Let’s get this out of the way right up front: the cupcake wasn’t good. Billed as “magnificent vanilla cake…topped with vanilla and chocolate buttercreams,” The Cupcakery’s ‘Oh, My Gosh – Ganache!™’ cupcake was instead a bland, boring base topped with icing that tasted a whole lot like the inside of…
Like Joe Biden, we had no clue how bad the economy was–saw repeated stories about unemployment, but that’s it–until this: a pair of fine dining establishments have rolled out value meals (well, they don’t exactly call them that) to keep even the most belt-tightening of customers from stooping to brown-bagging…
Even as much as we honor hard work in America (nearly as much as apple pie), we admire quick fixes, workarounds and clutch deliveries more. You say there’s no easy way out? We say you’re not looking hard enough. Or maybe you’re looking too hard. Either way, this week on…
Hoping to prove his is a kinder, gentler brand of the Mexican ass-kicking liquor, Casa Noble Tequila’s Jose Hermosillo invited local media to be his guests guinea pigs Thursday night for a pairing of his tequila with courses from chef Ve Le at The Fish in the West Village.The suggestion…
So we stole this idea from Jay Jerrier. A Neapolitan pizza guy himself, he wondered in a comment posted on our site this week whether the cracker crust was the city’s favorite.Pizza crust comes in many styles. For the purposes of this week’s question, however, we’ll assume that marginal versions–rustica,…
This current generation of American drinkers couldn’t really care less about tradition. They shirk the classic cocktails in favor of trendy new flavors: pomegranate martinis, green tea margaritas, acai vodka and tonics or whatever the anti-oxidant of the month happens to be.Despite my frustration with such fads, I must admit…
Our favorite comment from this week is this from Bruce, responding to the On The Range feature about menudo. Bruce would try the infamous soup if he came across a version without hominy. As he puts it in this week’s non-award-winning entry:”I dont think there is another food on the…
Chapp’s Hamburger Cafe (Arlington location)2596 E. Arkansas817-460-2097Maybe it’s because we were all half-starved by the time we had dinner, but Chapp’s provided the best meal that Iris (11), Lyle (7) and I enjoyed all week. Kinda sad, really. Iris had just finished a soccer game–which always seem to be scheduled…
“I’m inexperienced. But my eagerness, I think, makes up for that.” It’s been almost two weeks since star Southwestern chef Stephan Pyles turned heads in the Dallas dining world by appointing Matt McCallister Executive Chef of his self-named restaurant downtown. The rumor mill’s been working overtime ever since, with whispers…
First of all, I realize some people don’t like karaoke, that it ain’t their thing and they’d prefer to sit there and just watch the fun. That’s cool. But just trust that at Family Karaoke — where parties of up to 25 can reserve private sound-proofed rooms with wait-service who…
Masaryk gets Dave’s attention in this week’s paper, with an industrial hum as the kitchen turns out one similarly flavored mod-Mex dish after another–“fresh and interesting,” he writes, as long as you stick to a single course.For a look around the place, and some close-ups of a few of the…
Unfair Park’s Robert Wilonsky has been tracking Bob’s–of steak & chophouse fame–many difficulties, updating the story again today (read it here). Over at SideDish, Nancy Nichols keeps up with the ne’erdowellness of another restaurant group (as you can see here).Nancy’s story, as she pursues it, will become even more sensational–trust…
Last year, Oskar Blues added five 100-gallon tanks and increased its brewing by more 64 percent over 2007 in order to keep up with increased demand. That the Lyons, Colorado, brewery experienced such a rapid growth probably wouldn’t surprise anyone who has tasted its excellent flagship beer, Dale’s Pale Ale,…
Grimaldi’s3636 McKinney Ave.214-559-4611A good portion of Uptown’s consciously hip population (which is, itself, just a segment of Uptown residents) like to think chains exist only in the culturally desolate ‘burbs. But a few of the neighborhood’s favorite haunts, such as Mi Cocina and Grimaldi’s, are themselves corporate entities…although when it…
Recipe Demonstrated by Miranda Martinez On Monday we introduced you to Miranda Martinez, self-proclaimed “regular person raw foodist”. The Dallas-based actress went all raw back in 2007, after running through just about every diet known to humankind. She dropped 60-plus pounds and now she’s busy spreading the word about her…
The incomparable Mr. Dallas takes his turn as guest DJ at PM Lounge in the Joule on Saturday night. His shift kicks off at 9:45–rather fitting, considering his, um, experience level. The set will consist of Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Musical Youth and maybe some Hooked on Classics…No, not really…
It’s a Grind is anything but. It’s a coffee shop, sure, and a franchised one at that, with a dizzying array of caffeinated choices, just like any other. There are lattes—whole milk and skim—frothy cappuccinos, eye-popping triple-shot espressos and baked goods that claim some modicum of nutrition but in the…
Remember that Charlie Chaplin film Modern Times? Industrial gears grind and turn, round and round, over and over, in a graceful yet ultimately repetitive sequence until the little tramp becomes ensnared in the machine. Masaryk reminds me of this Hollywood classic. There’s an elegant pattern to many of the dishes,…
There was an advertising jingle back in the 70s proclaiming Americans love for “baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.”Slogan writers often take some liberties, of course. I mean, football was already the nation’s number one sport by then. And clearly this was before Miley Cyrus, reality television and i…
On The Range is a weekly exploration of the history and lore of Texas menu items.Why in the world would anyone crave a bowl cow or sheep stomach soup? They do a stuffed stomach dish in Scotland, but that’s just to get through Burns Night and all that Scotch…Oh. Great…
Long before these dismal days of gut-busting King Size Snickers and 3 Musketeers Dark Chocolate Mint (an unholy creation, for sure), there were Goo Goo Clusters and Zagnuts and Squirrel Nut Zippers…uh…must…resist…Beavis and Butthead…laugh… Candy used to be cheery and novel, didn’t it?–a few bites of fun. Where did our…
So this morning Nancy Nichols finally joined the anti F-word club. Here’s our little diatribe on the same subject from sometime in Februaryhttp://blogs.dallasobserver.com/cityofate/2009/02/one_thing_you_will_never.php…
