Yesterday, I revealed that I would feature three unique chicken fried steaks on the blog in celebration of Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day. So, who are the lucky honorees?

Congratulations to Olivia in Austin, Beaver’s in Houston, and Bone Daddy’s in Dallas. These three Texas restaurants feature some amazing pan-fried steaks. Read further to learn more about the methods and concepts behind their creations.

Beaver’s (Houston)

Description: Chicken Fried New York Strip with bacon-shroom gravy, bacon-cheddar mashers, bacon-braised greens, and Texas toast.

Method: ½ pound New York strip steak (tenderized and pounded thin). Toss in seasoned flour. Dip in buttermilk. Press back into seasoned flour. Fry for 3-5 minutes at 365 degrees or until golden brown. Top with cream gravy with thick-cut bacon and local, roasted mushrooms. (Beaver’s serves their chicken fried steak with braised greens with bacon and mashed russet potatoes with thick-cut bacon and sharp white cheddar cheese.)

Olivia (Austin)

Description: The Willie Nelson Chicken Fried Steak at Olivia is an homage to an unfortunate run-in Willie Nelson had with the law in El Paso in 2010. Look closely at the description: 6 ounces (ahem) of meat, red-eye gravy, herbed smashed potatoes, two fried eggs, and chopped salad with buttermilk dressing. James Holmes (executive chef of Olivia) said he would have contributed a portion of sales to Willie’s legal defense, but that obviously wasn’t necessary. As of now, Holmes has no plans for a Waylon Jennings plate.

Method: Take 6-ounce ribeye, pound it out, and begin standard breading procedure. Drop in seasoned fried chicken flour and throw in a wet mix (4 cups buttermilk, 4 eggs, and ¼ cup hot sauce). Drop ribeye in a cast-iron skillet with hot canola oil at 350 degrees. Cook until golden brown; Flip over and spoon hot grease over it. Serve with herbed smashed potatoes: skin on, gold potatoes, whole milk, salt and pepper, and various herbs: parsley, tarragon, etc.

Red-eye gravy: Make a medium-brown roux, chicken stock, 1 cup of strong-brewed coffee, ¼ cup hot sauce, couple hits Worcestershire, lots of pepper. Bring to a boil until it becomes a gravy. Use the leftovers for gumbo.

Bone Daddy’s (Dallas)

Photo taken by Dick Patrick.

Description: Tender, hand-battered steak topped with homemade gravy and served with garlic & chive whipped potatoes, creamed corn, and a warm cheese roll.

Method: Take 6 ounces of cubed steak, pound it out, and season it. Press the steak in seasoned flour and then dip in batter. Coat steak once more with flour and drop in deep fryer until it is golden brown, tender, and floats. Drain the oil from the steak and plate it with mashed spuds and veggies. Top it off with gravy!

Tagged: austin, Beaver's, Bone Daddy's, Chicken Fried Steak, dallas, Houston, James Holmes, Layne Lynch, Olivia, Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day, Willie Nelson

For October, Pat Sharpe selected Boulevardier, a modern French bistro in Dallas, as Pat’s Pick. I spoke with Nathan Tate, executive chef of Boulevardier, about his brand new restaurant, French food, and his favorite dishes on the menu. (In case you haven’t heard, Pat’s Pick for November is Salty Sow in Austin.)

When did you open Boulevardier and what was the inspiration behind it?

We opened about two months ago, so we’re still pretty new. We’ve been in the works for over a year though. My partners and I came together and thought we could fill a niche by doing a French bistro down here in Bishop Arts. There is really nothing quite like it out here. We also wanted to add some modern touches to it and not get stuck in the bistro identity, but that’s not to say we don’t have classic French dishes on our menu. We just didn’t want it to be too boring, honestly.

Nathan Tate. Photo taken by Desiree Espada.

When I think of a bistro, I think of classic, gourmet French food. What you’re doing is pretty casual, right?

