Bagel Boil

Last week it was reported in this space that Avner Samuel's fledgling Bistro K, a kosher restaurant in North Dallas, had surrendered to an entity called Bagel Cowboy. It turns out that's not exactly true. While the parent company of the restaurant is called Bagel Cowboy Café, the name of the new restaurant is actually New York Bagel Café, according to owner Mendy Spilman. But what happened to Samuel? "I bought him out," Spilman says. (Samuel couldn't be reached for comment). "He was looking for a way out...As soon as he opened, he realized it was not going to work out...He right away realized his expenses were going to be much more than his income." So Samuel's kosher vision succumbed to a blizzard of dancing bagels drafted from scratch in 24 flavors, a wide variety of coffees, assorted pastries and fresh-fruit smoothies. NYBC will serve full breakfasts and lunches while evenings will give way to a hyper-casual frolic of coffees, smoothies and pastries. NYBC should open July 8, when you can boil bagels on the sidewalk.

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Construction contractor and metal sculptor Santiago Peña is expanding his crazy taco empire with a second Taco Loco Express location at Lamar and Ross in a West End spot that was slated to be a restaurant called Taqueria Mexico. Peña calls his taco unit extension Taco Loco Express Dos. He says it should open sometime in the fall, about the same time his other project, Santiago's Cantina Grille, will open in Deep Ellum right across from Monica's Aca Y Alla. What isn't going so smoothly for Peña is his quest to get his mitts on the defunct Enigma restaurant on Routh Street. After reaching an agreement with the building's owner, John Houston, the deal apparently fell through and never made it to the ink stage. Nothing a loco lawyer can't fix...Wine maker Jeff Morgan has staked all his marbles on one wine: rosè. Dumb. When most people think pink, they think of the sweet plonk lots of us used as a liquid bridge between a cold Roy Rogers and a swanky chardonnay (Bud's in there somewhere, too). Maybe Morgan's trying to change the way America thinks. Or maybe he's blown too much valuable brain circuitry out his ears (Morgan was a saxophonist and band leader at the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo before he was a wine maker). Anyway, the 2001 SoloRosa, a blend of sangiovese, syrah, zinfandel and merlot, is a dry barrel-fermented pink with spunk and spine. Its bright berry visage moves through the mouth with a juicy acid spark, a peppery grip and a toasty layer tucked in the background. It goes as well with bikinis and watermelon wedges as it does with coq au vin. Find it on the Green Room's list or at Pogo's.