EATS

Busy bees at other blogs have been far more on top of these than I.

First, Indian-fusion Bengal Coast in Oak Lawn is closing after Saturday, according to Nancy Nichols on SideDish and Teresa Gubbins on Pegasus.

Then there's this, a double-bad whammy for Bengal Coast founder Mark Brezinski. 'Turns out Zinsky's Deli at Preston-Royal may be on its last leg today, and Brezinski was part of the ownership team there. A shout-out to NN for getting that news up first.

But there is a bright spot in restaurant news.

Most regions start picking wine grapes in the fall, but in parts of Texas, that's way too late. Texas master sommelier Guy Stout has a small syrah vineyard near Blanco, and he says his grapes will be ready either the weekend of Aug. 7-8 or 14-15.

This photo is from last year's harvest day. That's Guy on the right, with Whole Foods Market wine guru Devon Broglie on the left and Austin wine blogger Tracie Parzen in between.

Stout invites friends and colleagues to help pick the grapes, then informal festivities follow. Last year, the menu included a fabulous paella made by a Houston chef, whose name eludes me just now. The agenda? Kick back in the shade of the winery, sans AC, in traditional Hill Country style.

East Texas farmer J.T. Lemley at the Dallas Farmers Market says "thank you" to all the people who dropped by to wish him a happy birthday last weekend. "One lady bought a box of peaches and came back the next day with peach cobbler," he says. "Still warm!"

Lemley says the peaches should remain at their peak for the next couple of weeks, then start tapering off. That goes for peaches at all the markets. He also says he'll have a burst of late-season tomatoes in about three weeks. Right now, his are coming from West Texas and Tennessee.

Coppell Farmers Market is adding artisans and craftsfolk to its market this Saturday. Look for blueberries, peaches, figs, watermelon, cantaloupe, other melons, cucumbers, corn, squash (all kinds), peppers (all kinds), tomatoes including heirloom, dried onions, cream peas, purple hull peas, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, butter beans, eggplant, hydroponic lettuces, gourmet greens, herbs, beets, red potatoes, button and portabella mushrooms and green beans, according to the latest flyer. This market also has wonderful salsa, tamales, handmade tortiillas and other goodies.

That rundown of produce will be reflected at other markets, too. Right now, I'm living large with local peaches, tomatoes, onions and blueberries in my kitchen.

Yesterday, I linked to the New York Times story about a hot fusion trend: Korean tacos. One of the places mentioned was Austin's taco truck, Chi'Lantro, and my little bird sent me this photo from his phone.

He caught up with Chi'Lantro at Second and Congress, where he ordered a bulgogi taco (pictured). He said that, despite draping a towel across his shirt, he still managed to get sauce on his sleeves. And it was pretty darn good. "It was 93 degrees in the shade, and my tongue was on fire."

President Barack Obama will visit Dallas next month - Aug. 9, to be exact - to headline a fund-raising soiree for the Democrats.

Let's say, just for fun, that he's going to catch a lunch or dinner while he's here and he's called you for a suggestion. Where would suggest and why? (Snarksters, step away from the keyboard.)

I think I'd send him to York Street. Yeah, that's a pretty predictable answer, coming from me. But I'd do that because chef-owner Sharon Hage is so committed to sourcing locally, and her menu consistently pays just as much attention to fruits, vegetables and grains as center-plate protein. Besides, at this time of year, he can count on getting a plateful of her fabulous fried okra.

That, and the 12-table restaurant is probably just big enough for the president's entourage.

Eat the World is celebrating its one-year anniversary at its new location on Thursday with terrific dollar specials:

$1 biegnets and breakfast tacos, 7 to 11 a.m.
$1 casseroles with the purchase of one at the regular price.
$1 light entrees with the purchase of one at the regular price.
$1 sandwich or salad with the purchase of one at the regular price, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
$1 scoops of Blue Bell ice cream through Aug. 1.

These are cool deals. Eat the World is at 8530 Abrams Road at Royal Lane, in the strip center behind the Starbucks.

