In my family, Sunday night is Dive Night. At my stepfather’s insistence, we explore “dive” bars or restaurants so he has an excuse to eat queso and hamburgers and drink beer while my mother and I get picky with salads and nibble on fried pickles. Whether Sol’s is actually a…
Still not a subscriber to our weekly food and wine (and other such) newsletter? What–afraid we’ll sell your contact information to the executor of some Nigerian prince’s will? Well, we’re glad you think the Observer is that advanced. In case you missed it, this week’s issue highlights Randall Copeland and…
State and Allen Lounge does more than serve up some Short Orders-approved brisket chili, pizza and martinis. The Uptown eatery’s staff goes out of its way to protect the planet, too, as they’ll gladly let you know. At least others will. The non-profit Drinking With Benefits (we kinda like the…
The sous chef for David Gilbert’s new venture, Lazare, has a cooking history extending back four generations.How’s that? Well, Carbery’s family owns nine restaurants in the St. Louis area, his uncle is a chef in Beverly Hills–he essentially grew up in professional kitchens, hauling boxes at his father’s place before…
“I think, very posssibly, when they start opening up, I hope I can go back to my ’84 numbers.” (William Hensley, owner of Arlington’s Fish Bone Grill, speculating on the effect of his new neighbor, the Cowboys’ stadium. In 1984 he raked in $80,000 a month. Over the past few years that…
The Grape2808 Greenville Ave.214-828-1981If not for The Grape, Dallas would have a small empty space in its culinary soul.Yeah, we’d have some cool wine bars with great kitchens–Dali comes to mind. We would even have a compliment of venues with old world charm, however contrived. But nothing else could match…
Many, many years ago an acquaintance of mine recommended the Eddie Murphy disaster Best Defense. Not sure why–even Murphy dismissed (or ‘dissed,’ as we said back then) the flick publicly. But this friend considered it a decent movie.Personal taste in film can vary, of course. But we encounter the same…
Philly Connection6334 Gaston Ave., Dallas214-828-9070Promised delivery time: “Around 8″Actual delivery time: 8:10Flawless execution of the scheduled delivery: 20Would not deliver beer, so I had to leave the house after all (“I’m sorry, they don’t let me do that.”): 0Genu-wine Philly-made Tastykakes: 15Free delivery with $12 order: 12 Patience on the…
With the city’s best bar food (at least according to some) and its impressive selection of import beers, there’s hardly ever a bad night to go to The Libertine. But if you were waiting for an occasion, you could hardly do better than tomorrow night’s five-course beer dinner, with includes…
She pours beers at Frisco’s bit of Ireland, otherwise known as Lochrann’s. That, of course, means pint after pint (well, not pint–it’s the U.S.–but you get the point) of Guinness, that time-consuming, two-stage pour. Fortunately, Lochrann’s owner worked for the famous Irish brewery for 15 years. So Maddox and her…
“Enjoy our smoke free dining.” (On marquee outside Cape Buffalo. The sports bar/pool hall is located on Addison Road, but on that narrow spit that belongs to Dallas. So management not only puts a positive spin on the smoking ban, but educates those who wish to light up about the…
While Dave kills time at a booze-free bar (place hadn’t lined up its liquor license yet), we take a culinary expedition with some of the luminaries of the printed page, and other folks whose job it is to make everything a little prettier. Or at least more edible.The Week in…
Who is the best ‘unknown’ chef in Dallas?Some definition: By unknown we mean a chef who receives very little media attention. The chef’s restaurant may be well known, mind you, but someone else gets all the press. An example might be Bartolino Cocuzza of Amici in Carrollton. So obviously by…
“2500 lbs of chili and less than 600 beers? Somebody was way out of whack on the beer to chili ratio.”A comment left by “Brent D.” in response to this week’s On The Range piece, which touched on the lowdown bit of bribery used to ensure that chili became the…
Sometime in our youth, however well spent, we picked up on the existence of Cognac. Maybe it was from ads in Sports Illustrated, or something–it’s not like anyone really remembers when or in what context; the awareness just happened. Maybe in our 20s we learned about Armagnac. But this information…
As mentioned below, The Second Annual Chefs Roundtable, 4 p.m. Sunday at the Dallas Farmers Market Resource Center (1010 S. Pearl Expressway), will focus on the concept of buying local food. In case you hadn’t been paying attention to restaurant trends, the importance of using fresh, locally produced ingredients has…
On Sunday, April 19, the Dallas Farmer’s Market Friends will host a roundtable discussion of the “buying local” concept and its challenges.Tassioni knows these all too well. Since 1997, he and his wife have operated a hydroponic farm (Tassione Farm) near Stephenville, growing specialty greens and herbs. They deliver to…
“We got blindsided by two idiots with a video camera and an awful idea. Even people who’ve been with us as loyal customers for 10, 15, 20 years, people are second-guessing their relationship with Domino’s, and that’s not fair.” (Tim McIntyre, spokesman for the pizza chain, responding to an incident…
Why come Whataburgers never look as good as on the billboard? ThisPiggy.com addresses this common lament with a photo gallery comparing fast-food marketing photos and the often pitiful reality.It begs the question, though, how do they get the food to look so good for the ad? Not squishing the bun…
I have bought perhaps half a dozen Michelobs in my entire life. Compared to Anheuser-Busch’s flagship Budweiser, Michelob is a serviceable brew. But the pricing is pushed just enough that it makes more sense to go with the much better imports or small production beers. Michelob recently sent a bottle…
Angelo & Vito’s4520 Frankford972-381-1001The reason places like Little Caesar’s and Domino’s thrive is a commitment to ‘just good enough’ style pizza.Such operations can easily bake a pale yet tolerable crust, spread on some simplistic sauce and let the toppings take care of the rest. After two pizzas at Angelo &…
They say Green Papaya isn’t authentic Vietnamese. I say: When I first moved to New York, my oldest friend introduced me to her cousin, who also lived there and was also a journalist. We hit it off immediately, and one of our shared passions–aside from writing, reading, watching Project Runway…
