by Steven Doyle
The Gene and Julie Gates restaurant, Battuto Italian Kitchen, is days away from opening and last night we were invited guests to check out the menu and to soak up the ambiance of the new North Dallas restaurant, and what we found you are going to fall in love with.
We were offered a small variety from the menu which includes house-made pastas, stone-fired pizzas, a variety of interesting salads and one particular entree that you will not care to miss. Continue reading
Filed under First Look, Italian, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle photos by Joy Zhang
Been watching the former Bowery space on McKinney Avenue? It is now transitioning into a new restaurant the owners call Belly & Trumpet. Oak owners Richard & Tiffanee Ellman are teaming up once again with John Paul Valverde (who recently opened Outpost American Tavern in Oak Cliff) to create their take on small plates and they are bringing in big guns for the back of the house.
Look for Brian Zenner to take lead role as executive chef. Zenner most recently was chef de cuisine at Oak and worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Zenner is bringing in another young gun from the Mansion, Rudy Mendoza who has been working at the upscale hotel restaurant since the Tesar era. Continue reading
Filed under restaurant news, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Tonight I will be checking out the menu at Peak and Elm Cocina, the new restaurant which is about to open in East Dallas. We broke the story many months ago so perhaps you do not recall all the fun details, you can read that story here. Basically, it is Jesse Moreno Jr opening his first restaurant outside the La Popular concept which is also in east Dallas and sports an outpost in the Dallas Farmers Market. Continue reading
Filed under restaurant news, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
This past weekend I scored an invite to Gene and Julie Gate’s home where they said they were cooking up a few recipes that they will possibly offer at their new restaurant, Battuto Italian Kitchen which opens mid-February in the shopping center at Preston and Frankford. I broke that story back in September and you can read about that here.
When I arrived I met their opening chef, Gustavo Herrera, who was last seen working at The French Room in Dallas. Gustavo is a man of culinary talents who hails originally from Peru where he met his wife who is a professor at SMU. In the kitchen Gustavo was busily tossing a pounded chicken breast in a bath of porcini mushroom dust that would eventually be grilled and tossed into a special salad he has concocted. The salad also has grilled Asian pears and strawberries. Delicious. Continue reading
Filed under fun with food, restaurant news, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Spoon Bar and Kitchen will more than likely be open for business this weekend, but that could change depending on the mood of chef-owner, John Tesar. For the sake of brevity, I am sure most in the city are familiar with Tesar, but if not you may catch him tonight as the 10th season of Top Chef premiers. Although the chef can’t, and won’t give up any juicy details of his exploits on the program, you may rest assured he charges out with his guns blazing.
Last night I was an invited guest of Tesar at the soft opening for Spoon, Tesar’s love child of a restaurant that he has been working on for the past year. Guests were not offered selections from the regular menu, but rather from his tasting menu, which will change often to keep up with seasons and availability of ingredients. The tasting menu will be offered each day on the menu. Continue reading
Filed under Caviar, chefs, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
We met with Ryan Tedder, the sommelier and general manager for FT33 which opens this Saturday, October 13, 2012. Tedder spent time at Stephan Pyles and more recently at Grace in Fort Worth, and is a good friend of Matt McCallister’s who is the chef-owner of the restaurant FT33. Tedder is an interesting, laid back soul who was recently married and also named the best sommelier in the state of Texas at the TexSom event in August.
Tedder is unpretentious, and loaded with charm and talent. Here is your chance to get to know the man before the restaurant opens. Continue reading
Filed under Interview, restaurant news, Restaurant Opening, Sommelier, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
We like us some Kenny Bowers. This is the mastermind behind many restaurants located in Addison and in Frisco. His Kenny’s Burger joint is the real deal, and we love the meatball at his Italian hook-up.
Back in May, Chef Kenny went on a road trip and brought us back snapshots from Memphis. Little did we know at the time that it was actually a mission to sniff out great barbecue. Now the man is ready to debut his latest restaurant, Kenny’s Smoke House which will be located in Plano, Texas.
The acclaimed chef and his business partners, Mike Hutchinson and Bob Stegall, will open Kenny’s Smoke House at The Shops of Legacy this winter. The 2,700 square foot restaurant will showcase a variety of smoked meats as well as favorites that fans of the popular chef have come to expect. Continue reading
Filed under BBQ, chefs, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Fort Worth’s Los Vaqueros restaurant has leased the former Old Rips restaurant for their second location. The latest incarnation of the restaurant will be on the southeast corner of West Berry Street and Cockrell Avenue, just east of South University Drive, in Fort Worth. This space is adjacent to Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and Toppers Pizza. Neighboring retailers include Kroger, Barnes & Noble and CVS/pharmacy. Continue reading
Filed under Fort Worth, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
