Friday Food Round Up for September 18

There is a very high YUM Factor in this week’s food round up. Read on.

Openings and Reopenings

Asian Mint at Inwood Village has reopened the dining room and patio.  Reservations are required and can be made online here. 

More pandemic pivot pop ups from Nick Badovinus’s FavorHook. Coming out of Montlake Cut, Solid Gold Fried Chicken serves up fried chicken options and is available for pickup or delivery only Tuesday – Sunday from 4:30 pm – 9 pm Menu highlights include a half or whole bird with bone gravy, the Bigg Biscuit with chicken, shaved ham, swiss cheese and honey mustard, and the Popcorn Picnic Salad with lil’ chicken nuggets, romaine, corn, tomato, shaved ham, cheddar, and buttermilk-herb or honey mustard. Solid Gold Fried Chicken also offers Arnold Palmer pints straight up or spiked with sweet tea vodka. Guests can place orders online here or can call 214.739.8220. The YUM Factor on this is off the charts.

The Addison location of Neighborhood Services offers Fajita Monster which offers fajita options that include a half pound of chicken, steak or shrimp asada, (combination options also available), La Nortena flour tortillas, caramelized onions and peppers a la plancha, rice, black charros, tangy slaw, verde fresca, lime crèma, charred salsa and sea-salted corn chips. The pop-up also offers a Chile Con Carne Frito Pie, Tortilla Salad, margaritas and more. Fajita Monster is available for pickup or delivery only Tuesday – Sunday from 4:30 pm – 9 pm Guests can call 972.789.9639 to order or can order online here

Menus

No in-person State Fair of Texas means no central location for corn dogs, fried whatever and other specialties normally consumed at the Fair.  Fletcher’s Corn Dogs have been popping up all over town and are easy to get you hands on, fortunately.  But if you’re seeking something fun and fair inspired, some local eateries have some creative menu options inspired by fair fare.

JAXON Texas Kitchen & Beer Garden – Luscher’s Red Hot Corn Dogs. Chef Brian Luscher, former owner of The Grape, created his own line of hot dogs and sausages inspired by his childhood near Chicago.  Here, you can have a gourmet corn dog made with Luscher’s Red Hot, a spicy pork and beef hot dog.  Jaxon is open for dine-in, curbside pick-up and delivery. There’s a spacious patio for dining, drinking and watching the Stars win the Stanley Cup.

Knife Steakhouse – Deep Fried Avocado Fries – City boy John Tesar arrived in Dallas in 2006 and immersed himself in our culture by venturing to the State Fair of Texas for the epic food selections.  There he tasted a fried avocado which he found to his liking, eventually inspiring him to develop his own recipe for deep fried avocado fries which he now serves at Knife Steakhouse with a spunky chipotle mayo. These babies aren’t easy to do right and Tesar’s are perfect.

Foxtrot Market – I am falling in love with Foxtrot Market, and I’ll tell you why soon.  For now, there are some goodies you need to seek out there, including Jeni’s Ice Cream State Fair Collection that comes in flavors such as Wildberry Lavender, Sun Popped Corn, Watermelon Taffy and Texas Sheet Cake, more sweets there from Chef Tida Pichakron’s Haute Sweets Giant Oreo Sandwich and Oatmeal Cream Pie.  Get them at Foxtrot Market’s Uptown and University Park locations.

Fat Straws – Chewy Puff Donuts – these are kind of kooky but in a state fair “what-will-they-think-of-next” way. Fat Straws now makes Japanese style Chewy Puff Donuts which claim to be the first mochi donuts in the state of Texas. These unique donuts originated in Japan and are known for their crispy exterior and chewy inside. Flavors available include Churro, Fruity Pebbles, Coffee, Matcha, Passionfruit, Strawberry, Blueberry, Black Sesame, Cookies n Cream and Chocolate. You can pop into the Preston Hollow at Preston and Forest or one of their other three locations.

Salum is celebrating 15 years of success with menu specials of “All-Star” dishes from the past decade and a half.  For reservations, click here.

 

Specials and Events

September 19 This weekend is the feast of San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples Italy.  and an absolutely perfect opportunity to visit Partenope Ristorante in Downtown Dallas. Partenope’s owners Megan and Dino are throwing a party that includes buy one pizza and get a Gennarino pizza for $7, $3 seasonal sangrias and the chance to win an exclusive, private cooking class with Naples’ native son, Dino.  The specials, like all Partenope’s spectacular Southern Italian food, are available for in-person dining or take out.  Book reservations here.

September 20 Mimi’s Pizzeria is celebrating National Pepperoni Pizza Day on Sunday, September 20 with a special offer, inviting customers to get a second pepperoni pizza and half -rice with the purchase of one and buy-one, get-one free pepperoni pizza by the slice. Also, in another example of Mimi’s Pizzeria kindness, they will donate 100 pepperoni pizzas to St. Augustine’ Episcopal Church located in Oak Cliff. SO nice!

September 24 Bullion-To-Go is hosting another Vin Virtual wine tasting.  I participated recently in one of these and thoroughly enjoyed it.  The panelists are well informed on the wines and happily answered questions from guests who typed them in via chat. Thursday’s tasting features wines that use the whole cluster technique. Winemakers who use this technique claim that the technique adds complexity, texture, and longevity to the wines. I’ll take their word for it.  When you sign up for Vin Virtual, the wines will be delivered to your door in a beautifully, hermetically sealed, and cooled package which contains four bottles containing four ounces each of the wines to be tasted.  You’ll receive the link to the Zoom event which starts promptly at 7:30 pm.  You can add a charcuterie platter to the order. For more details and to purchase your wines for the next wine tasting, click here.

September 25 You say “oyster,” I say, “yes please.” Knife Steakhouse is hosting an Oysterfest next Friday from 4 pm – 6 pm on the newly renovated patio.  This will be a fun event featuring all-you-can-eat oysters from Rappahannock Oyster Co. and suds from the Texas Ale Project. Get your tickets now, there is limited seating, and this is a well-priced event at $35 per person. Buy tickets here, visit www.knifedallas.com for more information.

Happy Hours!

I don’t care how successful you are, it’s still a thrill to find Happy Hour specials.  Miriam Cocina Latina near Klyde Warren Park has top shelf cocktails and food specials Monday – Thursday from 3 – 6 pm.  So worth the drive.

The new Elm & Good restaurant located in the Kimpton Pittman Hotel announced new specials including a new happy hour, Tuesday half-price bottles of wine and live music. Happy hours run Tuesday through Friday, from 5 – 7 p.m. and 9:30 – 11 p.m.  Live music will include Jack Mason from ABC’s The Bachelor Listen to Your Heart series who will perform on Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. and DJ Spiraldive spinning vinyl records on Friday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. This is a new restaurant with super talented Chef Graham Dodds at the helm, I can’t wait to try it.

People

Need some advice on what kind of wines to try besides Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio and La Crema Pinot Noir? Then sign up for The Lusch List, the new newsletter curated by Highland Park graduate Courtney Luscher, who owned The Grape with her aforementioned husband, Brian Luscher. The Lusch List is a free newsletter that offers smart, practical overviews of wines Courtney has tasted and sourced. She provides tasting notes and pairing suggestions for wines that are very reasonably priced and locally available.