GetKempt had a story this week about a new dinner challenge that’s a test of will and stamina. Think quarters, but less eye-hand coordination. It’s called “phone stacking,” and it requires everyone, at, say, a dinner party or happy hour, to relinquish their cellulars to the middle of the table…
Ed. note: Along with our booze correspondent, food critic Scott Reitz is trying his mouth at going meatless on Mondays. They’ll occasionally relay their experiences. So far Scott sucks at it. It sounded soooooooo easy. Drop meat on Mondays — it’ll help save the world and shit. And it’s only…
Eric Asimov, the interim New York Times restaurant critic sandwiched between Sam Sifton and his permanent replacement Pete Wells, published a story last week about his short tenure as a critical diner. Asimov reviewed restaurants before becoming a full-time wine columnist in 2004. His column compared dining during his first…
The last time I paid some attention to poorly designed restaurant websites, I cited as the hallmarks of a terrible home page poorly chosen music played in a loop, excessive flash and clunky navigation, along with lack of applicable information. Making hours of operation, location, a basic understanding of the…
New Year’s is pretty close. Time to take a good, hard look at our insides and decide what needs work, or at least what we think we can manage to work on effectively. I’ve got a few commitments I’ve made to myself involving exercise, giving up meat on Mondays and…
There’s a slew of press releases in my inbox about New Year’s Eve menus from various local restaurants. I haven’t written about any of them for a simple reason: Dining out on New Years Eve is invariably terrible. It’s almost certainly No. 2 behind Valentine’s Day for the worst day…
When I dreamed up my ideas for the RedFork space (which are never going to happen), it jogged my memory about many restaurants that I’d love to see arrive and thrive in Dallas. Here are a few more; consider this my Christmas list. If you think a reputable version of…
You walk into a dark cocktail den and take a seat at the bar. A bartender hands you a small, leather-bound menu featuring drinks from 1930s with some wild modern flavor combinations mixed in, to keep the staff from getting bored. You’re a classicist, though, so you settle on an…
Via…
Matt’s Rancho Martinez may be known as a solid Tex-Mex joint with good fajitas and boozy drinks to some, but a secret dip that was so popular it was eventually added to the menu is the restaurant’s real claim to fame. Behold, Bob Armstrong Dip, named after a Texas politician…
“I’ll have the omelet please, and black coffee,” I told my waiter. I was researching Dallas’ best breakfasts and hoped a luxury hotel version from the Mansion on Turtle Creek would make the cut. My waiter asked what kind of filling I wanted with my eggs, and I responded that…
Del Frisco’s Grille opened this weekend in Uptown. The restaurant sits next to Private Social, in the same building, for a fine-dining one-two punch. The menu at each restaurant is different, and so is the look and feel, but they’re still going to compete for the neighborhood’s high-end discretionary spending…
“Is it just you dining?” “Yes, my waitress, I’m a sorry solo sap. Thank god my iPhone can keep me company.” I tweeted that exchange from Princi Italia, the subject of this week’s restaurant review, while enjoying one of the nicer lunches I’ve had in some time. Two days later,…
The McRib is back. Again. The sandwich with a cult-like following will be released nationally through November 14. McDonald’s official website is pimping out McRib’s return by describing the sandwiches with brazen alliteration — tantalizingly tart pickles, sensationally savory onions, magnificently mouthwatering boneless rib and sweetly sumptuous barbecue sauce. All…
Dear people of St. Louis, You’re about to either head to Dallas or watch Dallas on your TV as our baseball (and football) players beat the ever living baseballs (and footballs) out of your baseball (and football) players. I’m not talking about the Most Elligible Dallas Dallas (“Carbs and cheese…
I was called out on Twitter after posting a rehash of Playboy’s Never Sleep:Dallas — a guide to drinking away a Saturday in the Big D. I picked on the magazine for ordering a Manhattan, and Twitter user philipberne scoffed: Also, @scottreitz, a Sazerac, with its Absinthe spritz, is a…
Everyone loves a good excuse to visit Playboy’s website while at work. This one is even legitimate. The magazine recently published a Never Sleep: Dallas guide prescribing the perfect Saturday night. In the name of work, I thought I’d take the guide apart one recommendation at a time to see…
Hey hippies. I know you’re pissed off about banks and the man and whatnot. But as this article in Mother Jones points out, you’re really missing out on a great opportunity. Everyone’s asking you for specifics, so get specific, and make food reform the backbone of your movement. Everyone’s gotta…
Behold! Dessert Plate! I first met you back in high school, where I thanklessly waited tables at a seafood-meets-steak house on the Chesapeake Bay. There, in the walk-in fridge, you sat perched at the ready, covered in cellophane and prepared to advertize your glorious bounty to diners already stuffed with…
Candy corn, I hate you. Mainly because — and I’m going to be blunt here — you fucking suck. You taste like pre-digested marshmallows and Sweet Vanilla Shit Meadow Febreze had a flavor baby. You’re punishment candy. People who give out candy corn on Halloween would be better off giving…
Oh, toilet humor. Though Gerard Depardieu gives Anderson Cooper the giggles, I don’t find it funny to dine somewhere where I feel I need to try and — ahem — hold it until I get home, should I drink too much wine or iced tea during my meal. But: I’m…
You’ve seen this guy, right? Peanut butter jelly time is the number one indicator of poor website design. Sparkling mouse trailers, glimmering lights, dancing bananas — these are the hallmarks of your 13-year-old daughter’s MySpace page. Poorly chosen music played in a loop, excessive flash and clunky navigation also indicate…
