites infused with Wolfgang’s signature flavor and simplicity.” Just hold your nose and jump. Continue reading "Restaurant News: Bits and Bites"
Restaurant Review (Sorta): Maggiano’s
Meatballs by Maggiano's.
Last week, Andrew Chalk interviewed Ted Allen. The dynamic duo met at Maggiano’s. Blasphemy! A chain restaurant and not one of Dallas’ finest to parade before the famous man from the Food Network? However, after one meal at Maggiano’s, it sounds like Andrew has been born again. Listen.
Ted Allen, ardent foodie, began his remarks by making the point that he stayed away from multi-site restaurants, but he considered Maggiano’s an exception. I was skeptical but as the meal with Ted progressed, I learned a lot of things about Maggiano’s. Like, they bake their own bread, mozzarella cheese, and ice cream.
Each one is a serious effort. The bread is a chewy farmhouse loaf with a crust that lacerates the mouth, just like a true baguette. Frankly, I wish they sold this retail. The ice cream is actually a rose petal gelato. I might up the intensity of the rose (Samar is the reference example) but the clarity of flavor, the smoothness of the ice cream, were both dead on. The menu for the evening was served by an on-cue brigade and service staff and took less than one hour. Allen was on a tight schedule and had to make his Taste of Addison appearance. Here is what we ate.
Jump for the joy of eating. Continue reading "Restaurant Review (Sorta): Maggiano’s"
14 Comments »More Details on First In-N-Out Burger in Dallas
Meet my newest best friend, Nancy Luna. She is the Fast Food Maven for the Orange County Register. She learned about the first In-N-Out location in Texas right here on SideDish. She speaks:
I’ve been waiting more than a year, I think, for them to confirm Texas plans.Great scoop. I talked to the chain today. Here’s my story if you want to link up. I talk about them having to build a new meat plant.
Obviously she’s tight with Carl Van Fleet, vice president of planning and development at In-N-Out, cuz she gets him to spill some details on quality control, a major part of the chain’s success. Currently the chain supplies 240 locations with one beef processing plant. They also control their bread and produce.
When I interviewed Maxwell Fisher, the city of Garland employee who worked with the developer of the soon-to-open In-N-Out Burger at Firewheel Town Center in Garland, I asked him if he’d heard any plans about the company building a commissary in the area. When I explained to him that In-N-Out bakes their own bread, grows their own produce, and supplies their own “never frozen” meat he replied, “Hey, I thought this was just a burger joint.”
Lord, even the losers get lucky sometimes. Anywhoo, say hello to the Fast Food Maven.
UPDATE: Patty production details of In-N-Out.
17 Comments »Hot Links in Dallas
Blood sausage.
Over on Eatsblog, Christopher Wynn scoops the foodie world with deets on Vijay Sadhu’s latest venture. Love it.
Old Gumshoe Gubbins over at PegNews has a nice story about the new restaurant going into the old Lola space.
This week, I ate three types of casseroles. Over on Eatsblog, Leslie Brenner makes one. Delicious.
Dallas Dude battles with biryani.
Is this a great food town or what!
2 Comments »Urbano Café in Dallas is Cool. Wait, Make That Cold
Dishers, rejoice. Urbano Café, the groovy spot in East Dallas that has had many complaints on the inefficiency of their air conditioning, has just hoisted a 3 1/2 ton Carrier air conditioning unit on their roof! “Yes, we definitely had problems last year,” says owner Mitch Kauffman. “Even though it was a brand new unit — it just wasn’t enough to battle the western exposure in the late afternoons and the open the kitchen going full blast. I used to quip to our friends about our “trendy Bikram dining experience” but frankly, it was hot in there.” Now it will probably be too cold for some customers. “We loved, loved, loved our customers for hanging in there with us despite the heat in those early days,” says Kauffman.
4 Comments »Fearing’s Restaurant in Dallas Unveils iPhone App
No they aren’t serving iPhones as appetizers, Fearing’s is offering an application for your iPhone.
Here’s the poop:
Featuring full text and imagery of the restaurant, the new application is compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It also can be forwarded as a link to user contacts via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. Exclusive content includes: Fearing’s breakfast, lunch and dinner menus,Interactive menu faves, reservations, location and contact details, special offers, event updates, and local area information
To take Fearing’s along via iPhone, please visit this spot.
Now, let me ask you a question. Would you download an app for a restaurant? If so, why? If not, why? I guess I just don’t get the whole app deal. But I’m a geezer. Go.
9 Comments »Rumors Behind the Restaurant News: Café Pacific Out of Highland Park Village?
- The multi-tasking Gina Miller.
Yesterday my favorite sports chick, Gina Miller, twittered this tweet: “another legend leaving: cafe pacific is losing lease @ highland park village & the mercury is going in its spot. major bummer.”
I called Café Pacific owner Jack Knox. Dang, no answer. So I called the Pope of Highland Park Village, Ray Washburne. Double dang, straight to voicemail. A little later a gentle ping from my computer. Hark! An e-mail from Knox, who is probably the nicest guy in the restaurant business.
“Sorry I missed your call. I was in the back yard with Wal-Mart and Woodrow, the apparent owners of the place where I live. I hear the [rumor], or a version of it, about every forty eight hours. Maybe it’s wishful thinking on the part of our competitors, or maybe it’s just a good conversation starter. Last Saturday at our monthly front of the house meeting, just to make sure that everyone was on the same page, I explained to all the CP staff that we have a lease that is valid, in place, unchallenged, and very comfortable for both our landlord and me that runs to July 15, 2015. I think that the usual renewal option will be forthcoming in time, it’s mainly a matter of terms.”
