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Fans of Cuba Libre Gets Special Treat From Nick Badovinus
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"
1 Comment »Thomas Gray Replaces Brian Zenner as Chef de Cuisine at Oak
Thomas Gray (photo by Joy Zhang)
Great news, SideDishers! The French Room’s old sous chef, Thomas Gray, is climbing the kitchen ladder. He’ll be taking over Brian Zenner’s old day job as Oak’s chef de cuisine. Does this mean Zenner’s out of a job? Heck no. Zenner’s been splitting his precious time working at Belly & Trumpet and Oak, but this news of his replacement confirms one of two things:
1) Either the Oak owners, Tiffanee and Richard Ellman, want Zenner to focus solely on their Uptown restaurant, Belly & Trumpet, OR
2) Zenner will be working at Belly & Trumpet AND helping out with the opening of PakPao (which means “kite” in Thai), the Oak owners’ new Thai restaurant opening in the Design District next month.
My guess is that Zenner is busily gearing up for PakPao’s opening. A few weeks ago, Tiffanee told me Zenner was born in Thailand and influenced by Asian cooking. It makes sense for him to be heading the PakPao kitchen, then. I’m counting down the days ’til it opens. Exciting things are happening, guys. My fingers are getting tingly just thinking about it.
Poetry Night at the Garden Cafe is Back. Reserve Your Spot for March 8.
Poetry. Food. Wine (BYOB). Good company. The Garden Cafe‘s doing the whole shebang on March 8 at 7:00 p.m. Good luck trying to get a seat. This one will sell out pretty fast. From the depths of my email inbox:
3 Comments »We have had a lot of requests for Poetry Night so we are bringing it back!
Friday, March 8th!
Bring your own wine, champagne, etc. Wine glasses will be furnished and there is no corkage fee.
7:00 pm Doors Open
7:45 pm Dinner Served
9:00 pm Poetry Readings1st course: Duck “Pico” with housemade sweet potato chip
2nd course: Wilted chard, cucumber, and red pepper relish
3rd course: Venison Backstrap – herb-blue-cheese, compound butter, and red wine reduction served with spaghetti squash and apple-raisin quinoa
4th course: Spiceman’s foraged and garden greens, Mozz Co.’s mozzarella, basil pesto, and marinated tomato
5th course: Sweet fried butternut squash, whipped mascarpone, and candied walnuts
$65.00 per person (tax + gratuity not included)
Make your reservations today by calling the Garden Cafe at 214-887-8330. Due to a limited capacity, if you do not cancel your reservation 48 hours prior to the dinner, your credit card will be charged.
Twisted Root Gives a 65 Cent Discount to the ‘Nicest, Best Looking Person with the Best Butt’
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.
Food News and Booze: Fish McBites, Howard Wang’s, and Joe the Baker
Joe the Baker (photo by Desiree Espada)
While I’ve been hiding in my Netflix cave these last couple days, the world has kept spinning. A crazy amount of things have happened. For example, did you know that McDonald’s is releasing its line of Fish McBites early this year for a limited time only? Yes, I know. Life changing.
If you’re a Howard Wang’s fan, you might care to know that this Chinese restaurant is expanding into the Southlake area. The third branch should open this coming spring, according to Teresa Gubbins.
And then there’s this cool little fact about my favorite Dallas baker/tweeter. Joe the Baker, who is currently working as a consultant for Spoon and as an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu, has competed on Food Network’s Sweet Genius. Anyone who make make snazzy gingerbread man cookies (here’s the recipe, c/o Entree Dallas) is more than a-okay in my book. The show airs on January 3 at 9 p.m. CST. Set your DVRs, SideDishers. This episode looks pretty intense from the summary.
“Electric Genius”
Chef Ron introduces the chefs to his rock-and-roll first inspiration: an electric guitar. It’s crunch time when the chefs get a fruity cereal as their mandatory ingredient. In the second test, the chefs learn that there is no place like Chef Ron’s World of Desserts as they make candy confections from a strawberry drink and a yellow pepper. For the cake test, the finalists get a fiesta favorite as an inspiration, but will they be partying when they see the mandatory ingredients?Competitors: Joseph Baker, Caroline Braslow, Taria Camerino, Joey Glaser
Four Fall Favorites: The Pumpkin Roundup
photo by Desiree Espada
The only thing that’s wrong with Dallas is the brevity of fall. It lasts all of three weeks. Maybe four, if we’re lucky. But whatever God-sent perfect weather we have now is making want to devour everything that’s remotely pumpkin-related. If you’re crazy about pumpkins, too, jump here for the list of pumpkin favorites. Feast your eyes on these food beauties.
