A Lexington, Ky.-based dueling piano bar has received the city’s go-ahead to open a location in Uptown. According to Dallas city records, the Penguin Dueling Piano Bar has been granted a certificate of occupancy, allowing its troubadours to start tinkling near the corner of Cedar Springs Road and Fairmount Street…
Since the Observer recently named Charlie Palmer at The Joule the city’s Best Fancy Restaurant in this year’s Best of Dallas issue, we thought now would be a good time to get a look at the man behind the kitchen, executive chef Scott Romano. Like many of the chefs we…
It’s football season, which means tailgaters are weekly firing up their cookers and churning out meaty pork ribs, tender beef briskets and an array of other smoke-kissed meats that seasonal allergy sufferers might want to avoid. I spent five hours with an allergist yesterday, trying to understand just why Dallas…
Which Dallas neighborhood is most supportive of green energy, locally owned businesses and grassroots solutions to pressing global problems? If the winner of the recent Carrotmob competition is any indication, it’s Deep Ellum — although organizers say the community just narrowly edged out Oak Cliff. “We did not play favorites,”…
Whoever’s behind Chameli’s Twitter feed either has a State Fair-inflected sense of humor or the best dessert idea ever. “We’re doing Fried Mango Khulfi soon!,” @ChameliOnline announced yesterday. Problem is, nobody at the Indian restaurant in Richardson (which is clearly pictured on @ChameliOnline’s Twitter page) seems to know anything about…
A Texas-born chef has been tapped to take over at Five Sixty when executive chef Sara Johannes leaves this week. Pat Roberston, who’s served as executive sous chef at the Wolfgang Puck-owned restaurant since its opening in February 2009, has spent more than a decade with the Wolfgang Puck Fine…
Being relatively new to Dallas, it behooves me to sample all the tacos this city has to offer — even the least authentic of the lot. So, I spent my National Taco Day touring some of Big D’s tweakier taco joints. While I was sated enough by the food at…
Held in the store’s upstairs classroom kitchen, Friday night’s “Stone Brewery Gastropub” at Central Market was more cooking class than gastropub beer dinner. It provided such intriguing samples of food and Stone beers that it was impossible not to go downstairs and immediately head to the store’s beer cooler in…
I’ve been away for the past few weeks tending to some family stuff in Asia and have been a tad too busy to do any blogging. I’m sure the editor’s ulcer will be relieved to know that I’m back now with my one measly post a week. While away, the…
I had a nasty sinus infection this weekend, so I sought solace in a bowlful of bun bo hue, a spicy broth heaving with noodles, assorted pig parts and congealed pig’s blood. I didn’t pause to ask my server where the restaurant bought its meat, and I’d be willing to…
New Yorkers’ newfound infatuation with Texas-style barbecue is migrating upstate. The venerable Dinosaur Bar-B-Que is planning to add house-made hot guts to its menu when it opens a new location in Troy, a former steel and textile town near Albany. As The Business Review recently reported, Dinosaur – which for…
It could have been the finest drama of power and betrayal that Shakespeare never wrote. A young man learns the homebrewing craft but ultimately abandons his former employer for an IT career. Economic factors out of his control bring that to a halt, and he comes back to a career…
For those of us who visit the State Fair, it’s worth braving the Midway to revisit old favorites and discover new delights. As I reported last week, my wining companion and I were particularly pleased to find the Go Texan Wine Garden, a little Hill Country-esque oasis of vino, music…
Grab-and-go eaters are increasingly patronizing convenience stores, a trend one market research group thinks could threaten fast food restaurants’ traditional breakfast hour dominance. “We’ll see an expansion of foodservice programs and an upgrade of foodservice programs for c-stores,” NPD group vice president Warren Solochek told Nation’s Restaurant News, an industry…
Does absence make the eyes grow clearer? Texas-born chef Steve Shockey, who’s been impressing diners in the Miami area for years, recently summed up the differences between Texas and Florida’s food scenes for an NBC affiliate. “The dishes in Texas’ great food cities — Dallas, Austin and Houston — tend…
As we mentioned last week, if you’re headed to the fair looking for a corny dog contest this year, you’d better be ready to find your own challengers and drop nine tickets for every dog. This time around, the only organized contest at the fair was Sunday afternoon’s Jimmy John’s…
If this many hands touched an item at In-N-Out Burger, the health department would probably pay the restaurant a visit. But since y’all are starved for In-N-Out news, we share with you this latest tidbit, reported first by the Dallas Business Journal, and picked up by the folks at Sidedish:…
People aren’t the only ones who suffer through hot Texas summers. Grapes feel the scorch as well, which means the state’s not the place to produce varietals that wither in the heat. After years of stubborn experimentation with Pinot Noir and other delicate grapes, the Texas wine industry now realizes…
Photos by Andrea Grimes and Man O’ The HourThe Libertine’s olive-garnished Bloody Mary. Long a haven for Lower Greenvillers who like to be able to hear themselves think and their friends speak, the Libertine bar is one of the neighborhood’s stand-out spots in terms of food, drink and atmosphere. The…
Pegasus News reports this morning that Il Cane Rosso is putting down roots in Deep Ellum. Owner Jay Jerrier couldn’t be reached for comment, but Teresa Gubbins has posted a photo of the tip-off TABC window sign at 2612 Commerce Avenue. Jerrier last week confirmed on his Facebook page that…
In the last few years, the taco has become a mad scientist’s laboratory. Many well-intentioned Vincent Prices — whether from south of the border or homegrown — have sought to elevate the taco, fusing it with disparate parts. Their experiments are to be commended; the masses that have dipped into…
Stephen MaskerSome churros and…something close to vegetables?It would’ve been embarrassing if the week’s blogs hadn’t been All Fried, All the Time. Luckily, they spared themselves the shame and stepped up to the plate, almost every one giving their own take on State Fair food. Your Own Dallas Observer – Hanna…
