Maryland

Food Film Series Wraps Up with a Documentary Challenging the Power of Organics

The documentary Cafeteria Man lays out the uphill battle faced by Tony Geraci as he took on Baltimore school system bureaucrats to overhaul the school lunch program. Geraci's plan was a simple one, focused on the same local ingredients that many chefs have embraced over the years to build a centrali ... More >>

Congressman Steve Stockman to Gunmakers: Come Check Out Texas

U.S. Representative Steve Stockman is not a subtle man. We could go so far as to say he has a flair for the dramatic. He is, after all, the man who brought Ted Nugent as his plus-one to the State of the Union address, and compared the Earth to a sort of fuel-filled water balloon. And even further ba ... More >>

If Freakin' Oklahoma Can Go Soft on Pot, Surely Texas Can, Too

Every week, managing editor Patrick Williams disappears into his office and reemerges a cranky, nicotine-addicted, third-person-referring superhero we like to call Buzz. The message that rolled into our inbox earlier this week was upbeat. A "juggernaut of marijuana bills" is rolling its way through ... More >>

Now You Can Have Snow 's BBQ Right on Your Couch

You've heard of Snow's BBQ, right? How about Black's and Kreuz Barbecue in Lockhart? The most popular barbecue restaurants in Texas are known for their long lines and wait times as much as they are their meats. But what if you could sit on your couch and wait for a packaged brisket to drop at your ... More >>

Eight Music-Themed Gifts You Never Knew You Needed

Ah, the holidays, that time when you frantically try to figure out what exactly to give whoever you got stuck with in the secret Santa drawing. Maybe you got lucky and selected a music fan; maybe you think you want to give that music fan something that's not just the latest Pitchfork-blessed album, ... More >>

The Secret To Some Bitchin' Black Beans and Improving a Ton of Other Dishes Too

I'm fascinated with Indian cooking. Obsessed. I love the way cooks build layers of flavor and aroma with onions and other aromatics, a cadre of spices and a long, slow simmer. If you've ever cooked a robust curry in your kitchen, you know that the smell that overtakes your entire home is almost into ... More >>

The Secret Lives Of The Ritchie Boys

Total Wine is Coming to Dallas, and Bringing Its Fine Array of Kegs and Cheap Booze with It

Maryland-based beverage superstore Total Wine is coming to Dallas. The new store, to be located in the shuttered Office Depot location in Park Lane (9350 North Central Expressway), builds on the more than 80 stores the chain has opened in ten states. The recent expansion will add stores to Texas, Ne ... More >>

Years Later, Sea Breeze is Still (Lobster) Rolling

Coupling a fish counter with a restaurant is the best path to freshness.

When Shopping For Or Eating Seafood, Volume Is King

Sea Breeze Fish Market and Grill, the subject of this week's review, has had me thinking a lot about seafood and freshness. While the flesh of every animal begins to deteriorate the second that animal dies, seafood is the most fragile of animal proteins. Beef kept under refrigeration actually improv ... More >>

In Dallas ISD, Algebra for (Almost) Everyone on the Bridge Over the Opportunity Gap

Make no mistake: The achievement gap is still a seemingly uncrossable gorge, and minority students in Dallas and across the country are still pretty much hosed. But in a few key areas at least, black and Latino students are slightly less hosed here than they are in other large, urban school district ... More >>

Five McDonald's Failed Menu Items

The McDonald's Arch Deluxe anyone?​Today's story about Fish McBites and my prediction that they don't last past Lent spurred my curiosity into McDonald's other historic flops. Attempts to regionally market bad food have typically done poorly for the chain. Crab cakes in the Maryland market and ... More >>

Ice Cometh, Man: No, You Are Not an Excellent Driver

Oh, no. The ice-driving season is about to come back to Dallas for its annual reign of terror. We're all going to die. When I moved to Texas from Michigan about 100 years ago, the common wisdom was that people from the North knew how to drive on ice and people from Texas didn't. I liked that versio ... More >>

First Encounters With Bad Booze, And Why We Drink the Beer We Do

I know better, more flavorful beers exist. When I go to the Meddlesome Moth I always ask for something tart and rustic. Not the sour lambics loaded with fruit, but the naturally fermented old world beers with a lot of funk. I love sour beers with musty and barnyard flavors. I also appreciate beers t ... More >>

College Football Uniforms Are Outta Control: My Top 10 Observer-ations

​ 10. We've sorta become desensitized to Oregon's smorgasboard of uniforms with different helmets featuring gray, green, yellow and white and neon-green outlined numbers. Blame Phil Knight and Nike for those. But what about the rest of ya? The opening weekend of college football delivered some gr ... More >>

Hello Aters. I'll Be Your New Food Critic.

Scott ReitzFinn, professional left-over consumer​ A little over a week ago I threw my belongings into a 16-foot Penske, drove down 16th Street past the White House, and headed west. Finn, my 14-year-old wonder-mutt, sat shotgun, along with a spider plant, a bottle of port, some Gatorade and a ... More >>

The Commissary & The Table: No Standing O'

Chef John Tesar's new Arts District eatery misses its marks.

Center for Reproductive Rights Has New Site For Lone Star Ladies and Other In Utero News

​Starting September 1, if you're a woman in Texas seeking an abortion, a few new things are going to happen at the doctor's office. You're going to be given a sonogram, have the image of the fetus described to you "in detail," and possibly be asked to listen to a fetal heart monitor (although you ... More >>

Leg Sweeper Passes Along New Video, Finally Tells Us About Getting Arrested While On Tour.

