Articles about Restaurant 101

Sadly, Restaurant Veteran Vijay Sadhu’s Solo Voyage Founders in Plano

posted by Sarah Reiss | March 8th, 2011 9:30am | filed under Openings/Closings, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 14 Comments »

The interior of Vijay Sadhu's Sutra in Plano's Shops at Legacy.

We want Vijay Sadhu’s Sutra to succeed; really, we do. We were big fans of his work at Samar, at Clay Pit, and, before that, at Bukhara Grille. For this new venture, leaks about his Goan inspiration and his vision for a Portuguese-Indian fusion have had the blogs buzzing for months. That being the case, it pains us to write what must be written about our experience there this week.

click here to read the whole First Take review…

14 Comments »

You Should Eat at Crossroads Diner

posted by Tim Rogers | March 3rd, 2011 11:17am | filed under Breakfast, Openings/Closings, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 36 Comments »

Nearly every morning on the way to work, I drive past Crossroads Diner, which I’ve been meaning to visit ever since I read Nancy’s review of the place. This morning, I finally stopped in. And I’m glad I did.

What you see here is a three-egg frittata made with roasted red peppers, goat cheese, and chorizo ($8.95). On the left, that’s hash browns. On the right, if you look closely, you’ll see whole wheat toast. In the near distance, just beyond the whole wheat toast, you can probably make out a cup of coffee ($2.75). All of the forgoing went into my mouth and, from there, into my belly. About that experience I have this to say: I will do it again.

The frittata was fluffy. The eggs were perfectly cooked — firm without being rubbery. The rich, creamy goat cheese worked well with the savory chorizo, which sat in big, satisfying chunks rather tiny rabbit-dropping-size pellets. It’s hard to screw up hash browns; they didn’t.

I have three complaints. Continue reading "You Should Eat at Crossroads Diner"

36 Comments »

CuriousDish: Date Averaging and Restaurant Pairing

posted by George Lewis | February 28th, 2011 4:06pm | filed under Restaurant 101, Uncategorized, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 12 Comments »

Long ago, a friend of mine then in his mid-30s detailed his approach to dating. On a first date he would take a woman out for drinks, proceed to a Dallas Stars game, and end the evening with a lovely wine-infused dinner.  He admitted he threw down almost $600. Mark had a lot of first dates.

I was stunned. “How in the world do you afford that,” I asked.  Mark explained his idea which he called date averaging.  The first date would be a grand, expensive evening at one of Dallas’ top restaurants.  For the second and third date, he would scale back to a cool, hip dive.

Are you a date averager? If so, let’s consider Restaurant Pairing. Which two restaurants would you match for such a first and second date?  I’ll offer up the first pairing: The French Room  followed by Louie’s. Now, let’s  hear yours.

12 Comments »

CuriousDish: Love of Stephan Pyles’ Restaurants in Dallas

posted by George Lewis | February 22nd, 2011 12:11pm | filed under best of big d, Celebrity Chefs, Chefs, Restaurant 101 | 8 Comments »

Heaven and Hell cake at Stephan Pyles. Photography by Kevin Marple.

Have you ever known a Stephan Pyles restaurant that you didn’t love?  In a recent post– Which Dallas Restaurant Would you Revive?–Dishers showed lots of love for Chef Pyles’ concepts.

First we loved Routh Street.  The Baby Routh, the restaurant that signaled the uber-upscale Routh Street wasn’t going to play well in the early 90s recession.  Star Canyon, with its brilliant in its food, energy, and design came along in the mid-90s.  I admit I didn’t quite get AquaKnox in the late ’90s but recently Chef Pyles is delighting Dallas with Stephan Pyles, Samar by Stephan Pyles, and Fuego at Stephan Pyles.

Which one is your favorite? Have you “had” them all?  Tell us.

8 Comments »

Brackets in The Palomar—Should A Restaurant Marry A Sports Bar?

posted by Sarah Reiss | January 7th, 2011 7:38am | filed under Openings/Closings, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News, Reviews, seafood | 1 Comment »

Scallops, shrimp, and darn good grits. photography by Sarah Reiss.

Brackets stands as a testament to the vast gulf between aspiration and execution. The aspiration is to blend clubhouse and culinary experiences into a new seamless hybrid. The execution of this hybrid feels…

Read the whole Brackets First Take review here…

1 Comment »

Want to Work at Bouchon in Yountville? Heed This Advice

posted by Andrew Chalk | September 20th, 2010 10:00am | filed under Andrew Chalk, Chefs, Restaurant 101, Uncategorized |

One of Pine Ridge Winery executive chef Eric Maczko’s earlier gigs was at Bouchon, Thomas Keller’s bistro in Yountville, California. In this video, chef Maczko offers some sage advice to young chefs seeking employment there.