Yeah. I take a pretty rustic approach to my cooking. I don’t like to use a lot of microgreens. I don’t plate my food with tweezers. I’m a little more old school. I use a lot of modern techniques, but I like to make food that your grandma would serve you at a Sunday dinner. With that said, there is a lot of prep and technique that goes into our food. It might appear like you’re Grandma made it, but it’s probably going to taste a lot better. [laughs]

Would you tell me a little bit about your background and how you came to French food?

Cooking is in my blood. My mom was a great cook and had a restaurant when she was older, which was a big undertaking for her at the time. My grandma was always a big inspiration in Southern cooking. I went to culinary school in Dallas, but as far as French food, I don’t have a huge French food background. I’ve never worked in a French restaurant, honestly. I’ve always felt like you get out of this business what you put in it, and a lot of what I’ve learned has been through self-teaching, researching, looking in books, and eating at restaurants. The fundamentals of what you learn at culinary school is all French, but to get to that next level I had to embrace self-teaching.

How is the cuisine at Boulevardier unlike any you’ve done before?

We’re going back to rustic cooking. At Ava, our plates are a little more refined and the dining room has white tablecloths. We really wanted to get away from that at Boulevardier. We wanted to serve high-quality food in a relaxed, casual atmosphere. In that way, I think it’s different than any other place I’ve worked at or done before. We’re getting back to the roots of cooking. I don’t want to say we’re going against the whole molecular gastronomy movement, but we definitely knew we didn’t want to go in that direction. That’s not the way I like to eat anymore, and I like to cook the way I like to eat.

What are some of the dishes that are finding a strong following?

Our steak frites is by far our biggest seller. That’s a classic bistro dish, and we cook ours over a wood-burning grill, which adds a lot of character to the beef.  One thing that has surprised me with its popularity is the lamb neck daube, which is a whole lamb neck that’s braised in a classic daube style with lots of aromatics, cinnamon, orange peel, and niçoise olives. For something that could sound a little creepy to most people, it sells really well, and I’m really proud of that. I was hoping that would become one of our signature dishes and it has.

Tagged: Boulevardier, dallas, Layne Lynch, Nathan Tate, October, Pat's Pick

Fall is upon us and you know what that means: pumpkins! Yes, these orange gourds are already making their way into local farmers markets and Texas restaurants. I’m pretty crazy about pumpkins and the eclectic culinary creations they inspire, so I decided to reach out to a number of Texas chefs and see what pumpkin dishes they’re planning to put on their fall menus. There were some many gourmet creations hailing from Dallas, Austin, and Houston that I had no choice but to divide this story into two parts. Check back tomorrow for more pumpkin dishes you can make at home.

TRACE‘s Pumpkin Beignets
Brioche
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 ½ cups pumpkin flour
1 ½ tsp salt
⅓ cup sugar
1 ⅓ tsp instant yeast
9 tbsp cold butter, cut into chunks
3 eggs
½ cup milk
⅓ cup water

TRACE’s Pumpkin Beignets

Combine yeast, warm water, and a pinch of the weighed out sugar in a bowl and let sit while you weigh out the rest of ingredients. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, gradually adding the eggs and yeast mixture. Add the butter and let it incorporate for about 15 minutes until the mixture is smooth and forming a ball shape. Put into greased bowl and let double in size. Refrigerate for 2 hours and cut into desired shape. Fry at 375 degrees for about two minutes. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Filling
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
1 egg
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 pinch salt
1 cup whipped cream

Combine the first 6 ingredients and lightly fold in whipped cream. Pipe into doughnuts after fried but while still warm.

