photo from Saveur

When I asked my mother if she’d like me to make a brunch reservation for Mother’s Day, she waved me off and told me not to bother. (She’s a simple woman, really.) This puts me in a bit of a sticky situation. My mom is hard to shop for, so this comprehensive list that ShopTalk editor Raya Ramsey created does me no good, either. I guess this means I’m making brunch instead. Here are some recipes that I’ve been mulling over.

Sugar buns from Seven Spoons

If your mom is into sweets…

This cinnamon french toast by smittenkitchen looks nice and easy. You can roll out of bed late and have this on the table by 11 AM. Yes, yes, and yes.

Plus, these little sugar buns from Seven Spoons make me want to curl up in Sugar Heaven, wherever that may be.

Buckwheat and spelt crepes from Cookie + kate

If your mom likes it savory…

Look at these buckwheat and spelt crepes from Cookie + Kate. I can’t take my eyes off them. Can you?

And palate/palette/plate has this wonderful spinach frittata with caramelized onions. Oh goodness… I don’t know how to choose anymore. This mushroom quiche recipe from smittenkitchen is definitely not helping.

Iced chai tea latte from Big Girls, Small Kitchen

For the drinks…

When you combine the words “chai” and “latte,” I’m sold. I don’t know why those two words make my knees go weak, but they do. Here’s a recipe for iced chai tea latte from Big Girls, Small Kitchen.

Or maybe your mom needs a little pick-me-up for Mother’s Day, so perhaps Saveur’s back porch tea with white peach, 1.5 oz gin, and seltzer will do the trick.

Sylvan | Thirty is busy fielding applications from interested tenants and is currently working with a select group which includes a baker, confectioner, a fishmonger, and a yoga studio. There are also three restaurant concepts in the works as well. Sylvan| Thirty hopes to be 75 percent leased before they start construction. So far they have announced Cox Farms Market, The Pearl Cup, Matador Meat & Wine and the culinary incubator  with Culinary Curator Sharon Hage.

This morning comes an update: “We’re now on track to break ground early summer, which means you’ll be seeing construction activity by late July.” Sylvan| Thirty plans to open in Spring 2013.

Pregnant With Paperwork: John Tesar has a lease.

John Tesar will not be stopped. The former (fill-in-the-blank) chef has inked a deal to take over the former La Tramontana space on Westchester in Preston Center. In January, Tesar announced he would be opening Spoon Bar & Kitchen in another space. However, the landlord killed the deal and Tesar moved his operation down the street.  Tesar has a signed lease, architect, and contractor and is scheduled to begin later this week.

Spoon will seat 68 and feature a 15-seat bar with a built-in raw bar and small plate menu. Tesar will be center stage in an open kitchen whipping up “three unique dining experiences”:  an a la carte menu that will change weekly; two nightly tasting menus (one from the land and the other from the sea); and a private chef’s table for 10. Cooking classes! Wine maker dinners! Eight seats almost in the kitchen! He plans to open fall 2012. Bring it, Tesar! Let’s Spoon! According to JT’s PR machine: Spoon is “ranked number seven on Eater National’s “25 Most Awaited Restaurant Openings of 2012.”

Two weeks in Provence coming soon.

Get ready for Central Market’s yearly culinary salute to foreign food. In 2010, we celebrated Argentina (Hi, Francis!). Last year we pigged out on Spain (Hola, Paco!). This year they are throwing a two-week soiree for France, specifically the southern region of Provence, which will begin on May 9 and run through May 22.

Here’s a little poop I learned: Zee hottest ticket will be a seat in the outdoor tent where the kick-off event, “A Taste of Provence,” will feature a sampling of dishes prepared by Chef Patrice Olivon! C’est magnifique! You know Olivon, oui? He’s the cute French dude who won Iron Chef hosts “Dinner is Served,” a lovely show on PBS. It is set for Wednesday, May 9, and begins at 6 p.m.

