We're starting to believe that there is a holiday for everything under the sun. For example, April 7 is International Beaver Day and November 19 is World Toilet Day. So does this mean that the beavers get a day off from work and party it up at the dam bar? And how exactly do you celebrate World Toilet Day or do you even want to know? One thing we won't question is the holidays that celebrate food because that's when magical, free things happen.
This Tuesday, February 23, is National Pancake Day and IHOP restaurants nationwide are celebrating by offering a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes to its customers starting at 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. All they ask in return is to leave a little something to be donated to Shriners Hospitals for Children, which is a network of 22 pediatric hospitals through North America that provide all services free of charge.
Last year National Pancake Day raised $1.5 million for children's charities and served over 2.5 million free pancakes. Also, a fun fact about last year's event is that all the pancakes served would create a stack more than twenty miles high. That's a lot of pancakes. For more information, check out www.ihoppancakeday.com, where you can also make online donations.
Also going on this week...
After a one year hiatus, Les dames D'escoffier, an organization that mentors and educates women in the culinary profession, will be resuming its Raiser Grazer tradition this Sunday, February 28, at the Fashion Industry Gallery with "Women Stars of Wine and Food." The evening will feature women stars of the wine industry offering wine tasting while over 20 female chefs supply you with food bites. The event will hold a silent auction where participants can outbid each other for culinary classes, private dinner, fines wines and more to raise money to help provide scholarships and programs for women in the food, wine and hospitality industry. A few of the women in attendance will be Caris Turpen, of Lightcatcher Winery, Susan Auler, of Fall Creek Vineyards, Sharon Yage, of York Street, and Liz Baron, of Blue Mesa Grill. Also, Gloria Campos, WFAA-TV news anchor, will be the MC for the night. Checkout www.LDEDallas.org for more info.
Crush Wine Shop, located on Knox at Cole, will be closing its doors today. Late last week, owner Jim Larkin, announced they lost their lease. He does plan on opening the store at a new location, but future plans are uncertain as of now. If you're in the area today, try to stop by for deals on their inventory clearance sale.
We just got word that the Houston-based delicatessen, Kenny & Ziggy's, will be making a move to Dallas in the near future. The New York-style deli is in the middle of negotiations right now to lease a space in the Preston corridor although details about its precise location remain somewhat sketchy. This seems the perfect timing to expand, considering Roasters just closed shop recently. One deli leaves and another swoops in to take its place.
