Category Archives: Andrew Chalk

by | December 2, 2014 · 8:00 am

Server: Here Is What To Do With a Report of Corked Wine

by Andrew Chalk

I was in the excellent Stampede 66 some time ago and reported to our waitress that the bottle of wine that I had ordered was “corked”. I might as well have told her “Young lady, you are unfit to be a mother” judging from the indignant expression that this statement brought to her face. The faulty example was exchanged for a sound bottle of the same wine and just before pouring it she glowered at me, saying pugnaciously, “This bottle is not corked, I tasted it myself”. Fortunately, it wasn’t. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Dallas, wine

by | December 1, 2014 · 9:52 am

Eat This! Del Frisco’s Grille Fall Menu

by Andrew Chalk

A shower of leaves on my shoulder as I walked the dog this week confirmed — Fall is here. And although Fall in Dallas may be shorter than some commutes, the good news is that the area’s many seasonally aware restaurants turn over their menus. That gave me a sense of anticipation towards a media event at Del Frisco’s Grille in Uptown to showcase their menu changes.

Recall that Del Frisco’s is more than just the more popularly-priced baby brother to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse. It is broader in concept, encompassing a more equal distribution of proteins, flatbreads and burgers.

We could not have started better than the Roasted Corn Bisque ($9 bowl, $7 cup), a redoubtable bowl of full-bodied corn soup bestowed with velvety smoothness by ladles of heavy cream and textural variance by slithers of tortilla chips scattered on top. To naysayers who object that corn is not in season, it is through the end of November. So slurp this dish avariciously.

A big theme in the new menu is sharing. Appetizers of Deviled Eggs with truffle-chive vinaigrette ($7.50), Pimento Cheese Fritters with chipotle ranch sauce ($9.50) and Grilled Artichoke with Continue reading →

Wine of the Week: A Worthy Chardonnay for $9

by Andrew Chalk

The 2013 Illuminate Chardonnay, North Coast, California is a wine that reinforces your confidence that pleasant, varietally correct, Chardonnay can be made for less than $10. In a sector overloaded with industrial-tasting monstrosities the Illuminate Chardonnay displays fresh fruit aromas of pear and melon, bold flavors of melon, pear and guava framed by bright acid and a more refined phenolic grip than you would expect in a wine at this price. All of this leads through to an enjoyable soft finish.

Quaff after a hard day at work or serve with any of the wide variety of food that Chardonnay has been justly associated with. That includes chicken or turkey (hot and roasted or cold), pasta with cream sauce, or white-fleshed fish like T.J.’s excellent Australian barramundi. Continue reading →

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Tagged as Dallas, Goody Goody, Illuminate, Wine of the Week

by Steven Doyle | November 12, 2014 · 9:35 am

Eat Me: Butter Cake at Del Frisco’s

by Andrew Chalk

Want convincing that holiday season is here? Head to Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse Dallas on Spring Valley in the Galleria area for this new Fall puck of decadence. It is a moist and substantial sponge not unlike that of a treacle sponge pudding, loaded with sugar and topped with a generous scoop of house made vanilla ice cream. Just for succulence’s sake, caramel sauce is drizzled insouciantly around the perimeter. What a memorable ending to a nourishing steak dinner as our temperatures take a sudden turn downward. Available now. Continue reading →

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by Steven Doyle | November 11, 2014 · 1:13 pm

An Interesting Indian Restaurant Survives In Irving

by Andrew Chalk

Irving is one of the two top destinations in the Dallas area for Indian food (the other being Plano). However, most establishments are content to survive on a combination of a lunchtime steam table and an à la carte evening menu constructed around stereotypical Indian dishes (much as hoards of Italian neighborhood restaurants turn out an endless repertoire of “me-too” red sauce dishes).