The menu includes some personal favorites from his childhood (served family-style at long tables), which will be paired with French wines (shocker!). Think: Pissaladiere (thick, pizza-like dish popular in Nice and Marseilles); tomates farcies (tomatoes stuffed with beef, rice & herbs); cod with aioli; roasted lamb with ratatouille; and warm seasonal fruit cooked in red wine served over vanilla ice cream (really?). So frugal Francophiles, get a cheap trip ($35 per person) to Provence, if only for one evening.  Tickets can be booked by clicking here or by visiting the Cooking School reservation site for Dallas.

Sancerre! Profiteroles! A truffle in every pot! Vamos, I mean, nous permettre d’aller!

(Below, I will copy and paste an actual MEDIA-ONLY release so you can get an insider’s look on how real food writing works. I will pair it with commentary from a professional media person.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [Loud and clear! Got it. Type fast. Did somebody else get this while I was grabbing a sandwich. Hang on let me check the other sites!]

April 1, 2012 [WTF? Am I late here? It's April 16. Did this already go out and I am so screwed? Note to self: Google news before you write it. Alternatively, swear under your breath at PR people.]

CENTRAL MARKET PREPARES TO SHARE “L’ART DE VIVRE” [WHY didn't I think of that hed? (That's editorial lingo for headline. We are all too lazy to type the whole word out.]

Prepare for a gustatory tour of France’s famously food centric regions [Weak sub. Oh, that's edit-speak for sub-headline. Waaaay too long to type. "Food-centric regions" in France  is redundant.]

WHO: All Central Market stores across Texas [ Great start. WHO! Always start with WHO. It worked for Horton and it will work for you.]

WHAT: Get ready to celebrate two weeks devoted to France, a country know for its vast array of distinct food and wine offerings. Central Market, a division of H-E-B will host PASSPORT FRANCE May 9 – 22 to explore the delicious to be found in every day France, “a nation of Foodies.” [Yes, it pedestrian but it's short and to the point and food writers need short. And points. Next.]

This is the specialty retailer’s third foray into a wide-scale international celebration. In 2011, Central Market hosted Passport Spain; and in 2010 it launched with Passport Argentina.  Customers traveled the cultural and culinary landscape of these countries without booking a plane ticket or packing a bag. The events are known for their bounty of exciting food finds, live music and performers, authentic décor and celebrity chef and wine maker visits. [Great insert of backfill information. If I didn't work here last year, I now know how much great stuff I missed by living in Washington, DC.]

This May, CM store visitors can experience all things French during Central Market’s two-week extravaganza. Hands-on crepe making. Wine tastings hosted by winemakers, some part of multigenerational winemaking families. Stellar chefs such as Anne Willan of La Varenne and Patrice Olivon of PBS and Iron Chef fame will make appearances and host events. “An Introduction to French Cheeses” will be hosted by the Ambassadress of the French Cheese Club. [Okay, I'm fading a little.]

The aisles will be filled with finds from around France, such as La Mere de Poulard cookies, Kougin Amann, aged Comte, Petit Montebourg fresh cheese, Fallot Dijon and hundreds more, many exclusively available at Central Market. [I'm am so back. Those cookies are like crack, heroin, pot, and gin all baked into a thin disc of sin.]

From classes in the art of French cookery to French cheeses, breads and wine tastings, Passport France will take visitors on an incredible gustatory tour with no jet lag. [Well, I am confused. What do I do with all of this Ambien?]

WHEN: May 9 – 22, 2012 [Excellent information. Thank you Central Market for making my job a walk in the freaking park!]

WHERE: Central Market, all store locations: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano,  San Antonio, and Southlake. Go to www.centralmarket.com for the latest details and to review classes available in May. Further details will be released as they are available. [Even bettah! There is more to come so I know there will be more to write. My job feels secure. Until the end of May.]

