Articles for February 14th, 2013

What To Drink Now: Underwater Wine

posted by Hayley Hamilton | February 14th, 2013 8:52pm | filed under Food, Wine & Spirits | 1 Comment »

miraWe, as true wine lovers, will do just about anything to savor a perfect glass of wine, and to try to make sure when we open that special bottle it is the best it can be.  Now a Napa Valley winery is taking this desire to ensure that the aging of their wine once it hits the bottle is the best it can be by placing four of their precious cases of 2009 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from St. Helena into the bottom of the ocean off Charleston Harbor.  Mira Winery in Napa Valley will leave their cases there for three months to see how ocean aging changes, advances, destroys or simply keeps their wine status quo starting next week.  According to Mira Winery, ocean aging is currently used by a number of European wine producers who believe that there are ideal aging conditions found underwater, as evidenced when several decades old bottles are found at the bottom of the ocean around ship wrecks, it has even been speculated that the oceanic movements enhance the wine.  Mira Winery winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez agrees, noting “The ocean has similar ideal elements that impact aging – temperature, pressure, humidity, pressure motion, light — or lack thereof — and oxygen.”  Will it work?  We will see in three months….

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Twisted Root Gives a 65 Cent Discount to the ‘Nicest, Best Looking Person with the Best Butt’

posted by Carol Shih | February 14th, 2013 5:04pm | filed under Awards, Bring it!, Burgers, ChirpyChirpy, Food |
from reddit

from reddit

Who walked into Twisted Root (Richardson) the other day? Ryan Gosling? Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Would George Clooney order a turkey with extra cheddar???? Whoever it was, Server 200 had the hots for him/her. The anonymous receiver posted the receipt on Reddit today for the Dallas world to see.

The takeaway: wear tight pants to Twisted Root. Compliment the server on his/her crisp uniform. Throw a 1000-watt smile in their general direction. Flip your hair or something. Earn 65 cents back.

Easy as pie.

Holy Cow, You Can Buy 2,000 Crystal’s Pizza Tickets for $5 Before it Closes on Sunday, Feb. 17!

posted by Carol Shih | February 14th, 2013 4:10pm | filed under Business, Food, Openings/Closings, pizza, Politics of Food, restaurant business news, Restaurant News | 2 Comments »
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2,000 of Crystal’s Pizza tickets for sale (photo via Facebook)

I’ve never set foot inside Crystal’s Pizza, but everyone keeps telling me that it was “the sh*t.” Pardon my language. Dan Koller even emailed me and Nancy just to grieve over Crystal’s closing with a beautiful, wham bam one-liner sentence: “To Dallasites of my generation, this is a big effing deal.”

So maybe Alice Laussade wasn’t overreacting when she reported that Crystal’s Pizza is shutting its doors to fluffy childhood memories forever and ever and ever. On Sunday, February 17, to be exact. That’s when Irving becomes Crystal’s Pizza-free. (According to Liz, who calls it “that childhood house of horrors,” goodbye isn’t such a bad thing.) Anyways, I digress. The whole point of this post is to make you aware that Crystal’s is selling all of its stuff, in case you’re interested. I say “stuff” instead of “trash,” because I’m nice like that. I’m trying to give Crystal’s the benefit of the doubt. However, a Facebook post from yesterday stated that Crystal’s is selling a stack of 2,000 tickets for $5 “for those who wanted something with a Crystal’s logo on it.”

What in the world do you do with 2,000 unusable tickets? A couple of ideas come immediately to mind:

  • to use in place of toilet paper (though I can’t imagine it feeling that great)
  • for smacking a colleague where the sun don’t shine
  • as a cheap-@$$ fan in case the A/C breaks down

 
At least Crystal’s is being environmentally friendly by selling its…stuff. Hey, I’m all for recycling. And, yes, there will be more junk for sale in the coming days.

