DFWTexEx

Was bored on a conference call and wrote this too long review about Ame, the new French/Indian place in Bishop Arts for my FB neighbors/friends. For those of you eagerly waiting for an Indian restaurant in Oak Cliff, Ame (in the old Hattie’s space in Bishop Arts), may or may not make you happy. It opened this weekend. We went last night with friends for our first indoor dining experience in a year. It was fabulous. And I am using that word intentionally. If you wanted a cheap lunch buffet with all you can eat chicken tandoori and take away chicken tikka masala, this is not it. This is a dress up, luxurious French restaurant, with a French trained chef transforming the dishes and flavors of Indian food. Picture a beautiful velvet banquette, gold cutlery, Christian La Croix wallpaper, a “secret” champagne and cocktail bar behind heavy curtains, and one of the beautiful owners (a mother – daughter duo opened the restaurant) managing the place in a runway ready outfit featuring black palazzo pants and a billowy white blouse. Fabulous. Did the food live up to it? Yes! We loved it. The dishes definitely felt Indian, just different. Not “better” than more authentic Indian food, but different. It’s an experience. The Chaat for instance, is no street food snack, it was an incredible and beautiful plate of chickpeas , veggies and yogurt topped with pomegranate seeds. It was fried perfectly and was our favorite dish of the night. The other highlights were a cashew chicken tikka and the shrimp curry. The chef (the mother of mother-daughter duo) really knows how to use spice and heat. Every dish had the requisite heat (nothing “mild” here) but the heat didn’t overwhelm the dishes. The saag paneer and aloo gobi were spot on. The cocktails were also great and mostly French inspired. If you go for a cocktail first, ask to be seated or make a reservation in the Elephant Bar (the bar in the back). There is also a bar at the entrance (now on 7th, not on Bishop like Hattie’s.) but the front bar is not nearly as special as the Elephant Bar. Ame is not for everyday dining. It’s more for special occasions or planned nights out with friends. We’ll be back. EDIT: I was thinking about why this so familiar and I finally remembered a film called The Hundred-Foot Journey. It's a wonderful film for foodies starring Helen Mirren. It's about families and the interplay of French and Indian cuisine. I highly recommend it.

It's in Bishop Arts / North Oak Cliff and it's bleh. I had an order of fried fish that was not as good as Luby's. Cool space, though. Maybe the boils and all that are better.

O - I am an adult.

I'll go backwards. For the amount of your are there, don't do any tours. San Miguel is a town where you walk around and let the day unfold. Get up, go get coffee and wander around somewhat aimlessly, finding galleries, shops, little museums, whatever. There is a walking guide that helps. Find more coffee and pastries and then a boozy lunch and end up at your place, which should have a terrace, in time for drinks at sunset. Upscale full meal lunch in a spectacular setting: Quince Cocktail lunch with small plates with great view: Luna Rooftop Tapas the Rosewood Hole in the wall, locals favorite tortas near the Jardin: Torta Mundo Not sure about sit down breakfasts because the places you stay usually offer you breakfast. We stay at a B&B and the breakfast is fantastic. No need to leave. It's a great place to unplug. We are planning another trip there in July when we will enjoy having to put on a sweater at night.

All of that will be fun. And that hotel preference is what I usually do. But, the Greece trip was big and we went special. If you do do Santorini, splurge enough to get a hotel on the caldera side. There will be cheap beach hotels on the other side, but you will miss the experience.

Athens will be more fun than you think. The Grand Hotel Bretagne is a nice splurge. Of course, do the Acropolis early and spend time walking the parks and going to the Panathenaic Stadium. I am sure some folks are about to tell you to skip Santorni. Take those comments with a grain of salt. Yes, part of it, are touristy, but probably less so now with less cruise ships arriving. We stayed in at the Chromata in Imerovigli, a quiet village up the hill from Thera/Fira. It was like being a film set or on the Turman Show, so beautiful you can't believe it.

Just saw a video that is going viral of the Fort Worth pileup on the ice. It's sickening. You are likely watching people die as speeding 18 wheelers just crash into stalled cars. I am not squeamish but couldn't get through it. You are warned.

Two years ago, a commercial landlord wanted to execute leases on legal paper via fax. Two years ago.

In the 90’s it was Ruggeri’s or Lombardi’s. Both were classic and I had so many boring business lunches at each but also fun dinners. I remember when I didn’t know what Risotto was and thought that a Caesar salad was traditional Italian. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree. Cacti? Colorful wooden fences and benches? Frida Kahlo art?