Continuing our Best in DFW updates, we proudly present Best in DFW: Burgers.

Here's the intro. And here's the list.

We want to hear about your favorite burger place, too. Please tell us below in a comment. if you want to be super helpful and possibly appear in a future Guide story, please send a copy of your comment, along with your full (real) name and the city in which you reside to Leslie Brenner at lbrenner@dallasnews.com.

Photo of a cheeseburger from Wingfield's Breakfast & Burgers by KYE R. LEE/The Dallas Morning News

Leslie is still on vacation this week, so I have the honor of telling you that this week's review is up! Read about  Saigon Block and please let us know what you think.

Saigon Block
• Read and comment on the review
• Leave your own review of Saigon Block

Photo of Saigon's vegetable platter by BRANDON WADE / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Dough, San Antonio's much-lauded pizzeria Napoletana, is opening a location in Dallas at the intersection of Preston and Forest before the end of the year, according to Lori Karsky Horn, one of the owners.

She was talking to me on her way into White Plains, New York, where she and husband-co-owner-chef Doug find themselves today on a road trip, as they attempt to eat great pizza (primarily VPN, see next paragraph) from San Antonio to Connecticut, and back.

This is an authentic Italian pizzeria that had racked up scads of good press since opening in 2007. Doug earned certification from L'Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana for serving authentic pizza Napoletana, using guidelines from the Italian government. With these pizzas, less is more. You start with extremely high-quality ingredients and don't tart things up.

But this pizzeria promises to be unlike any in the city. Can you say "fresh daily burrata"?

Dough wood-fired oven, courtesy of Dough website

Just when gentrified taquerias seem to have peaked, or close to it, the New York Times is writing about the next generation of tacos, which are catching on elsewhere in the country: Korean, as in Korean-style barbecue served in Mexican tacos.

And it's closer than you think: Anyone tried the Chi'Lantro taco truck in Austin, run by a Seoul native since February?

The trend is said to have started a couple of years ago in Southern California. Kogi Korean BBQ To-Go, a truck that began selling kalbi (barbecued short ribs) with onions, cilantro and "a hash of chili-soy-dressed lettuce." (Me thinks the Yankee writer means "chile," as in the peppers.) The outfit also does kim chee quesadillas and Korean burritos.

I think they sound fabulous. Do you? Maybe someone in Dallas' own large and vibrant Korean community will pick up on the idea.

NOTE: The author of the NYT article is no Yankee, as a commenter points out. He is John T. Edge, one of the foremost authorities on Southern foodways. Maybe some Yankee editor at the New York Times didn't know the difference between chili and chile.

Aurora owners Avner and Celeste Samuel want to thank Dallas for seven great years and encourage friends and fans to make reservations for lunch or dinner this week. Hey, you can just drop by to wish them well.

After Saturday night, it's lights out for their elegant, intimate Oak Lawn restaurant. Expect a brief hiatus, then look for a new concept from the Dallas restaurant couple.

You can make a reservation for Aurora at auroradallas@sbcglobal.net or by calling 214-528-9400.

Russ Kane, over on his Vintage Texas blog, reports that he has just spoken to the lawyer for the Cap*Rock Winery auction sale, who informed him that Laurent Gruet, co-owner of New Mexico's acclaimed Gruet Winery, has decided not to go through with the purchase of Cap*Rock Winery.

A new auction, which will be by sealed bid, has been scheduled by the bankruptcy judge for Aug. 3.

Get Kane's breaking story here. Get some of the back story, including grumblings among Texas vintners when the sale was first announced, here.

My Fit Foods, based in Houston, isn't new, but I got my first good look recently, and I liked what I saw.

The food tastes good, and the commitment to healthier eating extends to details such as the pasta. It's made with brown rice, but is indistinguishable from regular pasta.

That's part of the emphasis on low-glycemic-index foods. The lower the score, the less effect a particular food has on blood sugar and insulin levels, according to the website of the Glycemic Index and GI database. My Fit Foods also uses fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein. It's all packaged fresh, and you simply heat, plus it comes in several portion sizes.

