Articles for July 24th, 2012

Restaurant Review: Woodshed Smokehouse in Fort Worth

posted by Nancy Nichols | July 24th, 2012 1:29pm | filed under 'Burbalicious, appetizers, BBQ, beer, I'm a sucker for a man in flannel, Kevin Marple, Restaurant News, Reviews, Skinny bitches | 3 Comments »

(clockwise from top left) Chef/owner Tim Love; beef ribs; smoked cauliflower photography by Kevin Marple.

This month, Teresa Gubbins reviews Tim Love’s newest restaurant, Woodshed Smokehouse.

Lulled by the scent of smoke, a circle of people huddles around a hunk of charred meat, agog. It’s a mighty beef shin, the bone jutting up amid blackened chunks of flesh, a carnivore’s feast heaped on a slab of wood. A maiden steps into the circle. Her name is Tiffany, and she wants to know if you need an extra napkin. At Woodshed Smokehouse, the new restaurant on the banks of the Trinity River in Fort Worth, celebrity chef Tim Love drags us back to our caveman days, invoking our primordial fascination with burning things. Everything is cooked via fire or smoke—no electricity, no stove-top braising—and the menu includes an “animal of the day.” It even goes so far as to identify menu items by the kind of wood used in their cooking: mesquite, hickory, oak, or pecan. Jump for goodness.

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Food Truck Fight: Five Reasons Why We Will Not Be Returning To The Midtown Foodtruck Fest Anytime Soon

posted by George Lewis | July 24th, 2012 1:10pm | filed under Food Fight!, Food Trucks | 9 Comments »

Last weekend the first Midtown Food Truck Fest took place at the mall formerly known as Valley View. It was (and is planned to be) a monthly Friday, Saturday, and Sunday event with over two dozen food trucks including a few driving in from out of town. To attract customers to eat street food in the the heat, the food trucks were to park in the cavernous parking garage. Several months earlier, the TX Food Truck Fest at Valley View was a huge success for customers and for the food trucks. However, according to customers and truck operators, the Midtown Food Truck Fest, organized by a different group, was an unmitigated disaster.

Typically event organizers put these large events together to promote a business or a charitable cause. They provide some seating, trash cans, traffic control, government paperwork, parking, and advertising. They charge the food trucks an entry fee and a percentage of revenue. Depending on the event’s cause, the food truck owners might marginally raise their prices to offset the organizer’s percentage take. The entry fee can range from nothing to several hundreds of dollars, and the revenue percentage split can range up to the 20% range.

I didn’t go to this particular event.  I saw little reason to go to a vacant mall parking lot in 108 degree temperature to try food trucks that can easily be found. However one from the customer, indie food truck blogger, Food Truck Terry provides this customer perspective. I’ve copied and pasted a complaint from a food trucks owner who participated. They prefer to remain anonymous but below they’ve listed five reasons why they will never participate again.

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Last Chance to Book Reservations for Chef Ryan Barnett’s Pop-Up Dinner

posted by Carol Shih | July 24th, 2012 12:41pm | filed under Pop-Up Media |

Chef Ryan Barnett from vimeo.com

Chef Ryan Barnett (who used to cook for Neighborhood Services, Bistro 31, and Ormsby Catering) is going all hermit-y and underground, just like the great Chef DAT. This pop-up dinner is happening on Thursday, July 26, at My Private Chef in Deep Ellum for $50 buckaroos per person. Not a bad deal for all that you’re getting. Read the press release below:

Courses include Bordeaux Picnic Plate; Texas Pea Cassoulet, Caramelized Navarro Shallots, Duck Confit; Slow Roasted Quail en Crouté, mixed field mushrooms, Chefs Garden herbs and finally a Toasted Pecan Pot de Crème.  Cost is $50 per person and guests can BYOB (bottle service provided).

Ingredients will be sourced both from Ryan’s personal garden as well as from local Texas farmers

A Dallas native, Ryan is a classically trained chef whose passion and focus is the French Culinary technique.  His career began at L & M Kitchen & Salumeria in Oxford, MS. With its strong focus on farm to table cooking, its traditional in-house meat curing operation, and a daily Chef’s Tasting, Ryan was constantly challenged and exposed to new things. Most recently Ryan honed his skills in Dallas at Neighborhood Services, Bistro 31and Ormsby Catering.

Check-in begins at 6:30 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. Cost is $50 per person, exclusive of gratuity.  For reservations email ChefRB@me.com or call 214-707-6986.  My Private Chef is located at 2901 Elm Street, self-parking available.

