D

Shannon Wynne Will Open New Restaurant In Dallas: The Moth

Veteran Dallas restaurateur Shannon Wynne has signed a lease on the “old Ann Sachs tile space” in the Design District (High Line & Oak Lawn) and will open a restaurant/bar called The Moth. Veteran is a nice way to describe Mr. Wynne, in reality he is a crafty, no-bs geezer. Ask him a question and he gives you a straight answer.

Here is a transcript of our phone conversation. (more…)

South American Super Chef Francis Mallman Cooks at Central Market

Chef Francis Mallmann at Central Market in Dallas.

Last night our editorial intern, Kellyn Curtis, headed over to Central Market for a tough assignment–a cooking class led by, “The Thomas Keller of South America,” Francis Mallman. His recent cookbook, Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way is gorgeous. Here’s what went on at CM on Lovers last night:

Dallas cooking enthusiasts got a little taste of Argentina Monday night at Central Market’s cooking school. Chef Francis Mallman, one of South America’s biggest culinary stars, prepared three dishes the Argentine way and paired them with some great wines.

Chef Mallman became Argentina’s best-known chef by preparing haute-French cuisine. But he soon got bored and decided to go back to the basics by cooking with wood fire and cast iron – the way the gauchos used to do it. The change paid off. He owns three South American restaurants and has written several cookbooks.

The class entitled Seven Fires/Three Winds started off with a salad. Sounds simple enough, but according to the chef even the simplest things can be difficult to do well. But he made the burnt carrots with goat cheese, parsley, arugula, and crispy garlic chips salad look easy. He paired it with a Trivento Torrontes Select, a crisp wine with flavors of tropical fruit and citrus.

The next item on the menu was a whole boneless rib eye with chimichurri served with a Patagonian potato galette. Chef Mallman pointed out that chimichurri is the most Argentinean sauce for meat. Chefs have tried to make variations of the original, but Mallman says there is only one true chimichurri. He waited until the last minute to coat the rib eye with the sauce so that the two different flavors would remain separate. For this course, he chose a red wine – Trivento Malbec Select.

He finished off the night with burnt oranges and rosemary paired with a Trivento Pinot Noir. This is one of his simplest recipes but the flavors and texture were intense and complex. Warning: don’t attempt this dish indoors – it will engulf the kitchen in smoke.

VonGeertsem Butcher Shoppe in Dallas Adds North Texas Grass Fed Beef

It’s hard to believe VonGeertsem Butcher Shoppe in Uptown has been open three years. Greg and Kathy Geerts must be doing more than just a little something right, they are adding to their inventory. Besides excellent cuts of corn fed beef, they now offer high quality North Texas Black Angus grass fed beef. 3527 Oak Lawn Ave. 214-219-3700.

Sioux-Z-Wow Sauce Available At TJ’s Market

Jon Alexis of TJ’s Market is one excitable boy. Jon and his parents Caren and Pete and brother Matthew, run a nifty seafood shop and catering operation in Preston Forest. They are also food nerds, which is a great thing. What does that mean? It means they scour the earth for great products to compliment their seafood. Currently TJ’s is the only retail location in Texas for Sioux-Z-Wow sauce, a marinade you can cook with or just drink by itself. (I made that last part up.) Jon writes:

It’s a dip. It’s a sauce. It’s a marinade. It’s a delicious unique blend of sweet & spicy…think garlic, red chile and caramel.It’s fat free too. Excellent to marinate TJ’s salmon, swordfish, scallops, shrimp, tilapia, tuna and more. Put a tablespoon in your hamburger meat. Mix with olive oil for a salad dressing.

See what I mean about excitable? Geezer alert: His pitch reminds me of this. Oh, those were the days.

Nolan Ryan Talks Beef and Burgers With SideDish

SURPRISE, Ariz.–SideDish is a food-oriented blog, so I won’t go into the finer points of Nolan Ryan’s baseball career. The other day I sat down with the retired hard-throwing right-handed pitcher to talk about something other than baseball. We talked about cows.

