Foodie Sleuth

Miss your old-school Whole Foods challah bread?  Us, too.

We missed it so much, we ask "what the what" happened overnight to the delicious, soft challah that we bought weekly.  It was great to crap overnight.  We were told, quite kindly, that Whole Foods shut down their local Dallas bakery and were now shipping their breads up from Houston.   Figures.  What the ef do Houstonians know about bread?

Your friend in baking

Well, we lamented for a few months, and it occurred to me that the Dallas location of the Whole Foods bakery was still open and active.  Except, it was no longer called Whole Foods Bakery, it was called the Village Baking Company.

So, I informed the Mrs. Yonks of this serendipitous discovery and low-and-behold: they bake awesome bread.  The esteemed Mrs. says she will no longer buy bread elsewhere.  And, this, solely from partaking in their scrumptious Ham Croissants and French Baguette.

Moral of the story: don't accept second rate bread and definitely get pissed when someone takes away your challah.  Good things comes to those that dig.

Free, Easy, Angry, Loyal

Monday: Angry
Tuesday: Free
Wednesday: Easy
Friday: Loyal
Sunday: Lucia

Lucia and Mr. Mesero

This past week has been a whirlwind, but I've managed to try a couple of new spots around the Metroplex that are worth noting and passing on to my D/FW peeps:

1. Lucia - We had an excellent meal here with friends this week.  First, I got $10 off by checking in with Foursquare.  Thank you, American Express!  We ordered various antipasta, pasata, segundi and dolci dishes and the ones that really stood out were the crispy pork belly, the gnocchi, and all the main dishes: the pork shoulder, the duck breast, the merluza, and the steak.  All were delicious and well prepared, but the pork shoulder was tremendous.  The only thing they messed up was not having a proper expresso machine to make real coffee.  If the desserts don't float your boat, just walk next door to Dude, Sweet Chocolate and try their home made chocolates, fudges and marshmallows.  Very nice, and you can buy more to bring home after you're done grazing their samples.

2. Mr. Mesero - Mico Rodriguez, of the MCrowd fame (Mi Cocina, Taco Diner, The Mercury), opened a small, excellent taco restaurant in the former location of Burger Girl at 4444 McKinney Avenue in the Knox-Henderson area of Dallas.  We have been back twice, once with the kids, and we have not had a bad dish yet, and apparently others think the same.  We have not tried the drinks yet, as we're both on medication recovering from the crud, but I'll be back again soon to rectify that miss.  I really liked the crispy carnitas tacos from my first visit.  Nice, intimate locale, good service, great guac' and very tasty, unique flavors in the dishes.  It's opening makes up for Café San Miguel's surprising closing.  Mico is awesome.  Go tomorrow!

I've done my public service for my Dallas peeps and those friends who travel here.  Go, eat, and share a nice meal with family and friends.  Heck, invite me!

What's in the Cookies?

My mom bakes a lot.  Some people bite their nails when they are restless or nervous.  Bubs bakes.  She can whip up some chocolate chip cookies like others blink.  She puts everything in the cookies: raisin, nuts (or as my niece instructed once, "no gnats, please"), raisins...you-name-it.  We joke that if you're too quiet or still in the kitchen, you'll end up in the cookies.

She used to bake cheescakes for local restaurants.  She had a list of 49 different flavors that the restaurants could choose from, to rival Baskin-Robbins' 49 flavors of ice cream, at the time.  We used to help her bake them sometimes, after school, up at the fraternity on Lafayette College, where she used to cook after my parents were divorced.  It was all fun, however, I rarely eat cheesecake anymore.  Like maybe once or twice in the last 30 years.

There's always a cookie jar at my mom's house.  Always a stash of something sweet somewhere.  Always some new baking idea that must be discussed and obsessed over.  My wife also loves to bake and bakes well, too.  I think of it as a gauntlet for my health and waist.  Kind of like Cookie Frogger.  We find ourselves baking with the kids on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, when there is nothing to do.  Some brownies.  A batch of Alfajores.  Some Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars, which may have been one of the times I ate cheesecake in the last 30 years.

The children are easy to corrupt in this way.  And, the cycle continues.

