by Steven Doyle
Didn’t score Conan O’Brien tickets during his visit to Dallas? Check out the late night talk sensation’s Airstream. Making multiple stops at Dallas events during the week of March 31 – April 6, the “Cone Zone” is a CONAN-ized Airstream trailer will be packed with (and surrounded by) awesome things to see and do. Continue reading
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by Alex “Moose” Perez
We have asked Moose Perez to join our elite fleet of craveDFW contributers. The Moose is a professional competitive eater who has downed plenty of wings, pizzas, and hot dogs, to mention a few items. Follow along a he sends us periodical reports on local and national competitions, plus an occasional article on his favorite restaurants. If you would like to create a competition at your business, contact the Moose at craveDFW.
My first question when I first heard of this local food competition was “what in the heck is a DANK?” Upon reading about what it was all about, I knew this was something I wanted to share with our readers, and possible future eaters. Of course, I was deeply saddened knowing that under my contract restrictions, I would not be able to compete, but why not inform others of this feat. Continue reading
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by Mark Shaeffer
If you haven’t bought any Girl Scout Cookies yet, you have only three more days to do so. If you already have, you probably bought them from 11-year-old Katie Francis in Oklahoma City. Katie has destroyed the record for most cookies sold, which stood for close to 30 years. The previous record of 18,000 boxes was set by Elizabeth Brinton, who actually has a Wikipedia page that is divided into “cookie years” and “later years.” Continue reading
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by Steven Doyle
Two years ago craveDFW held a special pre-opening party that should have hosted about 75 people at Standard Pour. That night we packed the house with eager people wanting to see what the next evolution of bars on McKinney Avenue would be all about. That night we saw promise of fantastic cocktails and food at price points that defied the norm at the time. You may recall that craft cocktails were unique and selling for $15+ a glass. It was fun to watch our favorite mixologist take 20 minutes of his life to hand grind a delicious cocktail with a cornucopia of garnish on top. But soon we became weary of that treatment. Standard Pour reinvented the way we tasted craft cocktails with the guidance of Brian McCullough.
At the time McCullough said that it shouldn’t take long to make your favorite libations, and the drinks shouldn’t be weighed down with a grocer’s list of ingredients. Standard Pour would be making interesting, and classic cocktails one at a time in record time and at a price that you could enjoy several. He also hired the best trained staff to make all this come to fruition. Continue reading
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by Steven Doyle
Yesterday closed the final chapter of the Village Kitchen and its upstairs cousin, Toko V. In a special breaking story owner Mark Hearl vowed he would keep his restaurants open until the end of the month to give employees enough time to find new jobs, and in a text last night he said they all had. This means that both restaurants and the attached bar are no more.
There was some sad but happy celebrations happening in and out of the kitchen, as well as a bottle of Opus One being uncorked. We will miss many of the items that Chef Andre Natera offered such as his Pecan Lodge Brisket Flatbread. We will also remorse Natera’s special steak night, and lobster thermador night. Also gone are Natera’s version of a cronut, and his Fruity Pebbles shakes. Continue reading
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by Steven Doyle
By now you have seen or heard about the price of limes which have risen from about $20 a case in the winter to just over $100. That is an amazing leap that has some margarita aficionados running scared. We spoke to FreshPoint’s president Lucian LaBarba, the major distributor for produce in our market, and he said that the prices have jumped due to climate changes. The limes we see in Texas are imported from Mexico, and the reason is a mixture of unseasonably cold weather, hurricane and storm systems and drought. Continue reading
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by Steven Doyle
You may know Robert Lyford, the talented chef-owner at Patina Green Home and Market on McKinney’s historic market square. Lyford is a classically trained chef from San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy and is heavily influenced by what is available at local farms and ranches. His menu changes daily depending on what is fresh and available. Continue reading
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by Steven Doyle
By now I trust you all have checked in at Origin Kitchen + Bar. The new hot spot opened back in December, and features some pretty amazing menu choices both in food and cocktails. The restaurant is quaint, which is always nice. The restaurant serves great food, and that is definitely is a good thing. And the restaurant has fantastic cocktails, which is fabulous. We were alerted by a dedicated Origin regular that the new cocktail menu was released yesterday, so I hightailed it over to McKinney Avenue for a taste test.
The unique craft cocktail menu, developed by Bar Manager Jacob Boger, features house-made infusions, syrups, juices, vermouth and salt. Yes, he infuses salt. I had heard of flavored salts where herbs and other flavors are mixed into a batch of salt, but never where a sturdy salt is actually bathed in another liquefied flavor to pass on subtle notes that allow the salt to break down in your mouth with levels of sweetness to shades of saltiness. Pure genius.
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