The eight-time MLB All-Star has been a rancher for most of his life. When he isn’t busy being the President of the Texas Rangers, he’s moving cattle on one of his two ranches. In between, he sits in a board room, discusses global meat markets, and makes decisions for his company Nolan Ryan’s Guaranteed Tender Beef.

SideDish: When you were playing baseball, did you dream of being a meat purveyor?

Nolan Ryan: I’ve been in the cattle business for 35 years. I guess I’ve had the meat company for—hey, don’t hold me to it, but it’s been about six or seven years. I can’t say I really thought about getting into the meat business. I was much more involved on a day-to-day basis, you know all the marketing, before this job (President of the Rangers) came along. So now I head down [to the ranch] when the team goes on the road.

SideDish: So is pitching the beef business difficult?

Nolan Ryan: I really like the ranching part but when you first get on the producer’s side, you think you know what goes on in the end product. But until you get into that side of it, the marketing of the product, you find you really have to want to be in the business. You have to learn about what drives the demand for the end product. It’s a tough business. We’re going through a horrible drought right now, the worst in 35 years.

SideDish: Tell us about your cows and products.

Nolan Ryan: I’ve run personally myself 2,000 [cattle]. But the company has cattle from other programs and producers. We have five feed lots in South Texas, one in North Texas, and one in California. We use a composite Beefmaster and breed them with a red or black Angus depending on what we need. We graze on grassland and with grains harvested by area farmers and we don’t use added growth hormones or antibiotics during the last 100 days of the feeding period. We never feed meat by-products of any kind.

SideDish: I understand all of the burger stands at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington use your beef. I hear there are plans for a new, expanded concession area with tables and chairs that will feature more options.

Nolan Ryan: [Looks down at the ground, smiles, and shakes his head] Yes, they’re in the process of opening a new stand, a grill–a kind of destination type place with different products. I haven’t seen the final menu yet. I’ve got a lot on my plate.

Ryan’s beef is available at Kroger’s and other stores and restaurants in the Southwest. Here is more info on cuts and quality.  Ryan’s new eatery at the Ballpark will debut on April 6th. I’m waiting for details from non-baseball PR types. (Photo courtesy of Nolan Ryan’s website.)

Look for the Grumpy Gourmet

He will be joining us here soon.

Makin’ Another Bacon Recipe

Here is a link to an insane, in a good way, bacon creation. Would somebody make this over the weekend and send a report with pictures? Thank you. (And PK.)

Central Market: The Case of the Missing Buns

Earlier today, I received an e-mail from a reader who complained about a recent visit to Central Market. Hear him roar:

We have noticed over the past few months a general slippage in store quality. On our most recent trip, our frustration with the decline in quality came to a head when the bakery was out of the single most important item we needed – hamburger buns – at 3:00 p.m.

Frustrated by the lack of buns and a number of other irritating things I noticed walking through the store, I asked to speak with the store manager. While waiting for him in the bakery area, I noticed two other women also upset at the lack of hamburger buns. I told the women (none of us knew each other) that I was waiting for the manager to discuss the situation, and they decided to wait with me. During the 10 minutes it took for the manager, Steve Tarantino, to show up, we chatted and I learned that they were every bit as frustrated as me about the decline in store quality. In fact, one of them told me that she had just tried to buy some cheese, only to pick it up and discover that it had expired in November!

Hmm. Lack of buns has never been a problem for me, only a dream. Sorry, I’m off topic. I wrote the guy back and theorized that perhaps many people hit their outdoor grills on Saturday and caught the bakery department off guard. Then, low and behold, I find I am right! And souper scooped by our sorta own, Teresa Gubbins, who reported this stunning development. Meanwhile,  I put the bun-less customer in touch with CM and after a flurry of back-and-forth e-mails, it sounds like they have reached a peace agreement.

