DFWTexEx

Back to France.... and specifically, Paris. We are doing 3 days in Paris at the end of March, likely staying in Le Marais. Any tips? I haven't been in 20 years. I am more interested in exploring neighborhoods than revisiting the museums. Would love to do something like a walking tour exploring Hemingway's Paris of the 20's. We would like to do at least one blow out Michelin style meal, dinner or lunch, plus a great bistro / brasserie. Penelope: any update to your best restaurants list of February 2019?

Down 50 since the middle of August. Similar to a lot of you: no booze at all for the fist 6 weeks or so, then reintroduced in moderation. Now, only on weekends. Modified keto: some whole grains, lots of fruits and veggies, lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish), red meat only on special occasions, almost no processed sugar, rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. But, no crazy hard and fast rules. This moderated diet with an increase in exercise worked for me. Now, we are doing normal nights out and parties one night a week. This week it's super bowl and I will be unrestrained! New in 2020: yoga. Got to 10th class today and I am starting to get into it. I can tell the difference in how I feel already. It's not "hot" yoga, but they keep the room at 80 degrees or so. I am dripping in sweat by the end. It's a good addition to what else I am doing. I suck at it. As a 50+ year old, I have terrible flexibility and I am sure I look silly in the class, but WTF?

Full sink here, for sure. Ours drains pretty well, but the spray attachment on the faucet helps clean things up. Any annoyance in draining is minuscule compared the annoyance of a divided sink that can't hold pots and pans. And yeah, no reason to get anything other than a Bosch dishwasher. Big difference.

D from a year ago. From what I understand, they could not get away from it. Bolsa Group Problems By the way, C-Man, I can't believe we don't know each other, considering we seem to eat the same places all the time. On the more positive side of Bishop Arts, we have been to Paradiso three times now and love it. Great space, nice service, good food. It all works. Lots of internet shade being thrown at them, mostly by old Oak Cliff types, but the place is solid. And we had drinks and apps at Nora on Saturday. Loved it. The owner was gracious. The bartender worked at minibar and Jose Andres' place in Plano, so he knows his shit. Good stuff.

Pro-tip: run the corn tortilla through the toaster conveyor belt thing to warm it up and get it soft.

Sadly, I knew this was coming after the Theodore fiasco and the problems at the Statler, but it's still sad. Bolsa Closed This restaurant did change the Dallas dining scene, but more personally, it was really a great, local place for us. We could pop in and eat at the bar and have Lucky Eddie or, later, Kyle, create some crazy cocktail for us. Those guys were as instrumental in creating the cocktail scene in Dallas as Graham Dodds was in bringing farm to market dining in a consumable, high end way to Dallas. It all worked. We trekked there for booze filled snow day lunches, had neighborhood happy hours there, celebrated and went just because. It has been killing it lately, including the best steak tartare I have ever had. It didn't die because of a lack of quality or business. Financial stress from all the other failed ventures killed the ownership group.

Try the DFW Terminal D Centurion in the morning. As they bring food out, it's like the student section trying to get into the stadium for an LSU game. As nice as that club is, I have left to go to Admiral's for some avocado toast in a quiet and soothing environment, compared to the chaos at Centuron. But the desk staff at Admiral's club has saved my ass after delayed or canceled flights many times. Well worth it to me via my Citi Exec Card that also gets me 10K EQMs per year.

Finally had it. It was a beating to get to (drove past one Popeye's that had a line to park, plus the line for the drive through..got to the second one and had a long wait), but it was worth it. Very, very good sandwich even if my roll was not warm. The crunchy chicken, pickles and spicy mayo were spot on. I have never been a fan of the soggy, bland Chick Fil A chicken, so it's not even a comparison for me.

