Now it’s time for your favorite part of the week: Friday Fun Fact Time. Allow me to leave you with three random chicken tidbits in order to whet your appetite for Sunday. These will be sure to impress your date (not really).

Random fact #1: A tiny egg without yolk is sometimes called a dwarf, wind, or fart egg.

Random fact #2: Some ducks, like the domestic Muscovy Duck, are compatible with chickens. They patrol for slugs and are efficient foragers.

Random fact #3: According to the Egg Nutrition Center, a fresh egg has 72 calories with 6.3 grams of protein. It has a total fat of 4.8 grams and 186 milligrams of cholesterol.

Francesca, Violet, and Sunshine (photo provided by Mark Wootton)

Chef/manager Mark Wootton of the Garden Cafe has some new female friends, but they’re not human. They’re hens, and their names are Francesca, Violet, and Sunshine. The think-sustainably family over on Junius Street partnered up with its neighbors (The Lab and Little Bean) to install a chicken coop in the back garden.

Cluck after you jump.

Looks like there won’t be any baby chickadees right now, but Wootton says there may be some mating in the future. His exact words: “Must spread the Whooutin bloodline.”

When I asked Mr. Wootton if he’s still raising the price of his eggs by $1, he responded: ”We are raising our price by $1. Not directly because of these chickens, though. We are doing that so we can buy all organic pasture raised eggs from local and/or regional producers. I’m in the process of tracking down local producers that can meet our demand, and I am very close. These chickens are more about promoting urban farming and sustainable living.”

In exchange for spelling his surname correctly for most of this post, Mr. Whootten says he’ll name future baby chicks after me and Uncle Nancy. Maybe one of them will even be called “SideDish”… Oh, wait. That seems kind of wrong. In the meantime, you’re invited to visit Francesca, Violet, and Sunshine on Earth Day, April 22, between noon and 4 pm. There’ll be activities and fun things at all three businesses in the Munger Square Center.

Here’s the actual release:

WOOTTON’S GARDEN FAMILY CONTINUES TO GROW

Junius Heights Business’ Latest Shared Venture

The Lab at Lakewood, Little Bean, and the Garden Cafe present the newest additions to the adorable and hip Junius Heights hot spot known as Munger Square Center – resident chickens: Sunshine, Francesca, and Violet.

On Monday April 16th a chicken coop designed and built by Lakewood resident Stew Cockrell of Iron and Paint was erected in the back garden and is intended as a example of sustainability for all the families who patronize the Munger Square Center businesses.

Melissa Wright of The Lab at Lakewood says, “I feel like we continue to execute Dale Wootton’s vision of being a family destination. As our three businesses share such similar values, this collaboration on sustainability is a no-brainer. It conveys our common vision to our customers, neighbors, and friends. It also works well into my own hands-on science programming.”

Bianca Colgin of the Little Bean shop adds, “I have always wanted to take an active role in the food sustainability movement by owning chickens, but I didn’t want to see eggs be wasted. So this is the perfect scenario, as the Garden Cafe will be able to utilize the eggs for their delicious brunches.”

Business owners Wright, Colgin and Wootton encourage the public to stop by on this Earth Day: Sunday, April 22 between Noon and 4:00pm to “visit” with the chickens and take part in various themed activities at all three businesses.

###

For more information, please call Melissa Wright at 214-537-5910 or email Melissa@thelabdallas.com. You may also visit www.littlebeanshop.com, www.gardencafe.net, www.thelabdallas.com or www.ironandpaint.com for more information.

Slow-cooked pork covered with caramelized onions and peppers.

Nick Badovinus and chef Dan Riley have been hunkered down for over a year developing the menu and creating all kinds of delicious roasted meats for Off-Site Kitchen. Today he is finally opening the doors!

Now, hold your horses. The dining room is tiny. Off-Site Kitchen is basically a take-out restaurant with a few stools inside and some picnic tables outside. Here are some pictures of what you can expect. The food, inspired by “what line cooks eat,” is basically simple sandwiches and breakfast burritos made from quality roasted meats. Roll the Badovinus quote of the year:

“It’s light industrial food,” he said. “It’s the kind of food you want to eat before you go solder something.”

Off-Site Kitchen will be open for lunch only from 10:30AM until 3PM for the next two weeks. Then the breakfast menu will kick in and they will begin serving at 7AM and will remain open until 7PM. “After we hit our stride, we’ll start rolling out the meat-by-the-pound program,” Badovinus said. “I’m so excited. This place is a real man cave.”

The original date for OSK’s opening was February 14, 2011. After Badovinus missed his mark, he decided to workshop the place and open on Valentine’s Day this year. “You see how many financial sacrifices I made to pay for my original vision,” Badovinus said. “I mean I’ve got a wheelbarrow of pork rinds down here. Who doesn’t love that?”

Badovinus was only half-joking about the Valentine’s Day opening. He and chef Dan Riley have used the Off-Site Kitchen space to tweak the menus of Badovinus’ other restaurants (Neighborhood Services, Neighborhood Services Tavern, and Neighborhood Services Bar & Grill). They also use the huge kitchen as a commissary for the other restaurants. The receive, portion, and distribute all of the meat and seafood at Off-Site Kitchen.

SOLDER, EAT, REPORT. No call-in orders. Plan to show up and wait.

[Also, Neighborhood Services Bar & Grill in Preston Royal will open for lunch in two weeks.]

The menu and photos are below.

Wheelbarrow of pork rinds.

Cherry cola pie.

Green chile cheeseburger.

First customer.