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A Food Love Story: Eating Dallas History by Amy Severson

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 14th, 2013 1:42pm | filed under Food, History of Dallas Food, Valentines Day | 17 Comments »

17 Comments »

Top Chef: Seattle, Episode 15 Recap: Josh Valentine Becomes a Daddy, Faces Possible Elimination

posted by Carol Shih | February 14th, 2013 11:09am | filed under Food, Top Chef Season 10 | 3 Comments »

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Alright, alright. Maybe I’ve been giving Josh a hard time at the beginning of these recap sessions, but he somehow transformed into a huggable teddy bear after Tesar left. In this episode, his expressions are pretty adorable. What can I say? I guess JT just rubbed him the wrong way.

Round 1: The Last Quickfire Challenge

Top Chef tries too hard, and starts reverting back to its Texas season days. The final three chefs (Brooke, Sheldon, and Josh) ride a helicopter to a glacier, where they take a husky sled to a dogsled camp. They have to create a dish in 30 minutes from whatever ingredients they can find. Sheldon and Brooke start pan-roasting halibut, while Josh does what Josh does best: breakfast. Cornmeal cake with smoked salmon and – get this – scrambled eggs. “The textures of this dish are going to ironically be like mush,” says Josh. Yup. And mush doesn’t seem to impress Tom Colicchio, either. Brooke beats the original Team Husky (Sheldon and Josh) with her halibut with panzanella salad and walnuts. Surprise, surprise.

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Somebody Help This Poor Girl: I Need to Stand in a Restaurant to Eat

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 14th, 2013 10:00am | filed under Food, Somebody Help | 14 Comments »

This gal has a unique request: She stands to eat.

For many reasons I prefer to not go into, I have to stand rather than sit throughout the day. This includes when I eat. The problem is for work I sometimes need to take colleagues out for dinner, and standing at a bar – no matter how nice the atmosphere – just won’t do when you need to have a work conversation.

I have found a few nice/conversation-oriented restaurants in town that allow me to stand while my dining companions sit; Stephen Pyle’s chef’s table and the Sundown at the Granada for dinner, and Company Cafe for lunch come to mind. However I need some variety, and I imagine there must be more places like these around.
So please help me crowd-source this problem: where in Dallas can a group of 4-6 have a nice, quiet dinner and enjoy great food, but one of the party can stand while the rest sit? Again, bars won’t fit the bill here. Needs to be work-appropriate.

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Look What I Made: (Cheap!) Four Course Valentine’s Dinner

posted by Travis Awalt | February 14th, 2013 9:56am | filed under Food, Look What I Made, Recipes, Valentines Day |
v day meal

(photos by Travis Awalt)

It’s a tricky thing, writing about Valentine’s Day. There isn’t a whole lot to be said that isn’t well-worn territory at this point. Which makes sense, I guess, because Valentine’s Day, from the little candy hearts that say ‘be mine’ to the ubiquitous red cupids and heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, seems not to have changed much in aesthetic sensibility or theme since I was a kid (minus the Mr. T Valentines, unfortunately). See, Valentine’s Day is not about originality*; so why would writing about it be different? And Valentine’s Day certainly isn’t about subtlety either. If love itself is a metaphoric ballet, Valentine’s Day is a metaphoric lap dance. With ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ playing in the background. Loudly. You can’t ignore Valentine’s Day. Tricky or not, I can’t just not write about Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day.

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SideDish on TV Audition: Learn How to Cook Like a Dallas Chef With Rebecca Combs

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 14th, 2013 8:55am | filed under Food, Put SideDish on TV! | 26 Comments »


Today’s we meet Rebecca Combs, a 23-year old Dallas native who loves food and loves to cook. And she has a lot of fun in her kitchen. Check this out:

I want to make restaurant quality food at home but don’t really know how (not to mention I’m fairly clumsy and make mistakes!). We’ll go to all the top restaurants in Dallas, talk to the chefs, then I will try to re create a signature dish at home! However, I can’t do it all on my own. I will need an expert at the end to try my food and help me elevate to the next level so it’s Dallas restaurant ready! I am just a normal girl who wants to learn how to cook and I want my friends, family, and viewers to learn with me!

She’s got pizzazz! Let’s hear it for Rebecca.

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