As much as I love the bargain that is the Indian lunch buffet and the favorites on the stereotypical Indian menu, my greatest excitement is engendered by the discovery of a restaurant doing something new, even bordering on ambitious. Continue reading →

On Its 50th Anniversary, Goody Goody’s CEO Surveys The Dallas Liquor Store Landscape

by Andrew Chalk

In 1964, Joe Jansen bought a 15 by 20 foot Greenville Avenue liquor store named Goo Goo and changed its name to Goody Goody (in order to save the cost of buying a new sign). This month, Goody Goody is celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary at each of its 21 locations throughout Dallas, Houston and Longview. It is the oldest liquor store chain still owned and run by the founder, and has grown to annual revenue of $250 million. In the Dallas market, Goody Goody (including its wholesale business) is the largest liquor store chain.

I have bought a lot of wine at Goody Goody and always regarded them as a great source of bargains. At the same time, I have also found the company idiosyncratic. For example, look at its web site. What a sorry excuse for an e-commerce channel. Or consider the sea change of Dallas (1,3m people), Plano (275,000 people), Lewisville (101,000 people) and Arlington (380,000 people) all going “wet” in the past four years. Why no flurry of new stores? Continue reading →

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Tagged as beer, Dallas, Goody Goody, Joe Jansen, Liquor, wine

by Steven Doyle | November 6, 2014 · 9:22 am

Lazaranda Is Three, and Celebrates with a Blowout Chef’s Bash

by Andrew Chalk

There is Tex-Mex food, and there is Mexican food. No Dalllasite seeking authentic Mexican food in their hometown need travel far nowadays. There are dozens of neighborhood Mexican places scattered across the area, each typically reflecting the food of the region where the owners originated.

There is also the adventurous Mexican food of Mexico’s big cities. Restaurants with names like Komali, Lazaranda, MesoMaya and Wild Salsa. They offer a chance to explore chilies more arcane and intriguing that Tex-Mex’s jalapeños (Komali had six different chilies on its menu the last time I was there), sample ingredients uncommon in European-inspired cooking. How about a side of cactus? How about huitlacoche growing on your corn? How about fried insects? One can also experience the exhilarating flavors and textures created when the native ingredients of Mexico are inducted into the sophisticated preparation techniques of France.

At a packed blow out six-course Third Anniversary Dinner (at which I was an invited media guest), Lazaranda reiterated that it is a master at the latter. Executive chef Antonio Marquez trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, so that really should not be too much of a surprise. A first course of Fuji apple soup with goat cheese croutons, topped with toasted walnuts and cilantro oil was as subtle and harmonious as any soup served in one of the city’s top restaurants. I am going to start a reality show which swaps dishes at smart restaurants with food from ethnic places just before service. The dinners will be quizzed at the end of the meal as to which of course was the ringer. This sophistication and elegance of this dish would have made it indistinguishable from one of Bruno Davaillon’s glorious soups at the Mansion. Continue reading →

Hibiscus Update: Evolving and Still Top-Tier in Dallas

by Andrew Chalk

In June, we reported on Hibiscus’ new menu and concluded ‘the best new restaurant in Dallas may be an old restaurant’, so compelling was the experience. A recent media event caused a revisit that reinforced that point and reminded us that Hibiscus is a moving target, where the culinary team is always seeking out new directions and ingredients.

Our latest tasting started with a charcuterie board. One might start by remarking that there are lots of good charcuterie boards around town, and so there are, but Hibiscus’ should still give pause as something of a reference work on the genre. Not only is Hibiscus execuchef Graham Dodds a pioneer in farm-to-table cooking in Dallas, he is driven to tinker, invent, reinvent and discover.

In the photograph below, moving along the meats from right to left we have rabbit paté, spicy Spanish chorizo, pork rillettes, smoked duck breast and pork jowl. The promise of those ingredients was eclipsed only by the pickled accompaniments in the bottom row. There are house-cured olives, thumbelina carrots, turnips, squash, Texas okra and wild onions. As I picked at each in turn, I realised that they had been pickled separately and each brought its individual acidity, salinity and even patina of ageing to the meal (the latter being the result of reusing pickling solution multiple times, thereby concentrating and refactoring the recipe). Continue reading →

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Tagged as Dallas, Graham Dodds, Hibiscus