Blythe Beck

Why Chefs Hate Valentine's Day, with Josh Valentine and The Taste's Brian Malarky

Last year, Dallas chef Bylthe Beck dished on how chefs -- those unseen working horse of cupid's desires -- feel about Valentine's Day. There's a lot of stress back in that kitchen knowing there's an abundance of high hopes out in their dining room. This year I tracked down a couple more chefs. Let' ... More >>

The City of Ate Chef Interview: 24-Year-Old Garden Cafe Chef Mark Wootton

Garden Café is one of several little neighborhood jewels tucked away in East Dallas. The breakfast and lunch spot's most distinguishing feature is the large garden behind the quaint white brick building in which it sits. Plots of herbs and rows of veggies keep the butterflies and bees busy, and als ... More >>

Heavy Cooking Isn't the Only Way to Embrace Local Meat. Though It's a Pretty Tasty Way.

Chef Blythe Beck Releases Info on Her New Project "Show Me Your America"

Since naughty chef Blythe Beck left Central 214 last fall, she promised to resurface soon with her own personal project. Well, this weekend via her Facebook page she finally spilled the beans. "Show Me Your America" is the name of the venture, and the aim is to tell the story of our country throug ... More >>

Here's How Chefs Feel About Valentine's Day

Blythe Beck​Eating out on Valentine's Day is like the fun house at a traveling carnival -- all smoke and mirrors and unmet expectations. The bar is set too high, the pressure to perform too much, and in the end everyone feels duped. Yet every year when it rolls back through town, people line b ... More >>

Graham Dodds Has Landed: Ex Bolsa Chef Will Helm Central 214

​When Bolsa announced Jeff Harris and Matt Balke would be taking over the kitchen and running the soon to open (and now opened) Bolsa Mercado, little was said about the chef they replaced. Graham Dodds was understandably quiet about his departure. In a short interview with D, he declined to co ... More >>

We Still Like Hamburgers and Fried Things, According to This Week In Food Blog Land

​This week, the food media saw plenty of ungodly fried things, men who like burgers and more chocolate and crepes than you could ever want (though not in the same place, unfortunately.) Read on. City of Ate/Observer Scott Reitz offered his opinion of The Grape, saying that restaurants are sup ... More >>

Central 214's VIP (Very Important Pet) Party. Quite Possibly the Cutest Dinner-Party, Ever.

Catherine Downes​Last night, Central 214 hosted their VIP (Very Important Pet) Pooch Patio dinner-party with proceeds benefiting Operation Kindness. Naughty Chef Blythe Beck made the rounds with her rescue pup, Sheriff Brown, in tow. "This is a great turn out, I feel so blessed," Beck said, as s ... More >>

Central 214 to Host VIP (Very Important Pet) Party

​On Thursday, June 30, Central 214 is hosting a VIP (Very Important Pet) Pooch patio dinner-party with proceeds benefiting Operation Kindness. That night, party-goers and their canine friend(s) are invited to dress to impress and strut down a paw-printed red carpet, where they'll be greeted by the ... More >>

Central 214's New Summer Menu Celebrates Texas

Central 214's Blythe Beck.​Central 214 has rolled out its new summer menu. And, as chef Blythe Beck explains, "It tastes like Texas. I'm all about it. I love it." The menu keeps some 214 faves, like Beck's signature chicken and waffles (spicy fried chicken and buttered waffle with jalapeño gr ... More >>

The Ultimate Tailgate Party: It May be the Closest Thing to Pro Football This Year

​Remember the last scene of Casablanca in which Rick and Renault come together in the end for the good of humanity then walk off into the fog contemplating "... the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Well, that's basically what's happening between the NFL owners and players this weekend at ... More >>

Find Truth In Wine At These Vino Events

​For all of you out there who are fretting over the remainder of the work week, just remember that's there's a glass of wine with your name on it. Actually, there are multiple glasses waiting for you because we've found three wine events you won't want to miss. For her final column in the Observ ... More >>

Savor Dallas: Sampling Some Well-Balanced Meals

Danny FulgencioStephan Pyles at work feeding the masses at Savor Dallas. See the full round of shots in Danny's slideshow. ​If we had gotten there 10 minutes later, we wouldn't have been able to get a parking space, which is shocking since the Savor Dallas International Grand Tasting on Saturday n ... More >>

