When these things hit the market sometime back before disco–maybe even before streaking–Pringles canisters told a whole creation story: how machines shredded potatoes into a near liquid paste, reconstituted this mass into wavy wafers and such. It was all very appetizing.The process, in fact, remains so far removed from ‘normal’…
Goats helped settle America. Not kidding: According to Robb Walsh, author of The Tex-Mex Cookbook, goats were the preferred diet of common folk in Europe, so when Columbus sailed to the New World on his second voyage in 1493 he brought goats for meat, cheese, and milk–along with Spanish shepherds…
A couple of months, two chefs and a little bit of blog angst behind them, Lazare is ready for its Grand Opening…unless something happens, of course. Ramping up for Saturday’s event, the restaurant at 6 p.m. Thursday will be the site of Fashion After Hours, a Dallas fashion industry mixer…
After graduating from the California Culinary Academy, Landsberg cooked at restaurants in Sacramento and San Francisco. However, he became a star after moving to Dallas in 1996. Working alongside David Holben and Gilbert Garza, he helped open Toscana. From there, he worked high end places like Seventeen Seventeen, the Atruim…
“No one seems to understand why iced coffee costs so much more than the regular stuff.” (GQ magazine, pondering the expense added for steeping water and grounds overnight in a French press. As stated in their June issue.)…
Sonny Bryan’s2202 Inwood Road 214-357-7120Dude Factor: 9, or Nolan Ryan, on a scale of 1 (“Tom Hicks”) to 10 (“Tom Landry”)Sure, Sonny Bryan’s is a Dallas institution, but I can’t say I ever darkened the original’s door until the Observer moved to our current offices at Maple and Oak Lawn…
In a scandal very much like the one where French and Russian figure skating judges fixed Olympics results, I was robbed this morning of a cake decorating crown that was–by at least one account–rightfully mine.But first, the important stuff: The annual “cake-off”–in which the likes of Robbie Owens and Teresa…
Sometime in the overnight hours, Hot off the Grill arrived in subscriber in-boxes. This can’t-miss issue goes to the source to find out why Zymology closed after so many raves. We think that’s enough for one newsletter. But not our intrepid newsletter writer type person. There’s a whole bunch of…
Given that there are only a limited number of places that combine the all-you-can-eat-meat ethic of a Texas de Brazil-type churrascaria with the opportunity to restrict your meal to negative-calorie watery vegetables while still appearing to eat dinner, Genghis Grill–as the marriage of those two extremes–attracts the perfect mix of…
Joe Duncan of Baker’s Ribs (aka “that place next to Angry Dog that smells good but always looks closed”) will participate in the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party June 13-14 in Madison Square Park, New York City. Baker’s Ribs is, of course, a Dallas Observer favorite, earning the Best of…
How many service industry careers begin in college? Hard to say, really–but one assumes the number is significant. After all, the income is good and you can work through the summer.Rachal intends to graduate from SMU next year with a degree in finance. In the meantime, the Chicago native has…
“While in many respects [Pringles] are different from potato crisps and so they are near the borderline, they are sufficiently similar to satisfy that test.” (Britain’s Value Added Tax and Duties Tribunal, presenting their case that Pringles are indeed potato chips. Procter & Gamble UK, makers of the chips–crisps in…
Maguire’s17552 Dallas Parkway972-818-0068When a restaurateur decides to back a second (or third) venture, does the original suffer? Yeah, sometimes.But Mark Maguire is an old hand at openings, what with the former M Grill and current Rise No. 1 and Maximo to his credit. Still, the North Dallas location–Maguire’s–continues to plug…
I’ve touched on service issues before in this column, but the topic deserves another crack.Back in March I addressed a series of slip ups constituting what I thought was a frustrating downward trend in the quality of service at Dallas restaurants. For instance, on a couple review visits wait staff…
Texan Steak4817 Ross Avenue214-521-7999Promised delivery time: 45 minutesActual delivery time: 35 minutesNovelty of concept: 15No menu online, or discernible storefront on street: -20Helpful guy taking orders over the phone: 20Talking delivery driver through directions to my house: -20Expert packaging of potentially disastrous delivery order: 18Quality of steak: 14Not having to…
Restaurateur Scott Jones announced that August 29 will be the final day of business for Cafe Italia, at least in its current form. But fans of the Tex-Italian eatery need not despair: he plans to “end this chapter and begin fresh with an exciting new concept” in the same space…whatever…
When contestants for the upcoming series of The Next Food Network Star were announced, she was labeled the ‘stay at home mom.’ Indeed, the Keller resident tends to four young children–which, of course, means cooking three meals a day, just about every day of the week. Producers for the show…
“Not too thin, not too fat, neither spartan nor gobbed with anything exotic.” (Jane and Michael Stern, describing in Gourmet magazine the perfect lunch counter burger. They contend, quite rightly, that burgers people tend to love are approachable, democratic–meaning devoid of frills such as foie gras. As stated in the…
This week’s round of local food news proves it: appearances can be deceiving. A fine Japanese spot can be hidden deep in a mess of chain sprawl, a food-lover who relishes subtlety can prove to be a karaoke superstar by night, and an initially disappointing pizza can prove, on a…
The Dallas area has been hitting better than even in the openings and closings department. But when one closes…This month the new, well-reviewed “gastro-pub” on lower Greenville, Zymology, shut down. Suddenly and quietly. From all accounts, the venue proved too good for its neighborhood. The breakdown:EnteringVapiano–The German-based, Italian-kinda-themed chain in…
We’re talking about those times when you have guests over for drinks, of course. Despite the comfy chair and nice leather couch, the dining room table or poolside patio, everyone eventually gathers in the kitchen. This is so even when the space is cramped, narrow or has one of those…
City of Ate seems to be running a little behind as the short week comes to its close. So instead of interns poring through hundreds of posts on a dozen or so local blogs to find a ‘winner,’ one guy whipped through a page of items to come up with…
