from Facebook

My taco buddy José Ralat-Maldonado (aka Taco Trail) is crazy about Rock and Roll Tacos, and he reports that owner James Quiñonez is taking over LaGrange’s kitchen and revamping the restaurant to become more serious about its tacos. José writes:

For one, he’s installing the bed of a 1954 Chevy pickup truck converted into a salsa bar with 15 varieties of the America’s leading condiment, working taillights and an exhaust pipe connected to a smoke machine, two-inch white walls and red pin-striping. A wall will be lined with vinyl LPs.

Menus additions will include elote shooters, shrimp cocktails, house-made mole poblano, mac n cheese with shaved habanero, serrano and Anaheim chilies, chocoflan, what James Quiñonez calls, “the works, man.”

And then there is the expanded taco program, now with fajitas, chicken chipotle, steak and Mexican gravy tacos, a fried-to-order hard shell job brisket, Baja-style beer batter-fried fish and shrimp tacos, as well as something James Quiñonez says he ate when he visited Mexico: bacon-wrapped shrimp with bell peppers, onions and jack cheese.

They’ll be joined by two vegetarian options. One with black bean, rice, avocado and queso fresco in a hard shell another with purple potatoes, mushrooms, caramelized onions and cotija cheese.

You are probably wondering how this has anything to do with you. Well, José is feeling mighty generous today. On Wednesday, May 16, from 5-8 p.m. there will be a soft opening for family and friends at LaGrange. (The official opening goes down on May 31.) He has one pass (I lied in the headline) that is good for two people.

If you’d like to go to this exclusive event, tell me in the comments section where you get your tacos in Dallas. I’ll enter all the names in one pot and pick a random winner tomorrow (Tuesday, May 15) at 3:00 p.m. Whoever wins will receive an email from me with instructions on how to claim your pass.

Photo courtesy of Yogurtland

It’s National Froyo Day, which means you can get FREE frozen yogurt at any Yogurtland location between the hours of 4 and 7 pm today. I’m only posting this in case there are any weirdos out there obsessed with Yogurtland’s spoons. Yogurtland is giving out special edition collector spoons and cups that would look great in my, uh, growing collection.

NorthPark Mall
7700 W. Northwest Hwy.
Dallas, TX 75225

Garland-Firewheel Market
4170 Lavon Dr.
Garland, TX 75040

Frankford Pavilion
4520 Frankford Rd.
Dallas, TX 75287

Carrollton
2625 Old Denton Rd.
Carrollton, TX 75007

Southlake DFW
1251 E. Southlake Blvd.
Southlake, TX 76092

Montgomery Plaza
2600 W. 7th St.
Ft. Worth, TX 76107

Nammi

Want some free food? FairLease is at 8131 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, TX 75251, near the I-635 and 75 High Five exchange.  All you Texas Instruments employees, line ‘em up.

The event is part of Fairlease’s Random Acts of Fairness program. What a great spirit!

Other discounts for Saturday only:

* Wild Salsa, Dallas Chop House, Dallas Fish Market: 20 percent off food
* Iron Cactus: $5 hot chocolate infused with Rumpleminz
* Ravenna: Children under 10 get a free pasta dish; accompanying adult must purchase entrée
* The Joule: complimentary hot chocolate, hot cider, popcorn, and cookies

Jump for the glorious cheeses.

Paula Lambert and Emily Samuel.

Mozzarella Company, Dallas, TX

Paula Lambert

Goat Ricotta 1st place

Hoja Santa (Herbal Goat) 1st place

Pecan Praline Mascarpone Torta 1st place

Queso Blanco with Chile and Epazote 3rd place

Brazos Valley, Waco, TX

Rebeccah Durkin

Eden (Brie) 1st place

Brie (Brie) 2nd place

Cheddar 3rd place

Pure Luck Farm and Dairy, Dripping Springs, TX

Amelia Sweethardt

Hopelessly Blue (Goat Blue) 2nd place

Basket Molded Chevre 2nd place

Three Happy Cows, Dallas, TX

Edgar Diaz

Blueberry Drinkable Yoghurt 2nd place

Plain Drinkable Yoghurt 3rd place

Eagle Mountain, Granbury, TX

Dave Eagle

Birdville Reserve (Am-made Intl style) 1st place

Latte Da Dairy,  Flower Mound, TX

Dr. Anne C. Jones

Goat Cheese Truffles 2nd place

Empire Bakery

Meaders Ozarow

Caciotta from Mozzarella Company.

A couple of years ago we threw a cheesemaker appreciation reception at Celebration Restaurant. Well, we’re doing it again on October 27. Join us from 5:00 to 6:30PM as we taste the Texas cheeses that recently won American Cheese Society awards.  Come meet Paula Lambert (Mozzarella Co.), Rebeccah Durkin (Brazos Valley), Amelia Sweethardt (Pure Luck), Edgar Diaz (Three Happy Cows), Dave Eagle (Eagle Mountain), and Dr. Anne C. Jones (Latte Da Dairy). And as always, the affable Meaders Ozarow (Empire Bakery) will be there with the bread. Check out all of the award-winning cheeses below. See you there!

Jump for the glorious cheeses.