W Hotel‘s Pumpkin Spice Martini
1 ½ oz vanilla vodka
½ oz Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka
½ oz Bailey’s Irish Cream
½ oz pumpkin spice liqueur
1 tsp vodka whipped cream

W Hotel’s Pumpkin Spice Martini

Combine the liquid ingredients into a shaker glass with big ice cubes. Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a teaspoon of vodka whipped cream sprinkled with a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg. Serve with a small number of roasted pumpkin seeds to balance the experience.

bolsa‘s Spiced Pumpkin Panna Cotta
1 ¼ cup milk
3 ½ sheets gelatin
1 ¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

bolsa’s Spiced Pumpkin Panna Cotta

Set the gelatin sheet in an ice water bath. Blend together the milk, pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, and spices until they reach a smooth consistency. Pour pumpkin mixture into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Once the mixture is up to heat, take the gelatin sheets out of the ice bath, squeeze out the liquid, and set into the pumpkin puree mixture. Stir until all of the gelatin has dissolved. Pour in the heavy cream to finish. Ladle liquid into six 5-ounce ramekins. (The ramekins should be sprayed with non-stick cooking spray). Chill the panna cotta until set – about 6-8 hours – and serve with cranberry sauce or top with whipped cream.

Farmhouse Delivery‘s Sausage and Risotto Soup Baked in a Pumpkin

Sausage and Risotto Soup Baked in a Pumpkin. Photo taken by Marshall Wright.

1 small pumpkin
olive oil
salt & pepper
1-2 cups cooked risotto (just about any flavor works)
4-6 smoked or sundried tomatoes
¼ – ½ cup cooked meat (sausage or chicken is best)
2 cups chicken stock
4 tbsp cream

Preheat oven to 350. Cut top off pumpkin and reserve. Scoop out seeds and filaments, leaving flesh in place. Rinse seeds and toast if desired, or discard. Rub pumpkin inside and out with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Soak dried tomatoes in warm water until softened and dice. Add to pumpkin cavity along with remaining ingredients, and check for seasoning. Replace pumpkin lid, place in small casserole dish and bake uncovered until cooked. To serve, place in a large bowl and ladle out soup along with scoops of cooked pumpkin.

MAX’S Wine Dive‘s Pumpkin Hummus

MAX’S Wine Dive’s Pumpkin Hummus

La Condesa’s Habanero Pumpkin Puree

Carnitas
2 pork shoulders (brined in salt water for 12-18 hours)
4 quarts of pork fat or duck fat

Cut the shoulder into 2-inch pieces and place in salt water solution and hold in refrigerator. After the brine has reached time, rinse the meat and pat it dry. Place in a deep pan or large pot, cover with fat, cover with foil and place in a 300 degree oven for 3 ½ hours.

Pumpkin Escabeche, pickled vegetables
diced pumpkin
cauliflower
Spanish onion
habanero

Once the carnitas are tender and ready, let them cool to room temperature. For pick-up and plating, sear the carnitas to crispy. Once the carnitas are crispy and seasoned, place a spoonful of the puree on your plate, place the carnitas on top, and garnish with escabeche and toasted pumpkin seeds (or pepitas). Optional: use some pumpkin seed oil as well for a more rich flavor. Serve hot with a side of corn tortillas, cilantro, and lime wedges.

The Carillon‘s Pumpkin Soup with Chorizo, Spiced Crema, and Herb Oil
2 large pumpkins, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
½ large yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp maple syrup
¼ lb Mexican-style chorizo
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp confectioners sugar
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
¼ cup chives, chopped

Soup: In a large pot, sauté onion, garlic, and a pinch of salt until they have just a bit of color. Add pumpkins and just enough water to cover. Cook at a low boil until soft. Add molasses, maple syrup, and ¼ cup heavy cream. Puree and salt to taste.

Chorizo: If chorizo is in a sausage casing, remove and discard it. In a smallsauce pan, render chorizo until fully cooked. Strain fat and set aside.

Crema: In a medium mixing bowl, combine remaining cream with cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. Mix rapidly with a wire whip until cream is firm enough to create stiff peaks. Salt to taste.

Herb Oil: In small saucepot, heat oil over low until approximately 150 degrees. (Just too hot to the touch. Combine oil and herbs in a blender and puree. Drain through a fine strainer. (Do not push through). Salt to taste.

