This week's Dallas food bloggers learned to trust empty parking lots, took Mary into their own Bloody hands, and found peace on Earth at Potager Café and the Dallas Islamic Center. More Dallas restaurants have Gone Texan, and don't expect to find wines from any other place except the homeland at the State Fair. Check out this week's Sloppy Seconds.
The Week in Review(s):
Your own Dallas Observer:
Diners new to Potager Café in Arlington might notice what is not there: computers, printed menus, valets, service or even set prices. But the owners and devoted regulars, as our food Hanna Raskin observed, are doing just fine without those things. In its place? A simple philosophy to make "honest food for people who care about what they eat." Click here for the full review.
The Dallas Morning News:
It was an "As the Salad Bowl Spins" soap opera of ups and down at The Mercury for Leslie Brenner. After three visits, she still doesn't know what to think. Be it a wilted salad that should have never made it to the table, farmed fish "mistaken" for wild fish or an obscure but perfectly prepared cocktail--your next visit may be a roll of the dice. Check out the full review here.
Eats Blog: Leslie Brenner announced that Go Fish Ocean Club will host Wednesday night viewing parties to cheer on their own executive chef Tiffany Derry and Top Chef contestant in the final episodes. (To catch you up on the latest details of the show, read our own Merritt Martin's Screen Bites.) Kim Pierce gave a quick rundown of the best end of summer fruits and veggies, and spoke to Jim Henry about his upcoming olive harvest in San Antonio.
Sidedish: Nancy Nichols pondered what will happen to the half jillion eggs since the salmonella debacle. Todd Johnson devoured a chocolate apricot mole ice cream push pop at Dude Sweet Chocolate in time to revive him from the new "cool" weather sweeping through North Texas. Hayley Hamilton met up with the papa of Hope Family Wines out of Cali.
Pegasus News: DRG Concepts chef John Tesar has been invited for the seventh time to cook at James Beard Foundation's Beard House in NYC's Greenwich Village, and Teresa Gubbins reported that Tei An will host a Japanese Beer Garden and Yukata Night. Don't miss out on the half-price dinner but only if you dress up in a kimono.
City of Ate: After years of searching for the perfect Bloody Mary at restaurants the world over, Andrea Grimes experimented in her kitchen to create her own Brunch Drunk Bloody. José Ralat Maldonado gave Los Altos de Jalisco No. 2 taquería the benefit of the doubt and miraculously found his goat taco. Then he discovered why the parking lot is always empty. Hanna Raskin found that it's only Texas grown for some Dallas restaurants, including
Taco Cabana's breakfast sausage tacos and only wines from 24 Texas wine gardens at the State Fair of Texas. And since everybody and their mom is talking about the fried food finalists at the State Fair of Texas (including us), Dallas Vegan is entering the ring with its own version of the frying competition in October. And the Dallas Islamic Center warmed our hearts by inviting a Jewish congregation to an interfaith dinner to promote understanding between the groups.