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DFWTexEx

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Posts posted by DFWTexEx

  1. Who is going to run against Abtahi?  Griggs?  He is term limited now.  I'd love to see him as mayor but I am not sure he has the personality to win and he would have some strong winds against him.  He did manage to get the vote out and beat Delia Jasso, a well funded and well backed Hispanic incumbent in Oak Cliff, so he knows how to win elections.

  2. On 7/9/2018 at 1:03 PM, CHEF DIESEL said:

     

    I probably am a bore with my post but I know way too much about this on a firsthand level.

    Not a bore at all.  This stuff is frustrating and interesting and love to hear your perspective.  There are so many takes and so many questions.  My favorite is the role that South Dallas black city council members play in all this, often voting against their interests.

  3. The Mary Suhm and Jill Jordan disasters keeps coming.  We already have to spend $2 million to demolish the "Standing Wave" and now the stupid, fancy new bridge may just fall down.  This story has been developing for months (thanks, of course, to the "progressive" council members who are crazy enough to insist on transparency and a business like approach to city management).  But, it's getting worse.

    Quote

    The moment has arrived when we must expand our thinking about the new and troubled Margaret McDermott Bridge designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava on the Trinity River downtown. We’ve got to add at least one extreme outcome to the far end of the spectrum of possibilities.

    It may have to come down.

    Bridge Problems

    Dallas has been very good to me and I love living here, especially in my neighborhood.  But, the craziness from the Citizens Council and their ability to screw things up never ceases to amaze me.  One to two more shifts at the council and it will really be over.

  4. I started off with Tanqueray, and moved on to Sapphire, very dry (Noilly Prat or whatever) and usually dirty, with whatever olives were around.

    About a year ago at Jettison in Dallas, I was served a martini that changed everything.  It was with Botanist and Dolin Blanc with a tiny bit of orange bitters.  The vermouth was in the drink, not just swished or acknowledged as I was used to doing to get to the properly dry martini.  This was a martini, not a dry martini.  A lemon peel was squeezed over the drink to release the oils.  It was stirred for a good long while.  The whole thing was well balanced,  refreshing and magnificent.  That is what I have learned to do at home.

    • Hook 'Em 1
    • Like 1
  5. 8 hours ago, LongestHorn said:

    They won't suffocate because there is an airhole somewhere.  They're searching for it now, hoping it may be an alternative exit.  

    If they can get more power and pumps up there, they can walk them out.  But the rains won't wait.  It's terrifying.

    Oxygen levels are down 15%.  They are thinking about how to get a 3 mile oxygen pipeline in there to the boys.  Keeps getting worse.

  6. June 28, 1969

    The Stonewall riots (also referred to as the Stonewall uprising or the Stonewall rebellion) were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village.   They are widely considered to constitute the most important event leading to the  gay rights movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the U.S.  

    We fight on.

  7. The store cooked chickens are fine and make for a good, quick, cheap meal.   And, as someone else, the leftovers are easy sandwiches or salads.

    But, as with most things, doing it right your self is so much better.  The texture of the meat really changes.

    One of the things I always battle, is the temperature to which you cook the chicken.  If you cook the breast to 165+ as recommended, the breast will be dry and stringy.  I usually start pulling at around 150.  I haven't killed anyone yet.  

    This article, that I just found, may explain why.  It explains how you can achieve a safely cooked bird, that is still moist at a lower temp than 165,

    Quote
    The FDA Food Code recommends cooking chicken to 165°F (74°C). But the pasteurization of chicken is actually a function of both temperature and time. If you can hold your chicken at 145°F (63°C) for 8.5 minutes, you can achieve the same bacterial reduction as at 165°F (74°C). In his new book Kenji López-Alt uses this principle along with the principle of carryover cooking in large masses of meat to achieve succulent, perfectly safe results at a dramatically lower pull temp.

    Whole Roasted Chicken Temperature Tips

  8. So, the chef owner of the Hightower has moved to my neighborhood (Oak Cliff in Dallas) and is opening a place here.  I have never been to the place in Austin.  What should we expect?  It seems highly regarded.

  9. So many memories of the day, but what I remember with a bit of regret is how the actual day ended.

    We were up early trying to deal with a ticket SNAFU (some of you who bought through a Texas Exes vendor may remember that).  With the early start, the bus ride to the Rose Bowl, the tailgating, the intense game,  the long wait to get out of the Rose Bowl and the interminably long ride back to the hotel, we were spent after drinking all day long.  We went up the hotel bar for some wings and beer. When the game highlights came on, we cheered with all the other tired fans.  I felt like we should be at some incredible street party or whooping it up somewhere instead of stumbling through a relatively quiet hotel bar.  But, that was all we had in us by then and there were no obvious options around us.  We drank some more and headed up to the room.   Blah.

  10. And now this...

    Quote

    Aldi, the discount supermarket chain with stores in more than 20 countries, just won an award for best whisky in the world. Your great-grandpappy's moss-covered distillery nestled in the Scottish highlands can suck it. 

    At the Spirits Business Scotch Whisky Masters, judges bestowed two gold medals on the Aldi brand—one for its Highland Black Scotch Whisky, and another for its Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky. (They share the gold with other entrants.) The Highland Black has hints of heather, strawberry leaf, and lemon oil, and retails for $17. The Islay Single Malt is "fresh and zesty," and retails for $23.

    Pretty sure Aldi's in Texas don't sell booze, but maybe that is around the corner.

