EATS

I neglected to mention an important aspect of the La Duni experience in the review that came out in print on Friday: brunch.

Folks tend to be either in the sweet camp or the savory camp for brunch, and I lean toward the latter. La Duni’s brunch menu has a lengthy list of egg dishes, and my current fave is the migas cuatro quesos: scrambled eggs gussied up with bacon and a bunch of different cheeses and two kinds of salsa. Crunchy, crusty roasted potatoes flank the eggs.

If I’m in the mood for sweet (and I’ve promised myself to make it to the gym afterward), I’ll order the rollo de canela French toast. It’s quite ridiculous, really: An imposingly tall wedge of their fabulous cinnamon brioche roll is dipped in vanilla batter and pan-fried, then garnished with sliced bananas and strawberries.

Dallas Morning News intern Matthew Haag got to live out a dream common among us foodies: He spent a day learning what it's like to work on the line in a professional kitchen. During his day with chef Mickie Crockett at Trader Vic's, he cooked, he plated, he got injured. See it all and more in his first installment of "Try My Job." (And check back for his next adventure: dipping chocolates at the Russell Stover Candy factory in Corsicana.)

• Video: DMN intern Matthew Haag tries out being a Trader Vic's cook
• Review: Read Bill Addison's review of Trader Vic's

Just when I was about to label squash the wallflower of the vegetable garden, along comes news from South America reported in The New York Times. Scientists have uncovered evidence that squash was cultivated in Peru 10,000 years ago. That means farming in the Americas took place nearly as early as in the Middle East, long considered the birthplace of plant domestication. The article goes on to say that there may have been as many as 10 "centers of origin" for agriculture besides the Middle East. I wonder if those early Andeans were any better at finding ways to spruce up the prosaic vegetable.

No, Paul Pinnell is not retiring when he leaves his general manager spot at Nana in July. Far from it. Paul will be opening his own place this fall: Dali Wine Bar & Cellar at One Arts Plaza in downtown Dallas.

Taste readers are familiar with Paul's elegant and astute wine commentary; he's been part of our wine panel since it started last year. He's dedicated to uncovering excellent and affordable wines.

Dali's centerpiece will be a wine bar made of glass and recycled wine paraphernalia, and the patio will have a view of the downtown skyline. You can sip on site or buy a bottle to take home.

The food is described in a press release as "laid-back wine country meets the urban sophisticate." The chef is still TBA.

That's Paul Pinnell opening bottles for a wine panel tasting as chef Blythe Beck of Hector's on Henderson waits sort of patiently.

Here's the word from the company that makes it:

Robert’s American Gourmet has been alerted to a recent outbreak of salmonella and the potential contamination of Veggie Booty. Due to the serious nature of the health risk, Robert’s has decided to temporarily stop the manufacture and sale of Veggie Booty ONLY until test results can positively identify the source. We stand by our snacks and hope to resume making Veggie Booty shortly.

And here's a news story about the recall.

Other kinds of Booty snacks, and I've seen 'em in several NTx stores, are not affected by the recall.

Sam’s Club and Costco, one of the nation’s top wine retailers, aren’t keen to publicize this. But a little-known section in the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code permits anyone to buy beer or wine at their stores. That’s right: You don’t need a membership. As TABC spokesperson Carolyn Beck says, "Sales can’t be restricted only to members of the club." Yessss.

At the Coppell Farmers Market, I ran into Ben Ackerley, who was selling his family's organic pecans from Quemado and Crystal City, Texas. He's at Coppell Saturday mornings, then moves to the Dallas Farmers Market. This Saturday, though, will be Ben's last. He's heading to New York after graduating from SMU. He says his sister is going to take over selling Rio Grande Organics pecans, but if you want to be sure you get some of these nuts, which are sweet at the center with tannic skins, go this weekend. Meanwhile, I'll find out how serious Sister is about taking over Ben's spot.

Ever wanted a Drumstick with no nuts in the chocolate coating? I have. And now Nestle is making Simply Dipped cones with no nuts in the chocolate, which tops five flavors: Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, Mint Cookie Crunch, Vanilla With Fudge, and Mint.

Major grocery stores should carry them for about $3.99 per four-pack or $6.49 per eight-pack.

Wes Marshall, our Austin wine guy, reports from his recent trip to New York, where he helped spread the word about Texas wine.

While in New York, I asked all the main wine and food magazine writers how they tasted their wines. As it turns out, most know exactly what they are drinking, even though when you see a label, you immediately start having expectations about how a wine will taste, sort of a wine placebo effect.

One magazine said their taste tests were blind, but the only part that was blind was the label. So when they tasted Texas wines, they knew they were tasting Texas wines. Expectations then lead to, “Well, it’s OK, for a Texas wine.”

And there were no ringers to improve the experimental design. (I’m dangerous. I have too many graduate hours in statistics.) So at the few places where they were willing to taste really blind, we mixed Texas wines with gold-standard wines from around the world. Each wine was in a brown paper bag, and none of us knew which was which. That’s called a double blind study. Now that’s rigorous.

Texas wines didn’t always win, but they won some and they were never tagged as substandard wine.

The Taste wine panel met Wednesday to plow through 18 roses. Rose has not had an easy go in Dallas. People here just don't seem to get it, until they drink it in France.

I can't help with the France thing, but here's a tip: Many of the roses, no matter what the style, paired well with blueberries and blue cheese. Go ahead, try it.

In case you missed it, check out the panel's picks to go with fried chicken here.

