Thursday, February 22, 2007

Best Bites: Dining out in DFW

By Teresa Gubbins

dallasdiorama.blogspot.com

Starfish, located in an old DQ on West Davis Street in Bishop Arts, was open only a couple of months in late '06 when its owners shut it down, boo-hooing about the lack of traffic and customers. In its place: Kavala Mediterranean Grill opening on February 27 by chef-owner Kelly Hightower. Hightower, whose resume includes the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Tei Tei Robata Bar, Ziziki's, and Hattie’s, was born and grew up in that area of Oak Cliff and is especially intrigued by Greek food. Look for branzino with artichoke ragout, plus Greek pies and pizzas made in a brick oven he installed.

But do they have tapas?

You can tell that Valencia International Cuisine comes from the Fadi's folks; it has the same upscale-buffet vibe. But where Fadi's specializes in middle-Eastern food, Valencia goes around the world, with stations for Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, American, and Latino American foods, as well as casseroles, vegetables, and half a dozen breads, from pitas to tortillas to whole wheat baguettes. It's more upscale than Fadi's in that the chef prepares items at your table.

Arrivederci, Arriba. Can't say as we never tried your Tex-Mex but we'll miss you all the same. NEXT.

Oh Feargal, Our Feargal

Pueblo Arriba, a Mexican restaurant in Uptown, has closed. The grand old red house at 2621 McKinney Avenue has seen numerous restaurants come and go. (LuLu's Bait Shack, ugh.) Now it has a new white knight: Feargal McKinney, owner of Old Monk, Dubliner, and Idle Rich Pub directly across the street. McKinney likes McKinney, calling Uptown "a great fit for me -- so much has changed, there’s so many people moving into the area from all over the world." McKinney is still working on a concept, but promises it will be "more a restaurant than a bar, which is a departure for me."

Looks like a harmless photocopier but in reality it will electrocute your lobster to a quick, merciful death.

Double Dave

Deep Ellum Café's new owners are a pair of Daves and their wives: Dave and Michelle Gibson, plus Dave Seeberger and Linda Munsterman. The Daves are lawyers; Seeberger is the Dave that also owns Lakewood Bar and Grill. Michelle, who runs the day-to-day at Club Dada, says they'll keep the Café's current staff in place.

Leftovers

In its ongoing efforts to make the consumption of lobster a humane act, Whole Foods has begun using a killing machine called the CrustaStun. Named by Time magazine as one of the best inventions of 2006, it's an electronic stun device that offs lobsters more quickly by zapping them with a 110V shock, which takes 5 seconds rather than the "several minutes" it takes if you throw them in a pot of boiling-hot water. You can use it on crawfish and crabs, too, you sadistic dog.

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Comments

kirk Anonymous

I like this new "Best Bites" feature! Great content, and very fun to read.

And I've got to agree with Scott about the political expediency -- as opposed to correctness -- of WF's dispatcher. Also have to wonder whether electrocution doesn't affect the quality of the lobster meat.

1 year, 5 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )