If ever you get a chance to attend a traditional Lithuanian wedding, make up some excuse and send the couple your apologies.Not only can they be all day affairs, it is customary for just about everyone present to make a lengthy toast–and considered very rude for guests to eat or…
Delaware’s Dogfish Head landed at No. 2 on the Hophead Beer of the Year list for 2009, thanks in large part to its creative approach. But the brewery isn’t just forward-thinking with its innovative beverages–it also has a healthy respect for the past, and goes so far as to resurrect…
It is that time of year when we begin to waver on our resolutions. Oh, we still push ourselves to actually visit the gym we have been dutifully paying for the past eighteen months. Diet books fly off the shelf as we survey the damage done by the excess of…
Addison Cafe5290 Belt Line972-991-8824Damn this place is quiet inside.Not empty, just quiet–the soundtrack cranked down to a level only barely audible. The near-silence is so stark, you quickly become self-conscious. Anything you say above a whisper is fodder for other tables.We eventually saw opportunity in this and began mumbling false…
Recipe Demonstrated by Brady Cottle of Urban Dog Coffee The workplace can be tricky. When you’re first hired on at a new job you cross your fingers hoping you won’t have to share an office with a bunch of Dwight Schrute wannabes. You say a little pray before you step…
A couple years ago I sat in some fancy French restaurant watching two servers wheel a polished brass cart to my table. One of them fussed about a copper chafing dish for a moment then began to splash Grand Marnier over the delicate, sugarcoated pancakes within it. Flambé presentations build…
Each week, Pairing Off attempts to find just the right bottle of wine to go with ordinary food.National restaurant chains know how to stretch the limits of almost any word. Olive Garden tries to sell us on the “Tuscan” influences in their dishes–you know, the grilled shrimp caprese, five cheese…
The classic combination hasn’t disappeared. In fact, during a recent visit to Fort Worth, I spotted the option on Grace’s dinner menu.Once upon a time, however, this double-wallop of protein was such a common feature it rivaled (perhaps even beat out) bacon and eggs, ham and eggs and other contenders…
Westfork is our series exploring the dining culture of Fort Worth and its surroundings.Occasionally I enjoy a little nostalgia. The fondest of these trips down memory lane end up taking me back to the glory days of post-college years in the mid 90s, when my drinking budget was at its…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Mad Cat, Insanity, Hogs Ass, Snake Bite, Idiot Boys. No, this is not the Granada’s line up for February. Rather, they are names of hot sauces featuring the dreaded habanero chile, as listed by Chris…
Jersey Mike’s multiple locations Dude Factor: 10, or The Situation, on a scale of 1, Sammi Sweetheart, to 10. Let’s be clear–I am no stranger to Jersey Mike’s, and it is no stranger to me, either. I started visiting the sub chain’s Greenville Ave. location during my circa-2003 stint as…
If Memory Serves chronicles moments from my dining past, perhaps explaining what’s wrong with me.God how I despise pickled beets.You know, those slices of bright magenta mush that come from a can…or is it jar? Since I won’t allow them in the flat, I’ve forgotten.My hatred ran so deep as…
City of Ate reader, Margie, comments, “Oh, and I’d like to add that this rash of dieting talk all over the web and TV is making me sick. My resolution is to eat more and drink more and have more fun doing it. Saying ‘hell’ more than ‘damn’ is another…
The first one showed up around 6 a.m. Sunday, and by noon the line stretched down Travis Street and into the Sur La Table parking lot: hundreds of homemakers, grillmasters and amateur chefs waiting in the cold hoping to land a spot on Gordon Ramsay’s American incarnation of MasterChef.Buoyed by…
Like the sirens of Greek mythology, certain locations call out to passing restaurateurs, luring them in. Sometimes the space pays off for a year or so–but it’s a trap. Sooner rather than later, things start to go wrong.Why this happens–a jinx, negative waves, bad feng shui, the presence of Cubs…
What is it that makes a chef great? If we allow that anyone (almost) can buy a fresh ahi tuna steak, sear it and toss on a few grains of sea salt, is it really a matter of a kitchen preparing good ingredients with requisite skill? Or is it something…
Houston’s8300 Preston Rd.214-691-8991Houston’s is a habit. Not a bad habit, like meth or American Idol, but one that does call into question several sacred culinary beliefs.Most obvious is our tendency as gourmands to dismiss chain restaurants–something we put up for discussion last week. Hillstone, the parent company of Houston’s, lists…
Each week in ‘Knockers’ we order from a different delivery restaurant, assessing their efficiency and keeping a running score.Thai 2 Go 2222 Medical District Drive 214.484.2161 Promised delivery time: 30 minutes Actual delivery time: 16 minutes Scoring Summary: Seeming lack of authentic Thai employees: -3 Kal-El lightening fast delivery speeds:…
Ordinarily we wouldn’t get too excited about the opening of yet another convenience store in Dallas. It’s hard to remember the last time we griped that we had a hard time finding a place to grab a bag of Funyuns, a hot dog or a bottle of Mountain Dew (or…
Stepping into the big white tent next to Grapevine’s Embassy Suites, the first thing you noticed last night was that it smelled great inside. The air hung thick and fruity, and as more than 400 people in white plastic ponchos chattered and paced across a spotless new carpet, you could…
Sure, Houston’s is better than, say, Applebee’s or Red Lobster, but it’s still a nationwide chain. And if you admit to dining at Mi Cocina or Taco Diner because of the quality of their cooking, you might also like Chili’s.So what’s going on? If we love one and hate another,…
We’re already stockpiling prizes that we probably won’t give away until the end of the year, if at all. Great prizes, too–such as 8 oz. flasks with the Dallas Observer ‘Best of’ 2006 logo (which kinda makes them collectibles and thus quite valuable). And if we can ever find someone…
