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.

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.

May 18, 2012

Dear Dallas,

Years ago, I read in “Popular Science” that it takes seven years for a person’s cells to replenish. Maybe this is true for humans, but it has taken twenty years at Monica’s Aca y Alla for that cycle to occur.  Monica’s Aca y Alla, with some other creative and wonderful entrepreneurs, helped put Deep Ellum on the map.  But today Deep Ellum is paying the price of Dallas growth within the Downtown area, Bishop Arts District, Uptown and other business districts.  Deep Ellum is going through its own revitalization; old buildings are being redone, DART stations are now open and someday there will be a new world in Deep Ellum. I hope that new world is a good. I expect to continue to be a part of Deep Ellum through my support of whatever venture my ex-partners decide to re-open in the Aca y Alla space.

Indeed, Monica’s Aca y Alla is evolving and changing to Monica’s and the ME Lounge and we will be moving to new digs.  We look forward to becoming a new fixture for the Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn area. We are excited to begin a new partnership with the Crosland Group and the Axiom Group at the beautiful ilume ®  building.  Hector Hernandez will be leading the charge as the Chef for this new concept. Together, we have a vision that will continue to create reasons for guests to eat our unique – yet traditional – style of food, enjoy new menu recipes that will include some of the real Mexican-style of food that was destined for Tajin.

Reality has shown me that with the intense competition in the Mexican food segment, the challenge of finding new ways to attract (and to keep) customers grows. Yes, the new Monica’s together with ME lounge will be fast paced, inventive, exciting, and it will epitomize a new style of Mexican food that I prefer to not call Tex-Mex, but “Nueva Cocina.”

I work, I play, I live and I will always love Deep Ellum. Monica’s had a very successful twenty years of restaurant operation in this historic district.  I am grateful, and would like to thank all Dallasites for their kind and generous support over the years.  We hope you will join us over the next few weeks at Monica’s Aca y Alla to say your good-bye’s and share with us your favorite stories from the past 20 years.  Then, I look forward to sharing with you my vision of the future at Monica’s in the ilume ®.  Until then…

Respectfully,
Monica Greene

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.

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.

I got the scoop on Central 214’s farm-to-table approach last week from when I dined  with two California winemakers and a wine industry marketing executive from San Francisco. We had the triple cooked fries (best in Dallas) and slow-cooked goat brisket (people almost forgot their manners scrambling for morsels) but we also tried the exquisite poached farm egg. I was pleased to see their obvious pleasure in the food they were served and their surprise that such a central Californian idea being executed so successfully in Dallas.

Poached farm Egg at Central 214

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.

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?

Hunky Town, Twin Pricks, Tooter’s, Pecker’s Hot Italian Sausage, Tube Steak Junction, Cake Balls to the Walls, Nuts and Butts, Quickies, Long Dong Silver, Tally Whacker’s, Love Mussels, Wee Willie’s, Twig and Berries.

Ladies, the floor is open.

Matt DeMoss of The Grape is our pick for Server of the Week. Photo by Margie Hubbard.

The first week KRLD Restaurant is over and I have to say I’m a little disappointed in you guys. I loved reading all of your reviews of your meals but most of you neglected to mention your server by name. Much less take a picture of them and submit said server for our unofficial “Server of the Week” contest. However, Disher Margie Hubbard didn’t fail. She sends this photo of Matt along with a comment:  “Our server, Matt DeMoss, at The Grape was excellent!  Well spoken, poised. There when you need him and not overly attentive.  Just right!  Our meal was fabulous and so was he. Cute, too!”

See, that wasn’t so hard. Shout outs go to Abacus servers Steve and Steve (submitted by B), Candace at Hibiscus (submitted by Linda 12), and Ken at Abacus (submitted by Amateur).

There are still openings for restaurants participating in the extended version of KRLD Restaurant Week. Check them out here. Don’t be shy. Take your camera. These servers are working their butts off.

We have been struck by lightning twice in the last couple of years. What are the odds? So, we have been instructed to buy lottery tickets… and we will!

Mark was the cook before and after the lightning. OH NO. That song.

I interviewed a design group that does restaurants and found out that Matt is their consulting chef and opening soon in Oak Cliff.  This isn’t his main restaurant that will open most likely first quarter 2012, but one he will consult on and have a presence indefinitely.

Matt is Matt McCallister. You know Matt. The execuchef at Stephan Pyles left his high profile gig to “Play” in kitchens around the world. Currently he is popping up in restaurants around town, like Café Momentum. He’s got  a chef’s fantasy job. If you’re not his Facebook friend, you are one uninformed Dallas diner.