 Backstreet Café‘s Spiced Pumpkin Hot Cocoa 

Backstreet Café’s Spiced Pumpkin Hot Cocoa

5 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla bean or 1 whole vanilla bean
3 heaping tbsp cocoa mix (we make our own, but you can substitute Jacques Torres or Ghirardelli Double Chocolate)
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree (substitute Libby’s if you don’t want to make your own)
2 oz maple syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
½ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp finely ground black pepper
1 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon bark
½ tsp whole cloves
8 cardamom pods, crushed and opened, shells and seeds

In a large heavy-bottom pot, roast cinnamon bark, cloves, and cardamom over high heat. Cook until they begin to smoke and smell. Approximately 5 minutes. Pour in milk and cream. Add vanilla, salt, and pepper. Whisk in with pumpkin puree and vanilla extract. Once warm and steaming, stir in maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Let infuse for 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the cocoa mix. (If you want a more intense chocolate cocoa, you can also add in 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate at this point). Stir for 2 minutes until all the ingredients are dissolved and finely mixed. Reduce heat to medium and let cook for an additional 10 minutes. Run through a fine sieve to remove pumpkin pulp and spice pieces. Mix will keep up to four days after cooked if properly refrigerated.

Drink: Garnish with toasted marshmallows. You can toast marshmallows with a crème brûlée torch if you don’t have a fireplace. Put a dash of cinnamon over the top of the marshmallows and serve.

Tagged: austin, Backstreet Café, bolsa, dallas, Houston, la condesa, Layne Lynch, MAX's Wine Dive, Pumpkin, the Carillon, TRACE, W Hotel

In late July, Erin McKool opened a drive-through restaurant in Dallas called Start. For years, McKool had planned to open her own restaurant, but was never sure of what concept she wanted to undertake. Two-and-a-half years ago when the idea for Start finally came to fruition, McKool knew she had something spectacular on her hands. Start is a restaurant that is truly the first of its kind: a drive-through, slow food restaurant that utilizes local, healthy ingredients. McKool talked with TEXAS MONTHLY about Start, the Dallas culinary scene, and embracing an entirely new restaurant concept.

Erin McKool

Tell me how the idea for Start came about. 

I used to be a lawyer, and when I came home to raise my son, I started thinking about finally doing a restaurant. It’s been a dream of mine to start a restaurant, café, coffee shop, or diner for years. I’ve always wanted to own my own business. When I left my job in 2007, I had a concept in mind, but it wasn’t this one. This concept has been two-and-a-half years in the making. I decided to do a drive-through that served restaurant-quality food with healthy ingredients.

How did the drive-through aspect come about?  

From the minute I started thinking about this concept, I knew I had to have a drive-through because it would set it apart from everything else that’s already out there. That was the real reason why [I decided on the drive-through]. I wanted it to stand out. I know how difficult it is when you have kids or you’re on your way to work to stop and grab healthy food. I wanted to create something that would make it convenient for people to eat healthy on the go. Something like this needs to exist.

How did you develop the menu? Were these dishes you made at home? Things that you ate growing up? 

It’s mostly stuff that I tested and made at home. There are a couple of things I added for the sake of building up the menu. I put together a menu that I thought would be really accessible to most palates. These are things that people are already looking for on a fast-food menu, but with a healthier twist. For example, we have a hamburger, but it’s not your typical hamburger. It’s one-hundred percent grass-fed beef that’s local and sustainable, and our wheat bun has no preservatives. I wanted to create a menu of items that I would make at my house. A couple of things I created that I had never made before were the flourless chocolate cake and the veggie, egg white sandwich. I put some curry butter on the sandwich to give it a bit of a flavor profile. I just played with some things on the menu and incorporated some adventure in the items.

Is it all local, mostly local?  

There are a lot of local ingredients, but it’s definitely not all local. For one, we don’t run a seasonal menu. We’re not truly a farm-to-table restaurant because we wanted to create a menu that wouldn’t change since we’re trying to follow the fast-food format as much as possible. We’re just reinventing it a little.