The Jennifer and Davis Ugyur owned at operated Lucia and Macellaio. They also held the lease and financed Salaryman, the super popular, award winning Japanese / Ramen space next to Macellaio. The pandemic made operating the legacy version of Lucia impossible No outdoor dining. Its charming, intimate but very tight space, left no opportunity to for social distancing or outdoor dining. Macellaio eventually re-opened because of the outdoor dining space and open spaces inside, but never picked up steam to pre-pandemic sales. The takeout menus from Lucia and Macellaio almost always sold out, but that was not enough to keep both restaurants running with the loss of most of the liquor and wine sales. Then, more tragedy, as Justin Holt, the former Lucia sous-chef chef that opened Salaryman to much acclaim, was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia. Salaryman tried to hang on through the summer with staff preparing the takeout food, but eventually had to close permanently. The Ugyurs faced some significant challenges. The thing that might have saved them, as sad as it seemed, is that the lease on the legacy Lucia space was expiring. They had substantial continuing lease obligations on the Macellaio and Salaryman spaces. So, they made the decision to leave the charming Lucia space and move Lucia to the Macellaio space where it will operate on a bigger scale, with a full bar, outdoor dining, etc. So, Lucia will live on, but different. Macaellaio will close permanently. The small Salaryman space will be used to stage the now successful Lucia takeout business. All's well that ends well; we hope. I too was not a big fan of Macaellaio so this suits me.

Speaking of healthy...

Is this the most aired commercial right now? I love that music and it was tolerable the first 10 times I saw it. But, it is pretty much on a continuous loop right now.

So very sorry. May you find strength and comfort.

Do any of you know people that are open about all this in real life? I live in a left leaning historic district in Oak Cliff, so my bubble is mostly educated progressives dotted with open minded conservatives, but no one that would actually talk about this shit. My social media has plenty of right leaning folks, but again none of this. Yet, I see people on TV, marching, lifting kilts, etc. so there are people that are willing to be open about their craziness. If you know them, what is it like? How do you interact?

Watching it pretty much as a comedy. It is so low rent and every single thing about it is bad: writing, acting, directing, etc. The timeline screw ups are laughable but also insulting, as if they didn't think the people watching it would know or care. The Lifetime moves are Oscar worthy compared to this mess. [Mecician-American, listed to Tejano music, grew up in the Valley in that timeframe...my Dad's most treasured possession is a picture of him dancing with Selena, so maybe I am sensitive]

SCOTUSBLOG Publisher: This.

And I think he actually meant filing an amicus brief, but he doesn't know how any of this works.

Binders Full of Women

So, a couple of members of the State Board of Education got sick after an in-person meeting where masks were on and off. We are still here.

I was coming here to post or ask about the Texas lawsuit. So embarrassing. Clearly an attempt to relitigate everything at the Supreme Court. I can't imagine SCOTUS even blinking an eye at this, but it is an interesting jurisdictional move to simply bypass everything by creating a state vs. state action.

Quote from the tigerdroppings Tucker thread. Wow.

They are literally talking about vote counts in Pennsylvania counties by the hundreds. And explaining for the 1000th time what a provisional ballot is. It’s just silly and embarrassing for them at this point. Not really watching much anymore. On the porch drinking unless somebody gets the courage to call this. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How? From Idaho, where all mitigation has been left to local officials: The hospital in Coeur d’Alene reached 99% capacity a day earlier, even after doubling up patients in rooms and buying more hospital beds. Idaho is one of several states where a surge of COVID-19 infections is overwhelming hospitals, likely in part because cooler weather is sending people indoors, U.S. health officials said “We’re facing staff shortages, and we have a lot of physician fatigue. This has been going on for seven months — we’re tired,” Lee said. He introduced several doctors who testified about the struggle COVID-19 patients face, the burden on hospitals and how masks reduce the spread of the virus. But the board voted 4-3 to end the mask mandate. Board members overseeing the operations of Idaho’s public health districts are appointed by county commissioners and not required to have any medical experience. Board member Walt Kirby said he was giving up on the idea of controlling the spread of coronavirus. “I personally do not care whether anybody wears a mask or not. If they want to be dumb enough to walk around and expose themselves and others, that’s fine with me,” Kirby said. “Nobody’s wearing the damned mask anyway. ... I’m sitting back and watching them catch it and die. Hopefully I’ll live through it.” Another member, Allen Banks, denied COVID-19 exists. “Something’s making these people sick, and I’m pretty sure that it’s not coronavirus, so the question that you should be asking is, ‘What’s making them sick?’” he told the medical professionals who testified.