Scott

• 1 month ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Molto Formaggio cheese shop in Dallas just got best cheese ever known to mankind

  I think Gubbeen's nuttiness is less than advertised.

• 1 month, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  First Red Mango in Dallas area to open at NorthPark Center on October 19

  Wouldn't the folks at Orange Cup have a problem with their landlord bringing in another froyo shop? Where will Red Mango be located in the mall?

• 1 month, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Official press release announcing opening of Samar by Stephan Pyles in Dallas

  I imagine being a well-known chef opens some doors, Worzel. I'm more impressed at the feat of eating at all of Spain's six three-star and however many two-star restaurants (8-10?). Seems like that would be a solid three weeks of eating (unless he was stacking lunches and dinners), plus a heck of a lot of driving. If that's what he did, it's best not to tell people, just to avoid jealous backlash.

• 1 month, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Dallas locavores emphasize importance of buying local food

  I'm not so sure about that, Worzel. Most cuisines have arisen against a backdrop of limited ingredients--often outright scarcity. To me, at least, what makes food interesting--beyond how it tastes--is its relationship to a tradition or way of life. Cooks in Dallas have more ingredients available to them than at any time in the city's history, yet--outside occasional pockets of authenticity--a lot of the cooking feels hollow and generic, disconnected from the place and who we are as a people.
  

• 2 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Dallas frozen yogurt meltdown: BerryBerry in Addison

  BerryBerry uses Italian-made Carpigiani machines, while almost all other local froyo chops use American-made Taylor machines.
  

• 2 months, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  UPDATEDX2: JW Foster, chef at Pyramid at Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, wins Caesar salad-off

  Is the jackfruit sorbet available at any of Paciugo's stores?

• 2 months, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Sneak preview of Smoke, BBQ restaurant coming soon to Belmont Hotel in Dallas

  Someone on the Belo Eats Blog commented:

  "The barbecue pit was made by A.N. Bewley Fabricators (here in Dallas, near Fair Park). The sole heat source is a wood burning firebox, but temperature is controlled by an electronic thermostat, so the operators can 'set it and forget it' (though not as much as they could with, say, a Southern Pride smoker). They'll have to tell you what they're using for the cold smoking, since that smoker isn't visible from the window into the kitchen. It's probably a Southern Pride, Cookshack, or similar. (If it's big enough, there may be a temptation to cook the barbecue there, then 'finish' it in the Bewley.)"

• 2 months, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Sneak preview of Smoke, BBQ restaurant coming soon to Belmont Hotel in Dallas

  Any word on what kind of smoker they're using for the barbecue?

• 3 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Amy's Raw Chocolates bringing healthy chocolate to Dallas

  You may be right, Twinwillow, though I've seen some people take to his chocolate right away.

  MariaW, I think we're likely to talk past each other. Pressing of cacao mass (or liquor) to separate cocoa powder from cocoa butter is "processing." It's historically tied to the movement of chocolate production from individual artisans to industrialization and mass-production. It adds nothing to the quality of a chocolate bar, which is why you'll find "cocoa beans," "cocoa mass," or "cocoa liquor" on the ingredient lists of the world's best chocolates--not "cocoa powder." Additionally, many ways of extracting cocoa butter from cocoa powder either use chemicals or use too much heat to qualify the output as "raw."
  

  Without knowing who the maker of the cocoa powder is, you're missing out on important information--about quality, processing methods, environmental impact, economic fairness to the growers, and sourcing concerns (if you're worried about child labor and slavery and such). Radical Health in Austin is not making chocolate or processing cocoa powder. They're buying it from someone and reselling it. Unless they're transparent about who the maker is, all you can do is decide whether to trust them or not.
  

  You say "there's no sucrose, glucose, fructose, sugar, dairy, soy, lecithin or fillers." First, how can anyone know that, if complete and accurate ingredient lists aren't provided? Lack of detailed information--especially when coupled with unsupported health claims--raises red flags for me.
  

  Secondly, I believe you're wrong. "Amy's Passion" contains agave nectar, which is composed almost entirely of fructose and glucose--the same combination of sugars that makes up the dreaded high fructose corn syrup that appears in nearly every processed food in America. And I know of no serious student or connoisseur of chocolate who would consider "raw carob powder" and "mesquite meal" as anything other fillers, contaminants, or adulterants in a chocolate bar. (Depending on the specific composition of "Amy's Passion," which we don't know because the information isn't provided, it may even violate FDA rules to call it "chocolate.")

  Like I said, though, I believe we're likely to talk past each other. If you like the taste of Amy's Raw Chocolates, feel that they're having some beneficial effect on your body that you couldn't get from less complicated foodstuffs (e.g., blueberries, quality dark chocolate, cauliflower, etc.), don't mind the price, have no worries about the lack of detailed ingredient and nutritional information, and have implicit trust that whoever's supplying the guy she's buying her chocolate from is staying "raw," ethical, and organic (without even knowing which company it is), then more power to you. I'll stick with "cacao beans, sugar" from reputable, known chocolate makers--natural, great-tasting, ethical, as "local" as chocolate can be, and entirely guilt-free.

• 3 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Amy's Raw Chocolates bringing healthy chocolate to Dallas

  Twinwillow,

  Today, it's DeVries Costa Rican 77%. (The ingredient list will be the same for his Costa Rican 80% and 84%, also, though the proportion of cacao mass to sugar will vary, as will the conching time.) Yesterday, it was Patric Madagascar 75%. (His 70% has the same ingredient list. His 67% has a little added cocoa butter, of his own pressing.) Domori (Criollo line), Theo, and others also have chocolates with similarly simple ingredient lists. (Pacari, mentioned above, has a raw 100% bar where the only ingredient is "cocoa beans.")
  

