SideDish » Murmur

Chef Adam Bazaldua Leaves 303 Bar and Grill

Carol Shih — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:02:34 +0000

According to 303’s Facebook page, Chef Adam (formerly of Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen) and the owner of 303 Bar and Grill couldn’t ever agree on the restaurant’s concept.

Adam posted this cheery message on Sunday night:

“Hello FB friends!!! I would like to start off by saying thanks for all the support you have shown me with the new restaurant. Unfortunately, I am no longer the Chef at 303 Bar and Grill, due to a constant concept battle between the owner and myself. I am now no longer affiliated with the food that comes out of its kitchen, other than them using the menu that I designed and created. I WILL be on to bigger and better things soon, and I hope to have yalls support with my next venture. Thanks!! Talk to you all soon!”

Turns out big bar mogul Frank Carabetta is taking over Adam’s spot from yesterday’s post:

“The person making all the calls in his place now is a guy named Frank Carabetta. Just want everyone to know who to thank for all the changes being made to this restaurant!! If you would like to “like” and continue to follow this establishment, please find “ThreeOthree Barandgrill” on Facebook.”

Sounds like everyone’s happy with this arrangement…. for now.

UPDATE: Not everyone is happy in 303 land. Adam Bazaldua called to tell me about his fall-out with Frankie Carabetta.

Jump for the rest of the story.Something fishy is definitely happening over at 303 Bar and Grill. Adam Bazaldua claims he was being micro-managed by owner consultant Frankie Carabetta and that he couldn’t serve the exciting food he wanted – which isn’t anything to post about, really, until you Google search “Frank Carabetta” and discover his history of sour business relationships when he’s opening new bars.

I’m going to be perfectly honest with you. Everything was being done half-assed. A lot of red flags were thrown up in the construction phase. It was apparent that he was in financial pressure, and he just wanted to get the place open. We literally got our temporary CO the same day we had patrons come in. That’s also the day our staff came in. No one was trained. And he still hasn’t verbally told me that he let me go. He’s very unprofessional, to say the least. I was given a letter attached to my final paycheck (which wasn’t even the full amount, which I guess was his final jab at me). The piece of paper says I’ve been terminated and it’s signed by him and the general manager.

I’m not trying to bash this place. The owner? I’m bashing! Nothing was handled in a professional way. There’s a lot more to the story, a lot more that’s crooked.

Now Adam’s kicking himself in the foot for not doing a proper Google search before he started working with Frankie. (Dude, Google saves lives…) I tried calling Frankie for a comment last night, but he was nowhere to be found. If you see this, Frankie, you can shoot me an email.

UPDATE #2: There are two sides to every story.

Frankie says that Celia Lopez (co-owner of 303) spoke with Adam at length about his issues in the kitchen and that the construction phase was not a financial issue.

We wish Adam all the best. He’s a very talented guy. He’s probably going to be on tv shows. We have no ill-will towards him. He just needs seasoned time. He’s just not ready to run a kitchen. And I’m certainly not ready to micro-manage a kitchen, but that’s what I had to do.

What Would Happen if Women Opened Restaurants With Male Body Parts as Themes

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:12:33 +0000

‘Scuse me while I saddle up my high horse. Am I the only woman who is concerned about the sudden surge in Breastaurants. I mean really 35 additional Twin Peaks? A bar opening in downtown called The Spread Eagle? Seriously boys? How would you like to take your daughter into one of the restaurant’s the gals in our office just conceptualized. We call them Peteries.

Hunky Town, Twin Pricks, Tooter’s, Pecker’s Hot Italian Sausage, Tube Steak Junction, Cake Balls to the Walls, Nuts and Butts, Quickies, Long Dong Silver, Tally Whacker’s, Love Mussels, Wee Willie’s, Twig and Berries.

Ladies, the floor is open.

You Can’t Hide From SceneTap App

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:30:41 +0000

Just when I think I’m pretty hip to high tech I get a press release that blows my mind.

Here is a sample from one:

When tourists and travellers arrive in a new city, one of the first things they often look for is a place to grab a bite or get a good drink. Now, if they want to know where to find their favorite bar scene before they head out, they can turn to SceneTap, which shows the following in real time:

·         Number of people in the bar

·         Male-to-female ratio

·         Average age of patrons in the bar

·         Food and drink specials

SceneTap is a free app for iPhone, Android and the Web, and it gathers this information anonymously using facial detection cameras and “people-counting” technologies in participating bars.The app launched in Chicago in July and is expanding its network to a number of other major cities soon. More than 250 bars around the U.S. have signed up so far.

Here’s a stupid question. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Food Writer Discovers What to do With an Oversized Zucchini

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:42:18 +0000

Really? He got paid to write this?

The Free Man Soft Opens With Some Semantics Issues

Sarah Reiss — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:29:22 +0000

John Jay Myers has swung the doors wide on The Free Man, his new Cajun cafe & lounge in Deep Ellum. His mission: combining a bit of Bourbon Street with a nightly live-music venue. Menu items: etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, boudin, alligator, and more. Sounds great to us, but the Cajun vs. Creole distinction seems to have some people in a huff. The general consensus: Bourbon Street/New Orleans=dignified Creole, while western Louisiana=wild & wooly Cajun.