Explain the meaning of the restaurant’s name. 

This concept doesn’t really exist anywhere else, so we felt like it was truly a start. We wanted to be the first people that started thinking about remodeling traditional fast food. We wanted to persuade people to start thinking about eating better and also about where their food comes from. It’s a start in the right direction.

What’s your opinion of the Dallas culinary scene? 

People here have a very sophisticated palate. My husband and I lived in New York part time for the last three-and-a-half years. We’d spend two weeks there and two weeks [in Dallas]. I was stunned to see how similar Dallas is to New York, obviously on a smaller scale. That same New York-style food is here in so many restaurants. People in Dallas really appreciate the farm-to-table concept, sourcing local, and eating well.

Tagged: dallas, Erin McKool, Layne Lynch, Start

Attention Dallas foodies: Bowery – an upscale hot dog restaurant on McKinney Avenue – is opening its doors to the public today. The restaurant’s menu includes a host of American classics, such as an upscale Korn Dog and a spicy Chili Kicker, with a number of global renditions as well, such as a Royal Wagyu Dog and a Banh-Mi Dog. These savory handheld edibles will come partnered with a menu of beer and champagne cocktails, including a Basil Shandy and a Champagne Sangria.

Richard and Tiffanee Ellman of Oak and John Paul Valverde of CampO Modern Country Bistro worked together to create Bowery’s unique, refined dog concept. The trio of restaurateurs talked with TEXAS MONTHLY about morphing a classic fast food into upscale cuisine, the Dallas’ culinary scene, and the story behind their new restaurant’s name.

I feel like I’ve recently seen a lot of Texas restaurants opening up that focus on sourcing one specific dish. With that said, where did the idea for hot dogs come from?

Richard Ellman: It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a long time. We wanted to target the simplicity of doing one core item and doing it very well. So, at its core, Bowery is about the hot dog. We really love hot dogs, but haven’t been able to find a great place to get gourmet, high-quality hot dogs, so we knew there was an opening in the marketplace… Before we thought of opening Bowery, my wife and I were constantly going to the store to get quality sausage, but there weren’t a lot of options to choose from. We did some research to find some out there, but there just wasn’t anything like we imagined or hoped for. I always think the best ideas come from knowing that if you really want something and you can’t get it, then you are probably not the only person that wants that item.

Explain the culinary inspiration for the menu. From what I understand there are a lot of global culinary influences in your dogs. 

John Paul Valverde: When we sat down and talked about the concept, I started envisioning all the different combinations we could do. We threw out some ideas and critiqued each other here and there. We wanted to keep the inspiration behind the classic dog that people know and expect, like the Chicago Dog, but we wanted to showcase our backgrounds and what we expect from food we get when we go out. In this case, we started talking about doing the classics that people expected like our Korn Dog with grits and cornmeal, but also having these more adventurous dogs like the Croque Madame with Paris ham, béchamel sauce, swiss cheese, and a fried egg. The menu is crazy-unique, and people will know they aren’t just eating something like a corn dog they would normally throw ketchup, hot sauce, and mustard on top of.

Richard Ellman: I want to add to that. This is something that we tried to do at our restaurant Oak, which is bring global elements into the mix. As John Paul said, there are dogs on our menu that we feel represent different cultures. We have a Banh-Mi dog that is Asian-influenced; we have an Italian dog; we have a dog that has Mexican influences. We wanted to push the boundaries a little bit on getting a global component on our menu and expanding the reach that people are used to when it comes to their hot dogs.

Is there a specific reason you guys chose the name Bowery for the restaurant?

Richard Ellman: Bowery, according to some people, is the first place hot dogs were commercially sold in the United States. It’s in New York. German immigrants came in there and were selling hot dogs off of street carts. The hot dogs were essentially bratwurst and sauerkraut dogs, and that led us to thinking about the history and tradition behind the hot dog in America. To my mind, it hasn’t maintained that place in society and culture as an essential part of the restaurant world. That’s why we wanted to elevate it back to its historical level.