    Esquire Article

  11. New entry in town:  Taco y Vino in Bishop Arts.   We went there last week and it's really good.

    It's not a taqueria and the tacos are elevated, but they are not overly gimmicky.  They rely on traditional tastes: barbacoa, carnitas, cochina pipl, carne asada, etc.   Each is just a really good version of a the traditional taco.   There are no sides and only two apps, but they are very good:  a crab and shrimp stuffed jalapeno and pretty killer tamale croquette things that are additive as hell.  The wine and beer is good too, all with approachable prices.  The whole thing is supposed to offer a fun night out that doesn't break the bank.  It pretty much hits that mark.

  12. 2 hours ago, DFWTexEx said:

    Javier's is a scene and you will have fun, but the food is laughably bad and is certainly the most overpriced food for what you get in Dallas, which is saying a lot.

    Meso Maya is definitely better, but you won't get the same scene there.   Monica Green and Anastacia Quinones are cooking and running Cedars Social now. They are doing high end, modern Mexican food.  I have not been yet, but friends who have been have reported that it's great.   And the two of them know how to cook and run a restaurant.  They left in place the cocktail program there, so it could be a good night out.  It's just south of downtown in The Cedars, on Lamar.

    All the North Oak Cliff brunch choices mentioned above are excellent:  Boulevardiere is my favorite. Bolsa and Smoke are also great.  Nova is my neighborhood place and I love it most of the time, but the brunch there, especially when a band is playing and it's too hot to sit outside can get chaotic.  

    Can't believe we had a discussion about brunch in Bishop Arts / Oak Cliff without mentioning the place that started it all:  Hattie's, which is still the nicest of all, with great food and graceful service. It's not the hip scene of the others, but it is still a favorite.

    • Like 1
  13. Javier's is a scene and you will have fun, but the food is laughably bad and is certainly the most overpriced food for what you get in Dallas, which is saying a lot.

    Meso Maya is definitely better, but you won't get the same scene there.   Monica Green and Anastacia Quinones are cooking and running Cedars Social now. They are doing high end, modern Mexican food.  I have not been yet, but friends who have been have reported that it's great.   And the two of them know how to cook and run a restaurant.  They left in place the cocktail program there, so it could be a good night out.  It's just south of downtown in The Cedars, on Lamar.

    All the North Oak Cliff brunch choices mentioned above are excellent:  Boulevardiere is my favorite. Bolsa and Smoke are also great.  Nova is my neighborhood place and I love it most of the time, but the brunch there, especially when a band is playing and it's too hot to sit outside can get chaotic.  

  14. The way he talked about food as the basis of community was astounding and, yes, I loved seeing all the dishes and the drinks he shared with people who he genuinely respected.  But, the turning point for me came in his 2014 interview of Anabel Hernandez, the Mexican journalist who writes honestly about the cartels. It was in the Parts Unknown episode about Mexico City.  Yes, he talks about the food of Oaxaca and all that, but that interview was as good a piece of true journalism as I have ever seen.  It characterization of the effect of drug violence on Mexican life was brutal.  I had thought of him as a cocky bullshit artist, a second rate chef that found celebrity by writing about life in the kitchen with a lot of cuss words and drug references.  Not, that I didn't like him. I did and I enjoyed his shows.  I just didn't realize how good he was at what he was doing until that interview.  It was serious business, indeed.  And so well done.


    RIP

  15. I checked out Macellaio on opening night.  I was by myself and just stopped in for a quick bite and to congratulate the owners.   So, I didn't have the complete experience.

    By design, it is totally different than Lucia.  It is dominated by a large square bar with a cocktail scene.  It is loud.  As in very loud.  It was just one night and so it's hard to tell, but the douche factor was up there.  Group of 20-something guys next to me kept trying to one up each other with the size of deal they were closing and there were sunglasses being worn indoors.  I hope it evolves into a more neighborhood friendly spot, but I don't know.

    The bites I ate were ok.  The small plate menu is made up of words that I don't know, some Italian some Mediterranean-ish.  Eggy crouquettes were good in a nice tomato sauce; a dish of bean puree was overwhelmed by way too much Gruyere; a tomato salad was fine, but it was just a tomato salad.   But, I don't think you will come here for the small plates.   You will come here for the house cured meats.  The salumi selection is amazing.  Judging by what you get at Lucia, it likely will be spectacular.  Since it was just me and I was in a hurry, I didn't choose the salumi.  But, I bet that will be what we do the most:  enjoying wine (exclusively Italian) and meats with good bread.  I'll report on that later.

     

    • Like 1
  16. On 5/14/2018 at 6:19 PM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

    Pinch a Pollo on Burnet.   

    I saw this thread and expected to see many of my old favorites (GM, Mad dogs, etc.) but this was a surprise and brought back great memories.  You could only get chicken there, perfectly grilled with a killer Mexican citrus marinade.   We have Regio now in Dallas and it's good.  Every time I get it, I think of Pinch a Pollo.

  17. Read several reviews of the tournament and Trinity Forrest.  Most of the National Press had nice things to say about the course and how "different" it is.  It's a nice change of pace and after the course settles down and they fix a few things, it will be a "change of pace" that the players will like.   The FW Star Telegram pretty much said it was shit and they should move the tournament to Frisco.  

    The principal designer was Ben Crenshaw (Hook 'em).  I bet they make some changes for next year.   

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