Watch, Read, Cook: What’s New On The Tube And In Print

As the food media world warms up for its busiest time of year, a trickle of new releases in television and print are whetting our appetites for the deluge to come. Here are a few of our favorite picks: WWBBD? The Food Network’s newest star is none other than Olympic…

The Morning News(letter)

Hophead Jesse Hughey disappeared last week. Then empties of Buckler and Mike’s Hard Lemonade began arriving at my desk–every hour on the hour. You guessed it: the diabolical fiends in marketing were using him as “insurance” to make certain I post this promo… So here goes: If you’re not receiving…

Short Orders: Circle Grill

Circle Grill3701 N. Buckner Blvd.214-327-4140″Is the food at that place still good?”Those were the first words uttered by my cab driver after dispensing with the ‘where to’ preliminaries. My car decided to stick around and wait for awhile–see if a willing tow truck would chance by.Circle Grill is a wayside,…

Leslie Does Dallas, Or The Perils Of Popularity

Leslie Brenner’s assessment of dining in Dallas appeared over the weekend–a comprehensive and provocative piece both casting the city in culinary shadows and under a gleaming ray of promise. You may disagree with her assignment of stars for particular restaurants. But the Dallas Morning News critic has hit us with…

How ‘Bout Them Knockers: Chicago Rick’s

Each week in ‘Knockers’ we order from a different delivery restaurant, assessing their efficiency and keeping a running score.Chicago Rick’s3628 Frankford972-307-4257Promised delivery time: 45 minutesActual delivery time: 43 minutesLevel of phone honesty that would have given Dick Cheney a heart attack: 50Interest rate on loan necessary to buy a fully…

Sips And (Sound)Bites And Almost Fist Fights

This past Saturday, a sold-out crowd gathered at Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts in North Dallas for the first-ever DrinkLocalWine.com Conference. Hosted by website founders Jeff Siegel and Dave McIntyre and the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Go Texan program, the event drew wine makers, wine writers, bloggers and…

Sloppy Seconds: Underneath The Tropical Sun

When it feels like the rest of the world is out on vacation, daydreams about island living come easily — and even if a tropical refuge in Bishop Arts doesn’t quite give the same effect, sometimes the right table in the right restaurant is vacation enough for now. Plus, there…

Question Of The Week: Do Restaurant Coupons Work?

This week’s question comes from TLS, who regularly posts comments and boycotted us for an hour when we listed the sexiest female chefs. So we’ll assume she is a she.Anyway, she says “I’ve always perceived coupons to a restaurant as a sign that their business is suffering. The plethora of…

And The Winner Is…

Of course, nobody really wins on City of Ate. But if we ever do try prize giveaways again, there’s a mess of stuff to pick from. Let’s see here…a miniature bottle of Tuaca, a big ol’ container of Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Seasoning Blend, a packet of seeds and oats…

Handle The Proof: Bombay And Bombay Sapphire

I pointed out last week how, when I called for a Bombay martini, a waiter at Sevy’s asked “regular Bombay or Sapphire.” Since Sapphire hit the market in 1988 and began the upscale gin revolution, The Original Bombay (that’s what it now says on the label) faded into near obscurity–at…

New Product Launches Have Us Wondering…Um…Why?

The more things change, the more we find ourselves scratching our heads at the stuff the powers-that-be in the corporate food world come up with. Pop Culture Vita Food Products, Inc. is the number one brand of refrigerated seafood products, sales-wise, as well as an industry leader in the smoked…

Review and Gallery: Hula Hotties

In this week’s Dish column, Dave takes a tropical holiday across the river to Oak Cliff, where Hula Hotties fits right in among its Bishop Arts District neighbors.To get a feel for the place, and a look at the flower-topped food the kitchen turns out, check out the photos in…

Girl Drink Drunk: Lazare

Recently, I moved my ass out of a beloved one-bedroom apartment that I often forgave for its thin walls (and even thinner ceilings) and communal air ducts due to the low rent and friendly manager. I am now shacking up with the boy. In a house. We can’t hear people…

Whataburger vs McDonald’s: Fast Food Fisticuffs

When people say ‘it tastes like cardboard,’ what do they really mean? Well, after taking a bite from a box left over from my last Costco excursions–a corrugated job with a slick, four-color facing–I can report with some authority it has more character than the batch of McDonald’s fries I…

Hophead: First Shot At Homebrew

There’s something enticing and romantic about the idea of making one’s own beer right at home. Along with home wine making (yechh!) and the few in Kentucky–and elsewhere–who manage home spirits, it’s the last frontier of legal DIY intoxicants.Set up a meth lab in your trailer and … well, you’re…

Short Orders: Tre Amici

Tre Amici18020 N. Dallas Pwky.972-250-4400It opened at the end of last year as Fruia’s Tre Amici and, under that name, the far north steakhouse reviewed quite well.A few months ago, however, the other partners ousted their biggest–talking about name recognition here–colleague, Judd Fruia and changed the name to Tre Amici…

Veggie Guy: Suma Veggie Cafe

“Puff balls.” That’s what one of my non-veg friends calls the Orange “Chicken” at Suma Veggie Cafe. No–the guy’s not the brightest bulb on the block, but others unfamiliar with vegan meat substitutes might also find it difficult to describe the glazed balls of who-knows-what…although, I now have a funny…

Hula Hotties Holds Sway in Oak Cliff

They don’t mind telling you their story, the basic outline of which involves a graying couple moving from Hawaii to Oak Cliff and setting up a tiny café. Yeah, I know—doesn’t make much sense. She baked for 12 restaurants and two hotels, including the Kona Village Resort, and he’s a…

Come to Your Senses and Check Out Desperados Mexican Restaurant

I’ve heard the legend of the Desperado taco for some time now. Usually starts with, “Oh my God—these things are life-changing,” or I get the typical straight punch to the uterus when someone discovers that I haven’t been there before. But, uterus punch or no, I avoided the place like…

Pairing Off: Cigars

Each week, Pairing Off attempts to find just the right bottle of wine to go with ordinary food…or in this case, smoke.The gentleman at Pogo’s was adamant when I asked the usual “which wine would go best with” question.”I wouldn’t pair it with wine,” he told me. Twice.Obviously whiskeys or…