Last week Top Chef contestant and chef John Tesar hired an executive pastry chef for his high-end seafood restaurant in Preston Center, Spoon Bar & Kitchen. For the job, Tesar tapped David Collier, who previously worked with him at The Mansion. Collier is moving back to Texas this month after…
Yesterday we pointed out the mention of Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey in The New York Times as part of a larger discussion about malt whiskeys and their recent domestic rise. Today I got a bottle of the stuff. It tastes like this… When it comes to whiskey, I am…
In a small, fenced parcel, presumably somewhere in Texas, two perfectly dressed cowboys wrestle a young calf to the ground. They use their knees to pin the animal to the dirt while a third cowboy holds a thick length of metal in the smoldering coals of a fire in the…
Texas is defined in many ways by many different people. But there are at least three things anyone can agree on when it comes to the Lone Star State: barbecue, Tex-Mex and steaks. This is the holy trinity of Texas cuisine — foods that compose our most firmly entrenched food…
There’s a lot of hubub about the tacos served at Stampede 66, but I’m having a hard time embracing the enthusiasm. First of all, they start at $4 a piece, pricy no matter how good the service is at Stephan Pyles’ latest restaurant, but they also lack the authentic, gritty…
Shame on us for not seeing this sooner. A Waco distillery whooped up on the Scots in the whiskey distillin’ business a month ago. They won Best in Glass, a recent whiskey competition, beating names I’m sure you’ll recognize like Macallan and Glenmorangie, just to name two. See also: -…
Yesterday the meat processing industry’s trade magazine, Meatingplace, posted a new article for their “Activist Watch” column about a much needed communication plan for American farmers after a year of pink slime, gestation crates and slaughterhouse headlines. Certainly the industry has taken a punch. (It could be argued that it’s…
John Mackey, the co-founder and co-chief executive of Austin-based Whole Foods, has just released a new book, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business. The (trademarked) idea of “conscious capitalism” is the soul of the book and promotes embracing the “higher purpose of a business, its relationships with interconnected…
Wednesday, January 16 Tonight Goodfriend Burger House will tap all three beers from Avery Brewing Company’s Dictator Series, which includes the Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest, Czar Imperial Stout and Maharaja Imperial India Pale Ale. President and brewmaster Adam Avery will be in attendance to take your comments. Local band Holt and…
Where does this bridge even go? Why does it have so many names? Is this how I get on the bridge? Why is it so fancy while being a portal to the middle of nowhere? What the hell is the speed limit? Is this a freeway, or a bridge? These…
According to The Associated Press, MicroZap Inc. has developed a technology that allows bread to be stored for up to 60 days without growing mold. The device, which costs about $100 more than a standard microwave oven, makes use of the same energy to kill mold spores in a loaf…
It’s known that I love Girl Scout cookies pretty hard. But, seriously Girl Scouts? Mango Creme NutrifusionTM cookie with vitamins in it? You thought that would please the masses?…
FT33 chef Matt McCallister and Driftwood chef Omar Flores are teaming up for surf and turf style two-part dinner series. If that grabs the attention of your stomach, then you might want to go ahead and call in for reservations, as they will surely fill up quickly. On Monday, February…
Every once in a while someone mistakes Scott for a food expert and risks ruining dinner by trusting him to answer to a burning question. Got a question about food or restaurants? Send it via Twitter @scottreitz, Facebook @ Cityofate or in the comments. Tiffany asked by email, quite succinctly,…
Tiffany Derry is bolting. In an exclusive interview with Leslie Brenner at the Dallas Morning News, which gave the Top Chef contestant’s restaurant four stars in a review published shortly after the restaurant opened, Derry announced her departure to pursue national television projects. Her last day at Private Social will…
Longtime Dallas chef and Plano native Marc Cassel will soon open his seafood restaurant 20 Feet Seafood Joint in the same strip along Peavy Road as Good 2 Go Taco and Goodfriend Burgers. Choosing this particular spot wasn’t really all that difficult Cassel said. See also: – Goodfriend is a…
Cold snap anyone? Dallas is finally starting to feel a little wintery, which means it’s the perfect time to pour yourself a margarita. Seriously. I’m used to switching to scotch when the mercury drops, but I’ve seen a number of cocktail recipes that are making think a winterized version of…
If you happened to listen to NPR this weekend you might have stumbled on an interesting food story on This American Life. The episode opens with a detailed examination of pork bung, which has been breaded and fried and served as calamari to unsuspecting diners. This can’t be possible, right?…
When Campo in Oak Cliff opened in back November of 2011, the creative modern cuisine at the hands of chef Matt McCallister was widely praised. Yet, three months later when Scott Reitz learned that the Stephan Pyles-trained chef already had his eye on his own project, Retiz asked the question…
If you haven’t noticed, after a few days of doom and gloom the sun was shining outside. It’s a good day for some patio drinking, if you know what I’m saying. Don’t get out there too soon though. We’ve got a week to wrap up, first, and this has been…
Trina Nishimura originally got into bartending for some extra cash during college. It was strictly a means to an end. Then, after graduating for the University of North Texas in Denton, Nishimura got a job doing cartoon voices — primarily English dubs for Japanese animation. Still looking for that extra…
The addition of Jerry’s Wood-Fired Dogs to the shopping center on Gaston Avenue, just north of Paulus Avenue, has me considering a petition the strip be officially called Junk Food Row. The hot dog restaurant joins Papa John’s and the Philly Connection, and while the Cock and Bull may have…
