Our resident Englishman stumbled across an article in a popular UK newspaper that aimed some snark at what the paper called current food trends. Gavin, who at his present rate of Americanization will soon own an AR-15 and a pickup, took exception to the article’s outlook. An Open Letter to…
I did an article about various area chain restaurant options a few months back because I was intrigued, as a stranger to these shores, by all the fanciful and mysterious options available to me. I still go to Waffle House all the time, and I don’t care what people think…
This week, out resident smoke-addicted Englishman Gavin visits Fat Cow BBQ and ends up writing about sex, which we notice is cropping up more and more in his posts. Frankly, we’re getting a little concerned about what all this barbecue-love is doing to him psychologically. Luckily, if he ever returns…
Here is a brief list of five European things that make a good Christmas, but that you might be afraid of. Embrace change, Texas! I have included pictures so you don’t think I’m insane, and links to Amazon where you can still get these things (albeit with now very expensive…
Facing out onto a bleak parking lot and just the right side of the tracks, Baker’s Ribs is in direct competition with Mama Faye’s for the Deep Ellum barbecue coin. Thing is, neither of them seem to be doing particularly good business. Baker’s had but one other family in there…
Apparently you guys celebrate Christmas by eating tamales. No, me neither. I’ve no idea what you’re doing. What screams Christmas about a tamale? I suppose you could take this reductionist argument to any Christmas food (what’s Christmassy about slaughtering a turkey and then roasting it, or, as some people are…
Do you like the DC Comics version of Batman? Do you like the circus? If you’re a fan of these two frankly disparate concepts, then the American Airlines Center has something for you over the next few days. But is this something any good? Judging by last night’s opening performance,…
A new food truck, Oink N’ Moo BBQ, is launching in Dallas in January, and will be Dallas’ first dedicated barbecue food truck. And about damn time! In return for this interview, owner David Hunt has promised to drive up to my work three afternoons out of every five. Tell…
Editor’s note: To spare you the suspense — and possible expense — we’re just going let you know upfront: Gavin here is talking about North Main BBQ, 406 North Main St., Euless. So, please, no matter how often he asks — and that will be often — do not send…
Rooster’s Roadhouse in Denton has a burger called the “Hell Burger,” which contains ghost chilies, the second hottest chilies available, apparently. This makes them hot. Hotter than a day out with Scarlett Johansson on the surface of the sun. Hotter than a sunbed in a volcano. Hotter than a December…
2012 saw some big-name comebacks, emotional reunions, and just plain weird occurrences, proving that America’s thirst for nostalgia has still not been quenched. Have recent years been the worst for this, or have I just forgotten about the last decade already? Could something as joyous as the resurrection of long-dead…
The final part in what some are calling the Fort Worth Barbecue Trilogy, this is where I introduce characters that make no sense to the plot and kill off the leads. Either that, or it’s the conclusion of my Fort Worth road trip. Please drive outside of Dallas and get…
Congratulations, you’ve made it to part two of three of my Fort Worth Barbecue Road Trip, in which the venues are selected at random and the reviews don’t matter. You told me to go to Angelo’s. I didn’t listen to you. I am a dangerous rebel who does things you…
In the first of a thankfully brief series, I show you the delights that could be in store for you if you brave the horrors of Interstate 20 and I-30, and issue you a challenge. Go on a barbecue road trip out of Dallas with some good friends, and try…
The reason I moved to Dallas in the first place was due to the inexplicable love of a very fine woman indeed; an internationally in-demand scientist, in fact. She, like me a Brit, got offered two jobs in one day, one in Seattle and one in Dallas. We chose Dallas…
As I have previously stated, everything here is subtly different in a way that serves to slightly unnerve the foreigner. What isn’t at all subtle is a Texas summer. Whose idea was it to colonize this place to start with? Who had the original desire to make their home a…
You can’t begin to imagine the wealth of everyday misunderstanding that’s possible when relocating from Britain to Texas. The broad stuff — obtain dwelling, consume food, aim to subsist — that’s the same. Even the language is apparently the same. The thing is, communicating with other people, that’s an issue…
Leaving the cozy confines of the British countryside and pretty much everyone I’d ever met 5,000 miles away wasn’t an easy thing to do. I’m still surprised I did it. I didn’t grow up (in Watford, and then the Cotswolds, since you’re asking) thinking to myself, “One day, I’d really…
2012 saw some big-name comebacks, emotional reunions, and just plain weird occurrences, proving that America’s thirst for nostalgia has still not been quenched. Have recent years been the worst for this, or have I just forgotten about the last decade already? Could something as joyous as the resurrection of long-dead…
This week, our Englishman in BBQ Sauce samples a little Memphis-style barbecue at Red, Hot & Blue in Plano (5017 W. Plano Parkway), which is a littlelike traveling to Glasgow to sample the cuisine of Rome, but please don’t tell him that. It’s much more fun keeping him in the…
Resident English guy and barbecue sauce addict Gavin Cleaver reviews barbecue restaurants for City of Ate. Because in the end, what do any of us know, really? We’re all just dang ol’ hickory smoke in the wind. Eating at a restaurant on your own is a strange experience, isn’t it?…
Epica, Alestorm Trees Monday, November 19 There was a sizeable amount of hair windmilling at Trees last night, as a European metal tour of no specific genre rode into town. Indeed, Epica and Alestorm are something of a mismatch – Epica being a Dutch po-faced “symphonic metal” band (that basically…
