At this very moment, somebody in a Hutchins BBQ kitchen is probably hollowing out a very large jalapeño.
That pepper has a big day ahead. It’s about to be stuffed with chopped brisket and cream cheese, wrapped in thick-cut bacon and sent to the smoker. At Hutchins BBQ, they call it the Texas Twinkie, and on Friday, October 16, the restaurant celebrates it with its fourth annual National Texas Twinkie Day.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Come Thursday morning, a lot of chefs in Dallas and Fort Worth will be hitting refresh on their email.
The Michelin Guide will release its third Texas selection on Thursday, October 8. This time there’s no ceremony. The last two years, Michelin threw a big night in Houston and chefs found out in front of a room full of their peers. This year the stars, Bib Gourmands and Recommended picks show up in a press release.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Ask a bartender who has worked a few closing shifts in an old building, and sooner or later you’ll hear about the door that swings shut by itself, or the footsteps upstairs after everyone has gone home.
Believe it or don’t. Either way, every stop below is open, pours a good drink and has a ghost story that has outlasted generations of staff. With Halloween coming, here’s where to have a drink with the dearly departed in Dallas and Fort Worth.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Dallas has no shortage of steakhouses, and Harwood Hospitality Group knows it. Maybe that’s why it took more than two years to open the newest one. Docent Steak finally opened its doors October 1 in the Harwood District, with two things no other steakhouse in town can match: a certified Kobe beef program and a dining room full of samurai art.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
A traditional Rioja dinner usually calls to mind roast lamb, Manchego and Ibérico ham. The menu Catch Dallas built for its recent wine dinner with La Rioja Alta took a different approach, pairing one of Spain’s most classic producers, La Rioja Alta, with hamachi crudo, miso-glazed sea bass and a center-cut filet. The evening made a persuasive case that long-aged Rioja is far more versatile at the table than its reputation suggests.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The lights went out at the downtown Neiman Marcus on Wednesday, September 30. After more than a century on Main Street, the flagship store closed for good, and the Zodiac Room on the sixth floor closed with it.
Some longtime customers showed up that last day dressed in black. A few left flowers at the entrance. That might sound dramatic if you never had lunch there. If you did, it makes perfect sense.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Michael “Mico” Rodriguez died last week. He was 68.
Mico was my friend. For a while now, the two of us had been working on a book about his life, and there is a lot of life to tell. So this isn’t an obituary in the usual sense. It’s a few things Dallas ought to remember about the man who changed how this city eats Tex-Mex.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Avner Samuel is cooking in Addison now, at La Stella Italian Steakhouse and Music Lounge, and his latest tasting menu reads a lot like the old days on Oak Lawn. There’s live scallop with osetra caviar, scrambled eggs under black truffles, foie gras on Wagyu. The six courses he recently served are headed for the regular menu soon.
If you dined at Aurora, you’ll see it right away. If you didn’t, some background helps.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
