Bolsa: Delicious “Slow Food” Without the Smug.

Years ago, in response to a seeming onslaught of prepackaged goods and quick-service chain restaurants, a few activist gourmands began spouting the moral superiority of “slow foods.” Not just organic or free-range, mind you, but also locally grown and “sustainable.” Forgetting that in the days when people ate natural foods…

Pairing Off: Chicken Fried Steak

Texas should be ashamed of itself.In the old days this state produced larger than life heroes–men like James Fannin, Clyde Barrow and “Hollywood” Henderson. But now, after two from the Bush clan (three if you count Neil), a Rove and the guys at Enron, all we can cling to is…

Name, Game

A chef who speaks with the highest authority just emailed to voice his chagrin at the choice of Five-Sixty for Wolfgang Puck’s soon to open venue atop Reunion Tower. At least a decade or so ago, Puck’s staff weren’t so trend-conscious (or wooden) when it came to naming rights. The…

Dude Food: Grimaldi’s

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria3636 McKinney, Suite 190214-559-4611 Last night my ladyfriend and I decided on a pizza dinner at Grimaldi’s in the West Village. If you haven’t been yet, Grimaldi’s is the first Dallas location of the chain which has served famously delicious coal-fired pizza pies to dudes like Frank Sinatra (awesome)…

How ‘Bout Them Knockers: Sushi Zushi

Sushi Zushi3858 Oak Lawn AvenueDallas, TX 75219214-522-7253 Promised delivery time: 45 minutesActual delivery time: 26 minutes Plucky, aptly-named tele-server: 9 pointsZippy delivery: 10 pointsFood temp: 10 pointsTentacle tenderness: 8 pointsPoints deducted for timid tuna: 2 Total Score: 90 Overall Standings Yumi To Go 98 Sushi Zushi 90  Picasso’s Pizza and…

Fedora Makes A Statement

The safety minded-folks at the Texas Alcoholic Beverages Commission (otherwise known as the notorious TABC) require establishments to post this deterrent somewhere near the entry. Gives those packing unlicensed heat a chance to waive down the valet: “hey, could you throw this Thompson in the trunk?”Unfortunately the designers of Fedora…

Dueling Critics

Last week a reader commented on the impression, shared by many, that Dallas Observer (that’s us) reviews tend to follow Dallas Morning News (them) pieces by a week or two. For instance, their Bill Addison tore into Pyramid on November 21. We did the same in the December 4 issue…

Burning Question: Do Chefs “Do” Sloppy Seconds?

Sean Avery’s not the only one who has a problem with leftovers.”I hated them as a kid,” admits James Neel, chef at Tramontana. “I didn’t want the same thing two days in a row.”Wait…are we talking about the same thing? Maybe not. Fortunately, cooks in the city treat sloppy seconds…

Getting Bombed

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Shish: Turkish, But no Delight

Not having seen 300, Hollywood’s beefcake version of the ancient grievances between Persia and the Greek city-states, I must settle for a more dated image of Turkey’s once-great warriors. On stones unearthed over time by scholars—you know, those sullen experts we’ve preferred to ignore ever since popular culture turned to…

Hophead: On Rotation At Trinity Hall

Here’s to a long life and a merry one. A quick death and an easy one. A pretty girl and an honest one. A cold pint- and another one! –Irish toast (one of many)Trinity Hall is the official meeting spot for the Dallas chapter of the 1759 Society, a group…

Pairing Off: Taco Bueno

So good, its bano–isn’t that the slogan? There’s no shame in the occasional trip to Taco Bueno. Hard to resist the convenience and the colorful signage. Besides, if Dean Fearing can take guests to Primo’s–only a few steps up–the rest of us are welcome to pick up fast food. But…

War Without End

The first of this morning’s PR shots came from the folks at Abacus–something about AAA’s Five Diamond Award and, more importantly, revisiting the moment when chef Kent Rathbun lifted (as in picked it up off the ground with his bare hands) an elk on Iron Chef America. But you can…

Dude Food: Cousin’s Barbeque

Cousin’s Barbeque Various locations I don’t think a Texas barbecue place does itself any favors by boasting that it’s a favorite of an Ivy League, blue-blood Yankee, but Cousin’s Web site brags about serving George H.W. Bush. Had I known that before trying the food, I’d have been a tad…

How ‘Bout Them Knockers: Campisi’s

Campisi’s 5405 W. Lovers Ln 214-350-2595 Promised delivery time: 45 minutes to an hour Delivered in: 54 minutes The Score Phone friendliness: 7.5 Order efficiency: 9 Delivery Squeezed in just before the buzzer (sort of): 7 Temperature of Eggplant parmesan and spaghetti: 9 Flavor and sauce: 9.5 Spill-safe packaging: 10…

Hash Over: Home for the Holidays, Cut-Rate Lobster, Etc.

Who knows why everyone takes such delight in gingerbread houses? The fate that befell Hansel and Gretel–or nearly befell; we only know the story through Bugs Bunny–when they encountered such a structure was none too pleasant.But last night, the Rosewood Crescent Hotel put the final bit of icing on their…

Burning Question: Is It OK To Drink From The Well?

Yeah, yeah. Red state, blue state, Sunni versus Shiite, McCain battling against his “maverick” past–big deal.These are but minor little spats compared to the one issue that threatens to rend our social fabric, set brother against brother and perhaps even topple our sacred devotion to progress: in these troubled economic…

Ten Years In A Hole (In The Wall)

Like most worthwhile “hidden gem” ethnic eateries we dream about, Thai Noodle and Rice is nondescript, a dive next to the Shop n’ Go on North Fitzhugh near I-75. And fortunately, the shabby exterior seems to promise something good, worthwhile–very different than overfused and overpriced pan-Asian fare served everywhere these…

Hash Over: Holiday Jam, Cut Rate Wine And Other Stuff

Don’t know what to do with odd, even somewhat interesting and likely helpful news of this sort, but pass it along… Not only concerned for public health, but also for the hobby-deprived, credit-burdened gift-givers this holiday season, gourmands at Texas Oncology developed Jingle Jam–a Southern-style preserve they’re willing to give…

Pyramid Room: As fun as a Vacation in Nebraska

How often must MBA recipients prove their “worthiness” before we finally stop listening? And before you many upstanding business folks finish that “hey, wait just one damn minute” thought, keep in mind what MBAs have wrought lately. There’s W, for example—whom the conservative media once lauded as our first such…

Gazeebo Burgers: A Big Bite of Nothing

Extra “e” in the name count: 1 Actual gazebo in the parking lot count: 1 I was having one of those “Can’t Decide What I Want for Lunch” days when I started to lose my mind because I was so hungry, but at the same time nothing I drove past…