A couple of housecleaning items seem appropriate before we address this week’s topic. After all, in less than two months we’ve managed to…well, let’s just get right down to the mea culpas: Sorry, Greg, but Kinella is the correct spelling after six martinis; we entered Shade, Cuba Libre and Mick’s…

It’s surprising at first. Bartenders insist that knowledge of particular drinks is of minor significance compared with traits such as personality and consistency when measuring success at their craft. It’s akin to universities hiring faculty based on fashion instead of academic reputation, football coaches stepping in front of ESPN mikes…

Sherry Maddox works behind the bar at Nikita. She’s also a student of urban culture, apparently. During a quiet moment before the hedonistic “Naked Sunday” onslaught, she addressed a bedeviling topic. Americans, you see, have long struggled with ideals such as segregation and equality. And while we spend decades attempting…

For us the year 2004 began in a drunken stupor, surrounded by the equally drunken and stupefied masses gathered at Sense. It ended in much the same way. This week’s Burning Question, however, concerns the in-betweens, the dismal months of 2004. Any literary recap of the year just past must…

There’s art and there’s math. Great lovers of the past–Casanova, Mae West, Pepe Le Pew–approached sexual conquest as an art form. They practiced persistence, with longing glances, languid eyes, bits of conversational intrigue, engaging mannerisms and a leisurely buildup to the moment when resistance crumbles. But who has time for…

Oh, boy. Over the past several years people often wrote in urging us to dine on organ meats, find a cocktail we couldn’t stomach or sit down to haggis and scotch. This week’s topic, we thought, would finally give us the opportunity to amend our impish raconteur persona and describe…

Kent Rathbun leaned back in his chair, glanced in our general direction and ran his fingers over a case, which we knew contained a set of razor-sharp knives. He then suggested this week’s topic. The frustrations arising from a finite number of seats, the uncertainties of weather and traffic, capricious…

Just last week the Burning Question crew stumbled upon a major scientific discovery. We noticed that as Americans become more selective in their choice of cuisine, they lose their ability to discern skill in, say, leadership and moral stature. Once upon a time, people went out for “Chinese” food–which back…

Everyone who plunks down a significant amount of change to open a bar or club wrestles with this week’s question. Popularity means sales, which translate into success. And success…well, we had to look it up, but it sounds worthwhile. Yet according to our American Heritage dictionary, achieving success is never…

Let’s set the scene, because this particular incident took place about 10 years ago. We were running a bit late, our timetable disrupted by a few extra drinks “accidentally” ordered by a member of the crew not yet known by the Burning Question moniker. Meanwhile, a female friend waited for…

Chefs and restaurant owners often whine about those paid to critique their establishments, contending that reviewers should have some kitchen experience before they ever start writing. Of course, we suspect very few chefs stun-gunned cattle at a slaughterhouse prior to a career grilling steak. Fortunately, the Burning Question crew can…

Thousands of restaurants and bars in this city vie for attention from a small number of media outlets and journalists. Now throw in the PR types, paid to spread the word about this event or that new drink…or to insist that it’s normal for guests to experience searing stomach cramps…

Those old enough probably remember Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, a popular television series in which the hosts tracked hungry beasts roaming the savannah or crept up on skittish prey. Well, consider the Burning Question crew literary heirs to Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler. Over the past few weeks we’ve…

Sometimes, after we’ve called in sick with a strange “stomach virus,” we spend the day testing Bloody Mary recipes and watching cooking shows. According to television, chefs spend their days sipping wine with Andrea Immer on some ocean-side deck, fishing for rainbow trout in a roaring mountain stream, roaming Tuscan…

When asked to evaluate the art of bartending, few people mention the drink itself. “It’s not the drink, but your actions behind the bar that matter,” claims Manny Murillo of the Library Bar. By that he means a combination of attitude, customer service and attention to waitstaff. “You can get…

Europeans often complain that Americans lack sophistication, particularly when it comes to matters of leisure. Our faults are many: We refuse to stuff ourselves into Speedos; we regulate our lives with air conditioning and fail to keel over by the thousands when temps top the 90 mark…make that the 30…

Believe us, we’ve been involved in some pretty despicable acts. There was the night we convinced a noted chef to chug wine straight from the bottle. The day we filled our editor’s vial of miracle hair-restorer with Nair. The time we slipped several $18 hamburgers onto a friend’s bar tab…

The defining moment came on a Tuesday night at The Quarter. Clusters of men and women milled about and intermingled casually, but the night was young. A stunning, raven-haired woman named Jill explained that she and her friends hang out in bars “to get out of the house, regroup, find…

Remember the ’90s? Most of the world loved us, everybody had money to spend, we could kick back at Dallas restaurants and whip out a cigar…which reminds us: good thing we put an end to all that hanky-panky in the White House. Feel a lot better off now, we do…

Yeah, we downed dozens upon dozens of oysters while researching this week’s topic. Now we’re certain to die–this being a month with no r–and horny as hell. And yeah, we know those are just myths. No scientific evidence exists tying shellfish consumption to increased libido. Perhaps the story earned credibility…

We confess: This week’s Burning Question reached us about, oh, eight months ago. Good idea, we thought at the time–but then we deleted it from our in-box by mistake. Fortunately, our editor kept a backup copy. Too bad he sent it the day our laptop fell from a second-story window,…

Dallas cares. It really does. Voters approved $3 million to fund an assistance center for the homeless. The city just can’t decide where to put the new facility, that’s all. In January, city officials asked organizations intent on feeding the hungry to confine their activities to the Day Resource Center,…