Articles about Celebrity Diners

‘Le Bilboquet Made Us Leave an Empty Restaurant!’

The interior of L

The interior of Le Bilboquet when the women were asked to leave.

Friday evening, D Magazine’s lifestyle editor, Raya Ramsey, and D: The Broadcast’s Courtney Kerr headed over to Le Biboquet for cocktails. The restaurant opened last week and Carol filed a report on the French bistro in the former L’Ancestral space at Travis Walk.

Here’s Ramsey’s report:

Courtney and I decided to pop in (no reservations) at 5 pm for drinks. No food, just wine. We were the first outside diners in the restaurant. There was a table outside eating with the hostess and a table of kitchen crew eating in the corner. We had three rounds and eventually split an order of fries. The food plates were cleared. We ordered a fourth glass of Prosecco at 7 pm and instead of bringing us drinks, our waiter brought us the check. At this point, the restaurant was still pretty empty. He told us we needed to leave because of reservations coming in. He was clearly uncomfortable asking us to leave but cited “he’s getting nervous about incoming reservations.” Not sure who “he” was, but okay. The odd thing was that the restaurant was still empty. I mean, there was only one, maybe two or two tables of diners. I totally get a brand new restaurant preparing for a reservation-packed night, but no one was there. Why couldn’t we stay for one more glass and then wrap it up? We weren’t asked to move outside, where I doubt anyone would be dining, we were asked to leave. It was the strangest experience and it was uncomfortable for all three of us. The owner was there, bustling around, but never stopped by about this.

Is this a normal thing to happen? I guess I just don’t like the way in which it was executed. The server felt weird about it, which made us feel weird about it. Maybe he could have told us at 6 pm, “Hey guys, at 7 pm, the tables are reserved for tonight’s dinner rush,” instead of just kicking us out on the spot.

Hmm. If I’m a new restaurant, I’m not asking anyone to leave. Especially those two. I’d love to hear how other restaurants handle this.

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Jimmy Fallon Hangs Out With Bruno Davaillon at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas

fallon

Jimmy Fallon and Bruno Davaillon. Photo swiped from Facebook.

The headline says all I know about this. I swiped the photo from Chef Davaillon’s Facebook page. Shall we count the minutes until The Brad pipes up? Go.

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Join Us: 100 Best Restaurants in Dallas Party at 3015 at Trinity Groves

100Best_pie 2

Come on! Do it!

T-minus 57 hours and counting. At 6PM on Wednesday, May 22, the pre-release date editions of the June issue of D Magazine will be delivered to Sharon Van Meter’s 3015 at Trinity Groves. And we are throwing a party from 6-8PM to celebrate the cover story: 100 Best Restaurants in Dallas. At 7PM, we will announce the top ten best restaurants in Dallas. So far we have representatives from 64 restaurants which range from a mom-and-pop in Richardson to a swanky haute cuisine spot in Uptown. There will be food: an eclectic mix of haute cuisine, off-the-beaten-path barbecue, and a variety of dishes from ethnic restaurants. Along with the food tastings, there will be cocktails by Brugal Rum, beer by Trumer Pilsner, DJ Jose Guevara, Land Rovers on display and a See’s Candy buffet. Additional sponsors include Express Working Capital and Poggenpohl.

If you don’t like my picks, you can throw a pie at me. I’ll be right outside the front door waiting for you. It will cost you $20 to toss a pie but the money collected will go to the North Texas Food Bank.Click here for event tickets ($50.)

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Jolie/Pitt Miraval Rose is Hot Ticket at Sigel’s in Dallas

The winemakers.

The winemakers.

I don’t understand the appeal of celebrity wine but I’m, once again, in the minority. A couple of days ago Jasper Russo of Sigel’s sent word that the store had a limited supply of Miraval Cotes de Provence Rose 2012 bottled by Jolie-Pitt & Perrin. He writes:

Do you love rosé wine? Do you love Brad Pitt? Do you love Angelina Jolie? Do you love ALL THREE of those things at the same time? If so, you can be among the few lucky people to purchase the first release from Ch Miraval. The wine is from the French vineyard owned by the famous couple, who partnered with Marc Perrin, of Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, to create the label. Grown at an altitude of 350 meters in clay and chalk soils, the vines are cultivated 100% organically, without the use of herbicides, pesticides or chemicals.

Somebody in the United Arab Emirates loves all three. They contacted Russo and asked him to ship his whole inventory ASAP. The cost of shipping one 44-pound case which retails for $240 would be $650. However, Russo doesn’t have access to the federal customs paperwork necessary to complete the transaction so the order was declined. Russo is down to three cases at the Greenville Avenue store only. And it’s on sale for $19.99 (reg. $24.99). 5757 Greenville Ave. 214-739-4012.

