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Re: Greek Food Festival in Dallas Starts on Friday

Once again, SideDishers have proved to be a tough—and, dare I say, slightly over-critical—crowd. I read the comments about the Greek Food Festival. I mean, it’s not like Holy Trinity is a restaurant, people! It’s a church! The food and pastry is made by volunteers who toil away for weeks in preparation for this, the biggest church fundraiser of the year. I suggest that you try to feed thousands of people at a time, and see how well you do. IJS. The festival is meant to be a celebration of Greek culture and food–not the most amazing culinary experience of your life. Is the fenekia as good as my my nouna’s? No. Is the baklava as good as mine? Of course not. (Then again, neither my nouna nor I has attempted to make thousands of pastries. I bet even ours would suffer in those kinds of quantities.) But will you have a good time–either on a date, with friends, or with your kids? Most certainly. Perhaps your “reviews” are best reserved for a real dining establishment.

P.S. Yes, I’ve been known to attend Holy Trinity from time to time. But I’m not coming to the defense of my people for personal reasons. I’m defending the hundreds of volunteers who are just trying to serve their community and do a good thing for the church. How can you find fault with that?

What To Do This Weekend: Taste of Dallas

The annual Taste of Dallas festival is happening this weekend in the West End, so if you feel like being outside (what’s WRONG with you), don’t forget to hit it up. It’s free to get in, you just have to pay for food and drinks. Some of the restaurants participating: Chamberlain’s Steak & Chop House, Bangkok City, Go Falafel (haven’t heard of this one but def like the sound of it), and Carl’s Carribean Soul. From what I remember, food was pretty cheap for the most part. There will also be live music, appearances Disney Channel stars, and a DFW’s Got Talent competition. Jump for all the details.

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SideDish Tasters Choice: Southwest Foodservice Expo

The Southwest Foodservice Expo starts next Sunday. Last week, I posted names of the Dishers picked to attend. If your name is on the list and you  have NOT received a confirmation e-mail from me, click on my name below and let me know. We will be the Twittering Fools. (DSideDish)

Eligible Dishers:
foodczar, Shane, DallasDeliFan, webra, JJFoodie, TM, Brandy, Lori, Andrew, Robin, Rob, Lori, S, Margie, Lindsay.

Bijoux Chef Scott Gottlich Invited to Cakebread’s Annual American Harvest Workshop

The 23rd Annual American Harvest Workshop will take place September 12-16 at Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford, CA.  Five celebrated chefs from around the world will met with top artisan food producers, select media, and consumers to learn about and celebrate the bounty of America’s food and wine producers. One of the five chefs picked is Dallas’ Scott Gottlich (Bijoux, The Second Floor). The four-day affair will culminate in two harvest dinners where participants can unwind and toast to their labors.

To get ready for his California close-up, will host a series of Cakebread wine pairing dinners in July (9th, 21st, and 30th.) These four-course dinners will be a celebration of the summer’s harvest with each dish paired with five Cakebread wines. Cost of dinners is $110 per person. Deets below. (more…)

Jacksonville Tomato Festival: Tomato Eating Contest, Kids Division

No words needed.

Somebody Help This Poor Girl: Driving to Aspen

Jeffrey Yarbrough (Big Ink PR (Dallas) and national wine expert Joshua Wesson partied in Aspen last year.

Anybody headed to Colorado next weekend for the Aspen Food and Wine Classic ? Is so, make sure you hit Explore Booksellers where Dallas gal Monica Greene has just reopened her remolded restaurant, Escape. The menu is organic vegetarian.

Two Dishers “lucky enough to snag tickets” are driving from Denver (I-70 route) and ask for dining suggestions along the way. I say wait until you get to Basalt (Grana Bread Company). If you know of a hidden gem on or off the highway, leave it below.

If you make it to Aspen, you can get free Texas munchies and Texas wine on Friday afternoon (June 19 at 3:00 p.m.) at the annual Texas Outlaw Party at Kenichi. There you will find a huge contingent of Dallas and Texas attendees: Jeffrey and Tara Yarbrough,Mike Hoque (Dallas Fish Market), Tre Wilcox, Mike Karns (El Fenix), Kevin Williamson of Ranch 616 in Austin, Tom and Lisa Perini (Buffalo Gap), Bunny and Richard Becker (Becker Vineyards) . Who knows, maybe Mick Fleetwood will return this year. I’m sorry I won’t be there this year to produce the Second Annual Derriere of the Day Contest. Guess I’ll have to do it in Jacksonville tomorrow.

