These tributes to well-loved Dallas restaurateur and native Austinite Matt Martinez, Jr., who is ill with brain cancer and has entered hospice care, come from other blogs in the Dallas area. Fort Worth journalist June Naylor wrote, “[Matt’s dad] Matt Sr. taught my mom to make his famous shrimp enchiladas
Matt Martinez, Jr., the scion of the family that founded Austin’s El Rancho in the 1950s and who himself went on to establish Matt’s Rancho Martinez in Dallas, in 1987, has entered hospice care, in Irving. He has brain cancer and has taken a turn for the worse. The information
If you’re new to wine, don’t know all the arcane terms, feel intimidated, here’s a good way to learn a little. The Wine and Food Foundation of Texas does great informal classes that take the mystique out of the subject. There’s one in Austin this Thursday, March 12,
Here’s a chance to see some big-deal Texas chefs, all in one place at one time. The Hill Country Wine & Food Festival puts on the ritz for its “Texas Culinary Masters” dinner every year. This year it’s going to be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, on Thursday,
Grady’s, Fort Worth and ROCC, Dallas
San Antonio.
A sauce company in MAINE won a bunch of awards in a TEXAS barbecue contest. Gawd help us! Even worse, the products had names like Pixie Dust, Chick Magnet Rub, and Cow Bell Hell Rub. I am mortified. (The competition was the 18th Annual National Barbecue Association’s Conference & Expo,
After 28 years as the grande dame of Houston dining, Cafe Annie is moving and changing its name! (It’s like Queen Elizabeth II deciding she’s going to go by Lizzie the Queen 2.) When its new location is opened (around early May), Cafe Annie will divide like an
The Counter Cafe, in Austin, has the most incredible chicken burger. They only offer it once a week, usually on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. So you need to be sure it’s chicken-burger day before you go. And don’t try to go right at noon, because it’s a teensy weensy
If times weren’t so darned tough, I’d predict that La Condesa was going to take off like a rocket. I mean, the space is crazy contemporary, the drinks are awesome, the food is by and large excellent (based on, oh, about eight apps and dishes). The only thing
Chefs and restaurateurs wait for the James Beard Awards like movie actors wait for the Oscars. An award from the James Beard Foundation means gold for your resume and probably (if times were a little better right now) a salary bump. Today, the Beard Foundation announced the
News flash: Big-time Dallas chef Kent Rathbun is going casual. On Feb. 23, he will open Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen at 6130 Luther Lane, 214-890-1103. He says it will feature the kinds of dishes he ccoks for the family, and that he grew up eating himself. Hmmmmm. I’m
Maybe you know someone who adores cookbooks. For Valentine’s, get them Dallas Classic Desserts, a new, beautifully photographed little tome from Pelican ($15.95–but it’s actually already on Amazon for less!). Here’s some of what’s in it: a Valrhona chocolate bar from Bijoux restaurant; a blueberry cobbler with lemon-verbena frozen yogurt
Get high on Valentine’s–SXUL Chocolates (yes, their real name) has introduced a chocolate-flavored vodka in sexy black bottles. The company already markets irresistible bonbons, which I have tasted and can vouch for. If you want to try either the spirits or the sweets, check out the Spec’s liquor
I’ve been eating my way through a ton of ethnic restaurants for a story we’re doing. One of the highlights of my Houston trip was the Banana Leaf, a roughly six- or eight-month-old Malaysian cafe way out west on Bellaire Boulevard. It has split-bamboo-lined walls, giving it a bit of
Sometimes the rumor mill works overtime. A tale has been floating around San Antonio that Silo Elevated Cuisine–a favorite restaurant of mine, by the way–is closing. No way! Things got so bad that the managers sent out an email in an effort to squelch
Cibus, Dallas and Cover 3, Austin.
Well, since the Food Network sent Guy Fieri (of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives) to Dallas to check out the Twisted Root Burger Company, I had to go too (seeing as how I was in town anyway). Good thing I got there at 7, because the line was to
Friends began to email back in August, saying, you gotta try this place in Austin named the Good Knight, it’s almost ready for prime time, some things are so good, yada yada yada (is that how you spell yada?). Finally, I went. Yes! First, lower your decor expectations (their ain’t
They’ve got a live one at the Dallas News: Leslie Brenner is going to be the new restaurant critic, starting mid-February. She’s got serious credentials, having been most recently the Sunday magazine editor at the LA Times and prior to that, the newspaper’s restaurant critic. Read more on the DMN
Jeffrey’s owner Ron Weiss is letting the news media know that Alma Alcocer-Thomas is leaving the Austin restaurant, where she has cooked, most recently as exeucutive chef, for sixteen years. The new man at the range will be Deegan McClung, who is now executive chef at Cissi’s Market on South
I think Texas Monthly needs to send me to the Truffle Festival in Eugene, Oregon. Never mind it’s totally for my own benefit and enjoyment. Ohmigod, theyre having truffle dinners (but of course), truffle cooking classes with hubba-hubba chefs, and book signings. Plus, you’re in OREGON! Listen to what
I’m having whip-lash over my attitude toward The Flavor Bible, the new book that everybody’s talking about from Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Little, Brown, pub.; $35 new). I love the chefs’ commentary (includes pithy remarks from two Texans–Sharon Hage of York Street in Dallas, and Monica Pope of T’afia
And while I was getting exercised over my fat sandwich (below), I was reading The Science of Good Food, a (sort of) new book on kitchen chemistry. If you love Alton Brown‘s Good Eats show (and who doesn’t?), you’ll probably like Science, although Brown’s a whole lot more riduculous
When, pray tell, did it become acceptable for nice restaurants to wad up the meat in the middle of the sandwich? I mean, I understand it at an Arby’s. Arby’s has no class. But I just had an (otherwise pretty good) thin-sliced beef and slaw and cheddar “Bevo” sandwich at
You might want to stake a claim to your local TV this Sunday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. Central time. That’s when the Food Network will show its “Challenge” program featuring the famous Hico Steak Cook-off, Beef Symposium, and Tourist Trap. I was actually on hand this summer when
Wiseman House Chocolates just blows me away. It’s in the little burg of Hico (hie-ko) in north central Texas and it makes fantastic chocolates. Yes, right there, in town. Beautiful bonbons and truffles. Amazing hot chocolate mix, so rich. Now, they’ve been invited to the presidential inauguration. The Texas
Frederick’s Bistro, San Antonio and Cowboy Chow, Dallas.
