by Steven Doyle
The first Tuesday of each month Union Bear hosts a family beer dinner. The inexpensive 3-course dinner is infinitely more pleasant than any Thanksgiving dinner you have ever had with your family as the table is swirled with whimsical conversation about food and beer. There is no bickering about dark family secrets, just dark beer. Continue reading
Filed under beer, restaurant news, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
For a majority of human beings that traverse across the planet the thought of a crouton is hardly worth mentioning. The breadstick you enjoy at any red-sauced Italian joint comes second nature, as does the biscotti you dunked earlier today in your morning coffee. However, for the gluten-intolerant these things are avoided and often times missed. For the gluten-intolerant child it can be disheartening not to enjoy a simple cupcake or slice of birthday cake.
When news scrolled across my desk this morning detailing the third location for Tu-Lu’s Bakery which has set up shop in the West Village in Dallas, these images of simple joy crossed my mind. Continue reading
Filed under Bake Sale, Restaurant Opening, Steven Doyle
by Robyn Folmar
Earlier this week at Malai Thai-Vietnamese Kitchen, owners Yasmin and Braden Wages hosted another great off-menu dinner with guest chef Paul Singhapong.
Many of the spices used were bought by Chef Singhapong on a recent trip to Thailand. Chef Wages told guests that the menu for this 5-course meal was in the planning stages since May. The food was plentiful, flavorful, and perfectly suited for a hot August evening in Texas. Continue reading
Filed under chefs, Crave, Dallas, Robyn Fulmer, Thai
by Steven Doyle
This past April we checked out a fantastic one-up dinner at Malai in the West Village. Thai Me Up was guest cheffed by the legendary Chef Paul Singhapong who you may remember from the Brasserie Savoy Restaurant in San Francisco, Beau Nash at Dallas Crescent Court Hotel, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, The Melrose, Nana at the Anatole and The French Room at the Adolphus.
The chef promised round two of this very exclusive dinner and we have a look at the menu. The dinner is this Wednesday, August 29, 2012 at 7pm. The dinner is only $55 per person(beverages included) and promises to be an intimate evening filled with authentic Thai cuisine not found anywhere in this city. This is a 5-course journey through Northern Thailand. Dinner will be served family-style, with all participants dining together. Continue reading
Filed under chefs, Crave, restaurant news, Steven Doyle, Thai
by Steven Doyle
Earlier this week we announced the new brand of spirits from the 86 Co. and local bartending wunderkind Jason Kosmas as he introduced his Aylesbury Duck Vodka and Cana Brava Rum. We were wondering how these sprits would actually taste in a cocktail and Kosmas was eager to show us.
The first restaurant to actually receive shipment of the brand was Malai Kitchen where Kosmas is the consulting barman. This week Malai announced their new summer cocktail menu designed by Kosmas where he uses his spirits in a few of the potent potables. Continue reading
Filed under chefs, Cocktails, Crave, Steven Doyle, West Village
by Steven Doyle
A few craveDFW peeps stopped in Union Bear in the West Village yesterday for a noon time bite and ran across chef John Kleifgen working his shift. The man can really cook and our orders proved that. Like many now, Kleifgen is using a heap of local products both proteins and vegetables. But what the chef can do with them is astounding.
Kleifgen has committed to making as many items you will consume at Union Bear from scratch. This means that unique tasting catsup you dipped those lush fries into were made in-house. Much of the toppings used on the pizzas were also made by the staff.
Filed under beer, chefs, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
This past Monday we had the task of attending Union Bear’s first brew dinner and it was a raging success. The dinner was well attended for a Monday evening and it kicked off Craft Beer Week in style. In attendance was Saint Arnold’s Brewmaster Brock Wagner.
Saint Arnold is the wildly popular brewery located in Houston, Texas and home to the ever popular Lawnmower which was the beginning of the breweries Movable Yeast series, which is a play on the semi-autobiographical novel by Hemmingway’s Movable Feast. Continue reading
Filed under beer, Pairings, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Last evening I had this divine meal at Malai which I raved on about earlier this morning. At the end of the dinner we were served a special black rice pudding with coconut and taro that was lush, and along side we were offered a cup of Verbena Pu’erh tea or Weasel Coffee. Weasel coffee?
What Yasmin and Braden Wages were really offering was a cup of Joe grown in Indonesia called Kopi Luwak. This peculiar sounding coffee gets more exotic by the minute as you look further into where the bean is found. Weasel coffee is a loose English translation of its Vietnamese name cà phê Chồn, and the weasel is actually the Asian palm civet. Continue reading
Filed under Born Free, Coffee, Dallas, Steven Doyle
