Grand fusses are often made of restaurant makeovers. It doesn’t matter if improvements are little more than a splash of fresh paint and a reconfigured french fry, or a new karaoke salon and a whole new chicken-fried menu, the operator will squeeze all the publicity out of if he can,…
Sambuca is dark and narrow. This apparently is a requirement of jazz clubs. Jazz clubs must also be sultry, smoky and have the smell of stale spilled beer on concrete. Sambuca didn’t have much smoke, but it did have an aroma suspiciously similar to urinal deodorant cakes, which, when you…
Renowned jazz pasta operator and White Rock Lake booster Jeanie Terilli is expanding her noodle forte to Frisco. She’s squatting in the former Soprano’s spot, which she hopes to have open by September 1 as Terilli’s Sauce, sort of a cross between a Trattoria and Burger King. Not that she’ll…
Dixie Cups rank high in the pantheon of great inventions. They are sturdy, compact, disposable and capable of filling a room with oily black smoke when ignited. The Burning Question crew prefers to say no more about that last attribute. The little plastic cups are perfect for a late-night swig…
It’s been going strong in Dallas since its inception in 1984. After 17 years of critical acclaim–and a kitchen run at various times by chefs David Holben and Lombardi Mare’s Tom Fleming, and now by former Hotel St. Germain chef Michael Marshall–The Riviera has successfully thrived in Dallas’ mercilessly competitive…
A night out on Lower Greenville Avenue provides enough stuff for a Hollywood movie. The story line would be something gripping about a lone antagonist threatening small-business owners. Or perhaps a feel-good piece where a group of money-hungry capitalists trample the rights of residents until one man takes a stand…
Sunday is the big day at Italian Cowboy, a sort of steak and pasta dojo dressed in operatic cowboy gear. On the Sabbath, Italian Cowboy holds what it calls lasagna mania, an all-you-can-eat flat-noodle frenzy that is perhaps the Italian version of the stampede. This mania kind of reminded me…
Silver Fox, the prime steak vision jointly dreamed by Gene Street and III Forks founder Dale Wamstad (a.k.a. Capt. Bob Cooper and Del Frisco) finally opened in Grapevine a week ago Wednesday after the projected April opening date came and went. But there are still a few crinkles to contend…
Way back in the days of classic film noir, reporters spent their workdays hanging out in squalid taverns, knocking back whiskey and blurting vintage slang, piecing together stories in a haze of alcohol and stale cigarette smoke. The Burning Question crew misses everything about those days. Except for the hangovers…
Felton is a tiny town in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains, right in the thick of the redwoods. There’s little there to attract visitors except for the scenery and perhaps a secret spot known as the Garden of Eden Nude Beach on the banks of the San Lorenzo River. But a…
Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas operates a level-one trauma center, a violence intervention program, a palliative care department–and a McDonald’s. Shoppers at Super Target can pick up kitchen appliances, toys and a Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut. Forget where you parked your car? No problem. The Foley’s parking garage…
For some reason we always think the Chinese hold the key to success, happiness and all of life’s little secrets. For example, we’re suddenly a nation of feng shui devotees who believe–quite seriously–that the proper alignment of décor leads to wealth or serenity. Geez. How much does a country of…
Maybe finding restaurant space in Dallas isn’t as hard as it used to be. Or maybe things are worse than we think. After just a few short weeks of scouring, Texadelphia President Brian Mitts says he’s found a new home for the original Philly steak sandwich shop he and his…
“Some individuals may have an allergic reaction to shellfish,” the Hurricane Grill menu warns. “The Hurricane is not responsible.” So puff up, blister, itch and swallow your medicine. But is the Hurricane responsible for the hurricane? Hurricanes are terrifyingly furtive beverages, unleashing their rum pestilence long after you’ve lost count…
Amie Bergess says the structure destined to be her new restaurant looks like a big skylight. She’s being generous. The former Ruggeri’s location on Routh Street looks more like a bombing ruin or maybe a brick Stonehenge. The roof has been shorn off. All of the walls have been ripped…
We tend to define human progress in terms of personal wealth or the amount of open space bulldozed by developers. But a mere glance at history texts reveals at every turn some unknown feature rearing up to stall the advancement of our species–the mysteries of fire, disease or grade inflation,…
That spot on McKinney Avenue and Monticello, the one that sizzled and popped with Dallas couture before someone pulled the plug on the glitterati frier, the one that elevated chef Gilbert Garza to prominence before he stepped down and escaped to a little neighborhood spot called Suze, has risen from…
Laura Raymond disagrees with the conclusion of this article. “Lunch dates are for wussies,” she explains. “If you really like someone, take her out at night, have a few drinks and have fun.” Married now, Raymond speaks bluntly about past lunch dates. Sure, a traditional date puts certain pressure on…
Patrick Esquerré compares himself to God. Not in a megalomaniacal way but in an almost self-deprecating sense. Back in 1983, Esquerré successfully took an idea for a French bakery and café and multiplied it into more than 60 offspring sloughing off revenues topping $100 million. That first Le Madeleine was…
Just when you thought it was safe to raise your cholesterol level without the simultaneous blare of baseball, volleyball and extreme wrestling from 30-plus TVs, along comes Cape Buffalo. Cape Buffalo is diversionary neurosis expressed in building materials and electronics–a multiuse venue with live music Friday and Saturday nights, billiard…
Arcodoro & Pomodoro is really little more than a Sardinian set of Siamese twins that provides elegant fine dining and casual but lustful meat-picking with pizza under one valet awning. Yet this genetic aberration’s dual personalities are as striking as they are similar. Everything on the menu is available in…
The human brain is an amazing thing. It can conceive pyramids, space travel and the Popeil Pocket Fisherman. But when the brain confronts the menu board at ice cream shops, synapses break apart, neurons scatter in chaos, and all functions cease. We stand gaping, unable to pick from the listed…
