I recently had dinner at a restaurant where the seating was shoved so close together that it was hard to keep my elbows off my neighbors’ tables while I was cutting my steak. The closeness didn’t bother me, but it meant I was privy to almost everything my fellow diners…

City of Ate’s already covered the dining options for World Series spectators. But what about the players, for whom choosing the right meal could mean the difference between a lifetime of championship ring-flashing and never-ending heartbreak? Here, a look at what a few highly successful players ate before their big…

How does a Giants fan celebrate the start of the World Series? With a community supported agriculture box, of course. Winning the title for “Game tie-in least likely ever to be seen in Dallas,” San Francisco’s popular 4505 Meats this week announced it was putting together two packages of locally…

Since City of Ate readers are the sort who might hesitate upon being offered a World Series ticket, taking a much-needed moment to wonder what they might find to eat at the game, we offer here a cheat sheet to the leading concessions at Rangers Ballpark and AT&T Park. The…

It’s the Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas season, which means my inbox has lately been flooded with press releases for various pumpkin-flavored delicacies, all available for a few weeks only. I believe in eating seasonally, but all the time-limited offers had me feeling sorry for pumpkin growers. If hazelnut lattes, strawberry ice cream and…

Paula Lambert’s on the hunt for hoja santa leaves. Lambert’s Mozzarella Company has nearly run out of the leaves it uses to wrap its hoja santa goat cheese, a perennial award winner that took a second place prize in the American Cheese Society’s annual competition this summer. “We hate it,…

There’s no dispute that Texas trounced New York in last night’s Grape Gridiron Classic, a Texas Department of Agriculture-sponsored competition featuring wines from both states. What’s debatable is whether it was a fair fight. “You guys killed us, and we deserved it,” Albany Times-Union wine columnist Fred LeBrun said after…

In the days before photography, when members of the gentry commissioned portraitists to commit their wealth and beauty to canvas, it wasn’t uncommon for the household’s sheep and cows to get their pictures painted too. The heyday of agricultural art is long over, although animals still appear in paintings –…

Diners at a pair of upcoming fundraisers should probably steel themselves to wait a little longer than usual for someone to pass the salt and pepper. Organizers of a North Dallas dinner benefiting the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and an Oak Cliff feast for The Well Community are touting…

Andrea Nguyen’s presentation at the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium this weekend was bound to be a bit contentious, as the award-winning cookbook author was slated to explain to a roomful of proud Southern eaters and cooks that the Vietnamese crawfish tradition rightly belongs to California. But it was the Texans…

Seafood industry watchers say it’s still too early to assess the long-term effects of this summer’s gulf oil spill, but agree the disaster spelled a setback for Texas’ fishermen, oystermen and shrimpers. Speaking at a panel this morning at the Southern Foodways Alliance’s annual symposium, food writer Robb Walsh said…

First it’s ice, then it’s fire. While chatting yesterday morning with Pizza Patron publicist Sandy Bell about frozen pie prices, she asked me whether I’d heard the other big Antonio Swad news: Apparently the culinary impresario — he’s president of Pizza Patron — can’t limit himself to one announcement a…

At least one local food retailer believes the costs and logistical hassles associated with offering a deal through an online coupon site are offset by the marketing benefits. “After being in business for 21 years, we figured we’d found just about everyone in Dallas who likes to cook fresh seafood,”…

With the Rangers on the brink of entering the World Series, the city of Arlington still hasn’t wrapped up a food bet covering the previous round of play. According to the mayor’s assistant, Tampa Bay hasn’t anted up the seafood package it promised Mayor Robert Chuck if the Rangers won…

Kenny’s Wood-Fired Grill customers are vodka drinkers. They drink vodka shots, vodka martinis and vodka dessert drinks made with butterscotch schnapps. That’s why the restaurant has installed two frozen Grey Goose taps, and why there’ll be another Grey Goose tap in the bar at Kenny’s Italian Kitchen, opening next month…

Samar​The accompanying text for Esquire’s much-hyped list of best new restaurants is finally online, which means eaters can now follow author John Mariani’s logic for anointing Samar a top 10 stand-out (He was apparently smitten with the patio, hookah selection and “women in painted-on blue jeans who proved just about…

Pizza Patron’s newest product is distressing some franchisees, who fear the frozen pizza line will cut into their sales. “I’d say a number of them are concerned,” concedes brand director Andrew Gamm. “But it’s a great opportunity for the brand.” Pizza Patron frozen pizzas are now available in El Rancho…

As Nancy Nichols reported over at Sidedish yesterday, superstar bartender Jason Kosmas has mixed his last drink at Neighborhood Services Tavern. Kosmas hasn’t yet returned my call, but he didn’t hint at the reason for his departure when I spoke to him last week. Asked whether he was planning to…

Remember when Big Bird knew Snuffaluffagus was real, but nobody on Sesame Street believed him? That’s essentially the dilemma facing Jenna Fagnan, president of Tequila Avión. Jenna Fagnan not only has to persuade drinkers to try her tequila: She has to convince them the brand exists outside of Entourage, the…

Arguments over the most contentious ingredient in Caesar salad have lately centered on which type of anchovies chefs ought to use. “If it was my preference, it would be white anchovies,” says Jackie Glauberman, who’s chairing this weekend’s 19th annual Caesar Salad Competition, a celebrity chef event sponsored by the…