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Post by pairesta on Jun 15, 2015 8:47:06 GMT -5
We'll be in town at Provisions that same night for my birthday celebration! Where in the burbs are you? I'll look forward to your post about it, btw. Provisions is high on our "Should we go there next time we visit?" list. Provisions was outstanding. Every dish was better than I thought it'd be. No dishes were a dud. Only knock was service: they'd clear your silverware after a course, but neglect to bring you new utensils before the next course arrived. Four people split: Lardo brioche with pickled cherries and goat cheese Pretzel loaf with mustard cabbage and emmenthal "Ham of the day": shaved ham laid over a creamy mustard sauce, topped with powdered rye bread. A favorite. Smoked Hamachi Asparagus Soup "Meatball sub" Pork terrine with succotash (another favorite) Lamb pizza with pea pesto, pea shoots, feta (this was a full-sized pizza. It was good, but we shouldn't have ordered it) Cock's comb pasta with hen of the wood mushrooms--delicious, would have been even better if it'd had a grated cheese to finish Mushroom-crusted cobia Shishito peppers with a chorizo vinaigrette Probably should have cut back for the round starting with the pizza, and ordered maybe just two things more. As it is, we were hurting. But I loved it. I was just so happy. So many things I wanted to order again, just for myself. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jun 15, 2015 9:34:05 GMT -5
Lardo brioche with pickled cherries and goat cheese It all sounds amazing, of course, but this. This is too beautiful for words. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jun 18, 2015 19:10:26 GMT -5
Oh man, that all sounds great. Well, Provisions is definitely on our radar now. Especially the pizza, pasta, shishito peppers (thanks for the reminder that I should make chorizo vinaigrette sometime), and asparagus soup.
Underbelly was great too. We started at the wine bar, where glasses are half-price until 6:30 (even on Saturday!), then carried our drinks to the dining room and sat down to this:
Fresh-baked bread with peach chutney butter
Heirloom tomato salad with corn-based vinaigrette
Charcuterie - a true class-warfare plate ranging from bologna to head cheese (with some wild boar in between)
Wild boar belly and smoked brisket on a chili of big white beans, smoked eggplant, and ragu
"Korean braised goat and dumplings"
Three desserts: vinegar pie, fried blackberry pie, and honestly I forget the third one
All was great, but the real stars were the tomato salad - what tomatoes! When you have great tomatoes, you need almost nothing else - and the "chili", the addition of eggplant to which was genius and something I'll imitate.
Our only knock was also the service. Our waitress had no clue about wine, but instead of grabbing a sommelier to answer our questions, she said, "I think you should order something from this page, or this page," indicating about 50 bottles of wine to us. We ended up ordering something she didn't now about and asked us about. She was super friendly, but still.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jun 18, 2015 19:12:37 GMT -5
Lardo brioche with pickled cherries and goat cheese It all sounds amazing, of course, but this. This is too beautiful for words. The best tapa I had in Spain, period, was an open-faced jamon iberico, goat cheese, and raspberry sandwich. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jun 24, 2015 15:07:35 GMT -5
******KLAXONS SOUND****** This Sunday at 8pm Dallas is having a screening of the movie BIG NIGHT. At John Tesar's restaurant Knife. With a special multicourse meal prepared by Tesar, inspired by the movie. And beer and wine pairings. For only $35. HUBBA HUBBA www.knifedallas.com/events/sunday-cinema-series-big-night/ |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jul 2, 2015 14:53:07 GMT -5
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jul 2, 2015 16:50:40 GMT -5
Our beat expanded to the entire Asian continent, pretty much, except India. I still had to pitch that, but haven't had a pitch get turned down so far. I've got another solo article cooking about Irving's cornucopia of good Middle Eastern lunch buffets. Later this month Michelle & I plan to do Nalinh, a Laotian market in Irving, and Lion City, a Singaporean place up in Plano. Actually half our list is places in Plano/McKinney, so I'll try to post ahead of time and invite y'all to one of them. Yeah, it's not the hardest thing to make. Judging from Pera, the tricky bit is the sauce the lamb cooks in - they seem to have just used tomato paste (one of the top Turkish Food Secret Weapons) without calling upon any of the other, more savory/umami Turkish Food Secret Weapons for balance. Also if you perfect it I'm visiting. Hell, I should try cooking it too... |
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Post by pairesta on Jul 7, 2015 21:54:10 GMT -5
[quote source="/post/148100/thread" Our beat expanded to the entire Asian continent, pretty much, except India. I still had to pitch that, but haven't had a pitch get turned down so far. I've got another solo article cooking about Irving's cornucopia of good Middle Eastern lunch buffets. Later this month Michelle & I plan to do Nalinh, a Laotian market in Irving, and Lion City, a Singaporean place up in Plano. Actually half our list is places in Plano/McKinney, so I'll try to post ahead of time and invite y'all to one of them. Did you get to Lion City yet? That was on my "to visit" list after the OTHER malaysian place in plano closed down. Be warned: they only take cash, and they don't keep the hours they advertise. Man, I am missing the wealth of ethnic diversity and cuisines that Plano fucking Texas offered, guys. I can't even find a decent Chinese delivery joint around here. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jul 8, 2015 8:50:39 GMT -5
I didn't move near so far as you, and I'm in the same boat. Wylie has three Chinese joints. One is a Panda Express and the other two are pretty terrible. The Pei Wei at Firewheel Mall is our closest fix for "I want fried rice that doesn't suck and that I don't make myself."
