Articles for February, 2011
CuriousDish: Date Averaging and Restaurant Pairing
Long ago, a friend of mine then in his mid-30s detailed his approach to dating. On a first date he would take a woman out for drinks, proceed to a Dallas Stars game, and end the evening with a lovely wine-infused dinner. He admitted he threw down almost $600. Mark had a lot of first dates.
I was stunned. “How in the world do you afford that,” I asked. Mark explained his idea which he called date averaging. The first date would be a grand, expensive evening at one of Dallas’ top restaurants. For the second and third date, he would scale back to a cool, hip dive.
Are you a date averager? If so, let’s consider Restaurant Pairing. Which two restaurants would you match for such a first and second date? I’ll offer up the first pairing: The French Room followed by Louie’s. Now, let’s hear yours.
12 Comments »Couple of Good Food Gigs: Les Dames d’Escoffier Raiser Grazer and Savor Dallas’ Wine Panel Tasting Seminar
One. As I have said before, the silent auction at the annual Les Dames d’Escoffier Raiser Grazer event is the best around. If you love food and travel you can get some great bargains. The next RG is Sunday (March 6) from 5-8 at City Place (2711 North Haskell). Les Dames is a group of female food professionals devoted to raising money to provide scholarships to woman trying to break into the industry. This year an all-star line up of local chefs will provide food and wine. The evening is a steal at $50 a person. Tickets and information here.
Two. Savor Dallas is just around the corner. The dates March 18 and 19. One of the most popular events is the Savor Dallas Wine Panel Tasting Seminar which will take place on March 19 at 3:00PM. This year the interactive tasting will feature some of the great names in the Texas wine industry: Dr. Richard Becker, proprietor of Becker Vineyards in Fredericksburg, with his Cabernet Sauvignon, and Kim McPherson, from McPherson Cellars in Lubbock sampling his Viognier. Winemakers from all over the country will also be on hand. All of the details, including where to get tickets are below. Continue reading "Couple of Good Food Gigs: Les Dames d’Escoffier Raiser Grazer and Savor Dallas’ Wine Panel Tasting Seminar"
1 Comment »Guerrilla-Style Photography: Capturing Images of the Secret Menu at In-N-Out for D Magazine
Kevin Marple secret hotel room studio at the Holiday Inn Express in Marina del Rey.
D Magazine food photographer Kevin Marple traveled to LA to capture images we needed to compile “The Newbie’s Guide to In-N-Out.” He returned with the pictures but he went through hamburger hell to get them. Here’s his story.
I’ve had art directors send me into some wild scenarios. And when D Magazine’s Creative Director Todd Johnson called and asked me if I could get to Southern California for a photo shoot, I said sure. In hindsight, I realize I should have asked a few more questions. At the time I didn’t know he was sending me into a private, secretive underworld. I just figured I get some time to hang in LA and shoot some burgers.
Like most of the population, I’d heard about In-N-Out but I didn’t really understand the hype. During a pre-production meeting, I got a briefing on my assignment.
Johnson wanted me to photograph burgers and some of the secret items on the In-N-Out Burger menu. Secret items on a fast food hamburger menu? I had a few questions. Like: How do I order them? What if they don’t have them? Do I have to learn a secret handshake or password?
Johnson explained that In-N-Out was very protective of their brand. They don’t allow photography in any of the restaurants or corporate headquarters. It was up to me to get to Southern California and figure out a covert plan of action to get the photos D wanted.
Jump for the whole bloody story.
25 Comments »Wine Tasting — It’s All In the Glass
Thomas Leman, Regional Sales Manager, Southwest USA for Riedel came to Dallas on Wednesday. At the Míele Gallery in the Dallas Design District he demonstrated how the aroma and taste of wine changes depending what kind of glass it is served in. You can try the experiment in the video yourself this weekend with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a Riedel ‘Vinum Series’ Bordeaux glass from Neiman-Marcus, Macy’s or Sigel’s. It really is very instructive.
1 Comment »Empty Bowls Full To the Brim With Supporters of North Texas Food Bank
Empty Bowls booths (left) and supporters (right). Photos by Courtney Foreman.
Last Friday, D editorial intern Courtney Foreman attended the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser for the North Texas Food Bank at the Meyerson. Behold her observations:
Guests at Friday’s Empty Bowls Luncheon (benefiting the North Texas Food Bank) mingled in the Meyerson Symphony Center lobby amid tables blanketed with hundreds of handcrafted bowls. Hand crafted by local artisans, the bowls served as both artpieces and serve ware for soup from over 20 of Dallas’ top restaurants. The Place at Perry’s showed up with a tomato artichoke bisque; Tom Thumb Markets presented a tomato basil and a fiesta tortilla soup, and Truluck’s satisfied with a crab and corn chowder. Freebirds burrito bowl station turned out to be the most popular by far with lines stretching out from the booth for the entirety of the luncheon. Smartly, Best of Big D’s Empire Baking Company served sourdough bread and chocolate pecan brownies. Guests flocked to The Children’s Medical Center & Sodexo ‘s chocolate-covered strawberries, mini peanut butter cupcakes, and Oreo cake balls.