Family Meal

As we all wrap our work to depart on our family adventures for Thanksgiving, it made me think of the great meals that I have had.  While there have been some good food that I have had, while traveling, alone, all the good meals have been with friends and family.

Thanksgiving with family at Uncle Eddie's in Rockaway Beach.  Bad Excuse Dinners in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress with friends.  That 9-course meal with Tatiana our first time in Paris together a La Table d'Anvers.  Team dinner at Doug's house, when he would flex his culinary skills with Northern Italian cuisine.  In New York City, with Bubs, at the Spice Market, when she had a childhood neighbor walk in and surprise me.

I love food.  It just taste better with friends and family.

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Stephen Colbert, Ice Cream Genius

This year, I've changed the way I eat, and ice cream is not normally on the new menu.  In fact, one of the most significant changes I've made is to not eat dessert anymore.  For the most part, it sucks.  No other way to sugar-coat it.

Genius

I have lost over 20 pounds, however, and I'm back to my college weight.  I do still eat dessert, just much more infrequently.  Recently, I decided that I would have ice cream, with the kids, one Sunday afternoon, so I went to the frozen altar to unlock the sacred milk of Saint Ben and Saint Jerry, and there were 3 offerings to choose from: S'mores, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and Americone Dream.  I tried all 3, of course.  I wouldn't want to anger the ice cream gods.

S'mores is a favorite of mine.  With desserts, anything with marshmallow or caramel or apples is going to draw my attention.  The toasted marshmallow shake, for example, at Stand in New York City, is a natural favorite and highly recommended if you are down near NYU or close to SoHo.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  Yum.  'Nuff said.

And, this, Americone Dream...it had a picture of Stephen Colbert on it.  Puzzling, indeed.  So like a wild animal sniffing its kill as a safety measure, I read the label and noticed it had caramel in it, easing any fears, and I dug in.

What a magnificent concoction it was!  The mixture of the vanilla, fudge-covered waffle cone bits, and caramel were both a great mix of flavors as well as textures.  It actually got me thinking that although Mr. Colbert is quite popular on the television, he might be in the wrong line of work.

So, on this fine Sunday, go out to your local convenience store and pick up a pint (snack size, as my brother would say) or the several 3.6 ounce tasting samplers, and try it for yourself.  It goes well with football.

My Mom, The Addict

So, I had the immense pleasure of enjoying a fine meal in New York City, at má pêche, last night with Bubs.  Nothing like a fine meal with family.  What amazed me more than the great drinks, great food, and catching up with mom was her self-admitted addiction to her iPad.  She sleeps with it!  Wait until Dick finds out...

She not only admitted she loves her iPad and doesn't know what she would do without it, but she has downloaded and uses apps on her iPhone and iPad like CardStar and Zite, without consulting her IT department!  That would be me, of course.

Frankly, it's amazing at so many levels.  She has bought, used, and loves this technology, without her nerdy son promoting it or provoking her.  She has done things with her devices that I have not.  She told me that her iPhone makes communication so much easier.  Even Nielsen is seeing that Americans aged 55-64 are adopting smartphones at second fastest rate of all other age groups.  What is this world coming to?

I don't know whether to feel sad and shed a tear that she's growing up right in front of me, or be angry that she would do all of this without consulting me.  I feel so...cheap.

Come see me and other industry leaders from Sam's Club, BBC America, The Daily, Ogilvy & Mather, Nutro, The Weather Channel, and Starcom Mediavest talk about tablets in marketing at ad:tech New York City this Thursday at 3:00PM Eastern and 4:30PM Eastern.  If you can't make it, tell a friend and live vicariously through them!

Calamari Pancakes and Digital Messes

It's Sunday, so I normally take a break from my mobile and digital world to wax poetically about food and dining.  I don't want to disappoint, and as I am heading to New York City this week on business, I am reminded of one of my favorite appetizers: the Sautéed Calamari and Artichoke Tart over Fresh Radicchio Salad at ViceVersa on 325 W 51st Street.