ABOUT CENTRAL MARKET: Central Market’s open, serpentine-flow, full view European-style layout offers a completely new food shopping experience.  A bountiful produce department with unmatched quality and variety, an 80-foot seafood case with selections from throughout the world, hundreds of cheeses, 2,500 wine labels, stupendous specialty grocery aisles with delights from every continent, and a world-class cooking school featuring hands-on instruction are among the features that make the Central Market experience unique. www.centralmarket.com. [Oaky, the serpentine-flow thing is getting old, but so am I. The store is really more maze-like but I suppose that would cause people to run for the straight aisles of Tom Thumb. Stupendous is a bit dramatic and delights, well my mind stayed to another train of thought, but I was immediately brought back to reality by the hands-on instruction. Oh, yes. France and hands. Good stuff. Count me in.]

photo provided by Bliss Raw Cafe

I burn things often. I’ve been known to set off a fire alarm or a million, depending on how complicated the recipe is, and even my lucky roommates didn’t know what to do with me. Smart friends now refuse my offer to bake them birthday cakes because they’ve learned that my green tea experimental cakes will always taste funny no matter how hard I try to add the right amount of sugar and baking soda.

Fine.

I’m a kitchen klutz, which is why these classes offered by Bliss Raw Cafe look perfect for a screw-up like me. Beginning April 22, Bliss is holding Raw Food Classes for those of you who want to live the raw lifestyle. Raw food extraordinaire Paula Sepulvado and one of the Bliss chefs will lead attendees “on an overview of methods, techniques and demonstrations on preparing select entrees from the Bliss Raw Café menu.”

Classes run from 6:00-7:30pm, and the cost is $40 including dinner. RSVP to EventsAtBlissRawCafe@gmail.com.

Class (1) April 7, Chef Jason Weaver. Texas Spice at the Omni Dallas Hotel Theme: The Farmers Market Welcomes Back Chef Jason

Class (2) April 14, Chef Tre Wilcox. Marquee Grill. Theme: Spring Cooking with a Top Chef

Class (3) April 21, Chef Joel Harloff. The Second Floor. Theme: The Second Floor at the Market

Class (4) April 28, Chef Bruno Davaillon. The Mansion Restaurant at Rosewood Mansion. Theme: The Mansion Cookbook

Class (5) May 5, Chef Jeffery Hobbs. Sissy’s Southern Kitchen & Bar. Theme: Cinco de Mayo

Jump.

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Class

Doors Open @ 11: OO AM

Classes are Demonstration Only.

Market Resource Center

1010 South Pearl Expressway

Dallas, Texas, 75201

$25.00 per Class. Due Thursday before Each Class

$30.00 at the Door

$110.00 for Entire Series

($15 Savings)

(One Person Only)

Group Rates Available

For More Information:

www.aiwf.org/dallasftworth

OR

Call 214-653-8088

Trinity Groves: Shepard Fairey mural on the wall of Trinity Groves Headquarters (420 Singleton). Partners Larry “Butch” McGregor, Stuart Fitts, and Phil Romano. (photo by NN)

Yesterday, I was invited to lunch at Trinity Groves. I sat at a large table surrounded by the partners involved in the massive project and several members of the Food and Concept Advisory Committee. As one of the partners, Phil Romano, chewed my ear off with details, Mike Babb filled my plate with barbecue.

Babb is the first “graduate” of  the Trinity Groves Restaurant Incubator program. In short, Trinity Groves is the 13-acre restaurant-retail-artist-and-entertainment development at the base of the west end of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge which developers Phil Romano, Stuart Fitts, and Larry “Butch” McGregor expect to be what Silicon Valley is to high tech or what Ghirardelli Square is to San Francisco.

Mike Babb and Phil Romano. (photo by NN)

As Romano eased back on his sales pitch, Babb told the story of how he ended up snagging the first restaurant to open in Trinity Groves. It’s a classic tale: Man with boring job loves to smoke meats on the weekends. He delivers it to church functions. Somebody at the function asks him to cater her daughter’s wedding. Someone at the wedding has to have Babb’s ‘cue for a family reunion. Babb loses his job and becomes a caterer. His friends love his barbecue and urge him to open a restaurant. Babb hasn’t a clue on what to do. Somehow he found Phil Romano. BAM!

