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Tart Pastry Boutique in Dallas Turns Five and Makes Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Tart Bakery is making whoopies!

Lookout cupcakes, here comes the whoopie pie craze. Are you familiar with Tart Bakery? You know,  the little shop pastry chef Kristen Massad opened in 2004 where the storefront looks like a spray painted rah-rah sign for an upcoming football game? We never thought the place would make it, but make it they did—Massad’s little shop that turns out cakes, pies, and petit fours is turning five. (Thanksgiving tip: order one of their turkey wreaths (croissant rings stuffed with turkey) for your office party.) Or a couple dozen pumpkin-spice whoopie pies! Maple & Motors Burgers and Beer also makes a chocolate version of the whoopie pie called the chocolate gob. One more sighting and whoopies will become an official trend. 5219 W. Lovers Lane at Inwood Rd. 469- 335-8919.

Material Connection of the Day: Free Cupcakes from Citizen Sweet in Dallas

Hmm. Looks like the cupcake industry is trying to beat the new FTC guidelines that go into effect on December 1. Once the rules kick in, I can’t eat a free cupcake without telling you I accepted a free cupcake. The same goes for other products such as food, wine, or free dinners. The revised rules require you to disclose how you received the products you review or endorse. So, I’m not going to review these—I hate cupcakes anyway. You can send all you want but I’m not eating any of them or writing about them. The cupcakes in the picture were sent, unsolicited, to our offices at 750 N. Pearl St. Suite 2100, Dallas  75201. They come from Citizen Sweet.

New Federal Trade Commission Guidelines and Food Writers

The Federal Trade Commission recently updated its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” If you are a blogger, freelance writer, advertising copy writer, or professional writer you need to read the document, especially if you accept complimentary products such as food, wine, or free dinners. The revised rules require you to disclose how you received the products you review or endorse. Scott, over at Dallasfood.org has a brilliant analysis of the document.

Let me give you an example what happens here at D headquarters on a regular basis. Let’s say a box of cupcakes, a package of chocolate, or bag of food samples arrives with a note from the store owner or publicist. Everyone in the office goes bonkers and whatever is delivered disappears in about 2 seconds. If we don’t post anything on SideDish, I generally receive a “follow-up” note like this:

Hi Nancy, I just wanted to follow up on the “Insert Name” “Insert Item” that we sent last week from “Insert Company” and get your thoughts/feedback on the new flavors. We think it would make an interesting post on SideDish or an article for your magazine. We’d love to hear what you thought of them and see if they might be a fit for an upcoming story or mention. “Insert Company” will be expanding and owner “Insert Name” is hoping to open more locations soon.  We appreciate any comments you have!

If someone on the SideDish staff decides to write about the product, they now have to mention the fact that the food was not paid for by D Magazine. If we don’t, we violate the Federal Trade Commission Act and could receive a fine.

At the risk of calling in the food police, I will say that we have always run a tight ship around here. We’ve always paid for food we review and I do not attend media dinners or accept complimentary dinners. We have sent a copy of the FTC guidelines to our attorney to make sure we comply with all of the rules.

But here is one rub—I’ve already heard that some bloggers and indie food writers are finding ways to get around the rules by posting one small disclaimer somewhere on their webpage and not in the copy of the item. So readers beware. Ask questions. It’s a jungle out there.

Dallas Observer 2009 Best of Dallas® Food List: What do You Think?

Please don’t sue me for using your cover art.

I’m stuck at home in my little glass house. I see a few pebbles on the floor and I think I will toss them.

I just scanned through the Dallas Observer’s 2009 Best of Dallas® Food list. It reminds me of that Who song. What is it, Kirk? Something about the new boss and the old boss? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Bomp, bomp, bomp. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Dave Fairies, I have a quick question: Does the Observer repeat “Bests” if, when the next year rolls around, no one else  fills the category as “Better®?” (That’s mine, dude.)  This is a serious question and I ask it because I have to deal with the beast of ‘Bests” and understand the difficulty at uncovering them. So, Mr. Fairies, do you roll over “Bests” from year to year by moving them into different categories or because they are the “Best” of their original category? Let’s go through the list together and see. Jump with me. It’s not far. (more…)

Comfort Food In Dallas: What Comforts You

I am getting a little uncomfortable with the direction comfort food is taking. Can I blame it on the Gen Y population? Sure, why not. They don’t read SideDish. Gen Y’ers are more Britney than Julia.

While the overall trend in dining today is to eat sloooowly, the Gen Y’ers I know are more content to snack quickly. What happened to the good old days of turning on The Thorn Birds (before you knew Richard Chamberlain was gay), grabbing a spoon and a half gallon of ice cream, and eating the whole thing? Once, after I got turned down for what I thought was my dream job, I went back to my apartment, made a three-layer German chocolate cake, and ate every last crumb. Did I feel better? You betcha.

What is comfort food? At home it is one thing, but now restaurants are trying to comfort us in public. Take Kent Rathbun. (beat, beat…) He has gourmet comfort food. He isn’t alone; there are lots of folks making their mortgage payments by selling upscale mac and cheese. Isn’t gourmet comfort food an oxymoron? If you agree, then WTF is healthy comfort food? A lie? You betcha.

I was curious to see if there were any distinctive differences between generations when it came to constant cravings. I didn’t have to Google far to find this little salty tidbit. Jump with me. (more…)

J. Dorian vs. Sprinkles: Raspberry Cupcake Showdown

Last week Sprinkles delivered raspberry cupcakes to our office. Then I got an e-mail from Dorian Isenberg of J. Dorian Chocolatier, who wanted to send us his version of a raspberry cupcake. You may recall that our resident Sweet Tooth, Miss Kyle Kearbey, blogged about J. Dorian cupcakes when they first came out. I’m happy to report that they are still as delicious—and beautiful—as they were then, although this pic isn’t quite as pretty as the ones Kyle posted before. These are chocolate cupcakes—so moist and light!—with an airy, whipped raspberry center. The frosting is white chocolate buttercream—just the right amount of sweet—dusted with freeze-dried raspberry powder. While we’re not really comparing apples to apples here, after a semi-official poll of the cupcake taste-testers, J. Dorian emerged victorious.