Continue reading "Four Fall Favorites: The Pumpkin Roundup"
What Do You Remember About the Corner of Lovers and Greenville?
Before Central Market was built on the corner of Lovers and Greenville ten years ago, that spot was occupied by LouAnn’s nightclub, the “hub of the Dallas dining scene.” Performers like Lawrence Welk and Jimmy Reed use to bang up the stage with their music. Plenty of you, I’m sure, have stories to tell about this corner – stories that you may or may not remember, depending on how many Regal Beagles you had back in the day. So, to honor the 10th anniversary of Central Market, we’re asking you to tell your story in the comments down below.
Jump for the rest of the 10th anniversary celebration.
Continue reading "What Do You Remember About the Corner of Lovers and Greenville?"
Deep Fried Jambalaya Wins “Best Taste” in 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards Competition
Deep fried jambalaya (photos by Carol Shih)
This morning at 9 a.m., the eight finalists in the 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards gathered at The Dock Restaurant in Fair Park for a little fried food showdown. Within an hour of tasting all the entries, the three judges (Rep. Eric Johnson, Andrea Rega, and Donovan Lewis) announced at the Eighth Annual Big Tex Choice Awards that Abel Gonzales, creator of the deep fried jambalaya, was taking home the trophy for “Best Taste.” Butch Benavides also won “Most Creative” for his sweet bacon cinnamon roll dipped in pancake batter and topped with fried bacon crumbles.
Gonzales, whose win today is his fifth at the Big Tex Choice Awards, says winning this year still “means a lot.”
“A friend of mine gave me the idea. His name is Matthew and he was just determined that I should bring this out here,” says Gonzales, who came up with a deep fried pineapple upside down cake last year. “I’m very excited to make my first real food and not a dessert.”
Jump for photos of the eight fried food finalists. Continue reading "Deep Fried Jambalaya Wins “Best Taste” in 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards Competition"
5 Comments »The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opens Along North Tollway in September 2012
First, there was In-n-Out Burger, then came See’s Candies and Trader Joe’s. Now another one of California’s imports, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, is planting itself in DFW and will attempt to convert many of you Starbucks people into the original ice blended coffee drinkers. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is opening at 15250 North Tollway, right next to In-n-Out. It’s going to become the California corner of Dallas in September, just you watch.
Jump for the press release.
Continue reading "The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opens Along North Tollway in September 2012"
Chad Houser Leaves Parigi to Become Executive Director of Cafe Momentum
Janice Provost and Chad Houser (photo by Elizabeth Lavin)
Word comes straight from Chad Houser’s mouth that he’ll be saying sayonara to Parigi, his home-away-from-home for the last five years, in order to be the executive director and chef of Cafe Momentum at the end of August. He’ll be making this announcement to the public at the pop-up dinner tonight with guest chef Graham Dodds. We feel bad for Janice Provost losing her partner-buddy, but this means that Cafe Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant concept aimed to transform the lives of at-risk youth, is moving in the right direction, and we can’t wait to see where it’s headed. Even though the movement is still a baby and celebrated its one year anniversary just a month ago, Houser, Cafe Momentum’s co-founder, has plans to find a permanent location and to expand the program even further in order to include more boys from the Dallas County Youth Village since what Cafe Momentum’s doing is already working so well.
In a blog post announcing his Parigi departure, Houser says:
“Cafe Momentum reminds me why I fell in love with cooking in the first place. It’s familial. It nurtures souls and bodies. Regardless of their background, when these young men come into Cafe Momentum, they speak the same language: food. I’m very grateful to Janice for being such a supportive partner and friend, and to the Cafe Momentum board for believing in me.”
Provost says she isn’t looking for a new Parigi partner, but she’s looking for help in the kitchen. And even though this is the end of the Parigi dream team, she’ll continue working with Houser on their vision for Cafe Momentum, so this ain’t a real goodbye, it’s just where love goes…
Two Restaurants to Open at Klyde Warren Park. Lark is One
Imagine Me and You, I do: Just in time for cool October nights, The Park in Dallas.
The developers of Klyde Warren Park (The Park) have been busy building the 5-acre green space that covers Woodall Rogers Freeway. The area will connect the Arts District and downtown with Uptown. The $110 million dollar attraction will feature fountains, a botanical garden, a performance stage, a children’s garden, real trees and grasses, and a dog park. I’ve had my nose to the ground since they started trying to dig up the scoop on the restaurants that will be granted rights to serve at, on, or around The Park.