SideDish on the Road: Tomato Festival in Jacksonville, Texas

I am working in East Texas for a couple of days. On Saturday, I’m heading over to Jacksonville for the 25th Annual Tomato Festival. If you haven’t been, you should make plans to head down. If not, we’ll shoot out a few reports on Twitter (DSideDish).

In other do-something-other-than-write news: The sun just came out for the first time today and I thought I’d share a picture of my second brood of baby Bluebirds. They were born yesterday. (Remember, procrastination is part of the creative process.)

Sixth Annual Garland Asian American Festival June 20th at the Saigon Mall

Mark your calendars: June 20th is the date for the Garland Asian American Festival at the Saigon Mall. It promises to be a fun day of food and culture. Here are some of the activities:

* Lion Dance
* Cultural and Musical Entertainment Showcase
* Exhibitors
* Food Booths
* Public Services Booths
* Local, City and nationally elected officials
* Non-profit organizations
* Government agencies, City of Garland, Garland Police Department

Last year around 15,000 participated in the event that takes place from 10:00am to 5:00pm. More info here or call 214-244-9144.

Next Weekend: Taste Of Addison

Yow. Zah. When did May get here? Almost forgot to tell you about Taste of (Bill) Addison next weekend. It starts Friday, May 5th 8th at 5:00 pm and runs until Sunday at 6:00 pm. Concerts by Jack Ingram, Old 97s, Foreigner, and Bowling for Soup. Taste Showcase will feature Ted Allen, Tre Wilcox, Richard Chamberlain, Dorian Isenberg, Mansour Gorji, and a slew of other chefs. You can find all of the details here. SideDish will be there bloggin’ and tweetin’.

Tomorrow Is Earth Day

In case you didn’t know. Why don’t I care?

Looking For Something To Do This Weekend?

Kyle and Sarah have lots of ideas.

Grapevine’s 17th Annual Blessing Of The Vines & New Vintage Wine and Gallery Trail

Bet you didn’t know that Grapevine had a Jazz Wine Train. Now you do. It will run Friday and Saturday nights at 6:40p.m. and again at 9:30p.m. The train ride features several wines from Grapevine, food, and live jazz. It’s just one part of the two-day annual celebration that kicks off tomorrow morning at 11:0a.m. Sounds like tons of fun. Jump for details.Click here for tickets.

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Jim White is Smiling: Savor Dallas “Strong And Healthy”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Savor Dallas co-founder Jim White frown. See him to the left with his wife and Savor Dallas co-founder Vicki Briley-White (left) and Dee and Charles Wyly? They are all so happy. Why? Because:

Nearly 4,000 guests attended events at the Fifth Annual Savor Dallas March 6 and 7, with increases in guests at Friday night events in the Arts District and in Victory Park.
Savor Dallas’ preliminary estimates show that attendance at Friday night’s Arts District Wine Stroll and Victory Park Wine & Food Celebration exceeded 2008 attendance by 200 plus guests, with a total of 1,230 guests. Guest numbers for Saturday night’s International Grand Tasting are estimated to be slightly lower than 2008’s figures, with attendance at 2,150. The Reserve Tasting, featuring the year’s finest wines from top vintners, enjoyed an increase in attendance. Wine seminars enjoyed healthy attendance this year, with a new location at the Westin City Center. Total weekend attendance is estimated at around 4,000, nearly matching last year’s numbers.

AFI Film Festival: Food Inc.

AFI Dallas is getting ready to begin on March 26th. I happy to report that the lineup of films includes two showings of Food Inc., the Robert Keener film that takes “an unsalted look at America’s industrial food system—dirty, crowded cattle lots, genetically modified veggies, fast food chains and processing plants.”

Kenner gets behind the real story of how food gets to your table and it’s a story that corporate America doesn’t want you to know. The film has two showings at the AFI film festivalone,  on Monday, March 30 at 7:30 PM at the Magnolia Theatre and the second on Tuesday, March 31 at 10:00 PM at the Magnolia Theatre. The film’s director, Robert Kenner, will be in attendance. Want a quick bite? Check out the film’s trailer below.

(I’m tearing out my yard and planting a garden, Nikki where are you?)

