Subject: Matt Martinez

• No place in the West End

  June 20, 1996

• Heavy mettle

  August 1, 1996

• A tentative seduction

  June 12, 1997

• Rest In Peace: Matt Martinez, Jr.

  As most of you know, highly respected restaurateur Matt Martinez, Jr. died Friday evening. More from the Dallas Morning News.

  March 16, 2009

• On The Range: Bar-Mex (Nachos, Chips And Stuff Like That)

  Most of us--well, most non-Hispanics, anyway--have been eating nachos for many years without a clue as to where the term originated. You see, in Tejano culture, "Nacho" is merely the nickname for Ignacio, a rather common name in Spanish-speaking households. And according to Robb Walsh and his Tex-Mex Cookbook, this delicacy common to every Tex-Mex restaurant and bar in Texas was cooked up on a whim by Ignacio Anaya, a waiter at the Victory Club back in 1941. Many years later, Bill Salter,

  March 18, 2009

• On The Range: Enchiladas

  Let's face it: A true Tex-Mex establishment succeeds or fails on the strength of its enchiladas. I realize I'm speaking only for myself, at least as far as popular dishes go. Many patrons of an El-or-La-something-or-other (as Rosemary Kent dubbed Tex-Mex restaurants in her Genuine Texas Handbook, released a generation ago) are perfectly content to order fajitas, tacos, or quesadillas every time. However, one can always learn volumes about the cook's commitment to authenticity through enc

  March 25, 2009

• Vintage Tex-Mex

  July 3, 2008

• Bless Us, Oh Lard

  July 3, 2008

• On The Range: Cabrito

  Goats helped settle America. Not kidding: According to Robb Walsh, author of The Tex-Mex Cookbook, goats were the preferred diet of common folk in Europe, so when Columbus sailed to the New World on his second voyage in 1493 he brought goats for meat, cheese, and milk--along with Spanish shepherds to make it all happen. They brought sheep, as well, but they were raised for wool, not eaten at dinnertime. In his memoir, Are You Really Going to Eat That?, Walsh describes a memorable cabrito

  June 3, 2009

• This Week's Day-By-Day Picks

  July 24, 2003

• Naughty Takeout

  At restaurants, what isn't nailed down likely will be stolen

  November 2, 2000

• Loaded for take-off

  Legend Airlines plans to chart a different course from the average meal-in-a-sack airline

  January 6, 2000

• On The Range: Chiles Rellenos

  Chiles rellenos, Emeril-stylePoblano peppers or Anaheim? When making chiles rellenos, the chef must first consider which pepper might better serve his or her vision of the completed dish. Indeed, they are similar and both are widely used, but tasting reveals subtle but noticeable differences. The leaner Anaheim pepper is actually American in origin, specifically New Mexico by way of California, and its flavor is often more delicate--which some might argue serves as a better canvas for the

  May 20, 2009

• On The Range: Beans

  On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Drywontonmee"When you have four hundred pounds of beans in the house, you need have no fear of starvation. Other things, delicacies such as sugar, tomatoes, peppers, coffee, fish or meat, may come sometimes miraculously, through the intercession of the Virgin, sometimes through industry or cleverness; but your beans are there, and you are safe. Beans are a roof over your stomach. Beans are a warm cloak against e

  June 17, 2009

• On The Range: Guacamole

  On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items. Jon Sullivan"Was there ever a fruit as sensual as the avocado? So rough-hewn, dare-to-touch-me masculine on the outside, so yielding, inviting, soft spring green and feminine inside?...It's no wonder that this perfect fruit begs to be mashed to enhance its melting, natural spreadable quality...Avocado flesh by itself has an unctuous quality and subtle flavor--no need to dilute it." Wow. The above undiluted des

  June 24, 2009

• On The Range: Flautas & Taquitos

  From street vendor snack to the frozen food aisle.On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Sometime toward 3 a.m., when the drinking is (usually) winding down and serious munchies coming on, almost anything will make for a snack, providing it releases the right amount of filler and fat into your system.  If you're in San Diego there are plenty of options. According to David Moye, in his article, "Roll Another Number for the Road," published in

  July 1, 2009

• On The Range: Quesadillas

  On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Say cheese.Quesadilla translates as "little cheesy thing"--so no true recipe can exist without it. Even vegan variations tend to use soy cheese prominently. Writing in his book Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Rick Bayless lists three basic types of quesadillas, the primary difference being their methods of preparation:"The one prepared from a ready-made tortilla (mostly a corn tortilla in Mexico, a flour one in the U

  July 22, 2009

• On The Range: Gorditas

  ​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Be careful how you use the term "gordita". It can get you into trouble real fast. Like many food-related expressions in Mexican culture, gordita has more than one meaning. You can use it colloquially as a term of endearment for a Rubenesque or full-figured young woman, like the English terms "little butterball" or "pleasingly plump"...Um...doesn't really sound all that endearing, after all. Well, needless to sa

  August 19, 2009

• On The Range: Migas

  PedroserafinA Spanish version of migas.​On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Eggs, tortilla strips, onions, chiles, and cheese. Or bread, oil & vinegar, spinach, alfalfa, and....licorice flavoring?? Believe it or not, these are some of the raw ingredients of two classic versions of that breakfast staple, migas. You are, no doubt, familiar with the Tex-Mex incarnation of the dish, which is yet another rendition of eggs and is quite similar in com

  September 16, 2009