We have one genuinely interesting Mexican joint called Frankie's. A small place that's always packed (good sign) that has a bunch of stuff you won't find at typical Tex-Mex joints. Their brisket enchiladas, for example, are actually stuffed with mashed potatoes and then topped with really juicy brisket and a red sauce. Heavy but great. Their pork tamales are not stuffed at all. Whole masa tamales with spinach marbled into them, topped with stewed pork in verde sauce. Way good! And despite the fact that nothing about this place is remotely fancy or pricey, every diner gets what can only be described as an amuse bouche. It's just a fried tortilla covered in bean sauce and salsa, but everybody gets one. Cool joint.
My other favorite thing in Wylie is a chain, but one that was new to me. Chiloso is a burrito joint like Chipotle, Freebirds or Qdoba, and it's the best of that set, because they have phenomenal barbacoa, a good if typical array of toppings, free sour cream and they do breakfast.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jul 8, 2015 8:52:02 GMT -5
In other Dallas food news: the Restaurant Week ramp up is beginning, and I'm feeling strongly indifferent.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jul 9, 2015 14:15:43 GMT -5
pairesta no Lion City yet, it's happening later this summer for sure! You must be in the wrong part of Houston. Every time we visit, we go to the Bellaire Chinatown and find some Chinese dive to eat at. Last time it was Fu Fu Restaurant, which is the same ownership as Fu Fu Cafe. They both have to rank among my top 10 Texas restaurants of any kind. LazBro me too. Also, I'll be in Montreal that Monday-Tuesday. Pretty sure Joe Beef is happening. Both of you: The Dallas Observer editor sent out an email this morning literally begging for reviews. (The food critic is on vacation.) I'm gonna finish my Irving lunch buffet roundup Saturday, and Friday my friends and I are going to a Colombian place in Carrollton. A week or so from today my co-author and I are going to do Kazy's ramen shop. Any other tasty ideas for something the paper probably has NOT ever reviewed/covered?
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Post by pairesta on Jul 13, 2015 9:32:38 GMT -5
In other Dallas food news: the Restaurant Week ramp up is beginning, and I'm feeling strongly indifferent. I'm sure somewhere in the recesses of this thread I've already said it but I hate restaurant week with a passion. Mainly because it's swollen up to take up the whole month now, and so you can't go anywhere to eat for all of August without getting hit with it. Plus it takes up all of the food media coverage for the month, plus updates on it as early out as February. The worst meal I ever had at my beloved Grape was when we got a sitter for our son, took our daughter on a random weeknight, and wound up having to sit on the patio in sweltering August heat because they were booked for RW. All of their portions were reduced size (including my martini), and clearly made by the C staff. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jul 22, 2015 14:42:32 GMT -5
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Post by pairesta on Jul 22, 2015 15:32:09 GMT -5
Again, way to go on making this your beat! Very happy for you. I'd never heard of any of those places in Irving. I thought you'd be doing Ali Baba vs. Fadi's or something. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jul 22, 2015 16:00:30 GMT -5
Again, way to go on making this your beat! Very happy for you. I'd never heard of any of those places in Irving. I thought you'd be doing Ali Baba vs. Fadi's or something. Next time?! (And thank you, it's super fun.) - Hey Snapes, I'm free the next 2 weekends. And Deep Ellum has a new place called Armoury that specializes in craft beer, unusual liquor, and Hungarian food (like goulash, cured meat, or fried flatbread with garlic & Hungarian cream cheese). dallas.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/07-22-15-armoury-deep-ellum-hungarian-goulash/ |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jul 22, 2015 20:11:28 GMT -5
This place sounds pretty cool. This weekend is full up, but the next might work. I'll put in the word. |
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Post by pairesta on Jul 22, 2015 20:15:28 GMT -5
You know, Hungarian food is awesome, but not in a Dallas July.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jul 22, 2015 20:22:05 GMT -5
You know, Hungarian food is awesome, but not in a Dallas July. That's what the beer is for. |
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Post by LazBro on Jul 24, 2015 10:02:54 GMT -5
Ron Howard VoiceWe could probably do Saturday evening, August 1, at The Armoury if that works for you. They don't open 'til 4:00. Also, wow is Deep Ellum blowing up right now. Here's another one on the way that's threatening 99 (!) draft beer taps.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Jul 24, 2015 11:21:47 GMT -5
Ron Howard VoiceWe could probably do Saturday evening, August 1, at The Armoury if that works for you. They don't open 'til 4:00. Also, wow is Deep Ellum blowing up right now. Here's another one on the way that's threatening 99 (!) draft beer taps. Ugh, I just confirmed something else for that evening between you posting and me logging on to TI. I feel like a big stinker. [smashheadagainstwall.jpg] 99 taps. Jeez. Yeah, there are supposed to be 15 new openings in Deep Ellum this year alone? Like, I heard about another cool thing, but completely forget what it was, because there are too many. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 3, 2015 15:33:29 GMT -5
