As I was writing the post about Michael Costa getting evicted from The Office Grill, Teresa Gubbins at PegasusNews received a press release from Costa. The Spin Doctor begins with: “In case you didn’t get the memo…” Oh my…jump.
UPDATE: I received a voice mail from Richard Chamberlain. “Michael Costa worked for us briefly 16 years ago,” he said. “In his release he insinuates he is associated with us and that is not the case.”
Continue reading "Michael Costa Starts a Spin on His Eviction From The Office Grill"
14 Comments »Michael Costa has fought a long battle to keep his paws on The Office Grill. However, after two lawsuits, five lawyers, and one too many hot checks, this morning Costa was slapped with a warning to vacate the premises. Costa and crew have until 10AM tomorrow morning to turn over the keys. “I posted a warning to vacate this morning,” Collin County Deputy Constable Harris from Precinct 3 in Plano. “The writ tells him to turn it to the landlord tomorrow morning. It’s my job to see he turns the property back to the landlord.”
The writ could be the final blow for Costa’s vigorous attempt to keep his business alive despite a legal battle with his landlord Scott Larson (18020 N. Dallas Parkway Partners, LTD) that began on June, 2011. Through a series of twist and turns including switching lawyers, countersuits, and appeals, Costa managed to buy himself some time. However, on January 18, 2012, the Court of Appeals dismissed Costa’s case. (Public documents here and here.)
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Continue reading "Warning to Vacate Premises Issued to Michael Costa at The Office Grill"
4 Comments »Sometimes you open a bottle of wine and say, WOW! If you are like me, you hope it happens often, especially when it is a special bottle you have read a lot about, it has been well reviewed, and it cost you an arm and a leg. Over the past few months I have enjoyed some simply stunning wine that should be considered if you are in the market for something simply remarkable. Many may only be available via the winery website, but it will be worth it.
A few selections were sent for editorial consideration.
Jump. Continue reading "What To Drink Now: Remarkable Red"
4 Comments »UPDATE: TX Delizioso won’t debut on Thursday as planned, due to rain and problems with product sourcing.
TX Delizioso debuts in the Arts District this week. Look for them for lunch on Thursday, at Preston Commons on Friday, and Sigel’s/Greenville on Friday evening.
This week, we add Munch Box to the schedule. They’ve been out for a couple of months, solely at the Fort Worth Food Truck Park.
The food trucks are out in this warmer weather, but be sure to check the Facebook and Twitter feeds when the rain comes. Jump for the full schedule. Continue reading "January 23 Food Truck Weekly Schedule"
3 Comments »I’ve heard the new pitcher for the Rangers, Yu “Tall Drink of Water” Darvish, has dined at Del Frisco’s in Fort Worth and Truluck’s in Dallas (McKinney Ave.). I’ve tried to get through to the Rangers front office to find out what kind of pie Yu would like us to deliver to him on National Pie Day, but so far nobody is returning my calls. SHOCKER. So I did some research: Japanese food culture is not big on pie. In fact, the video below shows the only use they have for pie. I like it.
I usually stay away from random national days as there is one for almost everything except National Be Nice to Nancy Day. However, a reader has asked the question so I will put it out there for you.
1 Comment »Hi Nancy. It’s National Pie Day. Here in Cowtown I am going to Paris Coffee Shop and chow down. Where in Big D?
Calling your wine brand “90+ Cellars” is a bit like a guy wearing a T-shirt that says “I have the biggest…”. It’s asking for trouble. When Kevin Mehra founded the brand he knew that he was bound to get called on such an audacious move. Recall that most major wine scoring systems in the world follow the system started in the 1970s by Robert Parker based on scoring wines on a 100-point scale. The wine departments of stores from Costco to Sigel’s to Centennial put tags (called shelf talkers) in their stores advertising the scores that the wines achieved in publications like The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, and The International Wine Cellar. For most consumers, 90 points has become a magic score as the number pretty much guarantees commercial success. A score of 90 or above is awarded to less than 5% of the wines offered for sale.
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Continue reading "Chalk Talk: Is 90+Cellars A 90+Wine? Check Out This Extensive Taste Test."
8 Comments »If anyone tells you that Kimpton hotels decrees a corporate style to the food in its restaurants, tell them to compare the styles at Central 214 under former execuchef, Blythe Beck and the recently appointed execuchef Graham Dodds. They couldn’t be more different. And not just in the amount of pink they wear. Dodds’ new menu transplants the philosophy which put Bolsa on the map back in 2008. (D was so taken with the place that we named it new restaurant of the year). As hotel execuchef, Dodds ovesees the food for room service, hotel events, and the bar menu. Lucky out-of-town guests who think Dallas is just chain restaurants and steakhouses will savor the food created by one of chefs at the forefront of the farm-to-table movement in the area. At a media event this week, I was fortunate to be served a cavalcade of dishes available from the menu and selected by the chef.
Jump for the glory of food.
James St. Peter, once content to make a few dozen donuts whenever he felt like it and sell them out of The Pizza Guy Restaurant, is now putting the finishing touches on his own big time store. Hypnotic Donuts, known for its exotic donut concoctions such as a chocolate cake donut covered with frosting made with chocolate, caramel and peanut butter ( the signature “Hypnotic”) and a donut topped with pretzels, peanut butter Cap’n Crunch drizzled with caramel and chocolate, is going full tilt boogie starting January 29. Here is a review of St. Peter’s High in the Mountains creation by Daniel Walker.
The new location at 9007 Garland Road, has a full kitchen and a new menu which will include chicken biscuits, biscuits and jelly from local purveyor JJ&B, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal made to order with choice of toppings, Greek yogurt and fresh fruit parfaits, along with protein drinks, protein bars, and energy/recovery drinks.
“Hyppies,” as patrons are known as, will enjoy a casual in-store experience with seating at the donut and coffee bar, or lounging on the sofa and some old school chairs. Outside will be cheap plastic chairs that face the street. Hypnotic calls this seating style “Goodfellas Row” as it is inspired by the movie of the same name. Standard chairs and tables will be placed throughout the space as well. In following St. Peter’s Hyppie mantra, Hypnotic Donuts furnished the store using reclaimed furniture and décor from local vintage, resale, thrift and charity stores. To further utilize local talent, local artist Kristen Johnson painted a mural of well-known hippies throughout history giving customers the joy of sharing a Hypnotic experience with their favorite hippies.