Put on Your White Shoes and Grill

Last night I wore white pants to a Labor Day celebration dinner at my mother’s house. She jumped my case for wearing white after Labor Day. I insisted it wasn’t after Labor Day until today. She may have won the argument, but I’m winning the battle—I am wearing them again to day. And maybe I’ll just pull them on again on Saturday for a Fall Grilling demonstration at TJ’s Seafood Market in Preston Forest. They are partnering with BBQs Galore on Lovers and, from 11-6:00Pm they’ll be grilling fish, shellfish, and beef and passing out samples. Pick up a couple pounds of shrimp while you’re there. They have the best supply around. Info: 214-691-2369.

Plano Woman Named Best Campicurean in America

What is a campicurean you ask? According to a note that just plopped into my inbox a campicurean is someone who can really cook on a campfire. Unbenownest to me, their was a national competition hosted by Redwood Creek Wines on here for America’s Favorite Campfire Chef and Lisa Williams on not- so-plain ‘ol, Plano,Texas was the winner. After the votes were counted, it was Lisa’s swordish a roux “turtle packs” proved to be the country’s favorite, capturing an 47% of the vote. Lisa picked up a check for $1,000 which she plans to donate to the Plano PTA. Here’s some official-speak:

The Turtle Packs, paired with Redwood Creek’s Pinot Grigio, are Lisa’s creative way of satisfying her family’s “picky eaters” without overcomplicating their campsite. She encourages each camper to customize his or her “turtle pack”—a foil packet filled with a swordfish fillet, veggies and tangy condiments—which is nestled directly into a bed of glowing embers.

Ohmigod, Lisa Garza is going to be SO all over this turtle pack idea. Lisa Williams, watch your backpack. Congrats. Jump for recipe. (more…)

Bill “Freckle Face” Addison is a Weiner

Whoopsie-doodle, I mean winner. (What would I do without Spell Check?) Anywhoo, I just intercepted a secret DMN company memo announcing:

“Bill Addison will receive a national Association of Food Journalists award for restaurant criticism. The other finalists are: Will Ferrell for Talladega Dinner Nights and M.F.K. Fisher’s Recipes from the Grave. The ranking of the three awards will be announced at a conference in October.”

Kidding, so, so, so kidding. Way to go, Freckle Face, I hope you beat the pants off of your true rivals Lee Klein of Miami New Times and Tom Sietsema of The Washington Post-it.

Think and Talk About Street Food Tomorrow

If you haven’t read D contributor Rawlins Gilliland’s sassy piece on street food in Dallas in this month’s print pub, do so here. Then tomorrow you can listen to Rawlins wax poetic on his adventures in outdoor dining with Kris Boyd on Think (90.1) from noon to 1:00pm. Inspired by editing Gilliland’s story, I hit the Dallas Farmers Market this weekend for a piece or two of corn slathered with mayonnaise and butter from Paul’s Sweet Roasted Corn stand. I found Paul standing outside of Shed One shouting, “Come on baby, and get your corn. D Magazine loves us.” Yes we do. Especially the condiment bar (below).

Gal Wants Game

A poppa-lovin’ Disher asks the Dish Nation for help:

 What are some restaurants in the Dallas area that serve wild game and serve it well?
My dad’s birthday is coming up and we’d like to take him somewhere special.

Y.O. Ranch? Others?

Best X-mas Gift? Box of Steak

I like giving booze as presents, probably because it’s something I wouldn’t mind getting (hint, hint). Next year, things will be different. The folks gave me the best gift ever: a box of juicy, red, S-T-E-A-K. 18 bad boys are sitting in my freezer. Actually, it’s more like 16 — they go well with purple garlic mashers and glazed carrots.

I’ve had a great strip from Allen Brothers, and heard good things about Coopers Meat Market and Lobel’s of NY. Go buy meat. Now.