Articles for October 10th, 2011

First Dallas, er Oak Cliff, Guerrilla Bar to Open on Thursday

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 10th, 2011 5:51pm | filed under beer, cocktails, Cult Cuisine, Drinking, Food Trucks, Hippie revolutions, How to Open a Restaurant 101, Mixology is fancy for bartender, party, pop-up restaurant | 29 Comments »

The highly motivate mixologist team of Michael Martensen and Ed “Lucky” Campbell are spearheading Bar 828, a guerrilla bar that will open at 828 Davis this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (6PM) and continue on the same days for the next three weeks. The final evening will be October 29.  Yes, these guys are busy putting together their new bar, High and Rye, in downtown Dallas but they just can’t seem to stop themselves from doing more projects. “Yeah, that’s just kinda how we work,” Martensen said via phone from the patio at Manny’s in Uptown where he is watching the Rangers game. “We can’t believe nobody has ever done this. We are going to be the first guerrilla bar.”

Bartenders from all over Dallas will participate on a rotating basis. There will also be beer, wine, food trucks, and live music coordinated by JT Donaldson. A Portion of the proceeds will go to the Promise House who has been helping teens in North Texas since 1984. So head out to The OC, home of the secret-keeping restaurateurs, and catch Brian (Sfuzzi, Standard Pour ) McCullough on Thursday.

Jump for other bartenders who’ve already signed up for the party.

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Week of October 10: Food Truck Schedule in Dallas

posted by George Lewis | October 10th, 2011 2:14pm | filed under Food Trucks | 1 Comment »

I love the gentle rain, but the food truck owners aren’t big fans.  Those are the breaks for not having brick ‘n’ mortar.

Credit: Scott Wooley of So-Cal Tacos

While they are not yet on the road yet, we have the first pictures of So-Cal Taco‘s truck aptly named “Woody,” with a design reminiscent of the old wood-paneled station wagons and trucks.  Owner Scott Wooley expects to be out in a week or so, primarily in Fort Worth and the Mid-Cities area with Dallas coming soon.

We also add BratHaus, a food cart serving the area of Henderson and McMillan, between Barcadia, Beauty Bar, and The Slip Inn.  They start at 11pm, so we need some SideDisher reporting on this late, late night spot.

We also report the first Dallas food truck fight. It seems the restaurants in Mockingbird Station do not want the trucks there.  Accordingly, no Mockingbird Station on the schedule anymore.

City Street is still doing some truck upgrades, and Trailercakes doesn’t have a specific outing on the schedule. The Santa Fe Trail 5K will have several of the trucks at their event, including Green House, Ruthie’s, Jack’s, Enticed, and 3 Men and a Taco.

And with that, we remind you that generators break, trucks get kicked out of their locations, engines break down, and better opportunities pop up.  Always check Facebook and Twitter feeds.  Jump for the schedule. Continue reading "Week of October 10: Food Truck Schedule in Dallas"

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Celebrate Texas Cheese at Celebration Restaurant With the Winners of the American Cheese Society Competition

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 10th, 2011 2:02pm | filed under Awards, Cheese, cocktails, Events, GO TEXAN, Local/Slow Food |

Cacittoa from Mozzarella Company.

A couple of years ago we threw a cheesemaker appreciation reception at Celebration Restaurant. Well, we’re doing it again on October 27. Join us from 5:00 to 6:30PM as we taste the Texas cheeses that recently won American Cheese Society awards.  Come meet Paula Lambert (Mozzarella Co.), Rebeccah Durkin (Brazos Valley), Amelia Sweethardt (Pure Luck), Edgar Diaz (Three Happy Cows), Dave Eagle (Eagle Mountain), and Dr. Anne C. Jones (Latte Da Dairy). And as always, the affable Meaders Ozarow (Empire Bakery) will be there with the bread. Check out all of the award-winning cheeses below. See you there!

Jump for the glorious cheeses.

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Second Location of Company Café Nears Opening Day

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 10th, 2011 1:21pm | filed under Gluten free, Go Rangers!, Health Food, Local/Slow Food, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News | 1 Comment »

Chicken and waffles; co-owners Chris Cowan and Stephen White. (photo by Kevin Marple)

According to co-owner Stephen White, the second location of the Company Café is “five weeks away” from opening in their new digs, the old Cremona spot, directly across from the Katy Trail Ice House. Meanwhile the Greenville restaurant is double staffed and training new kitchen employees. White  said he is still looking for another 100 employees.

The menu will be the same farm-to-table, healthy, and organic fare but they’ve hired a consultant to tweak the menu. Basically breakfast and lunch will stay the same but they plan to add more seafood and smoked meats at dinner. Kuby’s is “designing” a signature sausage. “I’m petitioning the city to get a Farmers Market set up twice a month on the Katy Tail,” White said.

There will be 80 seats inside and over 100 on the outdoor patio facing the Katy Trail.

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Good Asian Grub: Noodle House in Plano

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 10th, 2011 11:41am | filed under Ethnic Food, Good Asian Grub, Restaurant News | 4 Comments »

Wonton Soup- wontons, bokchoy, seaweed, egg, and green onion.

D Magazine intern Carol Shih prowls Dallas in search of the best Asian cuisine. She used Chinglish (half-Chinese, half-English) to interview chef and owner Sky Kuo, proving that you don’t need Google Translator for everything.