It's a fav and when on business, I like to wander over to ViceVersa, or its sister restaurant EtceteraEtcetera, sit at the bar to order an appetizer and a drink, and chat it up with the bartender.  The calamari tart is like a crisp, loose pancake that combined with the bite of the radicchio is just wonderful combination of flavors and texture.  Having said all of that, however, thinking of going to New York and eating well make me think of a great Slate piece on restaurants' websites that I read this year, discussing the bad side of restaurant website designs and implementations.

It brings up the interesting hypothesis that many nice restaurants with bad site designs are likely due to their own Executive Creative Directors, the chefs, trying to control digital like they do food.  It's an interesting theory that makes a lot of sense.  At work, our ECD talks about the continuum between user experience and brand experience, and it would seem that for many nice restaurants, the designs are likely straddling the fence in uncomfortable ways.   Neither very usable or brand-right designs.

Although the sites are sometimes over-the-top or annoying, I'm just glad the chefs don't straddle the fence when it comes to the food design and preparation.

Come see me and other industry leaders from Sam's Club, BBC America, The Daily, Ogilvy & Mather, Nutro, The Weather Channel, and Starcom Mediavest talk about tablets in marketing at ad:tech New York City next Thursday at 3:00PM Eastern and 4:30PM Eastern.  If you can't make it, tell a friend, and I will think of you while I eat my Calamari and Artichoke Tart!

Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye

Last century, before kids, we used to go out to dinner a lot.  We often saw movies, as well.  We slept in.  Most impressive, however, was that when we were younger, we both could eat an entire Cowboy Ribeye, by ourselves.  With an appetizer.  And, dessert.  I repeat, by ourselves!

The Cowboy Ribeye, for the uninitiated, is a Stephan Pyles signature dish.  It originated at the now non-existant Star Canyon, in Dallas.  Thankfully, it returned to Stephan Pyles namesake restaurant in the Arts District.  It is a bone-in ribeye that sits atop a pinto bean wild mushroom ragout with red chile-dusted onion strings on top.  The steak by itself, would be a top 3 steak in Dallas, by itself, but the combination of flavors and textures of the 3 components of the dish together make one want to kiss Mr. Pyles on the lips, regardless of gender or sexual-orientation.

These days, we will occasionally wander down to Stephan Pyles on date night, without reservation, and sit at the bar in front of the kitchen.  Most times, we will get an appetizer or salad, share a dish or order second appetizers.  Occasionally, we will order the Cowboy Ribeye.  To share.  And, we don't finish it.  And, we definitely don't eat dessert.  Then, usually, one of us has to roll the other one out to the valet to get our car.

I'm most amazed at my previous self, when I reflect back on this.  How in all that is holy could I eat an entire Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye?  What has happened to me?  Have aliens done this to me with their constant experimentation on me at nights?  Either way, it's still a great dish, no matter how much I can eat of it.

Lost in all of this, of course, is that although Stephan has resurrected the Bone-In Cowboy Ribeye, he has not done the same for the Lace Cookie Taco.  The best dessert in Dallas in its day.  Not that I would have the room to eat it, though.

Innovation

On the longest and toughest days at work, it's things like Oink that can wake me up, get me pumped and remind me why I like my work and my job so much.  Innovation.  It's like a stiff drink after a long day.  It's like a unsolicited kiss on the cheek from your kids.  It's the $5 bill you find in the parking lot of the grocery store.  When it happens, it's a sure smile and new energy.

Thanks to @rfijoey for tipping me to this one yesterday.  I love the different perspective of this service.  Don't just get me to a location, help me navigate inside.  What is the place known for?  Still, like Yelp and Google, it's dependent on crowd sourcing opinions, and sometimes dog+world can give you good advice, but as has been shown through research, nothing replaces the opinion of a trusted friend or family member.  Bubs, for example, is my go-to for dining in New York City.  Should be yours, too, but she doesn't blog.

This idea of enhancing our typical web services to dig deeper, inside of the places, is not unique to Oink.  Applying electronic mapping inside of big box retailers, for example, could help consumers map their path to get in and out most efficiently.  The path data from their (opted-in) consumers could help the retailers organize their product placement.  It could help those same retailers make more contextually relevant recommendations for additional purchase, "you're going to need some jelly with that peanut butter and bread that you bought."