Minutes later, the Pope, I mean Ray Washburne, calls. “My plane just landed,” he says. “I’ve been in Las Vegas at the International Shopping Center Convention. Hey, Jack’s not going anywhere. He has a lease until 2015.”
Dishers, can officially shut down the Café Pacific rumor for a few months and go back to our regularly scheduled hot rumor. Like In-N-Out Burger is coming to Dallas. Hah! That’s always a good one. Huh? It’s true? What in the hell are we going to talk about now? Leave a rumor after the beep.
10 Comments »Tristan Simon and Julian Barsotti Team Up for New Italian Deli Concept: SimonBarsotti in Dallas
Cover boy Julian Barsotti.
Tristan (Consilient Restaurants) Simon and Julian (Nonna) Barsotti have formed a partnership and will open SimonBarsotti, a “modern interpretation of an Italian deli.” SimonBarsotti will focus will be on artisan sandwiches (hot and cold) made panini-style or in a wood fire oven. They will be open for breakfast, lunch, and “drive home” which translates into 7:00 AM to 7:00PM daily. The 5,300 square foot restaurant, with a seating capacity of 120, will be located in the old Potter metal works building on Willis and the service road to N. Central.
The talents of Barsotti, execuchef at Nonna, will be showcased thusly: six to seven types of bread baked daily, fresh pastas, house-cured meats, and house-made cheeses. SimonBarsotti will also sell affordable “Italian and Mediterranean wines” and have a small take out component. Each day they will offer eight to ten items that will that “change in a seasonably minded manner” to pick up on your drive home.
Currently the restaurant is in “design phase” and Barsotti and Simon hope to have the restaurant ready in October. “But we aren’t going to open until January,” says Simon. “Jules wants a couple of months to get in there and work with curing meat and making cheese and bread.”
14 Comments »Restaurant Review: Ristorante Nicola in Dallas
Kevin Marple's picture of pasta with shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, and mascarpone cheese.
The June issue of D Magazine is out and in it you will find a review of Ristorante Nicola. Other reviewers in Dallas liked the restaurant more than I did. The food is an upscale version of what I call Highland Park Italian.
However, the people-watching at Ristorante Nicola, near Preston Center, may be the best in town. The scene is a Dallas version of the movie Cocoon—only here the old people are drinking the magic water instead of swimming in it. As the cocktails flow, the patrons grow younger and more energized. Men wearing dreadful comb-overs and pastel short-sleeved shirts tucked into khakis gather around well-manicured matrons. We stare in awe as somebody’s grandmother calls her group to attention. “Watch how many olives I can get in my mouth at one time,” she says, sticking her red-tipped fingers into their martinis and slipping the olives past her lips. Her friends roar with laughter. Recession? Depression? Incontinence? Not here.
Read the whole report here and tell me what you think.
6 Comments »Event Review: Taste of Addison 2010
Kellyn Curtis has a lot of jobs around here. She is the assistant editor of D Home, D Weddings, and D Beauty. Last weekend she covered Taste of Addison 2010 for SideDish.
4 Comments »Is it just me, or was Taste Addison way more crowded than in years past? I went a few years ago and don’t remember it being nearly as packed. I spent the first half-hour wandering around trying to find an ATM (everything was cash-only) and then the next half-hour standing in line at said ATM (because apparently it was the only one that hadn’t run out of cash yet.) Piece of advice for those who plan to go next year: bring cash.
Jump for photos and recap of the fun. Continue reading "Event Review: Taste of Addison 2010"
Chalk Talk: Andrew Talks with Ted Allen
Ted Allen is well known for his participation in the Food Network programs Iron Chef, Food Detectives, and Chopped (which has just had another series commissioned). He was in Dallas to discuss wine and food matching and to do a cooking demonstration at Taste of Addison. I got the chance to catch up with him before his big gig and asked him about matching wines with some of the most popular foods in Texas.
5 Comments »In-N-Out Burger Comes to Dallas: Details Developing
I reached Maxwell Fisher, the city of Garland employee who worked with the developer of the soon-to-open In-N-Out Burger at Firewheel Town Center in Garland. When he answered his phone, I asked him if he was at the prospect of working on such a grand project. “Aren’t you excited?” I asked.
“I don’t know, I’m kind of a food snob,” he says. “I’ll probably be disappointed. But, we’ll see.”
Fisher said the city has been working has been working with the developer for “some time. At least since February or January.” The plans were approved by the Garland City Council on Tuesday, May 18. The In-N-Out will be on the southeast corner of Town Center Blvd. and Lavon Drive. And according to Fisher’s best guess they will begin moving dirt this summer. When I asked if there were other locations planned for Garland he said, “No not here but they plan to add about 5 more to the area.”
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SideDish Supper Club in Dallas is Gearing Up
The next SideDish Supper Club is in the works and it’s going to be a doozy! And I’m not talking about the sandwich! Space will be limited. The price will be low. And the fun, well, will be priceless. If you haven’t already signed up to receive the first e-mail announcement of the event, please type your e-mail address in the box under the SideDish Supper Club logo on the right side of this page. See you there! Feel free to guess where the event will take place. I’ve got a big prize for the winner. Go.
12 Comments »