At least one good thing came out of Dallas garage punk duo Leg Sweeper's appearance at Good Records' Record Store Day party a few weekends back -- the fact that Parade of Flesh's John Iskander was able to use the performance for the bulk of the above live performance music video he just released fo ... More >>

Baking for Purim: Who Says Better Late Than Never?

​I wouldn't have even known that Purim was upon us if my girlfriend hadn't told me that her friend brought hamentaschen to work for everyone on Tuesday. I promptly Googled the Jewish holiday only to discover that I had missed it. This year Purim stared at sunset on Saturday, March 19 and ended ... More >>

Listomania: Four Folk Acts To Follow in 2011

​Let's get this out of the w​ay from the jump: No, none of these acts are from Texas.But each has one thing in common: They're each releasing good music--right now. And, while 2010 saw handfuls of folk artist make headlines with either debut or breakthrough albums of excellent caliber (from Swed ... More >>

News & Notes & Our New Computer Wallpaper

Justin Terveen​A little bit o' this and a little bit o' that while admiring that picture taken yesterday by Best of Dallas-certified Justin Terveen:A Friend of Unfair Park whose name rhymes with "Jason Roberts" forwards along this Washington Post piece in which Oak Cliff's Better Block Project ins ... More >>

The Oceanaire Seafood Room vs. Rockfish Seafood Grill : The Crab Cake Conundrum

Alex Flores​Crab cake is official food of the Preakness Stakes for good reason. Just as the Preakness is the second jewel of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, the simple dish of quality crab meat, and little else, is a crown jewel of Maryland. Thought to be another one of these ancient ... More >>

BT, Glint

Tuesday, March 16, at House of Blues

Some Questions Over How Useful Google Maps' New Bike Trails Feature Actually Is

​Bike Friendly Oak Cliff was the first locally to make mention yesterday of the fact Google Maps now offers bike trails -- that's the green line you see on the map at right. (Writes Jason Roberts, "It's a good way to see a birds-eye view of our trail system, and will hopefully help when plans deve ... More >>

NCTCOG, City Have Tapped Maryland Firm to Revamp Dallas Bike Plan

Danny Fulgencio​Speaking of the North Central Texas Council of Governments ...We've been waiting on this announcement since late November, when the NCTCOG and the city of Dallas put out the call for bidders interested in coming up with a new Dallas bike plan. And, lo and behold, there it is on the ... More >>

Handle The Proof: Rye Whiskey

​Don McLean, you lied to us. Or, at the very least, you misled me. His "American Pie" hit the airwaves in 1971. How was a nine year-old listener supposed to know, first off, that good old boys really drink Bud--although maybe it was Schlitz back then--and, more importantly, that rye is a whiskey.B ... More >>

Tuesday's Unverified Fact About Washington, DC

​The 'Boys host the symbol of our nation's concern for native peoples on Sunday. Another fact about Maryland's second team...The Redskins are known as a "cupcake" on NFL schedules because linebacker London Fletcher bakes treats for opposing teams in the Easy-Bake oven he's used since childhood.**S ... More >>

OAR Faces The Inevitable Top 40 Backlash

At City Hall, a Call to "Complete the Streets"

​Last week, the National Complete Streets Coalition announced that more than 100 cities across the U.S. have adopted at least some of its policies, with Lansing, Michigan and Rockville, Maryland, among the latest to seize the idea that the streets don't belong just to cars. (Ah, yes. Here we go.) ... More >>

Wye Oak, Cotton Jones

Friday, October 2, at The Cavern

Giveaway: Two Pairs Of Tickets To Catch Cotton Jones and Sabra Laval At The Hydrant Tonight

Tonight, at the Hydrant Cafe, Spune Productions has booked a performance from the Maryland-based Cotton Jones--check 'em out performing in the above in-studio clip for the Seattle based radio station KEXP. Theirs is an interesting sound, combining elements of lo-fi, ambience, pop, psychedelia and fo ... More >>

10 Questions: Brandt Evans

Brandt Evans (left) with his Rockwall chef Scott CoffmanHe refers to Blue Canyon Kitchen as his dream, an opportunity to create something distinctively American--a fusion of the country's traditions and regional flavors.Before his Cleveland restaurant began raking in awards, Evans worked as Charlie ... More >>

You're a Mean One, Kay Bailey

Review: BayGrill in Frisco

A long way from the shore, Frisco's BayGrill does fish (mostly) right

Diamond in the Doo-Doo

David Lee Roth and Co. jump at the AAC

Putting Some Bite Into the Law

Wanna Scare the Doo-Doo Out of Jim Schutze? One Word: "Voodoo."

Does the DA's Office Have an Open-Door Policy? Pardon, Open-File Policy.

Eatzi's Closing Everywhere (But Dallas?)

Tia's Tex-Nixed

Running on Fumes

You've got to have balls to sell BioPerformance's hot product--mothballs

Clutch

Sunday, August 8

Zzzzz

Order the coffee black; you'll need it at the dull Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill

Trans Am

November 30

Label-ese

Can't find your favorite alcohol? Blame bureaucracy.

Hog Wild

What are chitlins, and why would anyone eat them?

Goof balls

Harlem Globetrotters double dribble the yuks

Quick -- run away

Speak now, or forever wish you hadn't wasted eight bucks

Smack my Witch up

So three people go into the woods and only a camera comes out...