Atti Worku was born and raised in Adama, Ethiopia, where at an early age she noticed a distinct difference in her private school education and those in the public school system. During college Worku began modeling and competing in beauty pageants, and in 2005 was crowned Miss Ethiopia. Shortly afterward,…

Last night the James Beard Foundation presented its coveted awards for best chef. Chef Bruno Davaillon of Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek was a finalist for Best Chef Southwest Region, along with Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks in San Antonio, Kevin Binkley of Binkley’s Restaurant in Arizona, Jennifer…

Don’t forget that tonight, this here Dallas Observer presents Iron Fork, a culinary event showcasing local chefs and an opportunity to sample dishes from more than 30 area restaurants. A mixologist station, alongside wine, beer and cocktail samples, will also be available. The highlight of the evening is a chef…

Planning a trip to Las Vegas soon where you’ll surely create your own version of The Hangover? Or have a nasty track record of hitting it hard the first night of vacation only to ruin subsequent days where even the smell of booze trips your gag reflex? (Rookie.) As our…

Yesterday Saveur.com, the gourmet food, wine and travel magazine, announced its 2012 Best Food Blog Awards winners. Courtesy warning: perusing the finalists and winners could easily waste your entire day and create an insatiable need to spend excessive money at Central Market, as well as on travel around the world…

Gubbins over at Pegasus got all the sparkly details on a new a Alamo Drafthouse that the city of Richardson’s Planning Commission just approved. This Austin-based import will be the first in the Dallas area and will reside in an old Pep Boys in the Richardson Heights Shopping Center. The…

Jorge Levy and his two sons own Desperados on Greenville and in Garland. The senior Levy, originally from Mexico, is also involved in The Dallas Margarita Society, Savor Mexico, the Greenville Area Business Association and recently won the National Restaurant Association’s Faces of Diversity Award. Most importantly, he’s the guy…

See also: Rejected Miller Lite Delivery Systems Miller Lite has introduced a new Punch Top Can to increase airflow to your drink hole, “reducing glug and resulting in an improved, smoother pour.” Which actually translates to faster times for shotgunning. The small indenture on the top of the can be…

Torchy’s Tacos, which began several years ago out of a trailer in Austin, is busy with expansion plans. A new spot in Allen opened a couple of weeks ago and, per the Dallas Biz Journal, the SMU location has a sign out front promising it will be “opening soon.” And…

A French blog, Convergence Alimentaire, has assembled a road map of the 10 largest multinational brands that run a racket on supermarket shelves. From the Convergence Alimentaire website (after a quick drive through Google translate): Hundreds of brands that we find on the supermarket shelves give the impression that our…

Thursday morning on Sports Radio 1310 the Ticket, the Musers dedicated a segment to the lost art of family dinners. They (loosely) cited a new report supporting the old doctrine that a family that breaks bread together stays together. Their conversation was, as always, insightful and thought-provoking. They made P1s…

There’s strategy in everything. Red lights, slot machines, napping at work, bunting. The odds are always better if you have a plan. Strategy! So what would be the best strategy for eating as many oysters as possible in 30 seconds? Are those slippery bivalves easier to shovel in with your…

Word out of the Monrovia, California, HQ for Trader Joe’s, is that the company’s first two Texas stores will both open on Friday, June 15 at 8 a.m. One is in the Woodlands north of Houston and the other in Fort Worth. The Fort Worth location at 2701 South Hulen…

Jonathan Colley is one of the resident barkeeps and beer nerds in the basement at West Village (aka Union Bear). He got into the beer biz by frequenting his neighborhood watering holes in Oak Cliff, where he met the ambitious Spillers Group. When they recently opened Union Bear, they hired…

Natasha Calvert is originally from Denver, and began working at Whole Foods in 2006. She recently moved to Texas, where she’s a “forager” for local products, traveling around meeting purveyors, producers, growers, ranchers and the occasional chicken. Then she helps bring those products to the store’s shelves. Here’s how she…

Last night Jack Perkins, proprietor of Maple and Motor, took a break from flippin’ burgers to check out his Yelp page. He noticed a review from Dace Street, the son of Gene Street, owner of Snookies and brother to Mariel Street, who owns the newly expanding Liberty Burger. Turns out…

In terms of eating healthy, do your days often start with the best of intentions, but descend with the sun? Maybe you begin with oatmeal and a banana, but end with a plate of nachos that are washed down with a couple cold beers? Well you’re not alone. You’re still…

A comment in my story a while back about phone stacking caught my attention. “In Japan they have ‘No Phone Areas’ in restaurants, bars and even the subway,” Wagner Gui Tronolone wrote. “I think it’s awesome!” It does sound sort of awesome. Sometimes a cell phone feels like a leash…