John Paul Valverde: When we chose the name Bowery, we decided to design the restaurant to fit the name. Bowery is in an old residential structure that has turned commercial, so it’s in an actual house. We went with an old wood look so we would have some grit in there. We didn’t want a clean modern version of it. We wanted something more traditional, so in this case we did some vertical wood that goes from the floor to the ceiling. We also did some custom lights that run from one entry to the middle of the dining room, and it’s all steel. It reminds me of the rail system in New York. It’s dark. It’s gritty. But at the same time, it feels like you are in Bowery as soon as you walk in. Everything is a little darker than you would expect going into a restaurant like this.

What are each of your favorite dogs on the menu?

Tiffanee Ellman: I have to go with the Moroccan. It’s got some great ground lamb, plus Richard and I got engaged in Morocco, so I’m rather attached to it. It’s a very sophisticated dog.

Richard Ellman: My favorite is called the Overstuffed Dutchman. It’s got a whole bunch of ingredients and is packed full of flavor. The baguette is hollowed out, and all these different ingredients like bacon bits, chives, cheese, and the dog – of course – are all shoved into there. It’s an interesting take on something we’ve seen in other parts of the world, primarily in Europe.

John Paul Valverde: I have a few favorites. One of mine has to be the Croque Madame, only because when we developed I wanted to make sure we used classic ingredients, and that’s what we’ve stuck with in the end. Plus the presentation is gorgeous. The Korn Dog is phenomenal, too.

I feel like the Texas culinary scene as a whole has evolved tremendously. How have you seen Dallas’ culinary scene change in recent years?

John Paul Valverde: I think the beauty of Dallas is that a lot of credit is starting to be given to the customer, and they are now willing to try more than just steak. People are embracing certain foods, as opposed to being afraid of them. You see it at places like Underbelly in Houston and even in Austin. It’s sort of envious when you go to places in New York that have the menu items you do, and the restaurants are completely full all the time and there is no need to have chicken or steak on the menu at all. The exciting part of it for me is seeing people come in and embrace what’s on the menu.

Tagged: Bowery, Campo Modern Country Bistro, dallas, hot dogs, Layne Lynch, Oak, Underbelly

Torchy’s Tacos is quickly making the rounds in Texas. The taco madness all began at a small trailer in Austin. That little trailer helped sprout several brick-and-mortar locations. Over time, Torchy’s grew and is now exploding onto the Dallas and Houston culinary scenes. The taco establishment seems to be opening a new location every month and shows no signs of slowing down. So what’s the secret behind the restaurant’s statewide success? Michael Rypka, founder and executive chef of Torchy’s Tacos, says it’s the restaurant’s commitment to honoring the local Austin roots that helped the business grow from the very beginning. Rypka chatted with TEXAS MONTHLY about the unique growth of Torchy’s Tacos, resisting any and every urge to franchise, and his upcoming plan to create a “secret” menu for all his diehard taco fans.

Michael Rypka in front of the trailer that started it all. Photo taken by Cort McPhail.

What made you know it was time to go to Houston?

The main reason was that we had a lot of customer requests asking us to be out there. We also have a lot of requests to have more stores in Dallas as well. I should mention Dallas is the main focus of our future expansion. We’re headed that way in the next six to nine months.

Why is Dallas the main focus?

Again, it’s all customer requests. Dallas is our most popular area outside of Austin. We picked up, headed out there, and decided to see what would happen, and so far everything is going really great. We want to keep that up.

A lot of restaurants shy away from expanding into other cities in fear that the quality of their cuisine might go down. How do you guys handle that?

It has a lot to do with training and hiring people that have the same vision as you. We put them through rigorous interviews and training when they join our team. I’ve been in the restaurant business my entire life. I’ve never not done anything but restaurants. It’s in my blood, and it’s something I’ve always been around. I know what works and I know what doesn’t work. I think that’s what has kept us so successful all these years.