Arugula and prosciutto pie from Dough Pizzeria Napoletana in Dallas. (N.N.)

The boys at the office wanted to try Dough’s (I am now officially shortening the name) pizza so, ever eager to please Zac and Tim, I headed over. I arrived a little before noon. No lines. The restaurant was about 80 percent occuPIED. There were five people at the host stand, one of which I believe was co-founder Lori Horn. (The Dallas location is owned and operated by Keith Hall and Brad Liles.)

Anywhoo, I asked if they did take-out. The gal I believe to be Lori Horn (GBTBLH) winced. “We really wish you would have a seat and eat your pizza here,” said GBTBLH. “By the time you transport it anywhere you will not get the whole experience. It only takes 90 seconds to make and it just doesn’t taste the same outside of the restaurant.” I persisted. “My office workers will be very disappointed,” I said. Then GBTBLH said I should call them and have them come over. I really didn’t want to have to explain what Tim Rogers would say to that phone call so I insisted one more time.

With a heavy heart, GBTBLH made me the second person to order take-out at Dough in Dallas.

Jump.

Margherita "STG" from Dough Pizzeria Napoletana in Dallas.

I counted at least 30 people working and that doesn’t include the people in the kitchen. I sat at the bar (yes, they have a full bar). I have never seen so many happy people working in one room. They have to be taking something. As the REM’s “Shiny Happy People” played in my head, the two nice guys behind the bar chatted me up. They were very chatty. One of the hostesses came over and she was also very chatty. It has to be in the water. I ordered a glass of water.

Poof! All of a sudden a small Margarita STC pie was delivered to me. “You have to eat this while it’s hot,” one of the chatty people said. By now I was dizzy from the chattiness. I gulped the water hoping to get up to their speed. The pie was hot and covered with bubbling and buttery mozzarella Bufala and Parm/Regg on a light layer of sweet tomato sauce. “Our basil is hydroponic,” the nice chatty man at the bar said. “It’s alive right now in the kitchen.”

The lobster scene from Annie Hall crossed through my mind and I imagined the squeals coming from the basil as they hand plucked it from the mother cord and shoved it in the pizza crematorium. Just then, my two pies were boxed up and ready to go. They took packaged the fresh arugula and prosciutto in a separate container so it wouldn’t faint in my car. Flash, $40 later, I was out the door.

Back in the office, the boys were happy with the pizza. There must have been about a C-cup mound of prosciutto on that one 11-inch pie. Perhaps that fact alone justifies the $22 price tag. I don’t know if this is a good or bad result of authentic Neapolitan Pizza, but when I checked my teeth in the mirror after eating,  my gums were lined with cracker-like dough. Too much information? Sorry.

Jon Battle looking victorious outside of Dough on opening day.

Ladies and gentlemen, and I use those terms loosely, meet Jon Battle. He pestered me for months about the opening of Dough in Dallas. He’s a FANatic fan of their pizza. Well, the persistent Mr. Battle was the first official Dallas customer to enter Dough Pizzeria Napoletana when they opened this morning. He took a bunch of nice pictures which I have entered below the jump.

All photos by Jonathon Battle:

The kitchen crew.

Black truffle rollatini.

Rasberry cream Italian soda.

Large "Pork Love" pie.

Polenta cake.

]]> http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/08/16/special-report-first-customer-at-dough-spends-62-for-lunch-sends-pictures-and-report/feed/ 21 http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/08/16/dough-pizzeria-napoletana-opens-in-ten-minutes/ http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2011/08/16/dough-pizzeria-napoletana-opens-in-ten-minutes/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:54:41 +0000 Nancy Nichols http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/?p=29058 Ohmigod, omigod, you guys. Dough Pizzeria Napoletana Opens in TEN MINUTES. Our man on the scene, appropriately named Jon Battle, is first in line.

THIS DOOR WILL OPEN IN 4 MINUTES. DALLAS WILL BE A DIFFERENT CITY!

Nancy, you all seem to write about Pizza, especially Jay Jerrier’s. Can you move your brain away from Cane Rosso and perhaps tell me about where to get a calzone?

I picked the wrong day to quit feeling chirpy, chirpy, cheep, cheep! (Warning, that song will attach to your brain forever.) And dude, you don’t need to capitalize the P in pizza. Calzone suggestions anyone? Jay?