by Andrew Chalk
Media types headed to Abacus in droves on Tuesday night for a special preview of Eddie ‘Lucky’ Campbell’s new cocktail menu and chef de cuisine Daniel Burr’s new bar menu. We reported Kent Rathbun hiring Campbell to Abacus and expected the fedora-wearing one to have a big impact on the cocktail list. The old list is still on the web site (as of Wednesday night) and the differences make interesting reading. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
by Steven Doyle
This past week everyone was celebrating Halloween. The parties have actually been blasting for the past three weeks in anticipation. Possibly the best event we attended was Dia de los Puercos, celebrating Four Corners Brewing Company’s first anniversary at their Trinity Groves location in West Dallas. Four Corners are the people who brew such illustrious beers such as the El Chingon, a hefty IPA, and the ever popular Local Buzz, a wheat beer made with local honey.
The event took place on a cool and sunny afternoon with chef Kent Rathbun as host. Any party with Kent will include plenty of smoke pig. He brought his crew out to assemble two homemade smokers made up of cinder blocks and home-made cages consisting of bed frames and wheelbarrow handles. Genius. There a duo of pigs smoked for a dozen hours while the staf started in on ribs and other tasty meats. Plates were sold to the crowd for just a few dollars, and beer was dispensed at the bar housed inside the brewery. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Andrew Chalk
The Crescent Club (under Host Chef Bruno Davaillon) was the scene for Share Our Strength’s Taste of The Nation ‘No Kid Hungry’ fundraiser last Sunday as fifteen of our city’s best chefs pulled out all the stops to raise money to reduce the number of children struggling with hunger (Honorary Chef of the event, Stephan Pyles, reported that that figure stands at 25% of all children in Texas). Backing them up were an impressive list of individual and corporate sponsors. Guests contributed through their seat purchases, live and silent auction purchases and their donations. Today, Event Chair Terri Provencal of Patron magazine reported that the total raised was $146,000, a 14-year record.
The set up at this dinner is unusual. Each guest is seated at a round table of eight served throughout the night by one restaurant. Therefore, each table’s menu is different. I was seated at Bolsa’s table which meant that my five-course meal, including beverages, was created by Bolsa Executive Chef Jeff Harris and served by Bolsa waitstaff (including enthusiastic owner Chris Zielke!). The menu (shown below) was accompanied, at various times, by a cocktail, a beer, and several wines, including two from Red Caboose Winery in Meridian, Texas. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Chalk
by Steven Doyle photos by Robert Bostick
Last week on craveRADIO we crashed Chef Kent Rathbun’s big BBQ Workshop at his KB Woodfire facility in Plano. This awesome venue is where you can host your next party in a restaurant-like setting all your own. On the program Kent explains how the venue works, and we also chat up his catering chef Jeff Qualls who can literally cook fresh for 1000’s of guests at this location, or yours.
Also on the program we hit up the guys from the Green Egg, the BBQ masters who work wonders with this very unique grill. If that wasn’t enough, we also spoke with Four Corner’s Brewing Company owner George Esquivel who was supplying beer for the workshop. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle photos by Lori Barber
This week on craveRADIO you will hear the show we produced at Kent Rathbun’s BBQ Workshop at his catering facility, KB Woodfire Grill in Plano. The show was fast paced with more guests than we normally host including Kent Rathbun and KB catering chef Jeff Qualls who is a CIA graduate and has worked at some very notable kitchen.
In addition to the chefs we also chatted up representatives from The Green Egg, that marvelous grill that can cook virtually anything outdoors. We also visited with Four Corner’s Brewing Company owner George Esquivel who was supplying beer for the evening. Esquivel talks about the beer they are currently brewing and the new brew pub that premiers this weekend in Trinity Groves. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
On September 29th diners, home cooks and backyard barbecue enthusiasts are invited to KB’s Woodfire Grill for a special presentation. Chef Kent Rathbun will be doing demonstrations with the Big Green Egg and showcasing a variety of barbecue techniques as he cooks up some of his favorite meats. So whether you’re cooking for yourself or an entire tailgate party, you’ll be able to absorb all the technical know how required to pull it off.
And all the while, Chef Kent will interact with guests, field questions and wax poetic on important subjects like the difference between St. Louis style ribs and baby back ribs. In addition, craveRADIO will be recording a show live at the event, and you will get to meet Kenny the Wine Czar, Chef Uno, the lovely Melissa and myself. There will also be some fun surprise guests in the house.
You can WIN two tickets by making a comment about your favorite style of BBQ below, or asking Chef Rathbun a question to be answered on air. We will award those tickets tomorrow afternoon (September 25), but you best buy your seat now before they sell out. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Time to grab your tickets to the latest incarnation of Chefs for Farmers. The press release below gives you all the yummy details:
Chefs for Farmers (CFF)—a grassroots organization that raises awareness for the locavore movement in the South—celebrates its second year as one of the most distinctive celebrations of wine and culinary excellence with an outdoor festival on November 3 at Lee Park in Dallas, Texas. Produced by Chef/Owner Matt McCallister of FT33 and Iris McCallister, CFF brings together over 40 talented Southern chefs, local farmers, purveyors, and premier local wine and spirit producers in an afternoon to support the North Texas Food Bank and local farms, while honoring seven stand-out leaders in Dallas’ culinary industry. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
You know Lucky Campbell, one of our favorite Dallas bartenders. He was the mad man behind Chesterfield’s in downtown Dallas, and most recently behind the stick at Standard Pour where he was a constant fixture for those in need of a curiously delicious cocktail.
Last week Lucky went all MIA on us, and didn’t leave a forwarding address. Well, we found him, and this time he is at Abacus working with Kent Rathbun. Look at Lucky, getting all refined on us. We wish him the very best.
Filed under Cocktails, Steven Doyle