New booths this year: Bolsa, Truluck’s, Pizza Inn, Horne & Dekker, Empire Baking Co., Chill Bubble Tea, and Freebirds World Burrito. Proceeds benefit the NTFB’s hunger relief efforts.
Lines snake through the Meyerson (left); sweet potato soup (right). Photos by Courtney Foreman.
Vote in the 2011 Best of Big D Readers’ Choice: Food and Drink Poll. Once an Hour Through March 13.
Need more information? Click here.
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2 Comments »Open That Bottle Night is This Saturday
Open That Bottle Night was created in 2000 by the then wine correspondents of The Wall Street Journal. The idea is that people get together and share a meal and some special bottles of wine that they have been waiting to open. If you have any, select truly old wines that need to be drunk up, and take some extras in case your first choice has gone bad.
I have found some wines as old as me (but in considerably better condition) and will be taking them along to our celebration.
1 Comment »Boil-in-the-Bag BBQ at Woody B.’s in Richardson
D’s online creative director Stephen Edmondson sent me word of a fascinating new take-out trend: Woody B.’s boil-in-bag BBQ. Just throw the bag in boiling water and you have BBQ in 15 minutes.
Discuss…
6 Comments »Top Chef All-Stars Recap: Episode 11
Ed. Note: My apologies to Loren Means. She turned in her’ Top Chef All-Stars recaps on time and I failed to post it. Here, a day late, is her insightful, emotional story. She also apologizes.
3 Comments »First and foremost, I would like to apologize to you, the readers, and to Angelo for my little snafu with the names in my previous recap. Angelo deserved better and I feel like a schmuck. I could rattle off an array of excuses for the mishap but that would only succeed in making me a bigger schmuck. So please accept my apology and let’s move on to Wednesday night’s episode. Continue reading "Top Chef All-Stars Recap: Episode 11"
The Green Room in Dallas is Officially Closed
NBC’s Greg Janda sent me a link to Annie Potzasznik’s story on the official announcement: The Green Room is closed. The only question remaining is: Am I still a rumor monger?
From Green Room’s Facebook page on Jan 12:
3 Comments »
Contrary to Nancy Nichols’ uninformed rumor mongering, the Green Room is not closed. We will reopen Tuesday, January 18th with a new menu and new wine list for the new year.
Oscar Nominees and the Drinks They Inspired
Thanks to Hayley Hamilton for posting her inspirational list of Oscar night cocktails. As someone about to be in possession of a home with an actual bar, I will be holding on to those recipes for later use. Those of you not so stymied, time to get cracking!
In addition, Big Pappa Frank Bruni scoured New York City on behalf of the New York Times to compile an additional list of that city’s mixologists’ ideas for Oscar night cocktails, each created in the spirit of the characters portrayed in the Best Leading Actor/Actress category. One mixologist’s choice to funnel red wine into the lower portion of “The Natalie Portman” is truly inspired. Another’s use of a frozen chunk of rock in lieu of ice in “The James Franco” is Onion-worthy comedy.
Print out Hayley’s recipes; check out Bruni’s list. It’s certainly not a competition, but I bet you’ll find a favorite.
D Magazine’s In-N-Out Burger Cover Story: Behind the Scenes With Photographer Kevin Marple
Kevin Marples secret hotel room studio in SoCal.
I mentioned in the previous post that pulling together the story on In-N-Out Burger’s journey to North Texas was an arduous task. The words came a lot easier than the photo graphs. Although the corporate offices sent us stock art, they would not allow us access to shoot pictures inside a “store.” So we sent our favorite food photographer, Kevin Marple, to Southern California to do some guerrilla photography.
Kevin’s story is quite a thriller. He shot most of his pictures in a makeshift studio a hotel room next to an (undisclosed!) In-N-Out Burger location. Kevin will chronicle his hilarious tale on SideDish on Monday morning. Stay tuned.
5 Comments »Tim Love, Samir Dhurandhar, and Dean Fearing Make a Texas-Size Splash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival
Alas, we’re not in South Beach right now tweeting our Giada sightings, analyzing food labels with Jamie Oliver, and locking step with Anthony Bourdain, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep track of what’s going on with our favorite hometown chefs at the country’s most notorious, sand-in-your-sandals food fest.
jump for festival deets… Continue reading "Tim Love, Samir Dhurandhar, and Dean Fearing Make a Texas-Size Splash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival"
1 Comment »D Magazine Cover Story: In-N-Out Burger Invades North Texas:
The March issue of D Magazine is out. On the the cover? In-N-Out Burger. Why? Because the farm fresh fast food chain from SoCal is about to open all over North Texas. We asked Nancy (Fast Food Maven) Luna of the Orange County Register to write the story. She was the only journalist allowed a behind-the-scenes tour of the operation.