Al Biernet's would be the best upscale experience. I also like Oceannaire in that area, but it's not very Dallas and it's in a hotel. Think about Mesero (north Dallas) or Gloria's at Beltline and the Tollway for Mexican, fun and casual. Houston's on Beltline is also reliably good,

I so agree with all of this. PL has always been overseasoned to me. Cattleack was so greasy and rich that I had to take a break from BBQ. No doubt both those places have some very skilled guys at the pits and I can see why they are popular and get so much recognition. Lockhart's brisket has always been spot on for me, so that's my preference. I have not been to Hutchins.

And Stephen Pyles is done. There was a real struggling happening at Flora Street / Fauna. I guess he couldn't figure out how to fix it. Flora Street Closes He says that he is getting out of the business to and focus on consulting and culinary travel. And this... This is a loss for Dallas. As I said, I have been a fan of his and his restaurants for a very long time.

I have flown first class DFW-HKG. This review is pretty spot on. The seat is actually terrific I enjoyed how it swiveled into a desk facing the window. The mattress pad and blankets were nice. I slept well. But the flight attendants had no idea this was a premium cabin. It’s true that they barely spoke to you and when they did it it was just a few words at a time. Their duties were executed but there was absolutely no sense of hospitality or charm.

I have good status on AA and generally they treat me well. Living in Dallas, I don't have much of a choice for my trips. But, I would agree with the OP because of one thing: the flight attendants wearing black/navy hose with black flats. It's an abomination.

Would love to go to WC. Waiting to check stubhub again the morning of January 1, with hope that some hungover bros decide to dump their tickets. Way too expensive now.

So, we hit up the French Room for my birthday over the weekend. There is an asterisk (see below) but overall, the experience was really good and this place should be on your list for big nights out in Dallas. We started at the French Room bar for a cocktail and it was just right. Atmosphere was very adult and nice. It was like the Mansion bar in the old days or Rattlesnake, but less rowdy. We then moved on to the beautiful room. We asked about the signature tasting menu and found out that they no longer offer a tasting menu; everything is a la carte. This was a bit disappointing because the new chef Diego Fernandez had time at Alinea and we had his very creative tasting menu at Fauna during the short time he was there. We wanted to see what he was up to. But, really the disappointment didn't last long. We picked out a few appetizers that all worked well and were beautiful, but the highlight for sure was a chicken en croûte. Wow! This dish is why we will go back to the French Room. You need to go get this. It's a dish for 2 or maybe even 3. The really nice chicken is roasted en croute and then carved tableside with a reduction made by the neck and feet poured over like a gravy. With some perfect pomme puree and mushrooms on the side, you are done. Really good. Wine service and service overall was graceful and nice. Chef Diego came out at the end to greet us since we had mentioned that we followed him over from Fauna. Overall, a really nice dress up night out. Great for a celebration. That all being said, there is a problem here, similar to what we saw at Flora Street. The server, the captain and Chef Diego all referred to the restaurant being "in transition" as they figure out how to balance high end, creative cooking and presentation with a reluctance by Dallas diners to choose what they perceive to be overly fussy, non-standard food in a fancy room. The servers, like at Flora Street, were casually dressed with simple cotton aprons. This was in contrast to the patrons who were all suited up, with women in sparkly dresses. These guys all talked about bringing in color, more casual chairs, more casual service and the death of the tasting menu in favor of a la carte dining. I don't know how to call this. Bullion seems to have figured it out, but maybe casual dining with high end food (see Homewood) is where we are headed. Too bad. I like options.

When is this Surly dinner at Petra happening? 😀

We pretty much only buy on Prime and usually staple type stuff or simple home gadgets and toys for presents. I don't even consider Amazon for anything complicated.