I’m guessing you have a lot to say about the hair-splitting (or cavernous) distinction. I do so love a debate.

Park Restaurant Sold and Gets a New Bad Name

Nancy Nichols — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:02:01 +0000

A few weeks ago, I actually made a phone call and reported the closure of Park Restaurant. Short story shorter: Owner Donald Chick sold the place to Peter Kenny, owner of Capitol Pub. Today, Teresa Gubbins digs deep in the dirt and reveals Mr. Kenny has already come up with new names for both Park and its sibling, Bar Celine. Park will now be Swig. Really? “Hey gang, let’s go to Swig for brunch?” Doesn’t work for me.

Meanwhile, Bar Celine will be called The Gin Mill. I love gin so I won’t complain about that. However, Swig is going on my Bad Names for Restaurants List. Right beside our this place. Teresa has more important stuff here. (Asador, really chaps my sass.) Moving on.

Park Restaurant on Henderson is Closing For Renovations

Nancy Nichols — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 01:05:59 +0000

Several folks have emailed to say Park Restaurant on Henderson is closing/closed. They are open right now but, according to the nice man who just answered the phone, they are closing on Sunday for renovations.

Over It: Cute Food Trend Needs to Disappear

Nancy Nichols — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:29:29 +0000

Humiliating Presentation: This poor little lamb flew all the way from New Zealand to have a stick shoved in its leg?

I hate rain-delayed baseball games. Especially those with 11:20PM starting times, torrential rain and hail, and tornado warnings. I like my sleep and I like the Rangers to win.

With a crabby demeanor, I begin today by tossing a rock at what I call “cute food.” I’m talking sliders, $5 cupcakes, cupcakes in a jar, mac and cheese in little iron skillets, cake balls (pops), lamb called lollipops, pickles on top of gourmet burgers, ad nauseum. These are a few of my least favorite things. Oh, and I’ll add chicken wings because they have no purpose on this earth. Your turn. Go.

Chef John Tesar to Appear on Extreme Chef

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:22:21 +0000

We’ve followed chef John Tesar from the refined confines of the Rosewood Mansion to a cocktail den in South Side to upscale burger joint in One Arts Plaza. It only seems logical go travel along with him to a mountain in the wilderness. Huh? Ever the clever chef, Tesar is, once again, letting his freak flag fly. How high? Tesar is not spilling details other than he will be competing on a new Food Network show called Extreme Chef. He could be killing a live rattlesnake for breakfast or cooking a rabbit on a car engine, both of which I would pay to see live (especially the visual of this nerdy black glasses steaming up over a steaming radiator). But we’ll all have to wait until the show debuts on June 30.

The premise: “Each episode pushes three chefs to their physical and mental limits as they must adjust to extreme conditions and unpredictable curveballs such as swimming across a lake for ingredients and using a car engine as a makeshift stove.” The victorious chef pockets $10 grand which, after taxes, might be $5,000. Whatever, soon we have yet another Dallas chef on TV. I hope Tesar wins. He could flaunt his victory over Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern.

The first time I watched the trailer below, I thought it was a joke. It’s not. It’s reality. Excuse me while I open a can of Sterno for lunch.

FOOD NETWORK’S EXTREME CHEF SIZZLE by multivu

Ruth Reichl is Back: Gilt Taste Online Magazine/Catalog is Live

Nancy Nichols — Wed, 18 May 2011 20:54:48 +0000

I have mixed feelings about Ruth Reichl. For many years I devoured everything she wrote. After reading her first couple books, I grew a little weary of her style. Her writing is florid like perfume. Sometimes she says so much with just a spritz; other times her words overwhelm your senses.

However, she has been a talented, successful, and authoritative voice to my generation of eaters and writers. When I got a chance to sit down with Ms. Reichl at a conference in Minneapolis, oh about ten years ago, I was ready to bond.

Didn’t happen. She was rude. She never looked me in the eye. She didn’t ask me one thing about myself or Dallas. (Wouldn’t a national food magazine editor be curious about the dining scene in a major US city?) She was deep into her job as Queen of Gourmet and she didn’t want to talk about food criticism. She was “past that.”

Well, goody for her. Gourmet died and Ruth rose above the rubble. She’s had a series of glam jobs on TV, she wrote books, and is the executive producer of Garlic and Sapphires, a film based on her memoirs. And she has great hair (which I’m sure she hates). My disappointment in Reichl has morphed into mind-numbing mixture of jealousy and resentment. Especially when it comes to her hair.

Today, cue Elton John, Ruth Reichl is back. She is the editorial advisor to Gilt Taste, an online magazine/catalog (webazinelog?) featuring fine writing, artisanal products, and lots of Ruth. Does she get on your nerves or do you love her flowery prose (and The Bridges of Madison County)? But here’s the good news.