“I love barbecue and the blues,” said Babb. “My place is going to be indoor and outdoor. It’s going into that space right over there.” He points toward a 2,500-square-foot space which is currently a hollowed-out purple building. The name of the restaurant hasn’t been finalized.

I was honored to be the first media person to taste the first “product” to come out of Trinity Groves. It wasn’t the best barbecue I’ve ever tasted but it was also cooked someplace else and delivered to the project offices in tin pans. The ribs were tender and the accompanying sauce was more sweet than hot. The cole slaw was the best part of the meal. Babb admits he’s still tweaking his banana pudding recipe. But that is what the incubator program is all about.

As the plates were cleared, Romano wound up for his next pitch: “We’re going to have a food center and entertainment zone. We’ll have a brewery [Four Corners Brewing], a 10,000-square foot cooking school, ice cream shop where we will put extra protein in the ice cream to make it healthier, a fish market bigger than Pikes [in Seattle] with a major player coming in to do it, an oyster bar, a butcher shop making sausages, a German market, a local cheese maker and I’ve already talked to Paula, a chocolatier, a South American florist, a coffee roaster, a baker. You’ll see artist galleries and designers, jazz clubs, belly dancers, and Luna tortilla is moving their tower here and we’re putting in a glass wall so you can watch. Real diversity.” (Yes, belly dancers. Remember, this is Phil Romano I’m talking to!)

Stay with me…

The first official media tasting held in the main office. (photo by NN)

As Romano spoke, I looked up and spotted Milestone Culinary School Cooking School Director chef Sharon Van Meter. “Sharon is opening the 10,000-square-foot culinary facility and a beignet-and-coffee-themed restaurant,” Romano said. I asked Van Meter to elaborate. “I am moving my cooking program from the Milestone building on Knox over here,” she said. “It will be a home for chefs who want to do a cooking school and we will continue to do a lot of corporate team building sessions.” (Milestone is moving their business from Knox to a yet-to-be determined location.) She plans to be the first business to open by mid-summer 2012. “That is unless the brewery guys beat me to it,” she said referring to Four Corners Brewing which has already purchased equipment and pulled permits.

As Romano walked me to my car, he pointed to Shepard Fairey’s mural on the building across the street. Fairey is known for his iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama. “That’s my $150,000 wall,” Romano said. There are two more murals by Fairey at Trinity Groves. To read an excellent interview with Fairey and feast your eyes on real photographs of his work by Elizabeth Lavin, check out Peter Simek’s conversation with the artist on FrontRow.

First ribs to be served at Trinity Groves. (photo by NN)

Tomorrow, I’ll attempt to explain the financial logistics of Trinity Groves’ incubator program and compare it with the “culinary incubator” going in about four Rottweiler-guarded warehouses down the street at Sylvan Thirty. And, what effect Trinity Groves will have on the city-run Dallas Farmers Market. Nobody wants to talk about that elephant in the room.

Shepard Fairey’s mural on the building at 400 Singleton.I love the plastic bag in the tree. It reminds me of the movie American Beauty. (photo by NN)

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.

Deep Ellum Brewery has just released their first (only?) production of “Love Runs Deep” Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout (deets below). Think you’ll find it at Tom Thumb? Nope. Bolsa Mercado bought the entire batch. Each 22-ounce bottle is individually numbered and made with red tart and dark sweet cherries and Organic/Fair Trade cocoa nibs. Expect to find all 300 of them on the shelves of Bolsa Mercado during their next Open House on February 11.

If you can’t wait until the 11^th to get a food fix from The ‘Cado, head over on February 8. If you are lucky, you may be able to look past talented chef chefs Jeff Harris and Matt Balke and spot the rare, elusive chef Sharon Hage in the kitchen. She will be creating a “Take Home Dinner For Two.” Who knows, by then Bolsa Mercado may have Alan McClure creating Fudgesicles or Grant Achatz doing dishes. Could happen. Pigs fly in Oak Cliff.

