- It's a good thing North Texas didn't have any major beer emergencies last week, because damn near everybody was in Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival. Texas won 10 medals this year, and there were a few standouts from our neck of the woods. Fort Worth's Panther Island Brewing Co. took gold in the Pro-Am, which pairs homebrewers with professional breweries, with Clifton Ellis' Just Rye'te, an American pale ale. There were four other local medal-winners, listed here by brewery, beer, medal and category:
- Vegans of Little D, rejoice: This week, Spiral Diner announced its plans to open a location of the beloved vegan diner at 608 E. Hickory St. in Denton in early 2017. "Our third location will be located at The Railyard, a newly renovated historic building in downtown Denton," the post reads.
- Chef Misti Norris has officially departed Small Brewpub in Oak Cliff, and the restaurant is sticking to drinks and bar snacks until they hire new kitchen staff. In the meantime, Small is hosting a guest chef series that kicks off Saturday night with David Madrid of Wheat & Sour, who will serve "Laotian comfort food" from 6 p.m. until food runs out. Yesterday, the restaurant launched a new Aperitivo happy hour, with a new $5 drink menu that will feature "Spritz, vermouth, wine, and more. We’ll also have $2 8 oz. pours of our Black Pepper Pils," according to a post in Instagram. The new happy hour runs 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.
- Kate Weiser Chocolate's new location is now open in NorthPark, CultureMap reports. The new shop, an offshoot of the original location at Trinity Groves, is located on Level One near Neiman Marcus.
- Knuckle Sandwich isn't the only North Texas spot that shuttered this week: as reported by both Escape Hatch and CultureMap, Vicini in Frisco closed Oct. 7. Via Teresa Gubbins:
Nine-Band Brewing Co. Toad Choker Barley Wine, bronze, Barley Wine-Style Ale
Community Beer Co. Witbier, bronze, Belgian-Style Witbier
Grapevine Craft Brewery Sir Williams, silver, English-Style Brown Ale
Revolver Brewing Anodyne Wheat Wine, gold, Other Strong Beer
Co-owner Robert Hall would say only that it is "in transition at the moment," but the doors have been closed since October 7.
The closure was seemingly sudden, since the restaurant was still posting updates on its Facebook page on October 6.
Vicini was a partnership between McCullough, co-owner of Standard Pour; Robert Hall, former general manager of Abacus; and Robert's wife, Stephanie Trosclair Hall.