Pulling this story together was difficult. To say that the corporate world of In-N-Out Burger savors their privacy is an understatement. They don’t like to encourage publicity and keep details of their plans close to their vest.
Luna did a great job of journaling the long, mysterious story of In-N-Out. Here it is.
10 Comments »Food Feedback Friday
Hey, Dishers. Where did you eat this week? Did you find something fabulous? Did you find something foul? We’d love to hear your thoughts on your latest restaurant experiences. Here’s what you reported last week.
What I’m Drinking Now: Raise a Glass to Oscar
Grey Goose Royal Passion
This years Academy Awards shines on Sunday night, and some of the nominated films this year are certainly award worthy….2010 was a good year in movies…from Inception to The Kings Speech to The Fighter to The Social Network to True Grit…audiences were entertained by the performances, the dialogue, the premise. A good year in films.
If you are like so many that will be tied to your television this Sunday night watching the gowns, the hair, the jewelry…and most importantly, the awards, why not mix up a cocktail to celebrate Oscar’s night in style. Here are a few ideas:
Oscar always likes to sparkle, so raise a glass with the official bubbly of the 2011 Academy Awards, Moet & Chandon. Straight up is always my go to, but if you want to get your punch bowl out try this one. Continue reading "What I’m Drinking Now: Raise a Glass to Oscar"
3 Comments »Want to Play Golf….and Drink and Eat….With a Hall of Fame Golfer?
April 3 and 4th, Brenda and Clay Cockerell of Coquerel Family Wine Estates, will host a two day event with hall of fame golfer (and wine maker) Annika Sorenstam, benefitting the ANNIKAfoundation. The two day event starts with dinner and vino with the Cockerells and Sorenstam prepared by Chef John Tesarand Las Vegas Chef Kerry Simon at The Park Cities Club where you will taste both Brenda and Clay’s award winning Coquerel Estate Wines, as well as Annika’s silky Syrah from Livermore, CA grapes. I had a bottle of the recent release of this just the other night. It is a Syrah that captures both good fruit balanced with hints of smoky pepper, with a velvety texture. Really enjoyable.
The following day Annika will host a golf outing at The Dallas National Golf Club where attendees will have a 90 minute golf clinic with Annika and then play a round with her. Annika’s foundation helps children learn the importance of healthy living through an active lifestyle of fitness and nutrition. Certainly a worthy cause…with the benefit of great food, tasty wine and a day of golf. Tickets and information available through Brenda and Clay – ClayandBrenda@Coquerelwines.com
That Old Familiar Longing Strikes Again—Thank Goodness for Gio’s Half-Sours
Word on the street is that Gio’s Deli is importing half-sour pickles from Carnegie Deli in NYC. As someone whose relationship to half-sours is borderline fanatical, and whose cell phone screen saver is a picture of her husband eating a half-sour (follow the jump if you don’t believe me), I am scarcely able to contain myself. In fact, the only news that could make me happier would be if they were importing them from Katz’s. For newbies to the deli scene, half-sours are a hard-to-find form of pickle that is extra crisp, bright green in color, not dill, more salty than vinegary, and generally only available in a real New York deli or on Delancey St. (Some companies have tried to jar them for the mass market, but the results are always a disappointment.)
What about you? What’s the food from your past—particularly reminiscent of a certain city—that you pine for?
Continue reading "That Old Familiar Longing Strikes Again—Thank Goodness for Gio’s Half-Sours"
KRLD Restaurant Week 2010 Celebrates Record Charity Donation
After last August’s KRLD Restaurant Week/Month, I asked one of our interns to contact all of the restaurants that participated and conduct a brief survey. The results are here. I did this because most of the pre-event chatter among the trade was negative. Many of the chefs and restaurateurs I’d spoken with were disappointed with advance reservations and most of them predicted a dim result.
However, today comes word from the organizers:
Last summer’s popular dining event raised more than $605,500 for its supporting partners — the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) in Dallas and Lena Pope Home in Fort Worth — with more than 100,000 prix fixe dinners served in 138 restaurants across Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant County.
The 2010 KRLD Restaurant Week tally reflects more than a $100,000 increase over the previous year’s charitable contributions. As North Texas diners and participating establishments increasingly embrace the campaign message, “Dining Out’s a Good Deed, Helping Families in Need,” KRLD Restaurant Week organizers are honoring those local eateries that donated the most in 2010.
In case you want to get in shape before next summer’s extravaganza, the dates for the main week will be August 15–21, 2011.
Jump for the official press release. Continue reading "KRLD Restaurant Week 2010 Celebrates Record Charity Donation"
3 Comments »Somebody Help This Poor Girl: Ladies Who Lunch Quietly
A concerned husband writes for advice. His wife needs your help. So, go.
My wife (40-something) is looking for a cool, “hip” restaurant for lunch. She is taking her best friend out for the friend’s birthday. Some place that they can have great food, great service, and talk without raising their voices. Any suggestions?
Without raising their voices? Guess I’m not on the invite list.
21 Comments »Subscribe
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