Not sure where to post, so I will throw this out here. It was my turn to host out of town company execs and board members this week. I decided to just go to my favorite places. Board members were at the new Hall Arts Hotel. We had cocktails there and it was cool, already buzzing even though it just opened. Execs stayed in cool AirBnBs in my neighborhood in North Oak Cliff. Sunday night casual dinner (no board members): great weather...walked to Nova. So awesome. Greeted with hugs as always. The most welcoming place in town. We had a blast and they loved the food. The fried green tomatoes with crawfish and shrimp mornay, smoked salmon potato skins, mussels with tasso and the hummus were all as good as always. Several guys got the epic chicken fried pork loin. Man, that dish should make a list of the iconic dishes in Dallas. BIG Food. Whiskeys afterwards at Cannon's. A very good night. Monday night board dinner at Flora Street. What a mess. I am big fan of Stephen Pyles. I have talked up Flora Street on several threads on here. The first fancy dinner I ever paid for was at Baby Routh. I was a regular at Star Canyon and even loved AquaKnox. Spent birthdays at Stephen Pyles and was at Flora Street and Fauna as they opened. He's got a problem here now. On a cold, windy December night, servers were in sloppy, ill-fitting Hawaiian shirts. It sounds like a small thing, but it so indicated where this once Michelin level restaurant is now. Our guy actually did the "My name is Timothy and I will be taking care of you tonight thing, followed by an endless speech about the menu". I expected him to offer bloomin' onions at a swirl margatini at the end of it. Service was awkward at best, with endless waits as some people got coktails and wine and others did not. The first three bottles we selected from the list were not available. Sommelier was lost. They could only offer 2 beers because "we can't get permission to transition", whatever that means. They stuck is in the Fauna room, Siberia. No music or atmosphere. The food ended being ok, clearly upscale and presented nicely, but it was not interesting or good enough. I had a branzino that was charred to death. I had the same fish at Marea in NYC not long ago and this was not in the same league. I don't know when or if I will go back. I retract all my recommendations of Flora Street. So sad. Tuesday night dinner with clients at Boulevardier. Restaurant was packed. Only 2 servers. No manager. Bad table again. Pretty much ignored for the first hour. Really bad start. It was only ok because it gave us a chance to talk work without the interruptions of a server trying to serve us! But, once it got going and she caught up, it was terrific as always. The oysters are the best in town. We had escargot, which I had never had there and now will recommend. We got the meat and cheese board too and a round of bone marrow, with the luge shots after. Really fun, especially for the client guys from the Northern suburbs. I got my burger (the best restaurant burger in town). Most everyone else got steak or lamb (1/2 price on Tuesdays, as a note). Fun, satisfying meal with great food....after the terrible service at the start. it must be hard to properly execute workforce management at a restaurant this time of year. A couple more servers really should have been there. Still, this is a great place and I will go back soon. Overall, the guys left with a good impression of food in Dallas. And I will be eating salads for a few days.

I'll throw out Barbara's in Oak Cliff. One of the couple of actual bars in Oak Cliff (not a restaurant). It's an old school gay bar, but on most nights, the straight folks are the majority. It's as divey as it gets. Love seeing my neighbors drunk off their asses doing karaoke. And I like a place where I just order a bourbon and water, well drink, no fuss, no monkeys.

Has anyone bought one of the newfangled bespoke tech suits like Sene? I'm curious as I would like a suit that will travel well.

Depends on the route. On most flights, Group 2 has a couple of people and they go straight to 3. On some routes (looking at you DFW:SMF on a Monday or Friday), it is loaded with EPs and they take up all the overhead space in the front half of the plan.

New Order / Blue Monday works so damn perfectly for this trailer. I don't see superhero movies, but it makes me want to see it.

Great to hear. I'd like to know more about your itinerary. I only did Agra on my last trip and would like to do more next time.

The devastation is way worse than most people thought when we went to bed last night. That Northhaven picture, the Home Depot on Forrest at 75, Royal Preston shopping center area....wow...and none of those places are that close to each other. We were at the Cowboys game. It was more than a bit unsettling to know that it was happening but now sure where and not being able to access good internet.

Oh, go see To Kill a Mockingbird. It's extraordinary, a whole new take on a book I knew well. And Bar Centrale is legit.