In-N-Out Burger: Opening in Frisco and Allen Wednesday

Nancy Nichols — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:55:20 +0000

The altar is up. Prepare to worship.

Kellyn Curtis is reporting that the In-N-Out Burger locations in Frisco and Allen will open on Wednesday. She got an email from Carl Van Fleet, the head dude at In-N-Out so I guess they will open on Wednesday.

However, I went out to Frisco this morning and talked to a corporate person who said “sometime this week” about 20 times. I introduced myself to a nice man with a nice Southern Californian tan and told him I was too old to drive to Frisco every morning to see if they were opening. He smiled and said, “All I can say is sometime this week.” I offered him money. “No, I can’t take that. It’s sometime this week.” I asked him if he was in fact Carl Van Fleet. He said, “No, Carl will be here sometime this week.” By the time I got back to the office, Miss Kellyn had an email from Carl Van Fleet. So, all I learned is that the guy I was talking to was not Carl Van Fleet because he didn’t have a phone on him.

Jump for my photo essay.

Squeaky clean in Frisco.

(left) The talk box is ready. Signage? Not so much. (right) The Inside from outside.

(left) The trash cans are clean and ready for your trash. (right) Very SoCal landscaping.

Dimples Cupcakes Makes a Comeback With New Owner Mark Aguirre

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:54:02 +0000

I should have put a question mark on that headline for I don’t know the whole story, I only copy and pasted what I read on Dimples’ Facebook page. It sez:

We are proud to Formally Announce that as of Today, We Have Passed The Ball To
Mark Aguirre, 2 Time NBA Champion and his business partner Keith Fluellen. Many
changes will be made, however One Thing Will Remain The Same..THE CUPCAKES Mark Aguirre will soon announce all the exciting details. We wish Mark and his Team
great success. …Thank You DFW

Well, there’s another American entrepreneurial success story for the books.

Teresa Gubbins Makes a Great Point: Throwing Away Food at Fundraisers is Politically Incorrect

Nancy Nichols — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:08:13 +0000

Gross. Photo by Marc Lee.

Last night the Chefs for Farmers dinner at the Highland Park Cafeteria was the talk of the town. Over 250 folks showed up to support farmers, raise money, and bow to local producers and everything organic. All the current politically correct buzzwords were in place until reporter Teresa Gubbins noticed the huge number of half-eaten plates left on the tables. She writes:

I didn’t eat. I was too stunned by the rampant waste. Given the nature of the crowd — one that seemed heavy on foodies — I was flabbergasted to see how much food got thrown away, and how little respect it seemed to show for the work the chefs did, and the very nature of the event itself, with its emphasis on farmers and reverence for food.

I thought the idea of holding the event in a cafeteria was a great idea–it could have been a teaching experience. Instead of piling on globs of food, the chefs should have dished out smaller tasting portions. One diner quipped: “I paid $92 and I’m going to get my money’s worth.” Dude, it’s a fundraiser. You aren’t supposed to get your money’s worth. Stay true to the movement, chefs. Gubbins, you rule #WINNING.

Salad Dressing Scandal: Houston’s in Addison Denies Customer an Extra Serving

Nancy Nichols — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:32:53 +0000

What is going on around here? First a restaurant won’t split a large bill for a table of eleven, now comes word that Houston’s in Addison won’t put dressing on the side. This note from a long-time Houston’s customer just popped up in my inbox:

Me: “I’d like my dressing on the side.”
Server: “We don’t do sides of dressing anymore, we make the dressing with the salad.”
Me: “Oh.”

[Salad is served]

Server: “How’s your salad?”
Me: “Kind of bland, can I get some more dressing?”
Server: “I’m sorry they [kitchen] only make the dressing when they make the salad.”
Me: “But it’s a $14 salad.”

REALLY? On Valentine’s Day? MAKE SOME MORE.

Restaurant Rant: Leslie Brenner Falls Off Her Rocker Again

Nancy Nichols — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:49:43 +0000

Dallas has a rich history of Tex-Mex. El Fenix opened in 1918. photo courtesy of El Fenix.

I know Leslie Brenner works hard and I swore to myself that I would quit pointing to things she writes that I consider odd or wrong. However, my brain snapped into a million fragments as I read her column on where Super Bowl fans can dine without a reservation.

After touting Tei-An and steakhouses she writes:

“If you’re looking for a place with another kind of serious Texas flavor, charge right past the Tex-Mex spots you’ll see all over town; Tex-Mex is not Dallas’ strong suit.”

What is she smoking? Seriously? El Fenix has been open since 1918. Tex-Mex is not our strong suit? When did we become the hotbed for soba noodles and octopus salad? Don’t get me wrong, we have excellent Japanese restaurants. But are they our strong suit. If so, why have I spent the last several days answering e-mails from visiting media members looking for hole-in-the-wall Tex-Mex and margaritas. I have to go outside and find some ice to slip on. Leslie, you can catch up on the history and significance of Tex-Mex in Dallas here. Or at least talk to Kim Pierce. Charge right past? Oh, my.