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Articles about Expensive cheap eats

Avner Samuel and Jon Stevens Ride Again: Snack Opens in Dallas May 22

The Avner Samuel; The Bailey. En fuego.

Whirling dervish chef Avner Samuel and his sidekick chef Jon Stevens are ready to open Snack, their “street-food-inspired-low price-points-small-plates-daily-chalkboard-special restaurant on Henderson in the space formerly known as Horne & Dekker. (Whew!) There will be three bar areas: one with cocktails, wine and beer; the second is a raw bar, but also includes a charcuterie element and hot small plates; the third, features a large wood-burning oven for made-to-order flatbreads and distinct hot dishes. (Whew!) Listen up:

From the age-old market-squares and bazaars to today’s street food vendors, SNACK is the creation of a street-to-table inspired menu. The menu includes dinner items such as short rib tacos with pineapple habanero and cilantro crema ($8), pork shumai dumplings ($9), chicken shawarmas with cucumber tahini and pickled onion ($8), and smoked oysters escabeche served with wood oven toasted bread ($7).  The brunch menu features items from a pan-fried egg sandwich with Serrano ham and avocado ($13), to a charcuterie flatbread with pan-fried egg, arugula and herbs ($14); and “street tacos” a la carte with a small assortment of sweeter entrees, like coconut griddle cakes ($11), to choose from.

Bizarre is right! Let’s see, Samuel-Stevens now oversee two locations of Nosh Euro Bistro, Snack, the transition of Bailey’s Prime Plus from steak joint to a chef-driven kitchen, and the addition of the lavish Aurora Room to BPP.  My guess is Samuel and Stevens already have their paws on the menu at The Chesterfield. What? You hear there will be more Nosh Euro Bistros if this relationship lasts? Oh, glorious Dallas dining. Are you coming back to life or going crazy?

UPDATE: Snack will have it’s own valet parking.

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 17th, 2012 11:47am | filed under Celebrity Chefs, Closings, Expensive cheap eats, Food Invasion, Hot Links!, Merguez Sausage Hunt, Nutjobs, Openings, Really?, Restaurant News, Rumors behind the restaurant news, questionable judgment | 7 Comments »

Let’s Discuss: Do You Mind Paying Extra for Take-Out Containers?

This picture is not representative of Velvet Taco. Stock photo of take-out containers.

Listen up all of you people who don’t mind recycling or rescuing, we’ve got a situation we need to discuss. A SideDish reader brings up the “green tax” charged for take-out containers at Velvet Taco.

I had lunch at Velvet Taco for the first time today.  When we ordered, we noticed on the menu that there was listed a “10% Green Tax” on takeout orders.  I snickered at the brazen attempt to make additional money off of imaginary concern for the environment, never having seen such a fee before.  (Perhaps it’s common and I’ve just never seen it at another establishment?) But thinking about it today and beyond the mere ridiculousness of a fast-casual dining spot charging more for those taking their food elsewhere, I can’t help but wonder if Velvet Tacos is violating any law. I haven’t researched the issue, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it were illegal for a business to call a “tax” (implying mandated by the government) any privately-imposed and discretionary fee. It certainly seems to rise to some level of deceptive trade practice to call this sort of greedy and unnecessary fee a “tax,” as it seems like a term which could very easily confuse even intelligent diners about who was mandating the charge.

Before I hand this issue over to John Franke of Velvet Taco, let me put in my Nichols’ worth. I don’t find the practice of charging for container ridiculous. Especially when said containers are made from more expensive ‘green and compostable wares that, according to one industry person I asked, can cost up to $3.00 an order. (Another in the fast food expert said:  “to-go containers are direct expense of about 4% of [our] sales (in a $400 million company, that’s an eye-opening $16 million non-recovered expense) that was spent directly on to go supplies.”

On the other side, people who take food away from a restaurant don’t require the labor of a server or busser or any of the other costs a place incurs when a customer dines in (big flush, little flush!). Also, the charge at Velvet Taco  is not a state-sanctioned “tax,” it’s a term they chose to use in place of  “upcharge” and the 10% is based on the pre-sales tax amount.

Below, John Franke, the head of operations at Velvet Taco replies to the reader’s question.

Jump free of charge! (more…)

posted by Nancy Nichols | May 14th, 2012 1:11pm | filed under Bring it!, Cult Cuisine, Expensive cheap eats, Food Fight!, SideDish Readers Are Smart People | 37 Comments »

Somebody Help This Poor Girl: Healthy Food at the State Fair of Texas

This brave Disher asks the question:

Hello. Do you know if any of the vendors at the State Fair have anything remotely healthy?  I know it is a fried food fiesta, but surely there is something healthy or just low calorie to be had? Chicken tacos on corn tortillas would suffice.

I am clueless. Healthy State Fair food is an oxymoron.

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 4th, 2011 11:33am | filed under AgriBusiness, Expensive cheap eats, State Fair of Texas | 27 Comments »

Five Fried Foods at The State Fair of Texas

D Magazine intern Arti Sharma made her first trip to the State Fair of Texas. She ate five fried food items and lived to write about them. She rates them on a one (poor) to five (fabulous) scale.

It was difficult for me to pick only five items to try during my first visit to the State Fair of Texas. I hope to go back for more, but in the meantime, here’s my take on the first five.

Jump, please.

