Articles about Chef groupies

Jack Perkins is Smoking: The Slow Bone Opens in Dallas Today

posted by Nancy Nichols | April 16th, 2013 9:57am | filed under BBQ, Bring it!, Chef groupies, I miss Il Mulino, Nutjobs, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News, SideDish Readers Are Smart People | 7 Comments »
Jack's favorite picture. Swiped from Facebook.

Jack’s favorite picture. Swiped from Facebook.

Last night, Jack “Call Me Harvey” Perkins hosted a friends-and-family-and-friends-of-family’s-friends soft opening preview of his new barbecue joint The Slow Bone. TSB is across the street from Off-Site Kitchen on the corner of Wycliff & Irving Boulevard. The former English teacher and football coach at Kimball High School turned burger czar at Maple & Motor is taking a big chance here. There’s never been any doubt the dude’s got kerbangers, just try cutting in line or parking in the wrong spot at M&M. He will cut you (I never get tired of that skit). Perkins makes Harvey Gough look like Eddie Haskell.

The teacher turned chef will be walking the floor of The Slow Bone making sure you’ve got your trays are filled with hickory-smoked brisket, sausage, and pork belly. I didn’t see it on his Facebook page, but I hear he’s offering a free beer to customers who say: “Hey, Jack. SideDish sent me.” Give it a try. Let me know what you think.

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People We Love: Chef Jon Stevens of Nosh Euro Bistro

posted by Jacie Scott | March 21st, 2013 10:00am | filed under ''Sections, Chef groupies, Chefs, Food, interviews, People we love | 3 Comments »
Nosh's chef Jon Stevens (photo by Kevin Hunter Marple)

Nosh’s chef Jon Stevens (photo by Kevin Hunter Marple)

Chef Jon Stevens, who has dabbled in the kitchen of The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton and now the popular Dallas bistro, NOSH, has a resume that would make any person drool. Tack on a “Hottest Chef in Dallas” nomination from Eater Dallas to that resume, and now you might need a napkin for the drool rolling dangerously down your chin.

As native of San Francisco, Stevens understands the farm-to-table movement and brings this concept to the European-inspired dishes at NOSH. I met with him at the restaurant to discuss his hottest chef nod, fires in the kitchen, and other goodies over a serving of tempura-fried Brussels sprout leaves and rich banana bread pudding.

Jacie Scott:  So, let’s get to the good stuff. You were selected as one of the hottest chefs in Dallas!

Jon Stevens: Well, there were a lot of people selected for that.

Scott: How many? How did it come about?

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Matt McCallister and Omar Flores Nominated for Food & Wine Magazine’s The People’s Best New Chef Award

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 12th, 2013 9:56am | filed under Chef groupies, Chefs, Food, Hot Links! |

printelect-i-voted-today11I’m a little late to this celebration but I’m here now to repeat the headline: Matt McCallister (FT33) and Omar Flores (Driftwood) are two of the 100 chefs nominated for  Food & Wine magazine’s The People’s Best New Chef (Southwest) Award. The promotion, I mean announcement, of the talented chefs was released yesterday and reported on DallasEater and Eatsblog (what happened to their comments option?).  The success of these two Dallas chefs depends on your dedication to voting for them from this moment until March 18. Last year you failed nominees Tre Wilcox (then  Marquee Grill & Bar)  and Tim Byres (Smoke, Chicken Scratch). Here is the link  click it and vote.

Sneak Peek: Tried and True by Nick Badovinus

posted by Nancy Nichols | September 14th, 2012 11:00am | filed under Bars, beer, Booze News, Bring it!, Burgers, Chef groupies, Cult Cuisine, Drinking, make mine a double, Openings/Closings, Restaurant News, Sexy food, Snacks, The Parking Sucks, Whiskey is the new vodka., Wine & Spirits, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 4 Comments »

Nick Badovinus (left); Fried-to-order crackling pork rinds with Carolina-style barbecue (right) photos by Melisa Oporto

Last night I dropped by Tried and True, the newest bar/restaurant creation by Nick Badovinus. I don’t know how this man does it, but he has pulled together another unique and spirited concept. Badovinus has a loyal team of chefs who helped him construct yet another ingenious food menu. It’s short, but oh so cool: whiskey pate, flat top pork chop and country ham sandwich topped with smoked cheddar and house made apple butter ($13); peppered beef nachos ($11); and platters of country hams from Broadbent (Kuttawa, KY), Meacham (Sturgis, KY), and Benton (Madisonville, TN). The full menu is here!

