Small-scale meat producers say a proposal to limit slaughterhouse construction could harm farm-to-table eating statewide. According to a front-page story in today’s Dallas Morning News, State Representative Jodie Laubenberg has filed a bill that would allow counties to keep out slaughterhouses. Existing meat processing facilities wouldn’t be affected by the…
A downtown fusion restaurant that closed unexpectedly last year may be gearing up for a reopening. Fuse, a clubby Tex-Mex-Asian spot that occupied the Browder building for four years before shutting down last December, has received a new certificate of occupancy. After Fuse closed, rumors swirled online that the restaurant…
At many fine 19th-century restaurants, it wasn’t unusual for diners to deviate significantly from the printed menu. Since it was assumed the chef stocked his larder with the same eggs, cheeses and vegetables that appeared in nearly every hoity-toity restaurant kitchen, eaters could reasonably demand egg croquettes or Bombay oysters…
It’s winter getaway season, which means folks are flocking to warm tropical islands — and eating spaghetti and meatballs when they get there. My parents are spending the week in Aruba and kicked off their vacation with a dinner at Gianni’s Ristorante Italiano, a massive red sauce eatery where tourists…
The Dallas Fish Market, which offers discounted sushi to downtowners on Sundays and free sushi to everybody on Wednesdays, is now promoting its late-night sushi menu: A selection of specialty rolls, including the Dallas roll, is available until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. While few diners with cause to…
It’s a fair bet there’s not too much overlap between Anthony Bourdain and Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Leslie Brenner’s lists of what they liked best in 2010. According to a recent feature story, Brenner this year thrilled to grilled mussels and escargot fritters. Bourdain enjoyed the documentary We Like…
Food lovers must talk with their mouths full, since there was plenty of discussion of many, many food-related topics in 2010. But a few national stories struck us as most important. Let us know what you think. 1. The food safety bill The massive food safety bill had been left…
Our server knew something was wrong at five paces. “A little too much whipped cream?” he asked with an ambiguous smirk that either indicated he thought we were fools for chancing another course after a disappointing meal or he’d grown accustomed to the kitchen’s clumsiness. In any case, he was…
Corporate kitchens are continuing to add wine and spirits to their dishes, apparently angling for sophistication and increased perceived value. Olive Garden is now pushing a pasta dish with shellfish “sautéed in white wine” and a stew “simmered in light white wine.” Red Lobster’s developed a new chardonnay-grilled shrimp, T.G.I.Friday’s…
For most eaters, scrutinizing food means checking to make sure the lettuce in their salad’s clean and their steak’s not overly fatty. Scientists, of course, take a more rigorous approach, using microscopes, MRI scans and sophisticated chemical testing to determine exactly what people are eating — and why it matters…
Dairy Queen Blizzards retail for about $4. But the ice cream chain’s willing to give you a frozen treat for free if you’ll just wrangle a live reindeer and bring it to a participating store on December 24 from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. “We’ve put out the call for fans to…
2010 was supposed to be kamut’s year. Industry watchers in 2009 predicted the wheat-like grain associated with King Tut would ride a celiac wave to greatness this year, sharing American pantries with papadum and coconut-milk pancake mix. The big news? It didn’t happen. But there were a number of foods,…
I recently had occasion to look up a menu from a town where I used to live, and was startled by how ostentatiously it flaunted the region’s culinary biases. The menu was so obviously issued by a restaurant in this particular town that I’m pretty sure I could pick it…
Tiffany Derry, the former Top Chef contestant who was left unemployed when Go Fish Ocean Club closed last month, has accepted the executive chef position at a new uptown restaurant. Derry is now developing the menu for Private Social, the first restaurant from longtime Dallas wedding industry professional Andy Austin…
One of the best invitations I’ve received this year was an e-mail beckoning me to College Station for the founding of Foodways Texas. Now, you too have the opportunity to support the organization, as august a group of chefs, food writers, scholars, fishermen, pitmasters, chuckwagon cooks and enthusiastic eaters that’s…
There are few nicer ways to celebrate the holidays than an indulgent solo lunch in a classy restaurant. Unless, of course, the meal ends with a nasty customer-manager spat. That’s what happened today to a City of Ate reader who sidled up to the bar of an uptown steakhouse and…
The recent announcement that scientists found flame retardant in butter sold at Dallas groceries has fed a firestorm in the pallet industry. A plastic pallet manufacturer this week filed a lawsuit against the U.S. National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA), accusing the trade group of conducting a “malicious smear…
The bathroom doors at Brackets, the sports bar that’s taken over the space vacated by Trader Vic’s, are equipped with contraptions that allow guests to pull the doors open with their feet. The rounded metal pulls make good sense at Brackets, where guests are eating pizza and grasping ping pong…
Ticket holders at Taste of the NFL, a hunger relief fundraiser timed to coincide with the Super Bowl, will have the chance to sample food from eight of the area’s leading chefs at “Flavors of North Texas,” billed as “a unique component” of the yearly event. But the announced line-up…
A Texas distillery has a shot at releasing the world’s first organic bourbon, but the makers of a pioneering organic vodka say the spirit may not be an easy sell. Garrison Brothers Distillery, Texas’ first legal whiskey distillery, is already producing bourbon that’s organic in all but name. Garrison Brothers…
With holiday events stretching restaurant staffs, a few local chefs are turning to a Tom Sawyer-like solution to keep their kitchens and catering gigs running smoothly. “I can’t afford to take my cooks out of the restaurant,” says Restaurant AVA’s co-executive chef and co-owner Randall Copeland, explaining why he’s allowing…
Since the holiday season seems like a good time for scrimping — I’m still reeling at the price of postage for my holiday cards — I’ve twice eaten dinner at home this month. Neither experience has been as cost-effective as I’d hoped. To those of us who eat 19 meals…
