Food & Drink

Time was, the only chefs most of us knew by name were Julia Child and that Boyardee guy. Not anymore. With the crush of talented wizards working magic in Dallas kitchens, it pays to know just who is behind the saute pan at your favorite eatery. To help you keep…

Each week City of Ate will give you the lowdown on a local happy hour in Quittin’ Time, with the details on why you should or shouldn’t take up the featured bar or restaurant on its drink specials.Where: The Libertine Bar, 2101 Greenville Ave., 214-824-7900When: 4 to 7 p.m. Monday…

When Dallas’ First Lutheran Church was new, a crowded schedule of community dinners and lifecycle events meant there was almost always someone in the kitchen, frying fish or frosting cakes. The flutter’s mostly subsided now, as hot dog suppers and smorgasboards have been supplanted by professionally catered events. “I’ve noticed…

Chefs are cranky prima donnas. Chefs will tell you — and the rest of the world, if the reality show cameras are running — that they’re overworked, underappreciated and misunderstood. Surely their patron saint would have sympathized. This Thursday is the official feast day for Martha, the traditional defender of…

A press release tells City of Ate that Krystal’s sliders are a “cultural icon,” an “experience that virtually every man, woman and child in the South has shared” and – most important – free on August 7. To celebrate the burger chain’s four years in DFW, Krystal’s giving away squared-off…

I’m a New York Mets fan in a family with die-hard Texas Rangers fans. It makes for some awkward moments. The Mets are doing what they do — falling behind with Big Apple style (heartbreaking style). The Rangers are doing what they do — swatting aside the competition as anyone…

Breaking out the dreaded first person, here. Ever since our son was born in 2008, the missus and I have done as much as we can to provide him, and by extension ourselves, with an organic/natural, locally driven diet. It’s been a challenge on our meager income. Nevertheless, we’re dedicated…

Since news about Texas food tends to find its way to my inbox, I know way more than I should about Texas Roadhouse happenings. I don’t usually find too much in the Roadhouse oeuvre that’s worth sharing, but I was oddly riveted by a recent announcement regarding the restaurant chain’s…

The classic culinary loss leader is a supermarket gallon of milk, which is probably why the mondegreen “loss liter” persists. But the poor sap who settles for a sale at the dairy case isn’t taking full advantage of Dallas restaurateurs’ sudden inclination to discount their food. On the right night,…

It’s funny how fast word travels around town when a new coffee shop opens its doors. No sooner had Roasted heard about Mercantile Coffee House than people were telling us — or asking us — about it left and right. The coffee shop, located downtown a stone’s throw from Main…

My first experience at the brand new 99 Market Ranch in Plano was not a pleasant one. The Asian supermarket chain opened its first location in North Texas last week to much buzz. I paid a visit to the monstrous market during its soft opening on the hopes that I…

My counterpart at the Houston Press recently tweeted about how pleased she was when an entrée arrived topped with an egg. Eggs, most culinerati agree, make everything better. Chefs have lately been cracking eggs with abandon. It’s not just burgers and salads getting the cooked egg treatment: There are eggs…

Yesterday, I made love to Don Draper.He was gentle when he needed to be gentle, and he was rough in all the right places. We talked. We caressed. And as I laid there in his 3,000-thread count sheets and watched him pour me another Scotch, I knew that I would…

I recently traveled with a contingent of Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference attendees to Archer City, where we were supposed to meet with Larry McMurtry and tour his family’s ranch before speeding back to cocktail hour in Grapevine. But McMurtry was laid up with an aching eye, and our bus’ fan…

Alligator Café, a Cajun restaurant in East Dallas, is dedicating 10 percent of its sales each Tuesday to the Gulf Coast relief effort. “We’re hoping to collect about $15,000,” says Alligator Café manager Stacy Nicholson. The “Fishermen’s Fund” drive began the first week of July; Nicholson wasn’t sure how long…

Texas Folklife, a nonprofit organization that got its start documenting folk art across Texas, has launched its first food-focused research project. The group plans to spend the next four years collecting information about eating habits statewide. “Food is the centerpiece of festivals and celebrations,” executive director Nancy Bless explains. “We…

A co-founder of the Eat Green DFW blog, who earlier this month told City of Ate he suspected the sudden glut of farmers’ markets might prove unsustainable, this weekend announced the closing of another local market. Markets atFirewheel Town Center and West Village didn’t open as usual this Saturday, Brian…

By now, you should have made your reservations at your favorite establishments for KRLD Restaurant Week (or Month as I like to call it, since the entire event can last up to three weeks at some places). If you used the link on www.krld.com, you were probably guided to the…