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.

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!

From John Franke:

At Velvet Taco, we  strive to make the best tasting tacos in the city using the freshest, locally sourced products we can find.  Using quality local ingredients is important to us, but so is giving our guests that quality at a reasonable cost to them.

In addition to the incredible ingredients and flavors, we have made a commitment to our community and the environment to be as conscience as we can on what we serve our products in and what goes in the garbage can.

Examples of that are our recycling program, our composter to supply surrounding neighbors with soil, our corn cups, corn sporks and corn spifes, our recycled wrapping for the tacos, our to go boxes, our coffee cups, our elote cups, and our to go bags.

What we came to a debate over is, would our guests join us in our environmental saving spirit and appreciate the value of the packaging and be willing to pay a small price for it? The overwhelming response has been, absolutely they are and we continue to receive resounding positive feedback on our efforts to stand up for doing our part to help the environment and asking our guests to join in the fight.

We feel it is just a small price to help the cause, we make no increased sales from the 10 percent tax, and in the spirit of keeping it simple at Velvet Taco, the blanket green tax was the clearest way we felt would work for the taco loyalists out there that visit us everyday.

I hope this helps answer your reader’s question and I welcome your personal feedback. We can only get better each day from listening to and responding to our guest’s thoughts and feedback.

Let’s give it to him.

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.

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.

1. The El Bananarito

I wasn’t sure if my feelings for this item became somewhat skewed because I caught a glimpse of what the preparation entailed.  Basically, these bananas-in-a-hot-shell were sitting in this metallic fryer when I got to the stand.  I automatically took some points off for that unappetizing setup.

When the banana was finally all dressed up, it wasn’t bad.  I didn’t think it was anything close to grand, but it was decent.  The fried shell was sort of soggy, and I would have liked it a little crispier.  But I did enjoy that it didn’t taste only like fried.  The banana still kept its flavor, and the cinnamon sprinkles added a dash of mystery.  Overall, I gave it a 2.95. (Yes, I am getting technical like that).  In case you wanted to know, the cost of El Bananarito is 10 tickets.

2.  Fried Bubble Gum:

This is not your typical, run-of-the-mill chunk of Bazooka.  Because it’s actually made out of marshmallows.  Marshmallows that taste a little like a particular kind of rose syrup that is commonly used in India.  I wasn’t in love with the flavor because it didn’t taste exactly like bubble gum–which is what I was expecting– but this little concoction did have something special to it that I appreciated–charm.  The consistency was really nice, too.  I gave this a 3.9. Cost: 9 tickets.

3. Deep Fried Salsa

This had the best flavor overall.  It’s like a salsa casserole.  There are hints of tortilla, jalapeno, garlic, and chips.  And the best part– it’s slathered in queso.  I could see this being a success story as an appetizer in a restaurant.  I gave this a 4.5. Cost: 10 tickets.

4.  Fried Autumn Pumpkin Pie

I think I was the most disappointed in this item because I was looking forward to it so much, and it wasn’t what I thought it would be.  That’s not to say that it was terrible by any means.  I just didn’t care for the consistency, which was classified somewhere between gooey and a stale-like crunchy.  Also, it’s supposed to be a pumpkin pie (that’s what it says in the stands when you get there).  But I could hardly taste the pumpkin flavor because the pie was overwhelmed by the two gingersnap cookies that are in it. However, I happen to love spices that are reminiscent of the autumn season, so I did appreciate that.  I gave this a 3.0. Cost: 10 tickets.

5.   Fried Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This was my least favorite of them all.  I will tell you why.  You see, I don’t like it when fruit tastes bland.  Well, when the pineapple in this concoction is deep fried, I think it loses its flavor.  The flavor ends up in the breading.  That’s great for the breading, but that leaves for dull, lifeless fruit that tastes like grease when you hit mid bite.  Not enjoyable.  I gave this a 2.5.  Cost: 6 tickets

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.

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.)

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.