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Savor Dallas: Video Report

From the Better-Late-Than-Never Department, I bring you a video on Savor Dallas produced by Julie Blacklidge and Kyle “Hot Lips” Kearbey. It has been on our website for days. I totally forgot to post it here. My bad, girls. Also, here is a video on what makes people love/hate D Magazine. (Hi, Travis!)

Savor Dallas 2009:

Savor Dallas: International Grand Tasting Diary

From intrepid reporter and Savor Dallas volunteer, Lisa Petty.

This was the weekend we’ve all been waiting for.
Savor Dallas, our much-anticipated annual upscale food and wine extravaganza took place last weekend at venues across the city. The event, celebrating its fifth birthday this year, featured two days of gourmet goings-on, culminating in the International Grand Tasting Saturday night at the Plaza of the Americas and Westin City Center Hotel downtown. (Jump for full report and great photos.)

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Savor Dallas: First Report

Disher Puddin’ Tane sends her three top picks with pictures. Send us your thoughts and pics.

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Savoring Savor Dallas

Savor Dallas kicks off today and SideDish will have a couple of intrepid reporters eating and drinking their way across Dallas all weekend. We invite all food bloggers to send in reports, pictures, and links to your stories and we’ll post them for you. Remember, any publicity is good publicity and we will spell your name right. Go. My e-mail is below.

Re: Savor Dallas Holds Food and Wine “Tasting” on Facebook

Remember the Savor Dallas virtual food and wine tasting we told you about here? It was Tuesday. Did you forget to join the chat? Yes, us too. Luckily we can read the transcript here.

Savor Dallas Gets Groovy Artwork

Let’s all clap our hands for Gabriela Villegas, a junior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Her design was picked as the official art for the Savor Dallas 2009 commemorative tee-shirt. All profits from the sale of said shirt will go to Booker T. I call it “Tornado of Taste.” Great job, Gabriela. (Shirts will be available online after next weekend’s soiree.)

Re: Tyler Florence Is Coming

See how cozy we are? (Man it was hot that day. And apparently I am pregnant–with a food baby.) This was taken a few years ago at the Texas Hill Country Food & Wine Festival. I can’t believe he’s married with three kids. I thought for sure we were meant to be together. So much for that. On a side note, during his cooking demonstration that year, when he opened it up for questions, a bunch of women in the audience asked him such relevant questions as “Boxers or briefs?” Poor guy. He handled it well. But it was just evidence that although men get a bad rap for being pigs, I think women are much worse. And shameless!

Savor Dallas Holds Food and Wine “Tasting” on Facebook

As if Facebook wasn’t the center of the universe already, it is now apparently possible to hold food and wine tastings on the site. Unfortunately this does not involve any little you Avatars walking around eating virtual short ribs and drinking virtual merlot (but someone should really invent that game). The Savor Dallas peeps have organized a chat between Savor founder Jim White and chefs David Bull (Bolla), Eric Brandt (the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek), Randy Morgan (Dallas Fish Market), Jason Weaver (French Room), and Tre Wilcox. Tomorrow at 2pm, you can click here to join in the discussion. They will be answering your questions and talking about food trends. So this is really a live chat with a fancy name, but either way, we’re in. Jump for all the details.

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Updated Savor Dallas 2009 Schedule

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Free Movie Screening: Food Fight

We love to be free and do things free. AFI Dallas and Savor Dallas are hosting a free screening of (warning: great music) Food Fight, the documentary on the birth of America’s organic and sustainable agriculture movement. The movie tells the tale of “how a group of California activists and culinarians in the 1960s and 1970s launched the movement that made organic and sustainable agriculture a part of the American and international food experience today.” (Think Alice Waters and Chez Panisse and Berkley in the 60s and 70s) The screening of Food Fight will take place at The Angelika Theatre at Mockingbird Station on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.  Attendance is limited. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis by emailing movie@SavorDallas.com. You must wear green. KIDDING.

Hot (Award-Winning) Tamales

Good tamales are hard to find. Exhibit 1: the undercooked specimen I sampled at brunch at Mattito’s last Sunday (not pictured at left). Not so this Sunday, when the second annual Tamale Festival takes place from 11 AM to 6 PM in the North Hall of Dallas Market Hall. Sponsored by Univision 23 and Telefutura 49, the event features big money for the best tamales (pictured at left), tamale-wrapping contests, activities for the kiddos, and musical entertainment. Jump for the full deets.

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