by | March 27, 2014 · 11:14 am

Lime Shortages May Cost You Your Margarita

limeby 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 | March 27, 2014 · 10:51 am

Patina Green To Offer Special Cooking Classes

RobertPatinaGreenby 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 | March 26, 2014 · 2:00 pm

We Checked Out Origin’s New Cocktail Menu And What Happened Next Will Blow Your Mind

origin1by 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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by | March 26, 2014 · 11:18 am

Toad in the Hole Opening Soon on Ross Ave

toadby Steven Doyle

Look for a new English-style pub and grub opening up on Ross Avenue (our predicted newest hot spot in Dallas). Toad in the Hole will be the latest to join the likes of Three Sheets, Ku De Ta, and Sunset Lounge. The General Manager is Johnny Oliva (The Fan Sports Lounge, The Point), and will be staffed by prominent area bartenders with the many years of collective experience.

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by | March 26, 2014 · 10:54 am

Review: Pliny the Elder

pliny1by BrianWall

Every now and then, it comes to pass that luck holds an outstretched hand in your favor. This doesn’t happen often and it seems to be at the most unlikely of times. It never occurs when the Powerball is in the hundreds or when you see the flashing lights in your rear-view when the road is clear and you decided to bump it up ten miles over the limit. It did shine a bit of light on me recently.

At my full time job, I took a couple classes and the instructor was from Northern California. I chatted with her and discovered we had a common interest in craft beers. Her boyfriend got her involved in the craft beers and I explained my flare at doing home brewing. After enough discussion, we talked about Pliny the Elder, one of the best IPA’s on the market but only distributed to the West coast and Pennsylvania. She made a phone call to her man and before I could express my gratitude, she informed me there were three bottles in transit to me.

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by | March 25, 2014 · 1:10 pm

Scenes From 2014 Savor Dallas

whiteby Steven Doyle

Another successful year for Savor Dallas was completed this past weekend. This was the tenth annual event for organizer, Jim White. And with his massive amounts of volunteers he managed to pulled off the best food and wine even ever seen in North Texas. After a two year hiatus at the Irving Convention Center, and after having outgrown several hotels in Dallas, White managed to pull in the event to Dallas Convention Center and the Omni Dallas Hotel. Brilliant move on Savor’s part.

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by | March 25, 2014 · 11:09 am

Chef Andrew Bell Intros New Menu At Bolsa

andrew-bellby Steven Doyle   photos by Elliott Munoz

I love a change of seasons. This almost always calls for new menus using seasonal ingredients, especially at a restaurant such as Bolsa located in Oak Cliff. This is the case today as chef Andrew Bell sends word that he has something new in mind for his diners.

After taking charge of the kitchen several months ago, chef Bell has created a menu that is finally his own.  Co-owner Chris Zielke explains, “We wanted Andrew to take his time on creating this new ‘core’ Bolsa menu and took the new spring season as a jumping off point to implement it.  The new menu is simply spectacular and these are some of the best dishes I have ever seen come out of our kitchen.”

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by | March 25, 2014 · 9:01 am

What On Earth Is Chef Jason Weaver Cooking Now?

weaver

by Andrew Chalk

When Jason Weaver headed the kitchen at The French Room from 2005 to 2009 the restaurant reached the highest culinary point that I have witnessed there in my 30 years in Dallas. Bill Addison, the then restaurant critic of The Dallas Morning News (this was B.C. — before Crave), and a man parsimonious with his accolades, gave the restaurant five stars, denoting it as one of the best restaurants in the city. Zagat named it the best hotel restaurant in the country in its 2006/2007 survey.

With a change in hotel corporate ownership, Weaver left (and The French Room menu ossified) and opened The Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas before eventually returning to Texas to become executive chef at the La Torretta Lake Resort and Spa in Montgomery. In 2011 he was the high-profile hiring of the year, when it was announced that he would be the first executive chef at the Omni Dallas Hotel. That title means that he chefs just about everything except Bob’s Steakhouse (which is a tenant rental situation). That means flagship restaurant Texas Spice, sports bar The Owner’s Box, the Lobby Lounge, coffee bar Morsels, in-room dining, banquets and catering.

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