Mozzarella Company, Dallas, TX

Paula Lambert

Goat Ricotta 1st place

Hoja Santa (Herbal Goat) 1st place

Pecan Praline Mascarpone Torta 1st place

Queso Blanco with Chile and Epazote 3rd place

Brazos Valley, Waco, TX

Rebeccah Durkin

Eden (Brie) 1st place

Brie (Brie) 2nd place

Cheddar 3rd place

Pure Luck Farm and Dairy, Dripping Springs, TX

Amelia Sweethardt

Hopelessly Blue (Goat Blue) 2nd place

Basket Molded Chevre 2nd place

Three Happy Cows, Dallas, TX

Edgar Diaz

Blueberry Drinkable Yoghurt 2nd place

Plain Drinkable Yoghurt 3rd place

Eagle Mountain, Granbury, TX

Dave Eagle

Birdville Reserve (Am-made Intl style) 1st place

Latte Da Dairy,  Flower Mound, TX

Dr. Anne C. Jones

Goat Cheese Truffles 2nd place

Empire Bakery

Meaders Ozarow

Part of the Total Catch.(photo by Jon Alexis.)

Jon Alexis, know on every blog in the United States of America as jonfromtjs, handles the marketing for TJ’s Seafood Market, the successful fish market in Preston Forest. He is a conscientious student of seafood. Recently he learned about Total Catch Market, a project (and blog) run by PJ Stoops and Billy Tellez of Louisiana Foods. Their niche is selling by-catch fish, the innocent fishes caught by fishermen actually fishing for a higher profile fish. JonfromTJs was so moved when he heard about these guys, he jumped in his car and drove to Houston.  He sends a brief story about his experience along with cell phone pictures. I am going to run it below. Grammar police be warned: the copy is unedited only because I am low on time at the moment. Take it away jonfromtjs:

Fact – Global demand for seafood is increasing exponentially.

Fact – To meet this demand, we are overfishing our oceans.

Fact – When targeting a species, fishermen throw back any other species they weren’t intending to catch.

Fact – The majority of these fish die when thrown back into the water.

Conclusion – why are we not better utilizing Gulf BY-CATCH?

PJ Stoops and Billy Tellez came to this conclusion a while ago. Now every weekend in Houston, they set up a pop-up market to sell absurdly-fresh Gulf by catch. By catch is any fish caught by the fisherman besides what species they are intending to catch.

Most of these fish are delicious – some are even considered delicacies in other waters.

I traveled to Houston last weekend to learn more about Gulf by catch and some unique species of fish.

After spending some time with Billy Friday afternoon (PJ has gotten tons of media recognition lately for his seemingly infinite seafood knowledge, but Billy deserves a lot of credit as well), I had dinner at Reef restaurant.  Chef Bryan Caswell is another proponent of using everything the Gulf has to offer. Kinilaw Ceviche with Blue Crab, Orange, Coco-Lime Broth was light and fresh.   Roasted Grouper with Corn Pudding, Salsa Cruda, Grilled Peach had a Southern warmth…Houston meets Charleston.

My favorite dish was Grilled Cobia, Broccolini, Orange Mustard, Jalapeno Relish. Cobia is a farm-raised fish that we don’t see too often in Dallas.  Buttery flavor of Mahi Mahi with the firm texture of Swordfish – you can cube it like you can beef.  If you like Ivory Salmon, you’ll love Cobia.

Saturday morning at 8:30am, I arrived at the Total Catch market and in-the-know Houstonians were already lined up for the 9am start time.

The selection is different every week depending on what the fishermen caught. The catch is posted the Friday prior on their blog. Last week’s catch included mangrove snapper, barrelfish, beardfish, triggerfish, blackfin tuna, rock hind, almaco jack, longtail bass, scorpionfish, and more.

So what does this fish taste like?

Barrelfish is very similar to Grouper and a great fish for any recipe requiring a mild-medium flavored flaky white fish.

Beardfish is extremely rare – PJ and Billy had only seen it a handful of times in their years working the Gulf. Beardfish is a sweet whitefish with a very small flake – it almost tastes like crabmeat as it breaks apart in your mouth.

Triggerfish is sweet and firm. Similar to Pompano. My favorite fish of the catch.

Utilizing these fish is not just a marketing gimmick or a “green” ploy.  Sustainability aside- these are delicious, healthy fish we are throwing back most likely to die!

Houston and Austin are already seeing these fish and others available in their cities. TJ’s will be carrying a selection of Gulf By Catch on the weekends and chefs and restaurateurs around the city have already expressed interest.

To commemorate the Dallas Mavericks championship win over the Miami Heat, 7-Eleven is giving fans a taste of victory in a Slurpee cup. The free small Maverick Blue Slurpee will be available at select downtown 7-Eleven stores during the Dallas Mavericks Victory Parade. With temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees on parade day, fans will likely appreciate the free opportunity to beat the heat. While in the store, fans are encouraged to check in on Foursquare for a chance to win prizes.

7-Eleven, headquartered in Dallas, wants to celebrate with the city as we “parade” our championship through the streets of downtown. Also, fans that come to the stores for their free small Slurpee can check in on Foursquare to win prizes ranging from movie tickets to a trip to space. The trip to space drawing will be conducted, and a winner announced, on July 5, 2011.

When: Thursday, June 16 starting at 9 a.m.

Where: Downtown Dallas 7-Eleven store locations along parade route at:
·        Commerce and Darrien (2008 Commerce St.)
·        Elm and Market (711 Elm St.)
·        Commerce and Field (1295 Commerce St.)
·        Patterson and Akard (511 N. Akard St.)
·        Elm and N. Good Latimer (2608 Elm St.)

Anybody else offering free margaritas in Dallas on Cinco de Mayo?

Update: Sevy’s Grill is offering complimentary Quervo Silver Margaritas or Palomas from 5 – 7 pm!