I’ve heard rumors (many) the main restaurant will be operated by Wolfgang Puck’s catering operation which already has a stranglehold on most of the Art’s District concessions. This morning I got confirmation on a new chef-driven restaurant that will open at 2000 McKinney. It’s called Lark (on the Park). The owner, as it should be, is long-(long)-time-Dallasite-veteran-restaurateur-and-reformed-party boy, Shannon Wynne. He of the Moth, Flying Fish, Flying Saucer and other flying related concepts.
“Plans today suggest Chef Nick Amoriello will be going over there from the Moth,” Wynne says. “We will be interviewing additional chefs for Lark where we plan to present non-cute food.” What does he mean by non-cute food? “No mac and cheese or mamas fried chicken. Just good meals at a fair price.” When I asked him to expand his thoughts a little he said: “The beer program at the Moth will not be traveling to Lark as there is room for only one deluxe gastro pub in Dallas, but Lark promises more wines and mixed drinks. We are slated to open in December or early January.” Fearing he’d hang up on me, I pressed on. What about the interior? (Wynne designs his own spaces) Just before the line went dead he said, “The interior is a secret. Dallas illustrators will be heavily featured.”
That’s all I got. But I have to say it’s always good news when a unique Dallas project adds other unique Dallas project to the mix. Or The Park in this case.
UPPITY DATE: My initial post flushed an elusive ivory-billed woodpecker from the bushes. It calls: “Wolfgang Puck was a smoke screen. John Muse of Hicks and Muse fame will be opening a restaurant there.”
11 Comments »Green Grocer to Open on Greenville Avenue in September 2012
The Green Grocer in Chicago
East Dallas is going to get pretty crowded with grocery shoppers now that Green Grocer has announced its partnership with Artizone.com, an online shopping community that features a wide selection of local artisanal shops and food businesses. Cassie Green and Gary Stephens founded the first Green Grocer in the West Town neighborhood of Chicago (2008), and now they’re opening a second location in Dallas by September 2012 on 3614 Greenville Ave. with 4,000 square feet of retail space. Green Grocer will be a “one stop shop to pick up every day grocery items, lunch to go, ingredients for a fresh and delicious dinner or a gift basket for a friend” and will feature “organically grown, locally produced food and specialty items.”
But Sunflower Market (soon to be Sprouts now that the two chains have emerged) already dominates the corner of Lewis and North Henderson, while Trader Joe’s is set to open on 2001 Greenville Ave. – just 1.2 miles away from Green Grocer – by the first quarter of 2013. Oh, and remember me telling you how Wal-Mart is opening its own Neighborhood Market store in the old Whole Foods space on 2218 Greenville? That’s happening this September as well. By next year, at the very latest, one-two-three-FOUR grocery stores will be fighting the good grocery fight within a two-mile radius.
What’s that idiom again? Two is company, three’s a crowd… so what’s four? Four might be produce-shopping overkill. With the advent of Green Grocer, at least this means that those of you who’ve been pining for a neighborhood market that supports small, local vendors as opposed to large retail chains are finally getting exactly what you want, even if we’ll all be playing bumper cars with our grocery carts along Greenville and Henderson. Hip hip hooray!
6 Comments »Trader Joe’s Second Dallas Location to Open at North Central Expressway and Walnut Hill
from Provident Realty Advisors
The DMN reports that Trader Joe’s is planning to open a second location in Dallas on the corner of North Central Expressway and Walnut Hill Lane. It’s set to open next year in a 14,000-square-foot store once construction begins late this year or early 2013. This means that in a year (if all goes well), I will be able to buy my precious Trader Joe’s Cat Cookies (the ginger flavor is the snappiest) at not one, but two locations in Dallas. Those cookies are extremely addicting, and a tub always disappears quickly when it’s around me because I snarf them down without even realizing.
Liz Johnstone is just as gleefully excited, since she has a thing for Gummy Tummies – these little penguin characters with fruit juice that bursts from their belly pouches. Talking about Trader Joe’s snacks makes me want to pick up a construction tool and start working on that building myself so it’ll be ready sooner.
Who else has a particular Trader Joe’s food they dearly love? Share your wealth of knowledge below. Let’s plan our grocery list before the Plano store opens later this summer.
21 Comments »Monica Greene is Making Some Changes: She’s Leaving Monica’s Aca Y Alla to Open Monica’s Nueva Cocina and ME Lounge
Monica Greene has never been afraid of change. Moments ago she told me she is leaving the business of Monica’s Aca Y Alla in Deep Ellum to her partners who will close the restaurant at 2914 Main Street, remodel the space, and reopen as a yet-to-be-named Mexican restaurant. Monica is moving all of her energy over to the iLume Building on Cedar Springs where she has been in the planning stages of opening Tajin. When the Sushi Axiom closed, Monica decided to take the space and open up the walls of Tajin into the space and create a new concept. The 7,600-square food space will now be Monica’s Nueva Cocina and ME Lounge. It was a difficult decision for Greene to leave Deep Ellum where she has been a major player for over 20 years. More on the food later. Monica has written a letter to YOU. It’s below.