If I’m given the choice between rice or noodles, I will almost always pick noodles so I can release my inner caveman and slurp, slurp, slurp away with my mouth hovering two inches above the bowl and my chopsticks traveling rapidly in between. And there’s no better place than the Noodle House in Plano to practice your chopstick skills. This Taiwanese restaurant  is well-respected by the Asian community for its beef noodle soup.

Don’t take it as a bad sign if you walk through the door and there’s nobody else in the restaurant, the owner and his four-year-old son will charm you into playing with his plastic toys. For some reason, the Noodle House is never at full capacity, but this means that devoted customers’ orders are prepared right on the spot.

Jump for the good stuff.

Roasted Beef Noodle Soup- beef shanks, bokchoy, and pickled vegetables.

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Texas Wine: A Category-Defining Blanc du Bois Produced by The Vineyard at Florence

posted by Andrew Chalk | October 10th, 2011 9:33am | filed under Andrew Chalk, Texas Wine | 3 Comments »

As SideDish reported earlier this year, Blanc du Bois is one of the most widely planted white wine grapes in east and southeast Texas. It is resistant to Pierce’s Disease: a vine-killing disease that can destroy whole vineyards of many types of grapes. The problem with Blanc du Bois is that the wine made from grapes may have given people the idea that resistance to Pierce’s Disease was the grape’s only redeeming feature. It has been used to make white wines that range from dry to sweet, but the flavor profile has never placed it very high in consumers’ estimations. Adjectives generally applied to these wines include ‘foxy’ and ‘earthy.’ One exception is Haak’s Madeira. This isn’t a true Madeira, and the choice of name is unfortunate, but it is an enjoyable dessert wine in its own right. It’s also the first example of a truly innovative use of the grape to my knowledge.

As table wine, Texas winemakers don’t seem to be sure what they want from Blanc du Bois. Sometimes it appears in a crisp, dry version that might be described as a Sauvignon Blanc style. The same grape is also at the base of a nauseating, simple sweet or semi-sweet wine that sold by the boat load in tasting rooms.

However, now comes a true breakthrough Blanc du Bois table wine. The Vineyard at Florence, situated in Florence Texas just north of the Hill Country and a short diversion off I-35 at Salado, has produced two Blanc du Bois wines that redefine the grape. The 2010 Aura, Estate Grown, Williamson County ($49.95) and the 2010 Aurelia, Estate Grown, Williamson County ($31.95) are both made from the same vineyard at the winery.

Jump for the juicy bits.

Continue reading "Texas Wine: A Category-Defining Blanc du Bois Produced by The Vineyard at Florence"

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What to Drink Now: Incredible Reds

posted by Hayley Hamilton | October 10th, 2011 9:04am | filed under Wine & Spirits | 1 Comment »

One of the joys of wine is that we live in a world where Old World processes and traditions, dating back hundreds of years, are still in use. At the same time, New World technology and imagination are taking place in the vineyard and ending with the sales department. The results of both, readily available, are incredible bottles of wine.  Here are a few standouts I have enjoyed recently; some selections were sent for editorial consideration.

Herrera 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Seleccion Rebecca from Mi Sueno winery in Napa Valley.  Owned by Rolando Herrera, former winemaker for such places as Vine Cliff and Paul Hobbs, is making incredible wine in a warehouse space lined with framed, signed baseball jersey’s from some of the best in the game. Not because Herrera is a fan of the game, but because they are a fan of his.

Jump.

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Rain Doesn’t Stop DIFFA’s Burgers and Burgundy Fundraiser at One Arts Plaza

posted by Andrew Chalk | October 10th, 2011 9:04am | filed under Andrew Chalk, Burgers, Wine Pairing |

Volunteers at the Grey Goose vodka stand.

Buckets of rain earlier in the day could not stop the DIFFA‘s third annual Burgers and Burgundy event that took place at One Arts Plaza last night. Around four hundred people enjoyed variations on the (formerly) humble burger, Burgundy (and a few other) wines, and Grey Goose Vodka cocktails. Proceeds from the event go towards the charity’s work in Dallas and North Texas. Chef coordinator was, once again, John Tesar. Other sponsors were Freedman Foods, One Arts Plaza, Fresh Point, Grey Goose Vodka and Dallas Market Center.

If you weren’t there, you could not believe how many variations there can be on the hamburger. Roll the picture gallery.

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Dallas Farmers Market Announces Fall Cooking Class Schedule

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 10th, 2011 9:00am | filed under Cooking Classes, Farmers Markets |

The fall schedule for the Dallas Farmers Market cooking classes kicks off on October 15 with David Holben from Del Frisco. This is the DFM’s 18th year of putting together a schedule with some of the greatest culinary talents in Dallas. They are fun, worth the price $25!), and a chance to learn and ask questions. Here’s the new line-up. The details are below.

Class (1) October 15 with David Holben, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse.        Theme: Fall Treats from Del Frisco’s

Class (2) October 22 with Lan Nickens, Chamberlain’s Steak & Chop House.            Theme:  South American Beef Specialties

Class (3) November 5 with Doug Brown, Beyond the Box   Theme: Autumn Cooking with Doug Brown

Class (4) November 12 with Jim Severson, Sevy’s Grill.   Theme: Sevy’s Back at the Market

Class (5) November 19 with Joanne Bondy, Old Hickory Steakhouse.   Theme: Charcuterie: Cures, Brines and a Smoking Gun

How to sign up? Jump.

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