CuriousDish: Which Dallas Restaurant Would You Revive?

posted by George Lewis | August 24th, 2010 9:47am | filed under How to Open a Restaurant 101, Neighborhood restaurants, Politics of Food, R.I.P., Restaurant 101 | 120 Comments »

Let’s take a break from the restaurants still here and think about those that we miss. Imagine you had the power–a genie in a bottle of Chateau Latour Pomerol to grant you one wish. If you could rub her it and be granted the gift to bring one dead restaurant back to life, which one would you revive and why?  Riviera? Routh Street? Nero’s?

UPDATE: After roughly 24 hours, over 100 Dishers had asked their genies to revive their favorite restaurants!! Let’s dig through and see.  After 146 genie rubs, Lola gets the most requests, at 8.  Lots of love for Il Sorrento with 6 rubs and Cuidad at 5.  The Wine Press and Uncle Tai’s had 4 mentions.  Surprises for me included Routh Street and The Riviera only getting one comment each.  Lots of love spread out for Stephan Pyles’ concepts including Baby Routh (3), Star Canyon (3), and Aquaknox (2).

120 Comments »

Mico Rodriguez’s Pinky-Chan: No Go in West Village

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 11th, 2010 8:00am | filed under Foodie People, hold on to your effin hat, Murmur, Overprivileged chimps, Restaurant 101, Restaurant News, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 11 Comments »
Pinky-chan is an Omoigawazakura and appears everywhere in Oyama.

Remember the young gal at Foodie Couture who wrote this account of her business relationship with Mico Rodriguez along with details of Mico’s plan for a restaurant called Pinky Chan? She was so happy to be working with her mentor.

Then last night, a teary post titled “Pinky Chan: A figment of the imagination” went up on their site.

“I’ve been living and breathing Pinky for two months and seeing this character and restaurant concept come to life was simply.. AMAZING!  From meeting with the fashion and interior designers to demolition it was becoming a reality. But it came to a screeching halt when issues with investors could not be resolved.”

Welcome to the big show, girls. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Investors cost a little more. Next.

11 Comments »

CuriousDish: The Ritual of Tipping in Dallas

posted by George Lewis | August 6th, 2010 10:17am | filed under How to Open a Restaurant 101, Overprivileged chimps, Restaurant 101 | 30 Comments »

The tipping ritual varies all over the world.  Here is an article about the habits of gratuity giving all over the globe. In Europe, I love the nice even numbers on the menus and the “Service Compris” at the bottom of most menus.  I know what I’m spending. It saves me from having to do math.

What’s your method of calculating tip here in Dallas?  Are you a 10-percenter?  15?  20?  Would you prefer it if we,  like the French, included the service in the menu pricing? (Note: some places in Dallas already do this for parties of six or more.)  Do you modify your tip percentage depending on the whether the meal is  fine dining vs. fast-casual? Give me some tips.

30 Comments »

Remembering Gina Campisi

posted by Nancy Nichols | February 3rd, 2010 3:30pm | filed under R.I.P., Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 11 Comments »

ginacampisi3-164x300When Gina Campisi decided to open Fedora in the One Arts Plaza, she agreed to be a guest blogger here on SideDish. She wrote several Restaurant 101 posts chronicling her experiences. I’ve pulled a couple of my favorites.

“Permit Me To Have A Nervous Breakdown”

“The Road to Nowhere”

11 Comments »

50 Incredible Lectures for the Ultimate Foodie

posted by Nancy Nichols | October 7th, 2009 9:43am | filed under AgriBusiness, Celebrity Chefs, Farmers Markets, Foodie People, Foodie Video, Groceries, Hippie revolutions, Local/Slow Food, Restaurant 101 | 3 Comments »

A nice lady named Amber Johnson sends you this link to 50 Incredible Lectures for the Ultimate Foodie. I’ve spent the last 90 minutes dipping into the video library and I could spend the rest of the day curled up on the couch watching them all. So far I’ve scanned “Craig Claiborne and the Invention of Food Journalism,” “Food Writing Forum: Eat, Memory,” and Ferran Adria: A Day at elBulli”. Bookmark the site and save it for a rainy day.