Central 214 Serves Up a New Tasting Menu

Sara KerensA gift from the chicken-fried gods​Need dinner plans? Three-course meals can be quite expensive, but if you have $30, check out the new "Pick Your Plates" tasting menu at Central 214 (5680 North Central Expressway). Naughty Chef Blythe Beck's menu includes new entrée options in a ... More >>

Twisted to the Root: Jason Boso on Kids' Jokes, Pantlessness and Steakhouses

Jason Boso, owner and chef at Twisted Root Burger Company and Cowboy Chow​On Wednesday, we gave you the goods on Jason Boso, owner and chef at Twisted Root Burger Company and Cowboy Chow. Today, we ask Boso to finish a few sentences for us. Tomorrow, he shares one of his recipes. (Note Boso's ... More >>

Charitable Eating: Enjoy a Guilt-Free Thanksgiving

​If you're feeling a little guilty that your Thanksgiving is going to feature three turkeys, 27 different sides and the Mississippi River's worth of wine while others go without, relax. Dallas has plenty of charitable eating options coming up this month. The place: Smashburger The cause: Salv ... More >>

Love On It: Blythe Beck's Chicken and Waffles

​One of the goodies on executive chef Blythe Beck's brand new fall menu at Central 214 is the Southern fave chicken and waffles. Luckily, this is no State Fair version. With its jalapeno gravy, it's more like South meets Southwest. (For this week's profile of Beck, click here. For a Q&A, click ... More >>

Blythe Beck on Cooking With Love and Loving New Kids on the Block

Courtesy Central 214​Yesterday, we brought you a short profile of the unflappable Blythe Beck, executive chef at Central 214. Today, we asked Beck to finish a few sentences for us. Tomorrow, she shares one of her naughty recipes. (Note: Beck's words are after the ellipses.) My friends say I ... More >>

Miss Behavin': Central 214's Blythe Beck
Gets Down, Dirty and Delicious

Photo courtesy of Central 214Central 214's executive chef Blythe Beck​ Her first name ain't baby, it's Blythe, Miss Beck if you're naughty She dresses in pink. She loves diamonds. And she says that what food really wants is for you to "love on it." I'm speaking, of course, about Blythe Beck, ... More >>

It's a Losing Season for the Cowboys and Dallas' Fancy Restaurants

Even chefs who aren't sports fans are ruing the Rangers' performance this weekend, since the extended series is likely to keep eaters out of their dining rooms for a few more nights. ​Central 214's executive chef Blythe Beck says high-end restaurants can't compete with championship baseball. "Re ... More >>

Five Sixty Appoints New Executive Chef

A Texas-born chef has been tapped to take over at Five Sixty when executive chef Sara Johannes leaves this week. ​Pat Roberston, who's served as executive sous chef at the Wolfgang Puck-owned restaurant since its opening in February 2009, has spent more than a decade with the Wolfgang Puck Fi ... More >>

Part 2: Dan Landsberg on Odd Requests, Local Foods and the Day He Nearly Burned Down
A Kitchen

Photo by Robert BostickDan Landsberg​As we told you yesterday, Chef Dan Landsberg puts an inventive twist on American-style fare at Tillman's Roadhouse in Oak Cliff. For a further peek at the mind behind Tillman's down-home/upscale menu, today we pose a few questions about the chef's likes and ... More >>

Burger Battle Round Two: Farnatchi vs. Square Burger

Square Burger​Earlier this year Toque brought you the throw-down between up-and-coming chain Five Guys Burger and the Oak Cliff standard, Wingfield's Breakfast and Burger. It was a messy proposition that actually took us to many burger fronts all in one day. We visited Smashburger and Mooyah, as t ... More >>

Come On, Eat Fancy

Local Restaurants Help the Gulf Coast; Mextopia Holds Its Grand Opening This Weekend; Scardello Hosts Top Flight Wines; And More.

Blythe Beck​A few Dallas restaurants are gearing up to help out with Gulf oil spill. Executive chef Blythe Beck at Central 214 starts a new fundraiser today called "We Cook While They Clean." The restaurant will donate $1 from every purchase of the chicken-fried Kobe steak dish to the Gulf R ... More >>

Dining At 30,000 Feet

The Battle of the Chefs Challenge

Spike Johnson​In the great challenge tradition set to flying knives on the Food Network, Blythe Beck, of Central 214 (whom we gave Best Use of Butter and Cream Award in 2009)  and the Oxygen Network's The Naughty Kitchen, was host chef to the Battle of the Chefs Challenge at the Frontiers of ... More >>