Too much fun. Wool “bacon” phone carrying cases. See video to believe.
Plate & Vine is a new online cookbook with recipes from Texas chefs. One neat thing about it is that it automatically adjusts the recipes for the size of your group and it will generate a shopping list, too. It’s from the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas and they
The beloved scruffy building that housed downtown Austin’s Las Manitas Mexican restaurant is gone–razed Monday by the property owner. Ironically, plans are on hold for constructing a giant Marriott Hotel on the site. Of course, the demolition changes nothing. Las Manitas was doomed anyway and the building’s removal was only
In January, the Gage Hotel, which is one of my all-time favorite romantic destinations in West Texas (well, the rooms in the Los Portales section are, not the ones with the bathrooms down the hall in the historic building–not so romantic running into some unknown dude in his
I’ve always thought my mother’s pumpkin pie beat all others. It’s light and fluffy, not like the usual boring, flat, brown Thanksgiving pie. The only caveat is that because it’s a custard pie, with eggs and milk, it can puff up and spill in your oven. You will have to
Tresca, San Antonio, and Sala, Dallas.
Houston
Textile, Houston
Perhaps you never hung on every naughty, sensuous word of Gael Greene, who was New York magazine’s head restaurant critic for decades. But lots of us did, and when the news boiled over earlier this week that La Gael had gotten the sack, we were stunned. As one of her
Bud Royer, aka the Pie Man, just called to congratulate me on our Texas cafes story (the December cover). And that reminded me that Royers Round Top Cafe makes my favorite mail-order pies in Texas. And, yes, you can still order a pie for Thanksgiving–they do one-day shipping
The New York-based Zagat guides have just come out with their latest rankings of hotels, resorts, and spas. What’s number one in the country? Texas’ own Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Fearing’s restaurant, in Dallas. Here’s what the breathless news release says: ‘Rated extraordinary to perfection in each
Come January, Dallas is scheduled to get a new revolving restaurant atop Reunion Tower, courtesy of chef Wolfgang Puck. (The Tower is the dandelion-topped building from the opening credits of the TV show “Dallas,” in case you’re not from the city.) The name of the restaurant hasn’t been announced–in other
Mulberry, Austin and Lake House, Houston
It’s a twofer–you ordinary foodies can take professional-quality cooking lessons AND you can see the teaching kitchens at the Culinary Institute of America’s campus in San Antonio. Two very cool classes are being offered to the general public for the first time. I’ve got to warn you,
Two Texas restaurants are in the limelight. Voice (pictured, at the Hotel Icon in Houston, under chef Michael Kramer) and Dallas’s Mansion on Turtle Creek (under relatively new chef John Tesar) have both made Esquire magazine’s list of the best new restaurants in the
Austin
Tre Trattoria, San Antonio and Américas, The Woodlands
As far as I’m concerned, any day is the right day to eat out, but tomorrow–Wednesday, October 1–is especially right. Why? Because some of your dining dollars may help a food bank in your city. The gig is the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up, a charitable event sponsored by the Texas
I love this idea: Go out to eat on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and be a do-gooder without even breaking a sweat. A whole slew of Texas restaurants are part of the first-ever statewide dine-out day next week. If you visit them on Oct. 1, you’ll be promoting Texas foods and
Bobby Mueller, the owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, is dead at the age of 69. His son Wayne Mueller, vows to carry on his dad’s tradition. Bobby–who was the son of Louie, who founded the sprawling barbecue restaurant in 1949–died in his sleep on Saturday morning. The death
When I arrived at work today (the Tuesday after Labor Day), the first words out of editor Evan Smith’s mouth were, “Las Manitas is closed. They’ve hauling the furniture and fixtures out the back and there’s a big sign on the front door that says, Closed Forever.” Forget the Republican
The nerve. Another reviewer grabbed the Sex and the City image I had intended to use in writing about Coco, the tall, dark, and sensuous bistro that recently opened on San Antonio’s far north side. Now I have to trot out my second-best movie comparison: Moulin Rouge. Actually, they both