3 Comments »

Can Somebody Help This Poor Girl: 40th Birthday in North Dallas Edition

posted by Sarah Eveans | August 4th, 2009 4:26pm | filed under Events, Restaurant 101 | 11 Comments »

fortyDishers, let’s help her. I mean, it’s 4:20 and everyone has quit working for the day already, so why not put on your thinking cap? Read on:

I am starting to research places to have my 40th birthday party.  Will you give me some suggestions of places where we can eat, probably buffet style and dance, either a DJ or live music.  I’m inviting around 50 people and expect 30-40 to come, probably.   A reasonable price is preferred.  I live near Addison and most of my friends live in the Plano/Frisco area, so North is best for location.  One suggestion was Sambuca in Addison, but I’m afraid it may be too expensive.  Another place is maybe a restaurant on Lake Ray Hubbard.

11 Comments »

Fedora to Re-Open in One Arts Plaza

posted by Sarah Eveans | June 17th, 2009 2:02pm | filed under Restaurant 101, Restaurant News |

Christopher Wynn has the scoop on the Eats blog. The folks at Fedora say they will re-open later this week or early next week. So, there’s that.

John Tesar’s New Restaurant Gets One Star from New York Times

posted by Sarah Eveans | May 6th, 2009 11:17am | filed under Chefs, Restaurant 101 | 9 Comments »

Former Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek chef John Tesar relocated to New York in March to work at David Burke’s Fishtail restaurant. Today, the New York Times‘ Frank Bruni reviews it and gives it one star. Tesar is only mentioned once:

But under the first executive chef, Eric Hara, and under his successor, John Tesar, the kitchen turned out plenty of clunkers: mealy octopus; a lobster carbonara with bits of bacon as hard as pellets; tough prawns arranged prettily but pointlessly over the gluiest, saddest, blandest little pesto ravioli you can imagine.

But it’s not all bad. Bruni mentions several things he likes about Fishtail, including the fillet of halibut, the mussels, a Scottish langoustine special, and a “can o’ cake,” a dessert that comes with a cake batter-covered mixing bowl and paddles (yum). He also says David Burke produced a restaurant “with some real charms, among them its smooth, upbeat service and an attractive, comfortable setting in an Upper East Side town house.” Read the whole thing here.

9 Comments »

Wanted: Neighborhood Restaurant (In My East Dallas Neighborhood)

posted by Adam McGill | January 26th, 2009 2:24pm | filed under Restaurant 101 | 25 Comments »

Driving home on Friday night, I passed Alfonso’s, a solid Italian restaurant in the strip mall at the corner of Buckner and Northcliff. It was a little after 7 and there were about 20 people waiting outside for a table. Is the food there so good it merits such a following? Not especially. But it’s the only halfway decent, non-chain restaurant in the area.

A week ago, word of Another Broken Egg led to a discussion of the paucity of dining options in the Casa Linda/Little Forest Hills area. Consider this post another plea to any chefs out there looking for a location amid hungry, patient, would-be customers. I promise to be a loyal one (provided your food is good and appropriately priced).

Also up for discussion: What other neighborhoods are in dire need of dining options?

25 Comments »

Get Excited About the Restaurant Business

posted by Nancy Nichols | January 1st, 2009 12:33pm | filed under Restaurant 101, Restaurant News | 6 Comments »

Last year wasn’t a great year for the Dallas restaurant business. So to get things off to a good start in 2009, I give you this feel-good video. Eat out and eat out often. Double entendre be damned.

6 Comments »

Restaurant 101: Credit Cards, the Fees Restaurants Love to Hate

posted by Nancy Nichols | August 20th, 2008 1:58pm | filed under Restaurant 101, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Miss Amy is back from vacation and ready to roll out a new subject for us all to chew on. Today she explains a restaurant’s cost of doing business with credit cards. As customers, we don’t think twice about flipping a card out to pay for a meal while the restaurateur has to deal with tons of paperwork and fee assessments. Yuck-a-doo, I hate math. Here she goes:

Ask any owner, and they will groan about the fee amounts, the charge complexities, and the required software upgrades to their point-of-sale equipment. Since 2001, the cost of processing credit card transactions has dropped considerably but merchant fees have risen over 133% , a fact that has lead the National Restaurant Association to join with other small merchant groups and support the Credit Card Fair Fee Act. To summarize, small business owners would like to know what they are paying for–merchant statements can include over 12 lines of various charges, depending on the type of card that was used. Continue reading "Restaurant 101: Credit Cards, the Fees Restaurants Love to Hate"

6 Comments »
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