UPDATE: Monica is on her way to Houston. I got lucky when she answered her cell phone. “This [move] has been a real struggle for me,””Greene said. I’ve always been committed to urban development. I believe in Dallas but unfortunately the area [Deep Ellum] has taken a long time to develop. It’s time for me to expand and open my doors to a larger audience.”
I say, you go girl. It’s a great move. She has been in, what I would call, an abusive relationship with Deep Ellum for a long time. It’s time she made a fresh start. That girl has some balls. Oh, wait. Nevermind.
22 Comments »A Peep at the Coops: The East Dallas Urban Coop Tour
There is so much going on this weekend (i.e. Taste Addison, Crawfish Boil at Dodie’s, etc.) that it’s got to be hard deciding what to do and where to go. Let me see if I can help. Clear your schedule, drop what you’re doing on May 20, and go visit some chickens on the Peep at the Coops tour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. One of the most attractive aspects about living in Dallas is that we are surrounded by a creative niche of people who love chickens and build some of the wackiest, out-of-the-box coops for them. You’ll get to take a peek at 13 different coops, learn about backyard chickens in four different seminars, and possibly win the raffle for a mobile chicken coop. Most importantly, the money you’re paying for the tour is going directly to Stonewall Gardens at Stonewall Jackson Elementary, an outdoor lab where students learn about science and nature by actually connecting with the it. To sign up, email stonewall.gardens@yahoo.com.
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.
1 Comment »Garden Cafe Gets Some Chickens
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. Continue reading "Garden Cafe Gets Some Chickens"
Central 214: Chef Graham Dodds is Nuts for Eggs
Photographer Kevin Marple+Graham Dodds' Scotch egg=Central 214 deliciousness.
Graham Dodds, execuchef at Central 214, is doing some crazy stuff with eggs. He serves a Poached Farm Egg: an egg atop a Lyonnais salad of chopped greens, lardons and crumbled Caprino Royale goat cheese ($10 at lunch and pictured below the jump). Cut the floppy egg with your knife and the viscous yolk flows out like molten lava and runs with an iridescence that makes you wonder if you should be wearing protective dark glasses. {Ed. note: I’m leaving it in!]
The unavoidable feeling of richness carries through to the taste as well. It reminds me of what a farm egg is supposed to taste like. They do because Dodds buys them from Steven at Urban Acres. You can too. They come from Yellow Prairie Farm in Caldwell Texas, where the farmer’s name is Dan. He is just one of the small producers that Dodds has fastidiously sought out during his years working as a chef.
Jump for the glory of Graham Dodds’ eggs. Continue reading "Central 214: Chef Graham Dodds is Nuts for Eggs"
6 Comments »Jack in the Box Offers Bacon Milkshakes
The world is going pig-crazy.
On Friday, I heard that Jack in the Box was offering a very limited number of bacon milkshakes as a secret menu item. Did anyone get a chance to try one? I almost dropped everything to go search for one, but then I remembered my sanity. Now I’m lying deep in the trenches of regret.
8 Comments »Update on Trader Joe’s in Dallas
Grass does not grow beneath Teresa Gubbins' shoes.
Leave it to Teresa “Gumshoe” Gubbins to find a snitch in Trader Joe’s camp. Since the grocery chain announced they were planning locations in Dallas last May, they have been quite secretive about their locations. According to TG, you can rule out the former location on Greenville Ave. Her Deep Throat coughs up three possible locations: Walnut Hill and Central, Knox Ave., and Fort Worth. All of the details are here.
There was a time when Trader Joe’s was cool and funky and carried stuff you couldn’t find elsewhere, but I think the company is now running on a tired image. In the 70s, Two Buck Chuck played a significant role in nursing wine drinkers off the Spanada bottle but the last TBC I sampled burned the enamel off my teeth. So, Trader Joe’s? Yes or no? Why?
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What Would Happen if Women Opened Restaurants With Male Body Parts as Themes
‘Scuse me while I saddle up my high horse. Am I the only woman who is concerned about the sudden surge in Breastaurants. I mean really 35 additional Twin Peaks? A bar opening in downtown called The Spread Eagle? Seriously boys? How would you like to take your daughter into one of the restaurant’s the gals in our office just conceptualized. We call them Peteries.
Ladies, the floor is open.
53 Comments »