Some places in this country–New York; San Francisco; Chicago; and Krebs, Oklahoma, come immediately to mind–have always had great Italian food. And not just great Italian food. Lots of great Italian food. They have grocery stores that sell handmade cheese and thick-crusted breads, red-checked, Chianti-bottle-lit trattorias that serve lush pastas…
If you don’t believe Faith Popcorn is always right, take a drive down Lovers Lane. This was once Dallas’ own fashion row–anchored by fabulous Lou Lattimore at one end and exclusive Marie Leavell at the other, with the razor’s edge Gazebo in between. In the ’70s this was destination shopping,…
Mozzarella Company, Dallas’ only cheese factory, is famous for its fabulous goat cheese, its fresh ricotta, and even for its mozzarella. Now owner Paula Lambert has actually invented a new cheese, a mozzarella made from a mixture of goat’s milk and cow’s milk (cow’s milk because goat’s milk doesn’t have…
I recently read–and probably you did, too, admit it or not–that Joey, owner of Joey’s, the unbearably hot spot on Oak Lawn, is presenting neckties to a “select” group of customers. If you are wearing your Joey’s tie, which says “Joey’s” in a bright design colored like the restaurant’s dizzying…
Hot dogs and frozen custard. It doesn’t sound like an original idea, but when you think about it, where can you treat yourself to such a meal outside the circus, where it costs approximately as much as an ounce of sevruga? Wild About Harry’s, that’s where. This tiny place on…
“ST” stands for “Sweet Temptations.” Get it? That’s right, another bad restaurant name for a charming, personal cafe. And like Going Gourmet, ST Cafe is a business that grew out of customer demand. Sweet Temptations is a bakery that became a bistro; the bakery counter still is just inside the…
“Eatertainment” is a real word I recently read in a respected restaurant business publication. “Eatertainment.” You immediately can see what it means, and all you can do is mentally shake your fork at the establishments whose success has allowed such a word to be coined. It refers, of course, to…
Celebration, the grandmother of hippie home-cooking restaurants, has been overwhelmingly popular since its opening. In fact, the only drawback to dining there is the bankable line and the no-reservation policy. The good news is that now you can enjoy home-cooking at home. Celebration has started delivering dinner: pot roast, baked…
Where’s the dart board? That’s what I kept wondering when I first went to a brew pub. During the past few years, the country has been flooded with these places. Almost without exception, they’re large, noisy barns, where it’s impossible to have a conversation along with your beer. It was…
I remember the first time I was confronted with a Jell-O shooter: Served in a little pleated paper cup, and brightly colored, it reminded me of the first polio vaccine. I thought then that the drinker’s search for sensational weirdness had reached its end. But now, nearly needless to say,…
A few miles north of Thomas Avenue, the management crew that is doing wonders with the Thomas Avenue Brewing Company is tending to another of the neighborhood’s needs. The Green Elephant is a college hangout–this is where the Thomas Avenue bunch might have hung out while they were still going…
I have heard of restaurants complaining that a positive review put them out of business because they were unprepared for the ensuing success. And I’ve always had a tough-love attitude about that “problem.” A visit to Thai Country after another critic had recently reviewed the place didn’t change my mind,…
It’s been the observation of those who keep an eye on society–philosophers, professors, and people who watch a lot of television–that America’s domestic ideals have changed. Some say, deteriorated. It’s true that, when I was a kid, the Nelsons (Ozzie), the Reeds (Donna), and the Cleavers (the Beave) were the…
In England, it’s trifle; elsewhere, it’s charlotte, bread pudding, tiramisu. Every country’s cuisine has them–nursery sweets constructed from leftover bread or cake, and eggs, milk, and sugar. The bread pudding at new Toscana combines two great comfort foods into one great dessert. The restaurant’s dessert borrows something from bread pudding,…
I have a “friend” who just last week told me he absolutely and without question knew where the very best sushi in town was served. All the sushi chefs go there, he told me as proof of truth, but he would not tell me where the place is. “You’ll just…
The long middle table at John’s Cafe was full last Saturday morning, and there was only one newspaper, so it made the rounds of the table, handed to the next person down as each finished reading. There aren’t very many cafes like John’s left; Greenville Avenue used to be lined…
There’s been entirely too much discussion about the nature, needs, and future of Deep Ellum. Deep Ellum needs more residents; Deep Ellum needs fewer pawn shops. Deep Ellum needs more retail; Deep Ellum needs fewer tattoo parlors. Deep Ellum needs a grocery store. Deep Ellum needs more parking meters. Wait,…
It looks a lot like Kool-Aid, or maybe a Shirley Temple, up—a delicate pastel petal-pink, cool and frosty-looking, like Sugar ‘n’ Ice lipstick in a stemmed glass. But the Encantado Margarita at Monica’s Aca y Alla is made with mescal, a so-called beverage which most of us are too nice…
The whole city knows the secret now: There’s no sign, no listed phone. The painting on the outside is your only clue that you’ve arrived at no place. Against a lurid Texas sunset, a bunch of tough, gun-toting, duster-clad hombres ( I think that’s the correct term) are staring out…
The words “happy hour” bring to my admittedly middle-age mind a loud vision of elbow-to-elbow gatherings around chafing dishes of Mexican food, with too many cheap drinks leading to a blurry evening. How nice to instead perch on a barstool at Pinot’s in the early evening, sipping a glass of…
Many years ago, after a lovely wedding in an old chapel in Baton Rouge, we were given a Cajun feast of crawfish and wedding cake. The favorite drink of the day? The liquid refreshment with which the bride’s father fortified himself (and disabled his guests)? He called his concoction a…
It seems significant to me that the billboards and mailers advertising the long-awaited opening of Toscana don’t picture mouth-watering veal and mushrooms, or lemon-roasted chicken, but instead look like a lineup straight out of a Milanese fashion shoot. What are we selling here? Against a blank white background, debonair, white-haired…