(more…)

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 4th, 2011 11:20am | filed under AgriBusiness, Expensive cheap eats, I Went to College for This?, State Fair of Texas | 11 Comments »

Eat This Now: Red Velvet Twinkies from Horne and Dekker in Dallas

The old urban legend regarding Twinkies states that they have a shelf life comparable to carbon-14, able to fulfill cream filled fantasies for ages to come. And if something is going to be around for that long, it had better be great. This delicate golden sponge cake is truly a piece of American history, and has no doubt left a lasting impression on the millions of lives it has touched.

Every so often, we try to screw around with it.  Deep frying it wasn’t a bad idea.  Various fruit and chocolate creams have crept into that little golden fortress of solitude.  But nothing has compared to that original blend of high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.  That is, until Mr. Horne (or perhaps Mr. Dekker) decided to take a crack at it.

You may call red velvet a fad, and you would probably not be too far off, but regardless it is winning over the hearts of diners around the country.  Red velvet cupcakes, waffles, whoopie pies, and pancakes have all flooded the ovens of America, so much so that the lowly RV cake seems to be getting lost in the shuffle.  Now Twinkies invade the red velvet world and there seems to be no sign of stopping.

Perhaps it’s the simple nostalgia that won me over, perhaps the joy of being allowed to dunk stuff into milk while having a nice dinner, but I am definitely on Horne and Dekker’s “Team Twinkie.”  Light and airy red velvet cake, slightly spongy, baked fresh, crammed full of housemade cream.  Each order comes paired with a glass of satisfyingly cold milk.  It’s a simple delight, but one that deserves credit in a town apparently “dessert challenged.”

I wish Twinkie the Kid could have lived to see this day, he would have cried joyful tears of creamy filling.  It would have made him so proud to have graduated to an undeniably more sophisticated snack cake.  So get to Horne and Dekker, the patio’s mighty fine, the fried chicken is hot and juicy, the biscuits are among the best in the city, and anything tastes better when chased down by a fat red twinkie.

posted by Daniel Walker | September 22nd, 2011 11:01am | filed under Baking, Diets are stupid, Eat This Now!, Expensive cheap eats, Junk Food, cake, dessert | 5 Comments »

Dallas We Have a Problem: Pre-Theater Dining at One Arts Plaza

Monday night, the Winspear Opera house hosted a sold-out concert featuring Kathleen Edwards, a Canadian folk and country singer, and Bon Iver. Yesterday, one concert attendee, Dallas Observer critic Scott Reitz, wrote a post about the ridiculously expensive “petite sandwiches” served at the concession stand. He posted a picture of what looked to be space food canapes—little Pacman-shaped bread circles with a slice of roasted beef. A little later, I received an email from a reader who’d tried to dine at The Commissary on Monday night. The place was jammed. The reader said the food was good but the service was a disaster.

In the comments section of Reitz’s post, the ubiquitous Jon Alexis (jonfromtjs) made some remarks that rocked my opinion of One Arts Plaza. I admire Lucy Billingsley and her vision of creating a space where Arts District patrons can dine before and after a show. However, Jon pointed out the problems on Monday night. Snippets: “Commissary delicious but slammed, understaffed, and stressed;” “Screen Door, chef working bar, poor lady so frazzled she’s knocking glasses over;” “Jorge’s, one bartender for 20 people at the bar.” Both Tei-An and Fedora were closed.

Jon brings up a great point. “Can the restaurants not look at the schedule and see when a concert is sold out MONTHS prior that they should staff up?” I thought Screen Door offered pre-event dinners but perhaps they only run for larger events. The patio area is a perfect place to hang before and after events. I would think the already struggling restaurants would at least stick a buffet table outside and serve some drinks. Or call in the food trucks. This is a perfect scenario for One Arts on what would otherwise be a slow Monday night. I’m sure the Kathleen Edwards concert drew a crowd that would have returned to any of the places at One Arts Plaza if they’d been impressed. Now, all they remember are plastic packets of Pacman canapés made by Wolfgang Puck Catering. But don’t get me started on that again. (Wolfgang Puck? Why not a local caterer.)

posted by Nancy Nichols | September 14th, 2011 9:19am | filed under Expensive cheap eats, Food Crime, Food Trucks, Patio Dining, Restaurant News, catering, mob scenes, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 37 Comments »

Texas State Fair Food: Fun or Foul?

I was talking with a friend of mine who loves the fried food madness of the Texas State Fair. Obviously many other people share her passion for fried strawberry waffles, fried margaritas, fried butter, and fried bubblegum. The recent “winners” for this year’s State Fair were announced Wednesday and the local blogs comment boxes have lit up like fried Christmas trees.

I hate it all as much as I hated eating in Paula Deen’s restaurant in Savannah. I can still smell the cloud of burnt butter that met me at the door of Lady and Sons Restaurant. The portions were obnoxiously huge and I had to shower when I got back to my hotel.

The last time I visited the Fair, I sat at one of the picnic benches and watched a family of three eat their way through a pile of food. The husband and wife, maybe in their early 40s, were obese. The woman was in a wheel chair with an oxygen tank. The husband, who weighed at least 350 pounds, was shoveling food in his mouth using both hands. The saddest sight was their son. He couldn’t have been 12 years old and already on the verge of obesity. He was listlessly staring at the ground and gnawing on a huge turkey leg.

I can hear you crying: “It’s only once a year. Live a little. Have some fun.” I can’t. That isn’t fun or funny to me. It’s gross.

posted by Nancy Nichols | September 2nd, 2011 10:00am | filed under Cult Cuisine, Expensive cheap eats, I Hate it When That Happens, Not-so-skinny bitches, Really?, State Fair, Wasted Calorie, mob scenes, questionable judgment | 32 Comments »