I know you are opening a second location in Houston soon. Are you going to stop at two locations in Houston and then focus on Dallas? What’s your plan?

I would imagine that we would explore more locations in Houston if the second one does as well as the first. What I’m really most excited about is next month we’ve got the SMU location opening in Dallas. I think that’s going to be a really great store for us.

Tell me about the differences you see between the Houston, Dallas, and Austin culinary markets.

Good food is good food. It doesn’t matter where you come from, or what city you are in – you know it when you taste it. I hope we do well in all of the cities we’re in. I think the culture in Austin, being such a locally focused culture, has really helped us expand over the years. We’ve tried to maintain those roots in our organization. That’s why I won’t ever franchise. I like keeping it privately held and staying involved in the day-to-day business.

Where do you draw culinary inspiration from for your tacos?

I’m the chef of the company. A lot of the inspiration comes from me. Sometimes it’s that I have a dish at a restaurant somewhere that’s really great and it sparks an idea. It might be a suggestion from an employee or customer and that sparks an idea. Sometimes it’s just me sitting around at night and something hits me upside the head and I go and make it. It is all pretty random most of the time, which is good. I think if you try to force creativity it never turns out well.

This is going to be an unfair question, but which of your tacos is your personal favorite?

That’s not unfair. My two favorites are the green chile pork and the baja shrimp.

Austin’s culinary scene has really evolved in just a few short years. Where do you see the city and yourselves going in the future?

I hope we’ll be around for years to come. There are a couple of stores we’re going to be opening in the outlying ares of Austin in the future. Again, that’s from customer requests. I think we need to keep staying on our game. One thing we do right now is our taco of the month, which I think keeps things fresh and new. I’m working on a secret menu that will just be for the people who are really in-the-know about Torchy’s. I hope the menu will eventually get out there and more people will learn about it. I don’t know if you know this, but In-N-Out Burger has an animal style burger that’s not on their menu, but a lot of people know about it. We want to do something like that. I think when you do that kind of thing it keeps people interested in everything you do.

Tagged: austin, dallas, Houston, Layne Lynch, Michael Rypka, Torchy's Tacos

In a previous post, we highlighted an opportunity to virtually hangout with Tyson Cole of Uchi and Uchiko in Austin. Today, Google+ and Zagat join forces again to present yet another virtual culinary gathering. But this time, the excitement stems from Dallas’ culinary scene.

Tre Wilcox

Tre Wilcox, executive chef of Marquee Grill & Bar in Dallas, will host a live cooking demo on the Zagat Google+ page at 1 p.m. CT. You may recall Wilcox from his 2007 Top Chef appearance, as well as his restaurant’s mention in TEXAS MONTHLY’s Where to Eat Now issue as one of the top ten new restaurants of the year. To snag one of the nine available spots, visit Zagat’s Google+ Page and comment on the following post.

Tagged: dallas, Google+, Layne Lynch, Marquee Grill & Bar, Top Chef, Tre Wilcox, Where To Eat Now, Zagat

Virginia Sherwood, Bravo

We heard the rumors that the show was coming (and that producers tried to shut down tweets about it). We’ve read about the state tax breaks and the lawsuit and the omission of our biggest (and completely food-rich) city, Houston.

Now the day is finally here: Top Chef: Texas, the ninth season of the cooking competition show, premieres tonight.

All the episodes will take place in Austin, Dallas or San Antonio; Paul Qui of Austin’s Uchiko and Andrew Curran of Austin’s 24 Diner are among the 29 “cheftestants.”

“Everything is bigger in Texas,” writes TV Guide. “And that includes Top Chef.” It also includes all the Texas cliches that we’ll be seeing on the show (“Saddle Up,” says one of Bravo.com‘s pop-up ads) and in the coverage of it.

