Articles for December 14th, 2012

Chef Jason Hice Let Go From British Beverage Co., Now Working Across the Street at JoJo Eating House & Bar

posted by Carol Shih | December 14th, 2012 4:56pm | filed under As the Restaurant Turns | 5 Comments »

Chef Jason Hice will no longer be wearing his BBC coat. (photo by Carol Shih)

I just got off the phone with Jason Hice, who was head cheffing at the British Beverage Company when it first opened on November 1. He sent me an email the other day, telling me he moved over to JoJo Eating House & Bar, which is right down the street from the new pub. Apparently, Hice has been a little too friendly with his neighbors.

“I made real good friends with Laurent,” says Hice. “He’s a true old-school chef.”

Hice has a background working in French cuisine, so he and Poupart, the owner of JoJo, hit it off. The ex-BBC chef used to walk across Routh and share his dishes with Poupart. “I think they got a little mad that I was coming over here [JoJo].”

The owners of BBC (there’s about 12 of them, Hice says) told Hice he was let go. (“The sous chef came over and was taking pictures while I was helping Laurent one day, and I think that’s what set them off.”) Hice told Poupart what happened, and the next day, Poupart called him to offer him a new job: the role of chef de cuisine at JoJo. He’s making the same amount he was before, and now he’s much happier.

The new JoJo employee can’t sing enough praises about Poupart. “It was a good move; it was going to happen…It’s a better kitchen and this guy [Poupart] gets the best ingredients possible. The techniques are really cool.”

SideDishers, this makes me wonder: How friendly can you be with your competition? Is sharing dishes with another restaurant a fireable offense?

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Ascension Coffee Quietly Opens in the Design District

posted by Carol Shih | December 14th, 2012 3:05pm | filed under Coffee, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News | 1 Comment »

The mother of all coffee machines (via Ascension’s Facebook page)

A lot has already been said about Ascension Coffee already, so I won’t bog you down with details. (Plus, news of the Connecticut shooting today has made it terribly hard for me to concentrate on anything. It’s been a rather dreadful day, and all my thoughts are going out to the families affected by what’s happened.)

Here are a few snappy ones, anyway:

  • Owned by restauranteur Russell Hayward
  • In the daytime, Ascension will be a coffee shop, but starting at 5 p.m., it’ll turn into a wine bar.
  • There won’t be any muffins. The food will be “chef-driven” and “inexpensive,” according to this CultureMap article by Teresa Gubbins.
  • The espresso machine is a Synesso Hydra Hybrid, if that means anything to you coffee snobs.
  • Ascension is right next to Meddlesome Moth.



Service starts bright and early tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

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Bit & Bites: Things to Do and Chew in Dallas This Weekend, December 14-16

posted by Carol Shih | December 14th, 2012 11:40am | filed under beer, Events, Things To Do |

All I’m doing this weekend is catching up on Season 3 of Downton Abbey. I am so behind that it’s embarrassing. Also, Christmas shopping and Christmas-card making… I guess I need to do those, too. But they’re clearly not as important as Downton. Nope.

Friday

4 p.m. | Stone Vertical Epic Ale, The Final Chapter | Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House – Go for the vertical tasting of 10 editions of Stone Vertical Epic Ale. Receive a flight with 3 oz. samples of each edition from 3/3/3 to 12/12/12. Starts at 4 p.m. until the keg runs dry.

Saturday

Noon – 3 p.m. | Third Saturday Lunch | Private Social - Rocco Milano will be mixing holiday cocktails while you munch on fried chicken with green beans, dirty rice, and potato salata. $20 per person.

 Noon – 5 p.m. | Dallas Winter Warmer Beer Festival | Annette Strauss Square – Yes, this is Dallas’ first winter beer festival. Why didn’t anybody think of this before? All guests receive a 6 oz. brandy snifter and 2 oz. samples. Save $10 on tickets if you enter Sigel’s promo code. Check out the beers that’ll be there. The list is long and never-ending.

Sunday

5 p.m. | TJ’s Lobster Boil | Veritas Wine Room – Apparently, November’s event was such a hit that the boys from Veritas and TJ’s have decided to make this a monthly event. Eat your fill of lobster, littleneck clams, PEI mussels, corn, and potatoes + wine (duh) for only $30 per person. Email Bradley Anderson (bradley@andersonllp.com) to make your reservations. Hurry now.

Into Shelley’s Belly: Craft & Growler on Parry Avenue

posted by Matthew Shelley | December 14th, 2012 10:45am | filed under beer, Into Shelley's Belly | 4 Comments »

The Cadillac of growlers (left); wagon wheel fixture (right) photos by Matthew Shelley

I learned a wonderful lesson on this venture, and I might even say I embraced a new perspective. The first hour I spent at the new beer joint, Craft & Growler, was muddled by sunlight. Initially, I thought of the interior and its personality as an empty classroom space with very little warmth. It seemed unfinished and not particularly conducive to the cavernous regions of depth and darkness that I prefer whilst I drink the sweet nectar of hops.  But as the sun set softly behind the city streets, I found my eyes growing used to this large brew house of joy and wealth. I immediately realized that perhaps it was because I started imbibing at 4 in the afternoon, when no one else was there, and the hefty wooden tables that covered the place shone too brightly. I asked a stranger to slap my face for my shortsightedness and initial snobbery. The night came with a soothing winter gust of bar folk, conviviality, and dimly lit coziness. I sat back in my low leaning leather chair at the front corner, all patrons before me enlivened by the energy and ease that swept through Craft & Growler. Darkness descended with its loving arms. I apologize.

Continue reading "Into Shelley’s Belly: Craft & Growler on Parry Avenue"

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Escondido Restaurant Blames Salvation Army Carr P. Collins Social Service Center for Loss of Business

posted by Nancy Nichols | December 14th, 2012 10:18am | filed under 'Burbalicious, Bring it!, Restaurant News, Tex-Mex | 9 Comments »

Yesterday I was chatting with Juan Herrera of Escondido. The family-owned restaurant has been serving the same Tex-Mex combination plates since 1975. The small restaurant is on Butler Street which runs through the light industrial area between Harry Hines and Maple Avenue. When I asked him how he was doing he said “terrible.” He went on to tell me how his night business has suffered ever since The Salvation Army Carr P. Collins Social Service Center opened across from Parkland Hospital on Harry Hines Boulevard. The 161,000 square foot center, which houses up to 600 homeless people a night, backs up to Escondido. “We have people walking all over the neighborhood and begging our customers for food,” Herrera said. “The 7-11 was getting robbed and they closed. So I had to close my restaurant at night. I just had to let employees go.”

This is a gem of a restaurant. They serve a mean enchilada and have some of the best chips and salsa in Dallas. And it has purple walls. Escondido is open Monday through Saturday from 11AM to 2PM. They brave the world on Friday nights from 6PM to 9PM. Go. Eat. Support and report.

P.S. Bill Addison, I miss you.

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Food Feedback Friday

posted by Nancy Nichols | December 14th, 2012 9:08am | filed under Food Feedback Friday | 2 Comments »

Dishers, happy Friday! Where did you dine and what did you eat this week? Here is what you reported last week.

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