Italian Food and Cooking

Carbone's: Jimmy's for the 1 Percent

Highland Park Gets Its Very Own Italian Restaurant and Specialty Shop.

Dear Central Market, Where The Hell Is The Bleu Cheese Pancetta Dip?

I love Central Market. I love the food maze they make you cart through. I love that they always have approximately one zillion apples in that place. I love that I always find some random shit I don't need but is freaking amazing (See: wasabi arugula, pictured above). I love the Chef's Case, with its ... More >>

Spotted At Carbone's: Real Deal Guanciale

If you've only eaten Italian food in Dallas, there's a good chance you've never had real spaghetti carbonara. The traditional version of the dish turns eggs, cheese and fat into a delicious sauce that completely integrates with the pasta. Chefs have supplemented the dish with cream, herbs and someti ... More >>

At Zio Cecio, Priced Out Until the Pasta

High-priced dishes obscure the cooking at Zio Cecio -- until the pasta comes.

Bitchin' Cook Nadia Giosia Sexes Up the Kitchen

​It only took me seven seconds to fall for Nadia Giosia -- a.k.a.Nadia G., the fully-functional nutso charmer on her grunge-named Cooking Channel show, Bitchin' Kitchen. In those vital 7 seconds of Nadia G.'s promotional sound-bites, I was hooked: "If you were to ask me whether I'd rather make ... More >>

Walk the Wok Goes Bicoastal for NYC and LA Food Trends

Eataly's pastry shop​While everyone was enduring the Super Bowl pains here in Dallas, I was away in NYC and LA for work. Despite braving a blizzard and juggling time zones, I ate well. Both food scenes were predictably different. I ate rich, fatty foods in the NYC winter blast, while in LA, ... More >>

Chef Daniele Puleo on Surfing Trends
While Staying True to Heart

Daniele Puleo​Chef Daniele Puleo and his fiancée are having dinner when we arrive at Daniele Osteria. When I called to let him know we're stuck in traffic, he tells me to take my time. "We'll go ahead and order," he says. I don't know who he's talking about at the time. But I am nervous to di ... More >>

Casey Thompson's Pasta With Grass-fed Beef: Maybe it's Time to Rethink That Holiday Turkey

​In the third part of our visit with Casey Thompson, Top Chef star, former executive chef at Shinsei and current chef at Fort Worth's Brownstone, Thompson shares a recipe for a beefy pasta dish. For parts 1 and 2 of our interview with Thompson, go here and here. Pasta and Grass-fed Beef

Ristorante Nicola: Great Place to Party, Not-So-Great Place to Dine.

Mozzarella Company: Pick up some Texas-made cheese that's totally makeout-worthy.

Alice Laussade​Mozzarella Company 2944 Elm St. 214-741-4072 Try: Prosciutto Mozzarella Roll I spent my Memorial Day just like everybody else: First I woke up and kissed the soil, high-fived my freedom and gave big ups to all the soldiers past and present who have fought to keep this country so g ... More >>

Arcodoro & Pomodoro Goes Fancy, but the Fundamental Remain Solid

Urbano Cafe: A Delightful Treat in a Plain Brown Wrapper

Appetite For Instruction: Smoked Salmon Bruschetta

Recipe Demonstrated by Chef Chris Hughes of Tre Amici Prime Steakhouse & Seafood ​It's a new year, and you know what that means: time for resolutions. People are signing documents for a new gym membership, throwing away their cartons of Marlboro Reds and eating more greens and less deep-frie ... More >>

Short Orders: Bene Bene

​Bene Bene4727 Frankford972-267-2363Old school Italian joints dot the area's northern reaches. Don't know why, really--but if you want typical lasagna, chicken parmigiana, bruschetta with nothing fancier than garlic and basil, or any other dish common to Italian restaurants up through the 1980s, y ... More >>

Veggie Guy: Vapiano

​Funny how Vapiano, the German-based fast-casual restaurant in Mockingbird Station, actually feels like Germany. Maybe it's the color scheme--a little like the Nutelleria in Frankfurt--or maybe it's the fact that the system here is so foreign, and words sorta get lost in translation. As Date an ... More >>

Short Orders: Sweet Basil

Sweet Basil17610 Midway972-733-1500Sometimes your expectations, well...Let's just say that from the outside, Sweet Basil resembles some kind of candy shop, what with the brightly striped awning and cute name.The only hints of its true nature--apart from the "Italian Cafe" printed on the awning--is a ... More >>

DiTerra’s Urban Italian

It's always wise to eat where waiters eat

Short Orders: Andiamo

Andiamo4151 Belt LineAddison972-233-1515Andiamo is the dining equivalent of television's Life on Mars or Ashes to Ashes--an unexpected and momentarily confusing step back in time. The decor probably hasn't changed at all since the place opened in 1990. The menu includes staid, old-school dishes like ... More >>

Short Orders: Taverna

Taverna3210 Armstrong Ave.214-520-9933You can imagine Europe from a table inside Taverna, especially on a dim and sputtering March evening. The drafty windows, the clicking of rain, the homey clutter--it's like you've drifted somehow into an old world cafe...until Uptown boy walks in.He saw fit to c ... More >>

Cibus: Alberto Lombardi’s Newest Restaurant Follows a Comfortable, Well-worn Path

Fedora: Supper-Club Italian that Quickly Becomes Old Hat

10 Questions: Paula Lambert

She opened the Mozzarella Company way back in 1982, after returning from Italy frustrated--not at the city's lifestyle or our inability to gesture frantically while holding normal conversation, but at the shortage of good, fresh cheese. Back then Lambert's fledgling company produced no more than 10 ... More >>

Bolsa: Delicious "Slow Food" Without the Smug.

Bull Ring

Review: The Food, Not the Setting, Impresses at Scene Restaurant & Lounge

Review: Villa-O

The "O" is for original and organic.

Review: Nonna

Clean, minimalist, delicious and sort of Italian

Hey Nonna Nancy

Harmon Jenkins gives us a taste

Off the Mark|Big D, Little D

Do It Yourself

For food like this, you might as well stay home

Eating for the Kids

Doing Izzy

Isabella is North Texas Italian boilerplate--with a few twists

Wherein Mark Stuertz Asks Paula Lambert: "What's Your Stinkiest Cheese?"

No Masterpiece

Grotto serves typical Dallas Italian. Too bad.

Dough Mine

Fossil fuel makes for delicious pies

Head East

Alessio's is Euro-friendly

Dining's a Bitch

Beach-Aye, the Navel-Gazer

Very Little Italy

Bravo Italia offers nothing offensive, nothing spectacular

Middle of the Boot

Compelling Italian surprises at Riccardi's

Kowtow to Cacao

Chocoholics unite at Gourmet Showcase 2005

Sweet Nothings

With no guiding principle, the food wanders at Dolce Oliva

Eclectic Boogaloo

At Tutto Eclectic Italian, the menu doesn't fail to seduce, but the food falls flat on delivery

Baring All

Time will tell if Daniele Osteria will leave its mark on Italian dining in Dallas

Risotto Fix

Taverna may be loud, but its menu is silent lucidity

Mouth Jump

What's in a name? At Saltimbocca's!, it's the best dish on the menu.

Best Urban Cheesemaker

The Mozzarella Co.

Best Appetizer

Risotto cake at Café Modern

Where's the Boot?

Vino & Basso needs to merge its split personality

Best Mozzarella

Mozzarella Company