Celebrate D Magazine’s 100 Best Restaurants in Dallas on May 22 at Trinity Groves

Top 100 winnerI have just completed D Magazine‘s  June cover story: The 100 Best Restaurants in Dallas. Yes, I wrote 100 restaurant reviews and ranked the top 100 restaurants in Dallas. To complete the task, I had to toss out Fort Worth, Grapevine, and the mid-cities. Maybe next time. (Which will not be in my life time.) I’m so tired I thought it would be a great idea to throw a party and celebrate the 100 best restaurants in Dallas. The marketing people agreed.

Join me and many of the 100 best restaurants in Dallas for a giant soiree on May 22 from 6-8PM at Sharon Van Meter’s 3015 Trinity Groves. The festivities will feature food from the top chefs in Dallas and the fare will feature an eclectic mix of haute cuisine, off-the-beaten-path barbecue, and a variety of dishes from ethnic restaurants. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to mingle with an unprecedented gathering of chefs and restaurateurs from the top restaurants in Dallas. Along with the food tastings, there will be cocktails by Brugal Rum, beer by Trumer Pilsner, DJ Jose Guevara, Land Rovers on display and a See’s Candy buffet. Additional sponsors include Express Working Capital and Poggenpohl.

I’m thinking about doing a “Throw a Cream Pie in Nancy’s Face” booth to raise money for my favorite charity. Could happen. Buy your tickets here. 

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First Lady Michelle Obama and Matrice Kirk Dined at Stephan Pyles in Dallas Last Night

Last night, Stephan Pyles  personally cooked for  for First Lady Michelle Obama and the Former First Lady of Dallas, Matrice Kirk. First, the ladies split a Caesar salad with polenta crouton.  Mrs. Obama’s entree was a seared halibut with a crabmeat-tamale tart. She also downed four bites of  a cowboy rib-eye with red chile onion rings.

The First Lady and Chef Pyles spoke of his decades-long efforts with Share Our Strength and childhood hunger, which she called the other side of childhood obesity (her passion).

Pyles shares some other details, including the other First Ladies he’s cooked for (7!), on his Facebook page:

The other “Firsts” were Laura Bush, Hilary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan, Rosalind Carter and Betty Ford. The one I most wanted to cook for but never did? Lady Bird Johnson. I adored that woman! Who does not think of her every time they drive through the Texas Hill Country in spring?

Madame O. was served Seared Halibut with Crabmeat-Tamale Tart, Caesar Salad and the Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye with Red Chile Onions Rings. I was impressed she ordered such a robust meal but she only had about 4 bites of the Cowboy Ribeye. Moderation! as my late and great friend Julia Child used to cry. “Eat it all”, she used to say, “just don’t make a pig of yourself”. Besides, she has to keep those terrific arms in good shape. And speaking of which, she wore sleeves last night!

Regretfully, he forgot to take a picture.

UPDATE: I can’t believe I went to college for this. I printed information above sent to me by a publicist. The details are a little off.

Here goes: Ms. Obama did NOT order two entrees. According to Pyles:  ”They ordered a Caesar salad to split and she (Mrs. Obama) ordered the cowboy rib-eye for her entree. When I got their order, I sent them out a halibut/tamale tart appetizer so by the time she got to the rib-eye she was probably full (my fault). She ate almost half the rib-eye which is more than most women eat.”

UPDATE: Okay, curious folks. More from Pyles: “Matrice had the same appetizer I sent out to Michelle, she of course split the Caesar and had the Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Yucca-Huitlacoche Hash and pickled Blackberries as her entree. Matrice picked up the check.”

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Fans of Cuba Libre Gets Special Treat From Nick Badovinus

The happiest Susan is Sueville.

The happiest Susan is Susanville.

Last month, I received an email from Paul, a SideDish reader. He wrote in an email with a subject line “Missing Cuba Libre”:

My wife and I were talking recently about how much we miss Cuba Libre, particularly a mixed basket of the plantain and tortillas chips with three sauces plus black-bean dip, the spinach salad with mango or passion-fruit vinaigrette, and, most of all, the phenomenal Voodoo Blackened Salmon atop coconut rice and sautéed vegetables. Moreover and aside from the palate-pleasing flavors, the salmon was always cooked to perfection as a narrow filet, but thicker than any cut I have found elsewhere in Dallas.

I forwarded the email to Nick Badovinus, the opening chef at Cuba Libre.  Today comes word that Badovinus rocked Paul’s, and his wife, Susan’s world.