La Duni is Muddling Again,Yoga for Foodies, Women Make Wine, Chefs Battle It Out

kirstygreenwood.typepad.com​The weather is turning nice, flowers are blooming, people are walking their dogs and actually enjoying it. This can only mean one thing--winter is done.   The best way to celebrate the spring season is to learn how to prepare a cocktail, of course, and La ... More >>

On The Catwalk, Yeah

Eden vs Central 214: Salad Smackdown

Alex Flores​It is that time of year when we begin to waver on our resolutions. Oh, we still push ourselves to actually visit the gym we have been dutifully paying for the past eighteen months. Diet books fly off the shelf as we survey the damage done by the excess of office parties and garish hol ... More >>

The Year/The Decade: Embarrassments

​Probably should issue this caveat to start: Unless you're speaking of Paris Hilton or Tex Cobb, the label of embarrassment implies the person in question possesses some talent.Nobody is perfect, of course. The Rolling Stones recorded Emotional Rescue, Babe Ruth lost half a season due to a "bellya ... More >>

And The Winner Is...

​I may have mentioned a month or so back that we had finally come up with a scheme to give out prizes.Good ones, too: I have Jon Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine, The Field Guide to Candy, Chili Madness, Cooking Dirty (has nothing to do with Blythe Beck) and other food-related books cluttering up my ... More >>

Happy Turkey Day

Fry Girl

Short Orders: Central 214

Blythe Beck and crew from the TV promo still.​Central 2145680 N. Central Expy214-443-9339My waitress claims that in all those months of filming for "The Naughty Kitchen," Oxygen's culinary reality show featuring chef Blythe Beck, there was only one moment of real drama. Seems a female guest recoil ... More >>

Top 10 Sexiest Female Chefs In Dallas

Yeah, yeah--pretty damn juvenile of us...not to mention downright sexist.But, damn it, if Danica Patrick can embrace beauty as well as hard nose racing skill, then we're allowed the occasional foray into 'babe-licious' territory.​Now, it wasn't an easy process. After much hemming and hawing, we ha ... More >>

Sloppy Seconds: Who Got the Hooch?

Whether driven by an asinine Constitutional amendment, grand notions of urban planning or draconian dietary shackles, folks who find they have to suck it up, tug at their bootstraps and get down to business -- they're the ones who make the real innovations. This week, one way or another, from hooch ... More >>

Review and Gallery: Central 214

Sara KerensIs that lobster under all that crust?In this week's paper, things get real as Dave drops some Wilfred Owen on a Central 214 waitress -- but after unleashing phrases like "naughy kitchen" and "quest for world culinary domination," chef Blythe Beck may get the best lines.Check out more shot ... More >>

Sloppy Seconds: As Seen On TV

Having handily dispatched the written word, television's having its way with dining now, too -- at least, that's the idea you get after reading our last week on City of Ate. Not good news for those of us who write about food.From an Oxygen Network TV crew getting in our photographer's shot at Centra ... More >>

Naughty is nice at Central 214

Heart Like A Deal

Scrambling to find a romantic, yet hip and unique option for Valentine's Day? Lucky for you, many local restaurants have special menus, special dishes or just special prices to choose from on this, er, special day. Here are some options: Cupid would be proud of Central 214's naughty new chef, Bly ... More >>

Of Mansions And Men

This guy left the Mansion's kitchen. Will it fail as a result?On Friday, the Mansion's PR rep made the rounds by phone to confirm that rumors rebuffed earlier in the week were true--chef John Tesar was out the door to "pursue other opportunities."Stephanie Hutson, the suddenly harried spokesperson, ... More >>

Burning Question: How Much Time Do Chefs Spend In The Kitchen?

Earlier this fall, chef Nobu Matsuhisa passed through for a well publicized book signing...and rare visit to his restaurant. Sometime in the next few weeks, Wolfgang Puck's people--not the great man himself--holds a meet and greet session for the real chef at his soon to open Dallas venue.&nbs ... More >>

Looks Like Hector's Naughty Chef May Make It to Television After All

Blythe Beck It's been well over a year since Blythe Beck, executive chef at Hector's on Henderson, made mention of The Naughty Chef, a proposed TV series featuring Beck as, well, the naughty chef. But today, an update: NBC Universal-owned Oxygen -- home to such shows as Deion & Pilar: Prime Time ... More >>

Life's a Strip

Apple- or hickory-smoked bacon: Is there a difference?