CHERRY CHOCOLATE DOUBLE BROWN STOUT -

8% ABV 27 IBUs

Our logical offering for a passionate time of year.

Who says Brewers can’t pluck your heartstrings? We’ll play right to your heart (and

palette and belly) by taking our already smooth and rich Double Brown Stout and taking

out to a night on the town. By adding real Red Tart and Dark Sweet Cherries at the

beginning of fermentation and **(Organic/Fair Trade) cocoa nibs at the end of

conditioning, once a year we treat our Double Brown Stout lavishly. Don’t be a selfish

lover, share with this someone special.

Style: Cherry Chocolate Baltic Porter

Hops: US Goldings, Mt. Hood, US Northern Brewer, Summit

Malts: Pale Ale, Munich light, Brown, Munich Dark, Oats, Crystal Rye, Extra Dark

Crystal, Dehusked Chocolate

Yeast: California Lager

Other: Blackstrap Molasses, Red Tart & Dark Sweet Cherry Puree’, Cocoa Nibs

Packages: 50L, 1/6th bbl

Chefs surround the casket of Dallas chef Jean LaFont.

This morning chefs from all over the world gathered at St. Monica Church in Dallas to pay their last respects to Dallas’ most significant chef Jean LaFont. Once family and friends were seated, a parade of over 50 chefs dressed in chef whites filed down the aisle. It was a stunning moment. Forgive me for not getting all of their names in here. I hope if you were there, you will leave your name below. I recognized, with the help of Chris Ward: Chef Ewald Scholz, Chef Christian Gerber, Chef Cherif Brahmi, Chef Didier Viriot, Jean Marie Cadot, Chef Louis Vacher, Chef Joe Garza, Chef Laurent Champalle, Chef David Brawley, Chef David Sokol, Chef Chris Ward, Chef Sharon Van Meter, Chef Pete Curley. Other notable names include Phil Vacarro, Anne and François Chandou, and Patrick Esquerre. Hedda Dowd and Jim Deibel both spoke. Deibel told the crowd how he entered the “French-only” kitchen at Oz and applied for a job while all the other chefs snickered. Dowd, a longtime friend of LaFont, gave a moving speech on LaFont’s character. He left home at 13 to become a butcher and worked his way up through every station in traditional brigade system kitchens of France. “He was a “complete chef,” she said. “He was a rôtisseur, a patissier, a saucier, a poissonnier. He could do it all. He was a chef whose presence was known the second he walked into a kitchen.” To paraphrase Dowd, Jean LaFont taught so many chefs how to cook, the ripple effect of his talent will be with us for a long time. LaFont is survived by seven children: Sonia, Stephanie, Jean-Luc, Mireille, Jean-Pierre, Magali, and Marise; four grandchildren, two sisters, and two former wives. And a huge community of food loving friends. The family will be checking this site. Please feel free to leave them a note. (Or correct my spelling!) Short video after jump.

Homemade pork dumplings with green onion, garlic, and ginger

My family used to have the weirdest Chinese New Year tradition. When I was a young lass, my mother would scrub seven or eight coins really well and hide them inside her homemade pork dumplings so she could watch my brother and I go cockfight crazy as we each attempted to amass the most number of coins. To our disappointment, my father would always win; his superior chopstick skills and fast-eating ways would earn him a shining victory (plus some pained teeth from biting down too hard). His winnings meant that he’d have the most prosperity for the rest of the year.

Jump for more traditions.

Chinese people are superstitious – I mean, very superstitious – when it comes to certain things, and their hocuspocus beliefs are revealed through specific dishes eaten during Chinese New Year. People who can’t afford the fancy restaurants I listed here can still follow tradition and savor these foods at home.

Jiaozi (dumplings) are shaped like gold money from the Ming Dynasty. Eat these so you can be rich one day.