This past Monday, for my wife Susan’s 45th birthday, Nick and his kitchen staff and Will (our extraordinary server), went above and beyond any dining experience in recent memory, properly pacing a phenomenal 3-hour culinary excursion for my wife Susan and two of our dear friends. Below is our menu and we continue to enjoy all that we brought home. I can’t succinctly write how extraordinary each dish was in its own unique way!

Nicely played, Badovinus. Dangerous precedent.

Continue reading "Fans of Cuba Libre Gets Special Treat From Nick Badovinus"

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Restaurant Review: FT33 in Dallas Design District

FT33_Collage

(Clockwise from top left): FT33′s stark interior; red wattle nduja, hedgehog mushrooms, wild watercress, egg yolk, and tagliardi; smoked trout, frisee, celery root, caraway, and dill; smoked potatoes, maitake, chile kewpie mayo, and savory herbs. (Photography by Kevin Marple)

Matt McCallister likes to eat at Mission Chinese Food when he’s in New York City, and he once found a baby snake while foraging for spring onions. He runs 6 miles on a treadmill to take the edge off when he’s had a rough day. His wife, Iris, owns a small brownie-making concern. She is picky about the soaps she uses in her bathroom, and she got an awesome new computer for Christmas. I know these things about the McCallisters because I read Facebook and pay attention to Twitter.

I find it fascinating that so much of McCallister’s success—or, at the very least, his name recognition—has been generated through social media. Certainly his bio doesn’t suggest that he has done as much “gutter time” as other local talents. I’m not saying the man isn’t talented. But I do think he is the first prestigious Dallas chef to earn his celebrity status with food blogs and social media, before he opened his first restaurant. After just seven years in the business, he stands in the kitchen of the most talked-about restaurant in Dallas, FT33.

More…

Have you been? Let us hear about it.

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Tickets for Café Momentum at FT33 Go on Sale in Ten Minutes

cafemOn your mark, get set, click here.

UPDATE: I think they sold out in less than one minute.

That Sports Girl, Gina Miller, Wants SideDish on TV

Bite Me: Gina Miller, That Sports Girl Loves Food.

Gina Miller is a mom, wife, sports anchor/ reporter (CBS News and TXA 21), television host (pre-and-post Mavs, Stars, Cowboys, and Ranger games),  bloggertweeter, Facebooker, YouTubette,Dallas native, nice person, and loyal reader of SideDish. Those of us who are lucky enough to know Gina refer to her as That Sports Girl, which is also her Twitter handle.

As soon as I posted my challenge to get SideDish on TV, the lovely sports anchor whipped out her laptop and, within minutes, came up with the following ideas. Imagine locking her in a room for an hour and getting her full attention. Here’s Gina:

Saw your SideDish TV post.  There are SO many segments and entire 30-minute shows you can pitch.  Here are a few topics that would make for really good TV(think VISUALLY compelling):

1. Where The Locals Eat – a neighborhood focused segment that profiles where, say, the Cliff Dwellers/Lakewood peeps/Parkies/North Dallasites love and are proud to call their own.

2. Where Local “Celebs” Eat – Polticos, athletes, actors, authors, newsies, etc.

3. Dives ofDallas- profiling the taquerias, Club Schmitzs, Korean Huts, etc.

4. The Most IconicDallasDishes

5. Where You Can get a Reservation – could be tough to translate to TV but NYMag (I believe) does a great feature, calling a popular spot at 5pm on a certain day to see if a party of 4 can get a table for that night.

6. Restaurants Worth Filling Up the Tank to Visit – out of town spots worth the drive.

7. Ballpark food – the good stuff (and bad) at JerryWorld, Ballpark, AAC,PizzaHutPark, etc.

8. The Next Big Thing – what place will be dying to get into next month?

9. Cocktail Hour – capitalizing on the whole mixology trend (is it over yet) and featuring the latest and greatest cocktail to hitDallas.

Thanks, That Sports Girl. I see a some good stuff. Too bad you can’t be That Food Girl! Anybody care to chime in?

 

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My Five Cents: Social Media, Chef Matt McCallister, and FT-33

Matt McCallister readies for his close-up. (Photography by Kevin Marple)

I read Facebook and pay attention to Twitter. Because of this, I know Rick Bayless, the famous chef behind Frontera Grill, Topolobampo, XOCO and other successful Chicago food businesses, is happy it’s fall and his “calamundins [sic] are turning orange and just about ready to pick.”

Facebook has allowed me to follow Matt McCallister on his journey to open FT-33. Along the way, I have gotten to “know” his wife, Iris, and daughter, Ella, and many of their close “real” friends. I am familiar with how Iris likes her coffee and how many miles Matt runs. McCallister’s restaurant, FT-33, is opening tomorrow. If you read food blogs, Facebook, and Twitter you already know this. But I have to ask: Outside of this relatively small circle, how many Dallas and Fort Worth diners are speed dialing for reservations?