We'll be celebrating Sister Snape's birthday this Saturday at Bowl & Barrel, an upscale bowling lounge with craft beer and cocktails and a chef-driven menu. They're known for linked meats, but there's also this fuckin' thing:  "Barrel" describes the size of their beers:  |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 5, 2015 13:00:24 GMT -5
Interview with the Pecan Lodge folks: www.dallasobserver.com/restaurants/pecan-lodge-s-justin-and-diane-fourton-on-the-challenge-of-great-barbecue-7464853They get into cost concerns re: rising beef prices a little bit, and I liked that section. I always read articles on the business of barbecue, because I'm slowly developing a dream project which is a combination BBQ / craft beer joint near downtown Wylie. We have no craft beer-focused restaurant or bar in Wylie, and the only barbecue we have is Dickey's, so in other words we also have no BBQ in Wylie. What we do have, though, is a bustling highway with good visibility and a dearth of good restaurants with bars along it. A chain joint called The Rock, which looks like it should be a Guy Fieri restaurant, opened in February and has been packed ever since. It's the kind of joint like BJ's or Two Rows that has their own beer line up. There's a need and a want here. I can feel it. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 10, 2015 8:28:05 GMT -5
Got to a couple new places this weekend.
Braindead Brewing Co.
Met up with Celebith at Luscher's Red Hots* in Deep Ellum, and after he headed off and Mrs. Snape arrived, we walked a block over to check out this place. It was Friday night around 7:00, so it was packed, but we managed to snag a couple spots at the bar. We'd both already eaten at Luscher's, so food-wise all we got was a bowl of the daily popcorn - mint and goat cheese - that was darn tasty. Ron, I think you'll dig it. Very lively atmosphere, cool decor, and a lot of surprises on the tap list. Like, Lakewood's Mole Temptress is out right now, right? But is that what they have on tap? No. They have an aged Raspberry Temptress from '14 on tap. That kind of thing.
We tried a couple of their house beers. I had a Rye IPA that was bitter and spicy and overall just very surprisingly good. Would order again. The Mrs. got their oatmeal stout. She found it a little bitter with a distinct licorice flavor. I like it better than she.
We look forward to coming back to have a meal.
Bowl & Barrel
Upscale bowling lounge located at the Shops at Park Lane, or shops at Northpark or whatever that complex is across the highway from Northpark Mall. I was disappointed by the beer selection - they only have 4 taps a night and a small selection of craft and domestic bottles - but the food was on point. It was a birthday party, so we mostly shared appetizer/snack type stuff. Their massive soft pretzels were excellent, especially with the beer cheese fondue add on. If serves as a soup, it'd be one of the better beer cheese soups I'd ever had.
Highly recommend the hot dogs (awesome snap on the casing, not sure if made in house or sourced) and the meat hand pies. We wanted to try the butterscotch pie, but boy howdy when you're at a rowdy adult birthday party at a bowling alley and on the clock, that time goes fast. We forgot to order it.
*By no means convenient, but Luscher's has one of the best happy hours if you like Texas beers. $2.50 for all Texas cans/bottles plus whatever they have a draft. From 5-7, Mon-Fri.
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Aug 16, 2015 14:58:25 GMT -5
My birthday is a week from tomorrow. My friends are taking me to The Grape. I have nice friends. I think I'll keep them.
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Post-Lupin
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Post by Post-Lupin on Aug 17, 2015 12:06:51 GMT -5
My birthday is a week from tomorrow. My friends are taking me to The Grape. I have nice friends. I think I'll keep them. Marinade them right and they'll last you months. |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Aug 18, 2015 8:55:11 GMT -5
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Aug 18, 2015 20:51:42 GMT -5
Yeah, my friend and I are doing restaurant week at ... I already forget where. But that's about our enthusiasm level for it, this year. Also helps that a lot of the good restaurants are dropping out. Oh, Max's Wine Dive, that's where. Update: this absolutely sucked. Mediocre food, wine pairings so crummy and cheap they wouldn't even tell you what they were, lazy service. Makes me 90% likely to never do Restaurant Week again, and 100% likely to never do Max's Wine Dive unless a group of friends has a party there during happy hour. |
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Aug 19, 2015 12:26:52 GMT -5
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Post by Ron Howard Voice on Aug 28, 2015 7:35:18 GMT -5
I get off work at 3, are there any good Friday Dallas happy hours?!
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Post by pairesta on Aug 28, 2015 7:57:32 GMT -5
The article is written weird. They make it sound like it's this old guard institution that's weathered the decades, but it's only been open, what, four or five years? But then again, Dallas. |
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