The premiere (and eight of the season’s 14 episodes) takes place in San Antonio, which, as the Express-News‘ Jennifer McInnis notes, anted up $200,000 to the show’s producers via its Convention and Visitor’s Bureau (the state provided twice that).

Give the producers points for wit, however: the season will feature Pee Wee Herman, whose Pee Wee’s Big Adventure took him to the Alamo, as a guest judge. And that particular setting is probably appropriate given that the 29 competitors will shrink to 16 by the end of next week’s episode.

“It’s going to be quite a slaughter there,” says Eater Austin, while the Los Angeles Times compared the rapid cut-down to “[Rick] Perry and his state’s tough stance on final justice.” (more…)

Tagged: 24 Diner, Andrew Curran, austin, Bravo, dallas, Houston, Paul Qui, san antonio, texas, Tom Colicchio, Top Chef, uchiko

Creative Commons/Rich Anderson.

A man allegedly attacked a Pleasant Grove woman with a frozen armadillo in late September, Dallas’s Fox 4 News reported, reminding us again that basically anything can be turned into a weapon. The news ricocheted around the Internet, as weird animal stories tend to do, making BoingBoing and newspaper websites as far away as Australia.

The Fox 4 story, based on a police statement, said the woman had met her alleged attacker to sell him an armadillo when he turned on her and began hitting her with the carcass. Ida Greshen, the woman injured in the alleged attack, gave a different account of the September 29 incident when tracked down by Eat My Words last week. Dallas Police did not return a call for comment on the incident.

Greshen, 57, said that her alleged attacker, a former flame whom she has known for thirty years, had been storing two dead armadillos in her freezer, preserving them until he could cook them. “I had the armadillo in my icebox,” she said.

Greshen said that on the day of the alleged attack, she did not want to return the armadillo carcasses to the man because he had not repaid her $250 she had loaned him. A tussle ensued in the parking lot of the senior community where Greshen lives, she said, and they both were tugging at the armadillo before he began to hit her with it.

“He took it and hit me with it,” Greshen said. “He went berserk. He had fire in his eyes like he wanted to kill me.” He hit her on the leg and breast, leaving both areas bruised and swollen, Greshen said. The armadillo, which had been removed from its shell (husked?), “wasn’t frozen solid but it was big enough and hard enough to bruise my leg,” she said.

Perhaps more interesting than the attack itself is the story of how armadillos got in Greshen’s freezer in the first place—and the glimpse it affords us into the world of unconventional game meats. The armadillos were not the only type of critter Greshen had on ice—the man also kept the occasional possum or raccoon in her apartment. The man would come over to her house to marinate and cook them because his gas had been cut off, she said.

“I let him cook his ‘coon; I let him cook any kind of wild stuff he thinks he likes,” Greshen said, adding she has never tried the meat herself. “He’s a country boy.” (more…)

Tagged: Armadillo meat, Barbacoa de Armadillo, dallas, dillo, game, opossum, possum, raccoon

Editor’s Note: The Texas Monthly BBQ Festival is almost here! Each day until then, we’ll be talking to one of the featured pitmasters, with questions from TM staffers, esteemed BBQ experts, Twitter followers and you, the readers of this blog.

Today we bring you Joe Duncan, 61, of Baker’s Ribs in Dallas, Garland, Mesquite, Rowlett, Greenville, Canton, Houston, Weatherford, Rowlett, and even Eden Prairie, Minnesota. For more info, visit their page on TMBBQ.com.

Photo courtesy Daniel Vaughn

What is your heat source?

Hickory wood.

Who did you learn your craft from?

I did an internship with Roland Lindsey but I taught myself quite a few things. I just learned some smoking techniques and what not there.

What’s your signature meat?

Well, obviously ribs. You know what the name of my restaurant is right? (more…)

Tagged: 23 pitmasters, Baker's Ribs, dallas, eternal flame, Joe Duncan, smoked meats, Texas Monthly BBQ, Texas Monthly BBQ Festival, TMBBQ