Articles for June 6th, 2011

Trending: Guajillo Pepper

posted by Nancy Nichols | June 6th, 2011 2:15pm | filed under dessert, Recipes | 6 Comments »

Just as I predicted, the guajillo pepper is popping up all over the place. Today comes what looks to be a divine recipe for strawberry ice cream with guajillo and lime from Lisa Fain of The Homesick Texan. She lives in New York blogs about Texas food.

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Café Momentum’s Inaugural Pop-Up Dinner at Milestone Culinary Features Chef Jeffery Hobbs and a Cast of Aspiring Chefs

posted by Sarah Reiss | June 6th, 2011 1:17pm | filed under pop-up restaurant, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 2 Comments »

Table settings (left) and prepped shrimp and veggies (right). Photos by Sarah Reiss.

File this one under the heading: good people doing a pretty great thing. Last night, Chefs Chad Houser (you may remember him from his recent adventures in Eating Lebanon) and Janice Provost of Parigi, supported by an armada of well-intentioned chefs, foodies, and community organizers, opened doors on the first pop-up incarnation of Café Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant concept that will serve as a culinary training facility for disadvantaged young men from Dallas County Youth Village (DCYV is a facility dedicated to helping juvenile offenders, ages 10 to 17, reach their law-abiding potential and divert them from further involvement with the juvenile justice system or progression to greater offenses by putting positive outcomes within their reach).

The aspiring chefs will train alongside some of Dallas finest chefs, who will rotate for monthly stints as chef-in-residence. Last night’s inaugural guest chef, Jeffery Hobbs (Celebration, Riviera, Toscana, Hotel St. Germain, Il Sole, and, oh yeah, Suze) presided over a menu that utilized fresh-off-the-farm ingredients. We’re hoping that July’s guest chef, Randall Copeland of Ava, will feature his own awesome biscuits somewhere in the menu.

jump to read more and see more pics… Continue reading "Café Momentum’s Inaugural Pop-Up Dinner at Milestone Culinary Features Chef Jeffery Hobbs and a Cast of Aspiring Chefs"

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Mike Brown is no Longer Chef at Alma

posted by Nancy Nichols | June 6th, 2011 10:55am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Restaurant News | 14 Comments »

Anastacia Quinones is the new chef at Alma in Dallas.

Details on the way.

UPDATE: Just off the phone with Tristan Simon. He says Michael Brown, the chef he recruited from Red-O in Los Angeles to open Alma, has been out of the restaurant for six weeks. “Mike had some private personal and family issues,” Simon said. “He had to go back to Los Angeles to deal with them.”

The good news is that Simon already had backup in place. Two years ago, Simon hired Anastacia Quinones to be sous chef at Victor Tango’s. “We moved AQ over to Alma when we opened,” Simon said. “I thought she was too young (30) to be executive chef, but she has proven to be a formidable talent. She has been cooking at Alma for the last six weeks.”

Yeah, a chick chef! AQ is the first female chef in a Consilient restaurant. Quinones is from Dallas and grew up about 2 houses down from Alma. She attended culinary school at CIA in New York and moved to San Francisco where she was sous chef at Jardiniere, the restaurant cheffed by Traci Des Jardins. She moved back to Dallas a little over two and a half years ago. “Her heritage and her passion is real Mexican food,” Simon said. “She already has her fingerprints all over this menu. We are rolling out her new menu tomorrow.”

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Brews News: Happy Birthday to You; Happy Birthday to You; Happy Birthday Common Table; Now Hand Me a Brew.

posted by Sarah Reiss | June 6th, 2011 10:41am | filed under Bars, beer, Brews News |

To celebrate Common Table’s first anniversary, brew dude Jeff Fryman has cooked up a week of craft beer events for your quaffing pleasure. Our events editor Liz Johnstone summarized it perfectly in her events post: Unlike the obnoxious friend who absolutely insists on their birthday lasting an entire week, this is one drawn-out celebration that we don’t mind. The folks at the Common Table are starting things off with a battle between beer and wine and finishing with an appreciation party for their regulars, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers.

Jump for the full schedule: Continue reading "Brews News: Happy Birthday to You; Happy Birthday to You; Happy Birthday Common Table; Now Hand Me a Brew."

Restaurant Review: Mi Piaci in Dallas

posted by Nancy Nichols | June 6th, 2011 10:00am | filed under Restaurant News, Reviews |

Pasta boar ragu at Mi Piaci. Photo by Kevin Marple.

Italian food is meant to be enjoyed with a view, even if the scene outside the window is a small, man-made pond with a tiered water fountain. The dining room at Mi Piaci has maintained its charm for 20 years, partly because of this view, but also by continuing to upgrade the quality of food coming from the kitchen. Last fall, the restaurant hired a new chef, Ross Demers, to fiddle with the menu, which always contained house-made pasta. Now you’ll find squid ink pasta and malfatti con cinghiale, a flat, wide noodle covered with wild boar ragu, two of my favorite Italian specialties.

The rest of the story.

Interview: Raul and Olga Reyes Discuss Mesa in Dallas

posted by Andrew Chalk | June 6th, 2011 9:00am | filed under Andrew Chalk, Foodie Video, Restaurant News |

Two years ago, Raul and Olga Reyes lost their popular restaurant La Palapa Veracruzana in Oak Cliff. Thanks to some help from their neighbors, the couple has emerged with a new restaurant, Mesa. It’s in the same place and the menu is a little more upscale, but the heart of this talented couple is devoted to producing the finest food from Veracruz.  Here they discuss mole, snook, and their new restaurant, Mesa.

Del Frisco’s Hosts Silver Oak Tasting in Dallas

posted by Andrew Chalk | June 6th, 2011 9:00am | filed under Andrew Chalk, Steak, Wine & Spirits, Wine Pairing |

Classic combinations: steak and eggs, ham and cheese, steak and Cabernet. Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House in Dallas matched the cooking of executive chef David Holben with the iconic California Cabernet Sauvignons from Silver Oak Cellars. I was a guest at the dinner which also included other Silver Oak wines, and wines from Silver Oak’s other label, Twomey Cellars. As an added attraction, Silver Oak also brought along artist Thomas Arvid, an artist who paints still lifes of Silver Oak wines.

Jump for the pairings. Continue reading "Del Frisco’s Hosts Silver Oak Tasting in Dallas"