You have to admit, the French are a pretty daffy bunch. Just when you thought socialism had gone the way of Pia Zadora feature films, the French gleefully gave it political mouth-to-mouth this June, filling the National Assembly and the prime minister’s post with Socialist driftwood. And don’t get me…

My first salmon-fishing expedition in the Pacific Ocean may never have happened if it weren’t for a black-market guide named Jeb. After hearing me and my friend reject a $100-per-person fee from a guide at a local bait shop, Jeb followed us to our car. “I’ll do it for fifty…

One thing you won’t find at Hedary’s Lebanese Oven & Grill is a self-conscious striving for minimalist assemblages of ingredients. Nor will you encounter “breakthrough” juxtapositions of native flavors from, say, El Paso and Uranus. What you will find is a menu that unapologetically adheres to Lebanese culinary traditions reaching…

Editor’s note: Mark Stuertz debuts this week as the Dallas Observer’s restaurant critic. He’s previously written for D magazine and several national wine publications. The question was meant to be a joke. I thought my server would notice the wink, detect the smugness. I thought he’d get it. Instead, he…