Bobby Flay is Searching For the Best Home Cook in America

posted by Carol Shih | July 24th, 2012 10:58am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, cookoff |

Hey Bobbbayyy

Are you the best home cook you know? Do you make your spaghetti sauce from real tomatoes instead of using Ragu’s fake meat junk? When you bring choco chip cookies to a pot luck, are yours the only ones made with all-purpose flour?

Eh, don’t even worry if your dinners are semi-homemade. As long as you have the hots for a certain red-headed chef named Bobby Flay and have the chops to get “thrown down,” maybe you should compete for Food Network’s newest show, America’s Best Home Cook. Your talent for adding crap loads of butter is a must, since this is America and we love obesity. Sign up as a team of two in this local casting call before Wednesday, August 1.

This could be you one day. (via sheknows.com)

To apply for an interview, please email BobbysBstHomeCookDallas@gmail.com with the following information:

  • Your name & the name of your teammate
  • Recent photos and short bios of you & your teammate (relationship, occupations, etc.)
  • Tell us why you are the best home cooks, please provide photos of your food
  • Tell us about the best parties you’ve thrown
  • Your contact information & current location


What To Drink Now: National Tequila Day

posted by Hayley Hamilton | July 24th, 2012 9:15am | filed under cocktails, Silly Reasons to Celebrate, Wine & Spirits | 3 Comments »

If there has ever been a silly reason to drink, celebrating National Tequila Day may be it.  To toast the day dedicated to the Blue Weber Agave spirit I reached out to a few of our favorite local mixologists to see what their favorite tequila based libation was.  Here are a few of their suggestions, along with a mix of additional ideas, if you are in the tequila mood tonight.

From Jason Kosmas, of the newly launched 86 Company, a line of spirits which are all 86 proof and one of the finest mixologists not only in Dallas, but the country, gave me his recipe for a Yellow Jacket.  Unfortunately only the vodka and rum have launched from 86 Company, so he suggests Siembra Azul tequila.  Wait a few months and you can make this signature cocktail with his 86 Co. tequila.

Photo courtesy of Robin Lee

The Yellow Jacket
2 ounces Siembra Azul Tequila
1 ounce St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
3/4 ounce Yellow Chartreuse
Dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
Directions – Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice and stir (not shake.) The cocktail will create a velvety texture as the ingredients come together.  Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

Kosmas also gave me a go to margarita recipe and the story behind it. His Trial Margarita was created when he was talking with the owner of Marquee before he went to work with them.  They asked him to create a cocktail, and without really knowing the bar or any ingredients available he went to work and within minutes he had created what may be called his seal-the-deal cocktail, as he was shortly hired thereafter.  This one remains on the menu year round at Village Marquee – Texas Grill & Bar using whatever fruit is in season and available.

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‘Burbalicious: What I Ate in Sunnyvale

posted by Carol Shih | July 24th, 2012 8:20am | filed under 'Burbalicious, Burgers, Desiree Espada, Ethnic Food, Making Up Is Hard To Do, Travel | 14 Comments »

Lewis Cheng (left); Chicken lo mein (right) photos by Desiree Espada

In conjunction with July’s Best Suburbs issue, I’m traveling to 10 different ‘burbs in the DFW area for a semi-weird cross-city food tour. I’ll be documenting all my finds in these ‘Burbalicious posts that’ll be peppered throughout June and July. If you feel like your suburb deserves a shot at some SideDish love, email me and I’ll ask my Magic 8 ball if I should go. Last time, I went to Irving.

I didn’t think it was the brightest idea when Jason, the Web Editor, suggested that I find an ethnic restaurant in Sunnyvale, the whitest town in North Texas. Mary Dews, a previous counselor for the Dallas Tenants Association in the mid-1980s, filed a lawsuit against the city this year for perpetuating racial segregation and Sunnyvale’s maintenance of its all-white character. Memories of sitting across from skinheads in St. Petersburg’s subways suddenly came to mind when Jason told me to travel to Sunnyvale. It was one of the last suburbs on my list to visit. I dreaded the trip.

I figured it’d make big headlines if someone killed an Asian woman in Sunnyvale (or at least make it onto Frontburner), and Jason would inevitably feel terrible guilt for making me go there. That’s the worse that could happen, right? Yelp led me to a Wai Cafe, a restaurant that serves Chinese food and burgers. Entirely skeptical of this concept, Desiree and I drove 15 miles east of Dallas towards 3839 North Belt Line Road where we found the most fascinating Chinese restaurant I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting… in the whitest town of North Texas.

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