  There are also plenty of fine, premium chocolates with a little added cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and/or vanilla. None of those additions significantly impact the nutritional picture (though anyone who's highly allergic to soy might have problems with a chocolate including lecithin).

• 3 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Amy's Raw Chocolates bringing healthy chocolate to Dallas

  Thanks for the info, Eddie. Kind of confusing to name it "Mayan Gold," given Cadbury's trademark.

  James, I'm not "excited about" eating sugar. I'm excited about eating chocolate, which usually contains sugar as an ingredient. (For what it's worth, carbohydrates are one of the seven major classes of nutrients, making sugar far from "nutritionally useless.")

  I presume glucose, sucrose, or fructose (in one form or another) is an ingredient in most products from Amy's Raw Chocolates, though I can't know for certain or in what amounts, because the online store doesn't appear to provide complete ingredient lists or nutritional information for any product. (I wouldn't be a bit surprised if these "brownie delights" are higher in carbohydrates than the dark chocolate bar I'm eating right now.)

  The "Amy's Passion" product does avoid some of the zanier excesses of the "brownie delights." Still, the ingredients include: "raw cacao powder, cacao butter, raw carob powder, vanilla agave nectar, mesquite meal, sunfire salt."
  

  That may be a "more natural representation of cacao," but it's still pretty darned unnatural for several reasons. First, because of the multiplicity of ingredients (compared to "cocoa beans, sugar"). Second, because many of the ingredients are foreign to the cultural development of chocolate as a food. And, third, because some ingredients rely on modern industrial processes (e.g., the unnecessary extraction of cocoa butter from liquor to produce cocoa powder), rather than traditional, artisanal methods.

  If I were a raw foodist, I'd be far more likely to buy Pacari. I would feel less guilty (in a moral, not nutritional, sense) because I'd know the sourcing of the cacao, which I don't with Amy's Raw Chocolates. Three-fourths of the world's cacao comes from Ivory Coast and Ghana where, just last week, an Interpol operation rescued 54 child slaves (of seven different nationalities) from cacao plantations. If a company isn't disclosing the country of origin of the cacao it uses, the odds are high that it's coming from West Africa.

• 3 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Amy's Raw Chocolates bringing healthy chocolate to Dallas

  From the Amy's Raw Chocolates online store: "...rich, chewy brownie delights! Packed with over 10 raw superfoods including: Mayan Gold Chocolate Powder [by Cadbury subsidiary Green & Black's; but, unless I'm mistaken, Green & Black's Mayan Gold isn't raw], Pristine Carob Powder, Pristine Maca, Triple Select Cacao Nibs, Ultra Tocotrienols, Sun Fire Salt, Peruvian Mesquite Meal, Greens Mix, Blue Green Algae, Vanilla Agave Nectar, Tibetan Crimson Goji Berries, Pristine Hemp Seeds, Pure Organic MSM, Guarana, and Raw Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Coconut Oil."

  Compare that with the ingredient list of the chocolate I'm eating (guilt free) right now: "Cocoa beans, Sugar."

• 3 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Restaurant Review: Fedora's Italian Bistro in Dallas

  I kind of dug the screaming in The Devil's Advocate, so maybe I should try Fedora (if Tei An, Dali, and Screen Door happen to be closed one day and I have time for a two hour lunch).
  

• 3 months, 2 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Going deep dish into Dallas' Chicago-style pizza scene

  I've driven 18 miles to go to Chicago Street a number of times. Wish they'd open a location closer to Dallas proper.

• 4 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Keller mom Melissa d'Arabian leads mini-revolt on sixth episode of Next Food Network Star

  Having Spanish-speaking help means one has a Spanish-speaking household?
  

• 4 months, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Fedora in Dallas' Arts Plaza will re-open on Thursday

  A sign on the door confirms the July 2 re-opening.
  

• 5 months ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Checking out Nick & Sam's Grill in Dallas: What's the big deal?

  Brilliant report, in that it talks less about the food (an undeserved mercy, in this case) and more about the scene (totally fair, since it is the restaurant's raison d'être). The closing Jane Goodall behavioral photos are classic.
  

• 5 months ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Paciugo Gelato introduces new flavors, new store design at West Village store in Dallas

  Texas pecans make everything better.

• 5 months ago
  Scott's comment on:

  UPDATED: Fedora in Dallas' Arts Plaza shut down

  Did that Tuesday press release ever get issued?

• 5 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Plano-based Frito-Lay teams up with Jack Link's to launch new line of meat snacks

  Are there timid meat snack options for middle-aged adults with sedentary lifestyles?

• 5 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  UPDATED: Fedora in Dallas' Arts Plaza shut down

  http://tinyurl.com/cv6u6h

• 5 months, 2 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Concert Review: New York Dolls at House of Blues in Dallas (Wednesday June 3)

  The Arthur "Killer" Kane documentary "New York Doll" is well worth watching (especially since it was the instigating factor for the current Dolls revival).

• 5 months, 3 weeks ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Checking out Russo's Coal-Fired Pizzeria, serious new pizza place in Richardson

  Nice catch by TG on the oven. Not all food writers are so careful about these things.

• 6 months ago
  Scott's comment on:

  One-time Dallas-based chef John Tesar opening restaurant in Houston

  Sounds ambitious.

• 6 months, 1 week ago
  Scott's comment on:

  Which Wich founder Jeff Sinelli opens Burguesa Burger, Mexican burger place, in Dallas

  No avocado on the burger? I hope "special sauce" means crema and not, I don't know, Russian dressing or some such.

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