Having done midget wrestling and sword swallowing, the folks at Duke’s Original Roadhouse are now paying homage to David Hasselhoff’s expert burger consumption (as seen in the infamous video recorded by one of his daughters) by hosting a burger-eating contest of their own at Friday, October 15 at 8 p.m…
Directing your attention away from the State Fair… The American Airlines Chef Challenge went down Tuesday, October 12 at the AT&T Plaza of the AAC. This was the deal: Competition started with 18 contestants, given 30 minutes to prepare a steak plate. Judges deliberated, selected five finalists, who prepared “Signature…
The North Texas Food Bank is on track to set a record for most cans collected during the State Fair of Texas. Today’s the third “It’s a Fair Deal” Wednesday, on which three canned food items are redeemable for $2 admission. The food bank’s haul last week was a record-breaking…
Ok, maybe we don’t want this.It’s the rare visitor who leaves the State Fair of Texas wishing there had been more deep-fried delicacies available, but there are a few fried and stick-impaled snacks missing from the fair’s line-up. Here, a look at five popular sweet and savory items sold at…
Fusion cookery is great. It can make global eats accessible to novices, turning something initially unpalatable to timid taste buds into something irresistible. It can be a gateway to bigger and better things. Fusion can also suck. It can water down amazing foodways. When I moved to Dallas, I set…
The Grape is celebrating its 38th anniversary this month, which makes it the perfect time to chat with chef and owner Brian Luscher. When the restaurant’s previous owners, Kathy McDaniel and Charlotte Parker, decided to give up the Dallas institution, they tapped their former executive chef to take over the…
Bundt cakes have become birthday party must-haves at some downtown Dallas offices since a Nothing Bundt Cakes outlet opened on Preston Road last November. “I used to make a lot of cakes, but I will never make another cake again,” swears Suzanne Caesar, a legal secretary who handles cake orders…
Two celebrity chefs are planning to serve pigs from out-of-state at a pair of upcoming dinners celebrating Texas food and small farms. Craft hasn’t made any local food claims for its Whole Pig and Beer dinner on October 27, although a release touting the event points out the featured Berkshire…
When I worked in restaurants, I was always surprised by how many guests opted to wait over an hour for a table rather than just eat at the bar. I consider eating at the bar the quintessential restaurant experience, since the setting fosters the camaraderie that makes restaurant-going worthwhile. Plus,…
Neighborhood Services Tavern’s Jason Kosmas, who’s today celebrating the release of his book Speakeasy: The Employees Only Guide to Classic Cocktails Reimagined, says Dallas’ cocktail scene isn’t as stunted as some naysayers fear. “I keep hearing about more people opening places,” Kosmas says. “Dallas is going to have its own…
No contest prize better symbolizes American abundance than the classic “year’s supply,” which conjures images of winners with endless closets full of puppy chow, baking powder or floor wax. But just what constitutes a year’s supply? Should food contest entrants be prepared to feast on the same meal 1000 times…
When I first moved to Dallas, I made a list of all the canonical restaurants I absolutely had to visit if I wanted to get a handle on the city’s food scene. Unfortunately, my list amounted to what politicians would call an unfunded mandate, which is why crossing off every…
Professional cooking is a high-risk job, as a feature in this Sunday’s New York Times graphically reminded readers. But chefs aren’t the only restaurant workers stoically sustaining bodily harm: Restaurant servers get hurt too. Here, a guide to the top five physical dangers facing waiters and waitresses…
To oak or not to oak? That is the question for chardonnay makers. For many years, American winemakers tended to follow the example Kendall-Jackson set with its flagship chard, suffusing their wines with so much oak that it was sometimes hard to taste anything but tree. Then, about five years…
A very special time is approaching, a time of warmth and family-gathering. It will be a time of great celebration under the crisp autumn leaves: The nationwide return of the McRib on November 2nd. For the first time in 16 years, the shaped-pork patty will be available at every McDonald’s…
A new minimalist movement may be taking hold in cookbook design circles. There aren’t any finished dishes pictured in The Geometry of Pasta, a new noodle field guide and recipe collection authored by Caz Hildebrand and Jacob Kenedy. The stunning black-and-white book is illustrated with life-sized line drawings of dozens…
Editor’s note: Monica Berry is a Dallas dater who’s bravely agreed to file dispatches from her dining expeditions with eligible bachelors. Berry, City of Ate’s resident date place scout, will size up restaurants from a dater’s perspective. Enjoy. When I recently passed The Common Table on my way home from…
Photos by Andrea Grimes and Man O’ The HourMenudo! Donde esta Ricky Martin? Il n’est pas ici. Nein.Like many of my fellow Dallasites, I spent this weekend in Central Texas. But I never gave a single Flo-Max laden Eagles fan directions to the Port-A-Potties. Nor did I cut any rugs…
Unless your mom is my mom and she started sifting through costume patterns at Hancock back in August, you may be a little nervous. Halloween is twenty days away, and no one wants to see you reprise your role as the Can of Spam at their party. I’ve had my…
Stephan Pyles’ Samar, which this weekend celebrated its first anniversary with cheap drinks and belly dancing, was today named to Esquire’s list of best new restaurants. Samar is the only Dallas entry on the list, compiled annually by culinary gadfly John Mariani. Haven in Houston also got a nod: The…
Mastermind, the forthcoming animated 3-D movie from DreamWorks, is presumably a technologically sophisticated bit of filmmaking. So why’s the studio promoting it via a medium associated with buffet lines and cruise ships? An eight-foot tall ice sculpture of the movie’s villain appeared at the State Fair of Texas this weekend;…
Even chefs who aren’t sports fans are ruing the Rangers’ performance this weekend, since the extended series is likely to keep eaters out of their dining rooms for a few more nights. Central 214’s executive chef Blythe Beck says high-end restaurants can’t compete with championship baseball. “Restaurants don’t do well…