Cocktails feature 86 Company Spirits, founded by Jason Kosmas. The beer selection is divided into Texas, American, and International. The whiskey program at TNT is vast and includes bourbon from some of Kentucky’s legendary distilleries such as Woodford Reserve’s small batch, Makers Mark ‘46’, and Four Roses’ small batch listed alongside a Old Rip Van Winkle (aged for ten years) and the 100-proof Rock Hill Farms single barrel straight bourbon.

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Rise No. 1 Celebrates Julia Child’s 100th Birthday

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 15th, 2012 3:37pm | filed under Chef groupies, Chick Chefs Rule!, Holidays | 3 Comments »

Dena Knoll, Cathy Martin, Vanessa Smith, and Whitney Rae. Irving ISD culinary arts teachers celebrating Julia Child's 100th birthday at Rise No. 1.

Intrepid intern Lesley Mann Lynch just returned from Rose No. 1 where owner Hedda Dowd threw a birthday party to celebrate Julia Child’s 100th birthday. Guests were encouraged to dress as Julia. Lesley had strict instructions to photograph Dowd however she was busy working the room the task proved impossible. “She busy running around greeting all of the other Julias,” Lynch said. “However, she was wearing some fabulous striped tights.” With that, “Bon appétit.”

If mimicry is the highest form of flattery, then Julia Child was blushing in the afterlife during lunch today. Rise n° 1 celebrated the culinary icon’s posthumous 100th birthday by offering all lunch guests dressed as Julia Child a free three-course meal from a select Julia Child birthday menu. Rolling pins and meat cleavers were being waved around as guests compared outfits, props, and Julia imitations.

Guests’ responses to the question, “What does Julia Child mean to you?” Jump for them. Continue reading "Rise No. 1 Celebrates Julia Child’s 100th Birthday"

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RaceTrac Announces Chef-Driven Gas Station in Little Elm

posted by Nancy Nichols | June 6th, 2012 12:01pm | filed under Breaking News, Chef groupies, Chef-driven gas stations, Christopher Baccus, Crazy Technology, Cult Cuisine, donuts, Frozen Yogurt, Groceries, I Went to College for This?, make mine a double, My Happy Pills Are Working | 2 Comments »

Get Your Motor Running: Race Trac Chef Bob Derian chops a mysterious ingredient.

See the picture of the nice man? His name is Bob Derian and he is a chef. His official title is Director of Food & Beverage Innovation at RaceTrac Petroleum. His job is to create a delightful food experience in a gas station convenience store. We love good food in gas stations, especially tacos. But a chef-driven gas station is unique.

Brace yourself, Bertha. On June 21, Little Elm will debut the first RaceTrac’s RT6K store in our area. The 6,000-square foot gasoline convenience store will feature a 24-hour Swirl World Yogurt frozen yogurt shop with more than 40 toppings to choose from, a walk-in beer cooler, free Wi-Fi, tasty breakfast items, premium coffee, and outdoor seating. I can’t wait until John Tesar gets his hands on this concept. A free sous-vide burger with every fill-up. Oh, the possibilities are endless. (2100 FM 423. Little Elm, TX 75068)

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Eat This Now: Tamale Tart at Stephan Pyles in Dallas

posted by Daniel Walker | February 10th, 2012 10:00am | filed under appetizers, Celebrity Chefs, Chef groupies, Eat This Now!, seafood, Spicy foods, Valentines Day | 2 Comments »

Imagine for one second that you happened to forget that it was Valentine’s Day next week.  Maybe you were busy at work, maybe you were simply swamped with World of Warcraft, who cares.  You forgot and now your wife  is giving you the what for. I know how you feel, I’ve been there before.  There’s a reason the arms of my micro-fiber couch have sleepy-drool stains on them.

Fear not compadres, there is a foolproof way to get yourself out of the dog house and back on that lovely pedestal.

Step 1: Flowers (they are all suckers for dead plants).

Step 2: Learn the value of a good-ole, tear jerkin’ apology.

Step 3: Surprise her with a night out at Stephan Pyles.

You wife will be putty in your hands.

