Barbecue Royalty to Open Smokehouse in Oak Cliff

Two relatives of legendary Kreuz Market owner Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt are trying to save Dallasites the trouble of making a four-hour drive to Lockhart. Jill Bergus, Schmidt’s step-granddaughter, is partnering with pit master Tim McLaughlin to open Lockhart Smokehouse on the corner of West Davis Street and North Bishop Avenue…

Dueling Piano Bar Set to Open in Uptown

A Lexington, Ky.-based dueling piano bar has received the city’s go-ahead to open a location in Uptown. According to Dallas city records, the Penguin Dueling Piano Bar has been granted a certificate of occupancy, allowing its troubadours to start tinkling near the corner of Cedar Springs Road and Fairmount Street…

Scott Romano: Going Whole Hog
At a Downtown Jewel

Since the Observer recently named Charlie Palmer at The Joule the city’s Best Fancy Restaurant in this year’s Best of Dallas issue, we thought now would be a good time to get a look at the man behind the kitchen, executive chef Scott Romano. Like many of the chefs we…

Could You Be Allergic to Barbecue?

It’s football season, which means tailgaters are weekly firing up their cookers and churning out meaty pork ribs, tender beef briskets and an array of other smoke-kissed meats that seasonal allergy sufferers might want to avoid. I spent five hours with an allergist yesterday, trying to understand just why Dallas…

La Grange Incites a Mob — the Good Kind

Which Dallas neighborhood is most supportive of green energy, locally owned businesses and grassroots solutions to pressing global problems? If the winner of the recent Carrotmob competition is any indication, it’s Deep Ellum — although organizers say the community just narrowly edged out Oak Cliff. “We did not play favorites,”…

Indian Restaurant Gets Its Fry Game On — Maybe

Whoever’s behind Chameli’s Twitter feed either has a State Fair-inflected sense of humor or the best dessert idea ever. “We’re doing Fried Mango Khulfi soon!,” @ChameliOnline announced yesterday. Problem is, nobody at the Indian restaurant in Richardson (which is clearly pictured on @ChameliOnline’s Twitter page) seems to know anything about…

Five Sixty Appoints New Executive Chef

A Texas-born chef has been tapped to take over at Five Sixty when executive chef Sara Johannes leaves this week. Pat Roberston, who’s served as executive sous chef at the Wolfgang Puck-owned restaurant since its opening in February 2009, has spent more than a decade with the Wolfgang Puck Fine…

Getting Stoned At Central Market Beer Class

​Held in the store’s upstairs classroom kitchen, Friday night’s “Stone Brewery Gastropub” at Central Market was more cooking class than gastropub beer dinner. It provided such intriguing samples of food and Stone beers that it was impossible not to go downstairs and immediately head to the store’s beer cooler in…

West Meets East and Comes Back
With a Full Stomach

I’ve been away for the past few weeks tending to some family stuff in Asia and have been a tad too busy to do any blogging. I’m sure the editor’s ulcer will be relieved to know that I’m back now with my one measly post a week. While away, the…

Opening a New NY Barbecue Joint Takes Hot Guts

New Yorkers’ newfound infatuation with Texas-style barbecue is migrating upstate. The venerable Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is planning to add house-made hot guts to its menu when it opens a new location in Troy, a former steel and textile town near Albany. As The Business Review recently reported, Dinosaur – which for…

So Three Cabs Walk Into a Wine Garden…

For those of us who visit the State Fair, it’s worth braving the Midway to revisit old favorites and discover new delights. As I reported last week, my wining companion and I were particularly pleased to find the Go Texan Wine Garden, a little Hill Country-esque oasis of vino, music…

Growing Number of Eaters Find Convenience Stores, Um, Convenient

Grab-and-go eaters are increasingly patronizing convenience stores, a trend one market research group thinks could threaten fast food restaurants’ traditional breakfast hour dominance. “We’ll see an expansion of foodservice programs and an upgrade of foodservice programs for c-stores,” NPD group vice president Warren Solochek told Nation’s Restaurant News, an industry…

Florida Chef Sizes Up Dallas Dining Scene

Does absence make the eyes grow clearer? Texas-born chef Steve Shockey, who’s been impressing diners in the Miami area for years, recently summed up the differences between Texas and Florida’s food scenes for an NBC affiliate. “The dishes in Texas’ great food cities — Dallas, Austin and Houston — tend…

In-N-Out to Open at Caruth and Central

If this many hands touched an item at In-N-Out Burger, the health department would probably pay the restaurant a visit. But since y’all are starved for In-N-Out news, we share with you this latest tidbit, reported first by the Dallas Business Journal, and picked up by the folks at Sidedish:…

Texoma Winery Punches Humble Ruby Cab’s Dance Card

People aren’t the only ones who suffer through hot Texas summers. Grapes feel the scorch as well, which means the state’s not the place to produce varietals that wither in the heat. After years of stubborn experimentation with Pinot Noir and other delicate grapes, the Texas wine industry now realizes…

Libertine Brunch Doesn’t Quite Deserve The Guillotine

Photos by Andrea Grimes and Man O’ The HourThe Libertine’s olive-garnished Bloody Mary. ​Long a haven for Lower Greenvillers who like to be able to hear themselves think and their friends speak, the Libertine bar is one of the neighborhood’s stand-out spots in terms of food, drink and atmosphere. The…