But flavor is where the rubber meets the road. (It's a good thing because some of these dishes are not so pretty.)

Update: CONFIRMED. My Fit Foods will open a location at Preston and Royal, probably in a month or so.
Photos courtesy of My Fit Foods

From Whole Foods Market: "The best wine deal EVER! Extra 10% off already reduced Top Ten Wines. But only till tomorrow! Stock up for birthdays, anniversaries, etc."

For those of you who can't wait for the Garland outpost of In-N-Out Burger to open (or don't care to drive so far for a burger) but still lust for a Double-Double Animal Style, Jason Kottke over on kottke.org has a nifty little entry about how J. Kenji Lopez-Alt discerned the make-up of In-N-Out's special sauce.

When you click forward to "Here's the recipe," it takes you to seriouseats.com, where you not only find Alt's recipe, but a drooler photo of a burger. Or maybe I'm just jonesing for lunch.

Click backwards to Alt's entry for his quest to get an In-N-Out Burger to his New York doorstep.

Photo from seriouseats.com by Kenji Alt

This has happened totally under the radar. The Whole Foods Market wine bar at the Park Lane location has installed wine on tap. To my knowledge, this is the only establishment in the North Texas area to do so.

As WFM's Karen Lukin explains, "The system is called Free Flow Wines, out of Sonoma, and currently on tap we have their merlot and sauvignon blanc. $4.50 per glass. This brand isn't made by the bottle, only for the system."

I plan to get by soon and check it out. A friend tells me the wine bar's a pretty cool place to hang around (although it closes at 10 p.m. when the store does). He was telling me about a swell vernaccia di San Gimignano (white wine) for $4.50 a glass.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's spent some time at the wine bar. I'm usually flying through, buying groceries.

"Like an alien race quietly insinuating itself into the population, a new breed of taco shop is sweeping through the city and its suburbs. There's Rusty Taco, Rock 'n' Taco and Torchy's Damn Good Tacos in Dallas. Fuzzy's Taco Shop has colonized Richardson, and in Frisco, Yucatan Taco Stand is exerting an uncanny pull on earthlings."

Read the rest of Leslie Brenner's piece on taco shops right here.

Also: Check out our Best in DFW: Taquerias.

Finlandia Vodka hosted a Slow Food USA benefit at the Fairmont Hotel that was all about...Finlandia. Not that that's a bad thing. We were regaled with Finnish-American chef Sara La Fontain's dishes and Finlandia mixologist Pekka Pellinen's cocktails. (I was an invited guest.)

Pellinen said that if you want to create the perfect cocktail, use this formula: 1 part sweet, 2 parts sour, 3 parts vodka and 4 parts mixer. "When you mix drinks back home and remember that, it's going to be excellent."

I loved best his Finlandia PomGrosmo (pictured), made with grapefruit flavored Finlandia and pomegranate juice, but I'm not about to run a recipe in the summer that calls for fresh pomegranate seeds. (And where did he find those fresh pomegranates in the middle of July, anyway?)

But the Finlandia Midnight Haze (sort of a Finnish version of a tequila sunrise) was also excellent, so I've included its recipe on the jump. Oh, what the heck. I'll put the pomegranate drink up, too.

Update: Oops. Not so fast. This comes from David Page, Finlandida's PR guy: "I do want clarify Pekka's not-so-good English explanation of the 4-parts rule. I was lost when he said it. What he meant was a balanced cocktail requires four parts: a base spirit, a sweeter, an acid, and a mixer. Sorry for the confusion."

It's shaping up to be the summer of the pickle. Read all about it.

Leslie is on vacation this week, so I have the honor of letting you know that this week's review is up! Read about Pyramid Restaurant and Bar, the Dallas institution at the Fairmont and please let us know what you think.

Pyramid Restaurant and Bar
• Read and comment on the review
• Leave your own review of Pyramid Restaurant and Bar

Photo of Pyramid's lamb chops by JOHN F. RHODES / The Dallas Morning News