by Steven Doyle
Alice Laussade is a James Beard nominated food writer in Dallas, working for the Dallas Observer some times under the nom de plume Cheap Bastard. Her legendary wit and outrageous deadpan style has garnered her an enormous following. Alice also hosts the Annual Meat Fight which has become a cult event which raises money and awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Today Alice shares memories of holidays past. Continue reading
by Jenny Block
I’ve been drinking for seven days straight. It’s not because I have a problem. No, seriously, I don’t. It’s because I’m trying to come down slowly from my visit to Louisville, KY last week.
I went there to attend the first annual Bourbon Classic. But before things got underway Friday night, I attended “Bourbon Camp.” In two days, we visited six distilleries: Four Roses, Town Branch, Buffalo Trace, Maker’s Mark, Heaven Hill, and Jim Beam. If there’s a better way to kick off a weekend of celebrating bourbon, I have no idea what it is. Continue reading
Filed under Bourbon, Jenny Block
by Steven Doyle photos by Rod Orta
Yesterday our new contributor Melissa Robert extolled the virtues of her most recent visit to Acme F&B. It was fairly obvious that she enjoyed the work of Chef Norman Grimm who has a spectacular background. Grimm graduated from the New England Culinary Institute, the same school and class as Food Network’s Alton Brown and Dallas chef Abraham Salum.
Grimm, who began his career at Rubicon and Jardiniere, working for Traci Des Jardins in the mid-to-late 90’s, eventually made his way to Dallas in 2002. After opening The Mercury, he went on to work with Sharon Hage, at York Street. Continue reading
Filed under Bourbon, Brunch, chefs, restaurant news, Rod Orta, Steven Doyle
by Katie Minchew
Oak is my new favorite restaurant. It has the one of the coolest vibes, which made me feel all grown up and like a true-blue Dallasite. Let me begin by telling you that I am not typically a fan of sitting at bars, alone. Usually I am one of those annoying people who walk into a restaurant and head immediately for the booth in the back, the ideal table to most restaurant-goers. I take up the entire table with my good friends: laptop, notebook, purse, and work tote. We have a great time.
But at Oak, I was immediately drawn to the light, open, marble-top bar with smiling Ali Love behind it. I took a seat at the comfy stool and invited a few of my aforementioned “friends” to join me and was greeted by Abraham Bedell, creator of the entire drink menu and the bar program. Continue reading
Filed under Bourbon, Cocktails, Crave, Design District, Drink of the Week, Katie Minchew
by Steven Doyle photos by Susan Migdol
If you happen to be in Houston this coming weekend you might wish to attend a pretty awesome cocktail competition called Speed Rack that pits some of the hottest bartenders in Louisiana and Texas to raise cash and awareness for breast cancer. Sixteen female bartenders will be in competition for bragging rights, a $500 honorarium and a chance to compete nationally in New York City later in the year. Two of our best female bartenders will be in that competition.
You may have read about both of these women in the past on craveDFW; enter Bonnie Wilson from Whiskey Cake and Trina Nishimura from The Cedars Social representing Dallas in the Houston contest this Sunday, January 22, 2012. Continue reading
Filed under Bourbon, Cocktails, Competition, Dallas, fundraiser, Houston, Recipe, Road Trip, Steven Doyle, therapy
by Steven Doyle
Last weekend I was able to help guide the Dallas by Chocolate Tour, a new tour company that shuttles guests around in a luxury bus making a handful of stops only to taste chocolate. In the next few days I will share some of the stops and the chocolates we sampled. This past tour took us to Neuhaus Café in North Dallas, Scardello, who sells some pretty damned good chocolate including Oh* Brownies and paired samples with cheese, CocoAndrē and Dude, Sweet Chocolate.
Today we take a look at Dude, Sweet Chocolate where pastry chef Katherine Clapner hosted the group of chocolate tourists and shared her insight into her own brand. Continue reading
Filed under Bacon, Bourbon, chefs, Chocolate, Dude Sweet Chocolate, fun with food, Scardello, Steven Doyle, therapy, Wine
by Crave Staff
The Texas bartending community has come together to support each other in a cross promotion among breweries and bars around Texas. In early September, five bartenders representing four major Texas markets visited the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfurt, Kentucky. Austin’s Bill Norris (Alamo Drafthouse) and David Alan (Tipsy Texan), Houston’s Alex Gregg (Anvil Bar & Refuge), Dallas’s Michael Martensen (Cedar’s Social), and San Antonio’s Jeret Peña (The Esquire Tavern) participated in a private barrel tasting in order to bring unique expressions to the state of Texas. After tasting eight barrels, the bartenders compared notes and chose four of the best bourbons to bring to the Texas markets.
Alex Gregg, of Anvil Bar and Refuge, remarks, “The whiskeys selected represent a broad spectrum of flavor profiles and highlight the extremes that occur during the aging process. The flavors range from the hot, spicy, aggressive seemingly rye to the soft, dusty, yet fruity nuanced.” Continue reading
