Articles for August 1st, 2012

Dallas’ Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day is a Political Battleground for Gay Marriage

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 2:14pm | filed under chickens, Chirpy, Really? | 1 Comment »

Over on Frontburner, Tim has the story.

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Scott Townend to be Execuchef at Hotel Lumen’s The Front Room: A Park Cities Diner

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 1:48pm | filed under Murmur | 1 Comment »

The Front Room: A Park Cities Diner (still a mouthful) is the classic diner-inspired restaurant designed by Tim McEneny of NL Group and Chef Doug Brown that we told you guys about. Robert Brown (previously of Private|Social) and Scott Townend (Craft, Fire Grill in St. Lucia) are joining the team as GM and Executive Chef, respectively. It’s opening date is set sometime this month, but no big announcement on when that day’s going to be.

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Wednesday Food Porn: Oak’s Grilled Pork Tenderloin

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 12:50pm | filed under Alright already!, Sexy food | 2 Comments »

Pork tenderloin with couscous (photo by Joy Zhang)

Here’s a little photo-loving to help you get over Hump Day. Today also happens to be the day Oak is starting its new lunch menu. There’s pan seared trout, baked goat cheese with lavosh and marinated olives, and a ham and cheese croissant that looks so fine.. I’m not even going to finish this sentence. Jason Maddy’s new menu is designed to reflect the changing season and what’s available to him from purveyors and small farms.

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The Hatch Partners Strike Again: OCHO Kitchen & Cocktails Will Open Mid-September in Preston Center

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 9:27am | filed under Openings/Closings, restaurant business news, Restaurant News | 2 Comments »

Brian Black and Benjamin Crosland of the Hatch Partners Team are opening a Tex-Mex restaurant in Preston center called OCHO Kitchen & Cocktails. If you don’t know who these guys are, they’re the masterminds behind Mi Piaci, which just underwent 3.5 weeks of surgery to look better than ever. OCHO, their eighth restaurant now, has been in the makings for awhile now, according to Black.

“I’ve been working on a project for almost three years to open a Tex-Mex style restaurant with a Santa Fe twist to it. I’ve partnered with Eric DiStefano of Coyote Café/Geronimo in Santa Fe. He’s a very well known Southwestern chef.”

Black says the restaurant will open mid-September on 8411 Preston Road. It’s a two-level work of art. The downstairs section is “casual, family-friendly, and the Tex-Mex restaurant.” The upstairs is a beautiful bar lounge. “We’re going to have a 1200 sq. ft. year-round patio facing Preston Road upstairs and downstairs,” Black tells me excitedly. His voice rises with pride as soon as he starts going on about this high-tech patio with its remote-controlled retractable roof, and fancy heating and air conditioning system. Qué bueno!

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Gluten and Allergy Free Expo Runs September 8-9

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 9:15am | filed under Gluten free, Health Food, Hippie revolutions, History of Dallas Food | 3 Comments »

Hopefully, the above video made by YouPlusDallas.com of the 2011 expo gave you a taste of this upcoming expo. Gluten-sensitive people with your restricted diets, take heart! There are other people like you, too. In fact, these other people are organizing a whole two-day Gluten and Allergy Free Expo with over 100 vendors providing samples of foods you can actually eat. On September 8 and 9 at the Westin Park Central, chefs, cookbook authors, and known health experts and nutritionists will be there to assist with preparing healthy meals without some of the most common allergens. Buy your tickets here.

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Teiichi Sakurai Will Open a Fresh Fish Market at Sylvan | Thirty

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 8:27am | filed under fish, game, Goats!, Good Deeds, Good Morning, Good Service, Needs Fine Tuning, Openings/Closings, restaurant business news, Restaurant News, Sylvan|Thirty, Trending | 17 Comments »

Teiichi Sakurai (photo by Kevin Hunter Marple)

Nancy’s about to quit SideDish. She just wrote me an email that’s too funny not to post. “HOLY S@#$. HOLY S@#$  Save me a space I’m coming to work at S30 HOLY S@#$.”

It’s true. I’m fixin’ to move to West Dallas too. Teiichi “Teach” Sakurai is not only about to celebrate the four-year anniversary of Tei-An in One Arts Plaza, he also just signed on as the sixth and newest tenant at Sylvan | Thirty, the mixed-use development scheduled to open in Spring 2013. Teiichi’s yet-to-be-named fresh fish market will be in the corner building at the intersection of Sylvan and Fort Worth Avenues, and customers can directly walk from there to the other building that houses Cox Farms Market and Matador Meat & Wine.

Teiichi’s fish market is joining Cox Farms Market, Matador Meat & Wine, Pearl Cup Coffee, Sync Yoga & Wellness and a culinary incubator (overseen by Sharon Hage) at Sylvan | Thirty, which is set to become the culinary hotspot of 2013.

Wait, before all that happens, Teiichi still needs to come up with a name! SideDishers, y’all are good at this! Let’s help a brother out. What should Teiichi call his new fish market?

17 Comments »

Two Restaurants are Open: Saucy’s Thai & Pho and Cedars Mediterranean Mezza

posted by Carol Shih | August 1st, 2012 7:59am | filed under Openings/Closings, restaurant business news, Restaurant News | 5 Comments »

[Correction: We spotted a sign for Saucy's Thai & Pho early last month (not Tippy's Thai), and now the restaurant at Preston Royal Shopping Center is definitely open for business.]

A SideDisher spotted the signs for this a while back, but now Tippy’s Thai Cafe is definitely open for business. The restaurant at the Preston Valley Shopping Center at LBJ and Preston is up and running.

Remember the old Cedars Mediterranean Mezza in Preston Center? It shut down in January 2011, but General Manager Bill Dimassi says they’ve been looking for a new location ever since. Now Cedars Mediterranean Mezza is back, but this one’s on 8141 Walnut Hill, Suite 1200 where Nancy says used to be an old Houston’s. Even though the website claims Cedars Mediterranean Mezza is “Coming Summer 2012 to Dallas and Austin,” it’s been open since last Friday. According to Dimassi, there’s a larger menu, a gourmet salad bar, and more meat entrees and grilled skewers. Overall, the entire place is larger, including a couple of private dining rooms.

5 Comments »