Let me be clear: There is no disrespect for Chef McCallister hidden behind my words. I find it fascinating that he has gained much of his fame—some would say hype–through social media. When you look at his bio, it doesn’t appear he’s done as much “gutter time” as other local talents. I’m not saying the man isn’t talented, I’m just saying he is the first Dallas chef to open his first restaurant and potentially benefit from the power of local food blogs and social media.

Stay with me here.

Continue reading "My Five Cents: Social Media, Chef Matt McCallister, and FT-33"

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Rob Lowe Eats. At Cafe Pacific. Twice.

Photo courtesy of My Sweet Charity.

Rob Lowe was the keynote speaker at today’s Baylor Health Care System’s Celebrating Women 2012 luncheon. According to Jack Knox, owner of Cafe Pacific, Lowe was in for dinner last night and liked it so much he returned for lunch today. Guess he didn’t love the food served today at the Hilton Anatole. Or Jack is full of beans.

UPPITY DATE: A female grackle just told me she saw “the hunky Rob Lowe” at MiCocina on Wednesday.

UPPITY DATE: From Jeanne Prejean at My Sweet Charity: “He was at the Hilton Anatole with 1,300 fawning females for the record-breaking Celebrating Women luncheon for raising funds to fight breast cancer. I noticed that he didn’t eat, but chatted with Pat Smith (Emmitt’s more beautiful half) and Jeff Rich (Jan Miller’s husband). He wowed the crowd despite problem having a starved stomach. He was a very nice guy to all he met. He lost his mother, grandmother and great grandmother to breast cancer.”

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Good vs. Evil: An Evening with Anthony Bourdain & Eric Ripert at Bass Hall in Fort Worth

The Tony. The Tesar. The Brad.

Last October, Anthony “Tony” Bourdain graced Dallas with his presence when he appeared before a sellout crowd at The Majestic Theater. (Check out the pictures we snapped here.

“T” also spent a few weeks hanging out at SXSW in Austin this spring where he filmed a episode on Texas barbecue with local BBQ Snob, Daniel Vaughn. Bourdain will be back in November for a show with his super chef pal, Eric Ripert at Bass Hall on November 9.

Have you had your fill of Bourdain or are you headed west with The Brad?

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Food TV Review: No Reservations With BBQ Snob, Daniel Vaughn, and Anthony Bourdain

Lunch at Franklin BBQ in Austin. Left to right: R. Nicholas McWhirter (Vaughn's photographer), David Hale Smith (Vaughn's agent), Tony Bourdain, Daniel Vaugh (self).

Any of you watch our local barbecue expert Daniel Vaughn of Full Custom Gospel Barbecue fame on the season premier of No Reservations last night? I did and I have about five minutes to give you my five cents worth:

I’ve watched a zillion episodes of No Reservations and I’ve learned a lot about food and foreign cultures from Tony. He made the right decision to make this the last tour of the show. Bourdain looks tired and his energy level in the show last night was down. He looked like a grandfather hanging out with all of those hip Austin bands. I would too. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but his questions were uninspired and when he tried to be cool by tossing in old druggie stories and Lou Reed references, it stung my brain. I’ve heard myself do the same thing in our office. Everyone around me is much younger and watching Bourdain last night made me feel like I was looking into a mirror. Except I would not attempt to be as cool and hip as Tim or Zac by getting a sun tattooed on my arm. That was just dumb.

However, he brought me back to some form of reality when he quipped “Only Jews and Texans understand brisket.” Zinger. Geezer humor at its finest. Continue reading "Food TV Review: No Reservations With BBQ Snob, Daniel Vaughn, and Anthony Bourdain"

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Amazing Anniversary Story from The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

Four Couples and an Anniversary: Mr.& Mrs. Bill Taylor; Mr. & Mrs. John Withers; Mr. & Mrs. Ron Dalton; Mr. & Mrs. Frank Meier.

I just received an email from Ryan Harvey, the restaurant manager at The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. I found the story charming.

Last night in the Mansion Restaurant, we were surprised to learn that we were going to have two couples joining us in the dining room that were celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary. We planned to sit them close together so that we could enlighten them with the news.  Well, what took place next was truly amazing…

Jump, Cinderella. Continue reading "Amazing Anniversary Story from The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek"

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Sneak Peek: Daniel Vaughn and Anthony Bourdain Break Brisket at Franklin Barbecue in Austin

Only nine days until the final season of No Reservations kicks off with Dallas BBQ Snob, Daniel Vaughn, creator of the blog-gone-book Full Custom Gospel Barbecue. The episode, with host Anthony Bourdain, will air on September 3 on Travel Channel, was shot in Austin. Here’s a snippet. It will make you hungry.

