When the bananas Foster I’d ordered at Oak arrived sans pyrotechnics, I had a hard time consoling myself. (The ice cream helped a little.) The whole reason people order bananas Foster — the whole reason this post-meal sweet is a kids’ favorite alongside cherries jubilee — is the requisite tableside…
Follow the Cheap Bastard as she scours the city, looking for a good — or at least non-lethal — lunch for less than 10 bucks. Other cars in the drive-thru: 0 Level of seriousness of the person serving me frozen booze in a sealed, plastic bag: HIGHEST The Original Daiquiris…
Look out, Highland Park — there’s a new chef in town. After a stint at Bolsa in Oak Cliff, Andrew Bell has officially taken the helm at Highland Park Village’s Bistro 31. It may seem like a bit of a gamble, bringing in a chef from a restaurant with a…
It’s that time again. Every year since taking this gig, I’ve engaged in the self-effacing act of examining my photography skills over the previous 12 months. This is of note because I am one of the worst food photographers that has ever graced media digital or otherwise, ever. In my…
The Monkey King’s Andrew Chen must have been beyond confused when the fire marshal showed up on Friday night to conduct a safety inspection. Inspection officials typically work something closer to a 9 to 5, he thought, and suddenly this one was handing him a notice stating his roof deck…
The renaissance of craft cocktails has meant some really wonderful things for those of us who enjoy fancy dranks. Infusions, foams and modern mixology techniques are all over bar menus across Dallas, bringing to an end an era of sickeningly-sweet “martinis” and boring “trendy” cocktails that never seemed to be…
If you thought celebrated Dallas chef Stephan Pyles was losing his touch after over two decades of success, he blew your mind with the opening of his popular and critically praised South American restaurant San Salvaje. Now, Pyles looks to the other hemisphere of the planet for inspiration for his…
Last week, Richard and Tiffanee Ellman and John Paul Valverde, the folks behind Apheleia Restaurant Group (Pakpao, Oak), announced they were going for a threefer with El Bolero, a Mexican restaurant to be helmed by Hugo Galvan. The announcement is the latest in a string of releases about planned restaurants…
Another year gone, and it seems like Dallas is even harder to keep up with from a diner’s perspective. Each year, restaurants open that radically sculpt our culinary landscape, bringing us new cuisines, while others reshape what we thought we knew. Leave Dallas for a year and you’d have to…
Regular shoppers at White Rock Local Market will likely recognize Bisous Bisous Patisserie. Owner Andrea Meyer has been setting up a tiny shop of sorts amongst the tables of farm-fresh produce there since the start of the season. Meyer’s table is often loaded with freshly baked French goods — croissants…
Fresh Market opened recently in East Dallas, confusing new customers with strange weird cart/basket contraptions, and wowing them with fresh flowers and lots of candy. Customers could be heard all over the store, asking questions like “where was this sausage made,” and “what ingredients are in that freshly baked cupcake?”…
I know nothing about sherry, except that it got that guy in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado in some serious trouble. As such, I don’t make a habit of ordering it on its own, or choosing a cocktail with sherry as the main ingredient. But thanks to the…
Finding good Cajun food in Dallas isn’t exactly easy, but Charlie McGuinness and the folks behind Greenville Avenue institution Dodie’s have always been known for serving reliably solid Cajun dishes, especially those of the deep-fried variety. Now, though, McGuinness has set his sights on a more upscale clientele with his…
We told you yesterday about the latest chapter in the Dallas restaurant scene’s epic struggle against Evil Critic Leslie Brenner: An organized effort, first reported by The Washington Post, to thwart The Dallas Morning News’ critic by banding together to refuse to accept her money, boxing her into an ethical…
Earlier this week, it was announced that Hibiscus chef Graham Dodds would be going to New York to cook his first James Beard dinner. Dodds has participated in Beard events before, but this will be his first time as lead chef in charge of a multi-course menu with multiple wine…
Usually, if Chick-fil-A is in the news, it’s because its chief operating officer said something dumb, or because someone decided, wisely, to try to fill his bath with Polynesian Sauce. This time, though, the fried chicken chain is accused of something much weirder than a little draconian gay hate: giving…
“Cheesemonger’s Birthday Surprise.” Is it: A) a clunky translation of the 1960s classic French film, “Joyeux Anniversaire, Propriétaire Fromagerie” B) an actual food event C) the term for an illicit act believed to have originated in Antiguan prisons…
One of the strangest bar menus in Dallas has to be at Cold Beer Company. Hot dogs are loaded up with brisket or mac ‘n’ cheese, and the tortilla and pita chips come with two salsas and a plastic cup of freshly mixed pimento cheese. They have a late-night peanut…
It had all the makings of an epic tale. Eric Brandt, a competent and capable chef, and Victor Hugo, a front-of-the-house guy with exceptional customer service skills, had grown restless and needed a change. They’d been working together at Bistro 31 in Highland Park, where Brandt plated up Americanized riffs…
To be called a chef is to have earned respect in the culinary world — or at least that’s the way it used to be. Now, more and more people who have attended culinary school and cooked in a restaurant for a few years are champing at the bit to…
Just when you thought we were finally past the time where Chef John Tesar and Dallas Morning News food critic Leslie Brenner were at each other’s throats in the media, the story picks up steam from one of the country’s most respected journalistic institutions. Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Tim Carman…
After a couple of sips of Lakewood Brewery’s Holiday Bonus, I started wondering if a cocao aficionado could identify the chocolate that was used to flavor the brew. Dark, rich chocolate is the first and most prominent flavor to present itself when you taste the brewery’s new porter. There’s some…
