Articles for May 18th, 2010

What Would You Ask Anthony Bourdain?

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 5:30pm | filed under Celebrity Chefs | 23 Comments »

Former D food writer Mary Malouf is now the editor of Salt Lake magazine. She is going to interview Anthony Bourdain. She hates interviewing celebrity chefs. Why? “Because their answers and comments so often sound, well, canned,” says Mary. “The chances of me coming up with a question that 1) anyone wants to know the answer of, and 2)  the celeb-in-question hasn’t already answered are slim.”

I sent her a couple of ideas. She needs more. Go.

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The Quinn in Oak Cliff is Closed

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 12:57pm | filed under Bars, Closings |

The popular lounge shut the doors yesterday but the owners are still paying the rent. It’s developing over at Oak Cliff People.

It’s Teresa Gubbins Day on SideDish: Share the Love

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 11:39am | filed under Silly Reasons to Celebrate, Skinny bitches, Slow News Day | 24 Comments »
Teresa Gubbins works hard for the money.

I was laid up in bed for a couple of days and caught up on the local food blogs. Where did they all come from? More importantly, how do so many people have so much time to run one? Most food writers at major publications (Hi, Leslie! Hi, Kimmie!), contribute to their pub’s respective food blogs, but it is considered a second (or third) job. We could all just toss up press releases and hit the bar at 5 (4)  like the boys on FrontBurner, but as food journalists, we choose to devote time to the web side of our print product.  SideDish, to me, is an untamable, free-range animal that needs to be fed constantly. Sometimes you can’t get away with tossing out a bag of feed somebody donated, you have to go out and shop for something special and unique. The public is picky about what they read (eat).

Pegasus News is a little different than Eatsblog and SideDish. PegNews is a news site, not a blog. Their Grand Dame of Dining, Teresa Gubbins, spends a lot of time digging for stories and going to dining events. PegNews is sorta her full-time job.

Anywhoo, TG, who also contributes to D Magazine, reported a story last week and I am stunned that nobody else picked it up. Old Gumshoe, I mean TG, uncovered this little tidbit: Tiffany Derry, chef at Go Fish in North Dallas, has made the cut as a contestant for the 7th season of Top Chef. There was no official press release or “snitches” involved, she just dug it up like a big fat ripe carrot. She also attended, reported, and photographed Sunday night’s Taste of the Nation. And Teresa, with due respect to Pat Sharpe,  is SideDish’s original Skinny Bitch.  (Cue: say something about Teresa below.)

If you are still with me, let’s discuss Top Chef. We loved TC when Casey and Tre were on and we certainly had opinions about Lisa Garza when she appeared on Next Food Network Star, but I’m wondering if Top Chef has lost its luster. Nothing against chef Derry, but do we have TC fatigue?

Okay, tune in next week for Leslie Brenner Day on SideDish. Jump for an exclusive Q&A with Teresa Gubbins.

Continue reading "It’s Teresa Gubbins Day on SideDish: Share the Love"

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Neo Pizza Napoletana by Olivella’s to Open in Victory Park in Dallas

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 10:57am | filed under Openings/Closings, pizza, Restaurant News | 8 Comments »

Yow. Zah. I forgot about Victory Park. Now comes word that Charlie Green, the pizza dude behind Olivella’s, is opening a ginormous new restaurant called Neo Pizza Napoletana by Olivella’s in Victory Park. The charming PR person tells me the restaurant will be “nearly triple-the-size location and [have] new menu items.”  She goes on to say, “Charlie is banking on Neo Pizza helping breathe life into the district that’s been working to revamp its former super-affluent image. (Neo Pizza’s individual gourmet pizzas start at $7, salads start at $6 and sandwiches at $8.)”  I wish they’d put in a fabulous bowling alley at Victory Park. How fun would that be?

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Restaurant News: Bits & Bites

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 10:51am | filed under Baking, Bars, beer, Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Diners, Events, Farmers Markets | 1 Comment »

From the copy and paste press release department:

Dallas Farmers Market Farm & Flower Festival. Saturday, May 22. Discover where the Dallas Farmers Market farmers are located and the products they have to offer. Dallas Office of Environmental Quality will be available with information on how to recycle and Trinity River Corridor Project will be here to show concepts of the new corridor project. Visit the Dallas Library ‘Every Child Ready to Read’ promoting literacy for children up to 5 years old. Free cooking demonstrations at 10 & 11:30a.m. on the Pearl Plaza with chef Chad Houser of Parigi Restaurant. Deets below.

Hotel St. Germain. Poisons: A Historical Dining Series. Saturday, May 22nd – Homicide by Diamonds, Herbs and Wine. Saturday, June 19th – Poison and The Jazz Age in America Theater of Poison – Politics and Power, Saturday, July 10. Yow Zah. Check out this unique dining event below.

Granbury Wine and Food Festival.  Historic Granbury Texas, known as one of the “the Best Small Towns in Texas”, will be hosting the “Granbury Wine Walk” for the first time on June 4-5, 2010. Jump for the news!