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Restaurant 101: Waiters Provide Their Own Stemware Because Owner Won’t

Cheap wine in expensive glass or expensive wine in cheap glass? Which one for you?

A Disher with a lot of initials after his last name writes with a tale I’ve never been told. He wants to know if anyone else has had the same experience at other restaurants. He asked me to delete the name of the place but he doesn’t mind if you guess.

Dined at [redacted] yesterday.  Ordered a decent bottle of wine and the server brought what could only be the cheapest restaurant-supply wine glasses for our red. Noticing proper stemware at the table next to us, I asked our server if we could have proper glassware for our wine. Here’s what floored me: he said that we had the only stemware “the owner” provides, and that most servers provide their own, better stemware, for their tables. Paid for by the servers! Our server said the owner wanted a “bistro” feel, and also cited the cost of breakage. I certainly understand the cost…but when many wines are well over $60/bottle (and several over $100), I would hope for a better wine experience.  Have you run across this before?

No, I have not. But I did kill a skunk once.

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Restaurants and Chefs Come Together for a Cause at Duo

Beneficiary Camilo Calderon with Lisa Moore of Fluent

It was a packed house at Duo last night for a benefit to assist the family of Camilo Calderon, a General Manager at The Adolphus. He recently lost his sister to cancer and took over guardianship of her four children. Since he already had two children of his own he is now the (single) father of a family with six children. Fluent, a private concierge service helmed by (Gary) Jackson of WSJ fame and Lisa Moore, formerly director of sales and marketing with Stephan Pyles, organized the event. Duo provided the space, and Glazer’s the wine as a backdrop to the eight restaurants contributing and serving food. What did they all have in common? In his lifetime in the Dallas restaurant industry all of these chefs–Katherine Clapner,Mark McDaniel,Ke’o Valasquez, Joel Harloff, Tim Byers, Jeff Moschetti, Jon Thompson, Scott Tobey, Justin Box–had an association with Camilo. It is an event best told in pictures. Continue reading "Restaurants and Chefs Come Together for a Cause at Duo"

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Fearing’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration Features World BBQ Champion Chris Lilly

chris lilly at fox news

Lovers of BBQ, Dean Fearing, and TV personalities can hit the mother lode at Fearing’s Restaurant on August 19 for a lovely evening of all three. Barbecue extraordinaire Chris Lilly, the chef and partner at Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q, will be there to  help design the menu. This dinner is just the first in a series of four; Fearing will also be hosting Michael Chiarello (9/17), Hubert Keller (10/4), and Robert Del Grande (10/19) as part of his fifth anniversary celebration.

Roll the press release and read the last paragraph especially carefully. I wish I had! This is certainly a sellout.

Jump for the love of bbq. Continue reading "Fearing’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration Features World BBQ Champion Chris Lilly"

Trader Joe’s Opens Friday in Fort Worth. Do You Care?

Listen to Bud Kennedy. He knows all the back roads to Trader Joe's.

The landscape of grocery shopping in DFW may or not transform on Friday when Trader Joe’s, the Jimmy-Buffet-Meets-The-Beach-Boys-Before-Brian-Wilson’s-Melt-Down-esque food store born in Pasadena, California in 1967, opens its doors at 2701 S.Hulen St. in Fort Worth. (The Trader Joe’s Lowest Greenville Dallas is now scheduled to open in Spring 2013). Like their In-N-Out Burgers’ brethren, California transplants are psyched out of their Two-Buck-Chuck-wasted minds that this Hawaiian version of Aldi is finally a reality.

Will you don a Hawaiian shirt and make the 72-mile (from downtown Dallas) round-trip drive to load up on cheap wine, pistachios, and Trader Joe’s Coconut Water Fruit Floes? Not me. Especially since Mr. Fort Worth, Bud “Propagandist” Kennedy sends this notice:

Please warn everybody that half of Fort Worth is under construction. The back way to Trader Joe’s is to exit I-30 at University and wind around the Colonial golf course. If you can’t find that, use I-20 and come north.Do not try to go over the Hulen bridge south of Central Market, and do not try to take Berry through TCU.

Whatevs, Bud. I’ll await reports from the good folks of Fort Worth and the dedicated food coconuts in Dallas who make the trip. Me, I’m headed for some real fun.

UPPITY DATE: Teresa Gubbins compares Trader Joe’s with other local grocery stores.

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