Specific innovations aside, it's always great to explore and see innovators in action.  Sometimes, its a hit, other times a miss.  Sometimes, it's one small step to something bigger.  And, remember, if you are not trying to disenfranchise your service, someone else is.

Spicy Margarita Pub Crawl

Replace you regular, boring pub crawl with a Spicy Margarita Pub Crawl.  The idea is to go to each spot that serves a different spicy margarita, sit at the bar, order an appetizer and a margarita.  Enjoy, move to the next one.  Rince.  Repeat.

Here's a couple in the Dallas area, that I know of, to start you out:
1. Komali: Habanero Martini and Queso Fundido with Rajas y Chorizo.  I love their Habanero Martini (it's a margarita) a lot.  None of these spicy margaritas are painful spicy, just enough of an extra kick to make it addictive.
2. Abacus: Spicy Mango Margarita and Lobster Shooters.  The Lobster Shooters are enough of a reason to stop in, and I have to say, after trying their rolls for the first time recently, the Picasso rolls are awesome.
3. Stephan Pyles: Spicy Passion Fruit Margarita and Southwestern Caesar Salad.  The passion fruit margarita did not sound as tempting as the others on the list, but it surprised and was very good.  The masa croutons on the salad are awesome.  The kind of thing you don't feel like sharing.

And, lastly, its sad to say that the spicy margaritas at Alma are no longer an option.  It just opened this year, but it's recently closed, to my dismay.  They served very good food (awesome tres leches!) and drinks, always seemed to be full, but something must not have worked out.  Maybe they can serve the same spicy margarita at their sister restaurants Porch and Victor Tango, down the street.

Go ahead and try it out.  Take a taxi to make it easier.

Top 5 Desserts in Dallas

It's Sunday.  Time to get serious about food.  The topic: desserts.  The destination: Dallas.  Make a pub crawl of it.  You can't just eat one of them.

5. Quatro Leches - La Duni.  It's a classic in town.  Over the top.  We make good Tres Leches at home, although I often substitute rum for the last milk.  Dunia Borga uses a heavier cake, much like a pound cake, which holds up more after the soaking, and tops it with the world's most perfect merengue.

4. Bread Pudding - Salum.  I know.  You think your Aunt Louis from New Orleans makes the best Bread Pudding in the world, but your wrong.  Head to Abraham Salum's namesake, where his staff prepares a perfect bread pudding with the right consistency, at the right temperature, and tops it with creme anglaise, slices of toasted almonds, and fresh berries.

3. Blueberry Semifreddo - Local.  Tati made fun of me the first time I ordered it.  She has a thing about blue food.  Says it's not natural.  It's just so creamy, dreamy, yummy, you just need to go to Local, have a fabulous meal at Tracy Miller's quiet, cool locale, and save some room for dessert.  Tati tried it, under intense duress, and loved it.
2. Blueberry Buckle - Smoke.  More blueberries to drive Tati nuts.  So simple.  So well done.  Fresh blueberries, topped with a crumble top, baked, a nice dollop of firm, freshly made whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  I'm drooling as I type.

1. S'mores Deconstructed - Stephan Pyles.  I don't know if this is a regular item, but we had it the last time we dined at Stephan Pyles, and it was awesome.  I will admit that anything that has any combination of marshmallows, caramel, or apples will always grab my attention.

And, an honorary pick that you can't get anymore, but will forever be my favorite:
0. Lace Cookie Taco - Star Canyon.  Again, simple, but exquisite.  A lace cookie, shaped like a taco shell, filled with freshly made whip cream and fresh berries with caramel lightly drizzled across the whole enchilada.  Oh, how I miss you, Lace Cookie Taco.

There.  Now, go out and eat some dessert.  Make me proud.

Bubbe's Pizza Postulate

My mom, who we will refer to as Bubs for the purpose of this blog and her anonymity, has a theory about pizza that I fully subscribe to: once you put a pizza in a box, it changes the texture of the crust, for the worse.

For me, and many pizza aficionados and foodies, the crust is critical to the execution of excellent pizza. Turning a crisp crust a little soggy is the difference between pizza bliss and, just, pizza.

So, for the love of all that is holy, if you like a pizza, get off your can and go to the restaurant and eat it there...maybe with some great friends and family. Bubs would want it that way.