Pomegranates are red (a lucky color) and symbolize fertility (because of all the seeds). They’ll bring you good bounty.

Mien (noodles) will give you a long life. Especially if you eat long noodles.

Ping guo (apples) are also red and will bring you peace (ping ping an an). Notice the word play?

Nian gao (Chinese New Year cake) is this sweet sticky rice that I’m actually eating right now as I type. Yum.

How did you/how will you be celebrating the Year of the Dragon? Post your holiday spirit down below.

Chicken pot pie at Lady & Sons in 2008. One serving could feed a family of four.

In August 2008, I traveled to Savannah, Georgia where I dined at Paula Deen’s restaurant Lady & Sons. We ran a post titled “Paula Deen Wants to Kill You.” I wrote:

I can still smell the rancid butter that hit us in the face when we walked in the door. I’ve got to find the pictures I took of the food I ate–everything was dripping in butter. I remember the chicken pot pie was big enough for four and almost everything was fried. OK, she admits she’s “not your cardiologist,” but she really is contributing to the delinquency of dieters. The night we went, at least 75 per cent of the diners were beyond overweight–they were obese. It was sad–like people watching at the slots in Vegas–everyone was gambling with their lives.

Last week Paula Deen confirmed the rumor: she has Type 2 diabetes. I wonder how many of her dedicated fans also suffer from Type 2? This really chaps my sass because two members of my family didn’t have a choice: they both were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when they were young. They have to continually monitor their diet and control their blood sugar. However, Ms. Deen, and other people who put on blinders and continue to fill their body with fat and sugar, had an option. Like not eating a burger made with Krispy Kreme donuts. It’s now rumored that Deen may become the spokesperson for Novartis, a company with a drug designed to treat diabetes. If she personally profits from developing Type 2 diabetes (Hey yáll, I’m your endocrinologist!), I’m going to go berserk. I can already see the talk show circuit lighting up. It makes me sick.

My perfectly boiled egg.

As you can tell from the headline, I am deep in the process of procrastinating. While my real job calls for thousands of words about dining, I am convinced it is far more important that I drop what I am supposed to be doing and answer a question sent to me by PR boy toy Jef Tingley. Yes, he spells his name with one “f,” but I will save that analysis for a later procrastination post.

“Jef with one f” asked me how to boil an egg. Don’t laugh. How many times have you had tiny shards of shell pierce the delicate skin beneath your fingernail? I shared my secret with “Jef with one f” by private message on Facebook which made several people curious enough to email and ask (BEG!) for my secret.

You are going to have to jump hard.

How is it that I hold the key to the secret method of boiling an egg? My first job in a kitchen called for me to make 300 deviled eggs every morning for 2 years. Do the freaking math. I have peeled a ****load of eggs in my day. Okay, don’t say I never gave you anything. I’m opening a vein and spilling it now:

Place ROOM TEMPERAURE eggs in lukewarm tap water. Add (a lot) of iodized salt. Bring the water to a boil slowly and allow it to “soft rumble™” (MINE!) for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat. If you are cooking on electric heat soft rumble for 2 minutes and leave the pan on the element.  NOW, and this is critical: how fast they are ready will depend on how many eggs are in the water. If you have a couple dozen, leave them in the water until it is cool. Otherwise, usually 20 minutes will do. BEFORE you proceed to the next step, fish one of the eggs from the water, dry it off, and spin it. YES, SPIN IT on the counter. If it wobbles around like Stephen Doyle at 2AM, it isn’t done. If it twirls around fast and steady like Leslie Brenner when she lived in LA, it’s ready to peel. Pour out the water, NOT THE EGGS YOU NINNY, and refill the pan with cool water. Peel the eggs while they are submerged in water. Sometimes I toss a little ice in there if I find a difficult egg. If your eggs crack while cooking, like me on deadline, you’re totally screwed. Repeat the above process.

Your nubby little fingers can now type me a thank you note.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled work load.