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Men Will Be Boys: Finalists Announced for “Name a Pizza for Mike Napoli” Contest at Cane Rosso

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 6th, 2012 11:20am | filed under Celebrity Diners, Chef groupies, Cooking, Cult Cuisine, Delusional behavior, Diets are stupid, freebies, Game 6 Almost Killed Me, Go Rangers!, I Went to College for This?, I'm about to get fired, Keep Dallas Douchey!, Overprivileged chimps, party, pizza, Poor World Series Performance Cost CJ Wilson $25 Million!, Pre World Series Depression, questionable behavior, Restaurant News | 2 Comments »

It was bound to happen: pizza lover and baseball writer, Evan Grant, finally met pizza maker and baseball lover, Jay Jerrier. The twosome came up with a publicity stunt. (SHOCKER) They invented “Name a Pizza for Mike Napoli” contest. (If you don’t know who Napoli is, you can go back to work.) If you love the catcher-first-baseman-DH lovingly referred to as “Dirtbag,” you will love this: Today, Grant and Jerrier announced four finalists plus Grant’s unofficial “look-how-funny-I-am”entry, “The (he wishes) Grand Salami.” Hear him brag:

After much consideration, pizza-maker extraordinaire Jay Jerrier and pizza-eater extraordinaire Evan Grant (that’s me), have come up with four finalists for our Name a Napoli Pizza contest.Tuesday (Feb. 7 or tomorrow to most of you), we will roll out some samples of these fine entries for you to taste and, as always, the full Cane Rosso menu will be available. One of these fine recipes will end up as a special pie on the Cane Rosso menu for the next month and one of these neophyte pizza creators will walk away with a nice little prize package. Maybe we can come up with some other surprises, too. So, if you are free come on down. We’d love your input here and at the restaurant. Here are the finalists. Be there at 7PM.

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This Way and DAT: The Mason Bar “Pre-Tasting Dinner” in Deep Ellum

posted by Nancy Nichols | January 5th, 2012 12:13pm | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Chef groupies, Chef's tasting, Easy Mark, Nutjobs, Openings/Closings, questionable behavior, Restaurant News, sales | 3 Comments »

Rat-a-tat-tat, here comes Chef DAT. The urchin of underground dining. However, it looks like Dah DAT will have a regular gig at The Mason Bar, the new restaurant in the groovy Masonic Lodge in Uptown Dallas, which is due to open soon. Developed by long-time Dallas entrepreneur Brandt (Trees, Green Room) Wood and the McFadden Group of New York City, the space is a “neighborhood bar with classic drinks and creative foods.”

Dah DAT is fixing a pre-tasting dinner on Friday, January 6. The “Deep Ellum arrival time” is 7PM. The (deep) six-course eclectic New Orleans-inspired tasting menu is $70 per person (plus-plus). This event is BYOB. But you must call Sir Wilkes for a seat: 214-680-5740. Absinthe butter is the new olive oil.

Oh, and one more thing about DAT. He’s offering you a chance to ride VIP. Here’s his crazy pitch:

We about to make our list 100% PRIVATE. Which means that YOU will be an exclusive member of our list and the only way for an outsider to join this exclusive list of amazing people will be to pay a membership fee of $25 to receive the emails and information for these events.

Whatch yáll think ‘bout DAT?

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Anthony Bourdain Kicks Some Serious Sass in Dallas

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 28th, 2011 1:21pm | filed under beer, Bring it!, Celebrity Chefs, celebrity sightings, Chef groupies, Cult Cuisine, Events, Foodie People, Game 6 Almost Killed Me, Go Rangers!, hold on to your effin hat, Hot Links!, I Went to College for This?, Keep Dallas Douchey!, mob scenes, Nutjobs, Overprivileged chimps, sassy pants, Second coming, What The Pho? | 13 Comments »

Anthony Bourdain on stage at the Majestic Theater in Dallas. (photo by Elizabeth Lavin)

Last night, Anthony Bourdain fans packed the Majestic Theater. Baseball be damned, the worshipers of All-Things-Anthony showed up to lay themselves at the cowboy-booted feet of their hero.

Tony walked onto the stage at 8:10 and greeted the audience: “I am a whore. I am in every way compromised, jaded, bought and paid for, including my nice f—ing jacket.”

For the next hour and 45 minutes, the crowd hung on his every word. He was loose, casual, at ease, good-natured, straight forward, no bull. He was exactly the guy you see on TV, except, in person, you could see just how fine he wears boot-cut jeans.

After the show, we got to hang out with Tony and watch him sign books and greet his fans. Hundreds of folks bought books and stood in line to get his autograph. He walked into the VIP room and he very calmly said, “Look, I’m here and I’m not leaving until every book is signed, every picture is taken. I’m not in a hurry, so grab some food, have a drink, relax.”

I plan to write a longer report, but my day job calls. In the meantime, I’ll post the pictures that Tony most graciously allowed our photographer, Elizabeth Lavin, to shoot. Oh, and John “Jimmy Sears” Tesar was there. I mean everywhere. If you notice him in every shot, it is because he tried to get in every shot. At one point I thought he was going to start signing copies of Bourdain’s Medium Raw. He could have. That’s how he serves his burgers.

On to the show.

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