Inwood Tavern. Grand re-opening. Join us this Thursday to celebrate the RE-OPENING of The World Famous Inwood Tavern…my dear friends Lisa and Elia Georgalis have purchased the Tavern and this Thursday we will go old school with karaoke and drink specials…so stop on by and help us celebrate! Thursday, May 20 from 5:00 until close!

Japon Steakhouse. Japon Steakhouse and Sushi bar at LakeSide Market in Plano is hosting Wine Down Wednesday on May 19th from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. The fun night will feature Sake flights (5 sakes for $15), 1/2 priced appetizers and a live performance by Matt Barron! 4021 Preston Road. Plano.

Charlie Palmer. Happy hour at Charlie Palmer has officially launched, giving people another reason to stop by the premiere, downtown restaurant in The Joule. Happening every Thursday and Friday, guests can enjoy small plates from the progressive American cuisine menu, including Calamari Steak Skewers, Jalapeño Stuffed Quail Legs and Chef Scott Romano’s delightful Lobster Corn Dogs while sipping on an Orange Joule-Lius.

TJ’s Seafood Market. Copper River Salmon will arrive around noon on Tuesday. And they already have soft shell crabs. 214-691-2369.
Mama Pita Mediterranean Grill. North Texans will get a free taste of the Mediterranean on Saturday, May 22, when Mama Pita Mediterranean Grill celebrates its Grand Opening at the Shops at Legacy (5800 Legacy Drive). Deets below.

Canary Mediterranean Steak & Seafood. In addition to our regular menu. Featured Three Course Menu – Available May 18 – 29, 2010. $39 plus tax and gratuity. More below. Continue reading "Restaurant News: Bits & Bites"

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Next Dallas Wine Trail Set

posted by Hayley Hamilton | May 18th, 2010 10:27am | filed under North Texas Wine |

Lee Fuqua of Fuqua Winery sent a note today about the upcoming Dallas Wine Trail set for Memorial Day Weekend featuring our four Dallas based wineries, Times Ten Cellars  in Lakewood, Calias Winery in Deep Ellum, Inwood Estates in the Design District and, of course, Fuqua Winery, located off Lemmon Ave “behind the Home Depot” as Lee likes to note.  Details are:

Second Annual – Memorial Day Weekend – Grand Tasting
Saturday, May 29th, 2010 at all 4 Dallas wineries
only $39 per person 

The ticket price includes:

  • a free bottle of wine from one of the four wineries
  • a souvenir 19.5 ounce Bordeaux crystal Dallas Wine Trail wine glass
  • taste 3 wines at each of the 4 wineries
  • food pairings at each winery
  • Dallas Wine Trail map

The wine and food tasting starts at 11:00 a.m. and is over promptly at 5:00 p.m.  This tasting will visit all four wineries at their respective locations.  There are 2 starting points for the tasting.  You must start at either Inwood Estates Vineyards or at Times Ten Cellars.  It is your choice where to start.  This is where you will receive your ticket, your crystal “Dallas Wine Trail” wine glass and your bottle of premium wine to keep.

After you finish tasting the wines, the food and visiting with the staff at either Inwood Estates Vineyards or at Times Ten Cellars, you will then go to the next winery of your choice and then do it all over again until you have been to all 4 wineries.  Tickets here.

Tesar’s Modern Steaks & Seafood Drops Changes Name to Tesars Modern Steaks & Seafood

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 18th, 2010 9:17am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, PR People, Restaurant News | 8 Comments »

Austin Simmons and Jeramie Robison now playing at Tesars.

“Fashionable types and foodies alike contemplated the fate of well reviewed and received Tesar’s Modern Steaks & Seafood, when its namesake, Chef John Tesar, abruptly departed the Houston area restaurant less than a year after its August 2009 debut.”

That is the first sentence of a press release announcing a few changes that have occurred at the restaurant in The Woodlands. Irreconcilable differences between Tesar and restaurant backers left the seeming successful restaurant with a big problem—Tesar’s no longer had a Tesar. Instead of faking it or informing their customers that John Tesar was not a chef but a valiant seafood-loving soldier who died (slowly) in the battle of the Alamo, they decided to delete the apostrophe and move forward.

Anywhoo, Tesar the chef, may have taken his apostrophe with him but he left two Dallas chefs behind. Apparently,  they are kicking some sass down there. (Hi, Allison!).  Austin Simmons, who trained under John “The Tease” Tesar at The Mansion and was a sous chef at Tesar’s has been named  co-executive chef, the title he shares with another Tesar and Mansion alum, Jeramie Robison.

According to Stuart Rosenberg, the PR rep for Tesar’s Tesars, the determined restaurant “recently celebrated its best night in revenues since opening less than a year ago.” (Has it only been a year?) Robison goes on to say, “Buzz is slowly building locally for these two young chefs who have been giving Chef Tesar well deserved credit for the training that has enabled them to take on their new roles.”

He says a lot more below. Go. Continue reading "Tesar’s Modern Steaks & Seafood Drops Changes Name to Tesars Modern Steaks & Seafood"

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