Obviously either Tim Byres, Christopher Jeffers, or Chris Zielke (or all three!) would rule the roost. Today the triumvirate announced two more projects. The owners of Smoke and Bar Belmont took over the 3-acre plot of land that used to be Jack’s Backyard. (Fort Worth Avenue and Pittman St.) First up: Chicken Scratch, a family-friendly restaurant serving—wait for it—“cast-iron fried and wood-fired rotisserie chicken with wholesome handmade sides.” It’s “slow fast food.” (Wouldn’t it be fast slow food? I’ll leave that one for someone else like Jack Perkins.)

Next door to The Scratching Chicken, I mean Chicken Scratch, will be The Foundry. Sounds serious, right? Nope. The Foundry will be a bar offering simple drinks. (Drama! Do I sense a struggle between mixolgists v bartenders?) The drinks with be simple and strong. (I could say something about my ex-husband here but I’ll let it pass.) There will be beer—lots of drafts and bottles and microbrews plus “usual suspects.” Affordable! Live music! And, if they can swing it: the property will be able to “host food and merchandise trucks, drive-in movies, and other community themed events.”

The Foundry is scheduled in early January 2012 and Chicken Scratch “soon after.” (I still think they should have named it Petticoat Junction. Wouldn’t you eat chicken at the Shady Rest? Such a duh.)

Trending: “Scratch” in a restaurant name, fried chicken, and regular bartenders without pork pie hands and mutton chops.” Somebody get me a Realtor.

Roasted meats are the heart of the menu and that includes Spam, smoked jalapeno sausage, hot links, black pepper kielbasa, and chicken.

I was tooling down Irving Blvd. yesterday after a run to the camera store and I spotted a couple of cars and a motorcycle in front of the soon-to-open Off-Site Kitchen. I opened the door to find owner/chef Nick Badovinus and chef Dan Riley trying out a few items for the menu. Besides getting a free cheeseburger (look out for this one, Dallas. It’s a bobbydazzler and it is only $3.50), I got a brief tour of the space which they hope to get open by the end of the month. The food, inspired by “what line cooks eat,” is basically simple sandwiches and breakfast burritos made from quality roasted meats. “Low and slow” in Badovinus-speak. “It’s light industrial food,” he said. “It’s the kind of food you want to eat before you go solder something.”

The tiny restaurant at the corner of Wycliff and Irving Blvd. will basically do breakfast and lunch, but they will be open until 6:30PM and offer take out, including meats by the pound. “All of our meats except rib-eye will be around $3 a pound,” Badovinus said. I also tried a sliced peppered kielbasa sandwich topped with a sliced lettuce salad tossed in a Carolina pulled pork vinaigrette. (Sorry, I finished it before I remembered to photograph it.) Off-Site Kitchen will be a sandwich-lovers dream. They make it easy to grab and go or stay and eat on the covered patio.

Jump for photos.

The counter, menu, grill, and rotisserie.

This burger will rock your world. It's only $3.50.

Nick putting the finishing touches on the menu board.

There will be a few seats indoors and picnic tables outside.

]]> http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/09/16/sneak-peek-nick-badovinus-new-off-site-kitchen-in-dallas/feed/ 31 http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/08/29/fasten-your-seatbelts-casey-thompson-has-teamed-up-with-sams-club/ http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/08/29/fasten-your-seatbelts-casey-thompson-has-teamed-up-with-sams-club/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:07:31 +0000 Sarah Reiss http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/?p=29782 In the most out-of-left-field news of the morning, it seems that Top Chef contender, former Shinsei execu-chef, and current execu-chef at Brownstone,  Casey Thomspon (Brownstone), has actually joined forces with Sam’s Club to (as the press release says) “provide restaurant-quality, simply delicious mealtime solutions.”

I could rewrite the release for you here, but it reads best in its original format:

jump to read the release…

Sam’s Club and eight all-star executive chefs from across the U.S. have partnered to provide restaurant-quality, simply delicious mealtime solutions. Busy families and all on-the-go Americans will appreciate easy, creative chef-inspired solutions for breakfast, lunch snack and dinner at home as new recipes are unveiled every month from August through January, fashioned by the Sam’s Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade partnership.
Starting in mid-August, visit SamsClub.com/Meals and the Sam’s Club Facebook Page to indulge in creative mealtime solutions from a member of the Sam’s Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade. Gain access to recipes and ingredient shopping tips to add flavorful flare to weekday meals. The Chef Brigade will also provide simple tricks-of-the trade and cooking techniques to easily enhance the home cooking experience.
The star-studded roster of the Sam’s Club Simply Delicious Chef Brigade, who will showcase a variety of cuisines and cooking specialties, includes:
· Molly Hawks(Sacramento, CA)– As Executive Chef of Hawks, Molly Hawks is known for whipping up clean, classic American fare with a focus on fresh, local ingredients.

· Todd Clore (Las Vegas, NV)– Famous for his brunch and lauded for his seafood, executive chef Todd Clore excites the palates of diners at Todd’s Unique Dining.

· Dale Levitski (Chicago, IL)– Executive Chef Dale Levitski brings his Top Chef All Star skills and flavor-infused family favorites to the kitchen of his restaurant, Sprout.

· Jan Kelly (Milwaukee, WI)– Known for integrating fresh seasonal ingredients into her contemporary American cuisine, Executive Chef Jan Kelly inspires diners daily at her restaurant, Meritage.

· Casey Thompson (Dallas, TX)–TV star and Brownstone Executive Chef Casey Thompson incorporates fresh foods and simple twists to create flavorful dishes.

It just sort of drones on from there, but you get the picture.

I leave it to you to comment. Would you buy Casey Thomnpson dishes from Sam’s?

Any of our fans own laying hens? What’s your experience with them? Should we try it out?

The idea of backyard chickens always makes me think of Martha Stewart and her fancy birds. Regardless, urban livestock is cool, and I’m sure Garden Cafe would love to hear from you poultry-philes in the comments section.

Anybody?

Anybody?