Wine producer Sean Minor, who's just launching his 4 Bears label, has made it part of his marketing strategy to get his wines into every Southwest Airlines destination in the country. "Southwest is such a pleasure to fly, and I started realizing that the markets I wanted to hit in the first couple of years were their destinations."

While he's racking-up those segments, he's just introduced three wines to North Texas: his 2005 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc, 2004 Central Coast Chardonnay and 2002 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. He made them, he says, to be "Monday through Thursday wines that are good enough to serve Friday night." With all of thee beauties coming in under $15 a bottle, he's succeeded in creating a balanced, accessible portfolio. They're at Central Market.

From my e-box:

Fire up the grill, round up your friends, and prepare for a flavor explosion," says The Association for Dressings and Sauces (ADS). The Atlanta-based trade association of salad dressing and sauce manufacturers and suppliers to the industry celebrates July as National Grilling Month.

There's a whole association for dressings and sauces? I wonder if it was created by a historic merger between the Assembly of Dressings and the Concatenation of Sauces? Imagine the pageantry of the Grand Emulsification ceremony. Or maybe the group came out of a schism of the Amalgamation of Dressings, Sauces and Spices? Did overbeating cause separation?

Oh! There's a website where you can -- and I'm not making this up -- find out "The Good News About Salad Dressings and Sauces."

Bill Addison reviews La Duni Latin Kitchen and Baking Studio and La Duni Latin Cafe (and makes me want to skip straight to dessert). The other new reviews are Flavor Asian Fusion and Dessert Bar, Goodhues Wood Fired Grill and the Walnut Hill Lane location of Saltwater Willy's. See who makes the Top 100 and who gets one star.

Our own Tre Wilcox of Abacus had a rocky start with the Quick Fire challenge (which was to make a delicious dish using catch-it-yourself seafood) when he got a bum selection of sea critters.

For 25 years, since it first appeared in the pages of Southern Living, Hummingbird Cake was the magazine’s most requested recipe. The rich, triple-layer treat incorporates mashed bananas, pecans and crushed pineapple, then it’s cloaked in cream-cheese icing. You could make your own, using the recipe from James Villa’s new The Glory of Southern Cooking, in today’s Taste section. Or, if you’re in a hurry, get Celebrity Bakery to bake one for you. It’s available with 24-hours advance notice at any of the seven locations. The basic cake is $28.50.

From my e-box:

Long the global leader in kosher certification, the Orthodox Union is now not only cooking up some tasteful programming on its website, www.ou.org, but is planning to launch a kosher cooking channel of its own. Negotiations are currently in progress with major networks to make OU's innovative kosher programming available to television audiences in North America and around the world.

Later this summer, the OU will debut its cooking program, Simply Kosher, which will feature noted chefs. The first in the series of shows will be sponsored by Gold's: Gold Pure Food Products Co., Inc. A long-time OU certified company, Gold's is famous for manufacturing horseradish, and is well known for its humorous commercials around Passover. It also makes other condiments and products; its affiliate production lines are Nathan's Products, Uncle Dave's products and Chef Allen's products.

The "major networks" line sounds a bit, um, fishy. But OU is the Real Deal in kosher certification so I bet it comes up with a channel somewhere in the local digital universe. In any case, the videos will be on the OU website.

More details about who will be doing the cooking and what kinds of stuff will be featured after the jump.

Torrents of rain earlier this week didn't stem the flow of diners to Olea in Plano, open barely a month. Despite the rain, the place was hopping when I dropped by. The Mediterranean bistro's tapas concept is one of those "can't believe no one thought of this before" ideas: It combines little dishes like Spain's tapas from all the Mediterranean traditions, including meze (Turkey and Greece); crostini, bruschetta, antipasto and stuzzichini (Italy); and canapes and hors o'oeuvres (France). Everything we sampled was first-rate, from the trio of spreads - tapenade, hummus and eggplant caviar - to the very French escargots in pastry. That latter was a reminder that owner Pascal Cayet gave Dallas one of its best French restaurants, Chez Gerard, before moving north to open Lavendou and now Olea. The flip side of the menu is the tradtional lineup of soups, salads, entrees, etc., all reflecting the same pan-Med influence. Oh, and Olea's tiramisu, the overworked often underperforming Italian dessert, is stunning, house-made from the ladyfingers up. Anyone else been by?

Call it the foie gras of the fruit world: a rare delicacy whose flavor is fleeting, intense, and close to perfection. Maybe that's why the treasured Alphonse dessert mango from India hasn't made it to the United States for 40 years. They're starting to be imported again, and Dallas Central Market has them locally. The Alphonse is small and yellow, yielding perhaps half a cup of fruit, but the flavor and texture make a magnificent mouthful: juicy, yielding and creamy flesh that opens into layers of apricot and papaya topped off with a soft citric accent. It's all over too quickly. They're $3.99 each, in the exotic produce bin next to the bananas. Ripening hint: They're usually harvested green, so store at 70 F for optimal flavor and aroma development.

My friend Laticia Davis got me watching Top Chef: Miami, the third season of Bravo's culinary competition series, about a week ago, after she raved about contestant Tre Wilcox (chef de cuisine at Abacus). Now, I'm hoping Tre comes out on top. I think he really stands apart from the rest of the contestants. And I don't just mean in terms of talent. The guy's classy, period.
But here's what Laticia has to say:

I love Bravo's Top Chef....Tre Wilcox is my favorite, he's like 'snow in the summer........... a refreshing surprise.' Hung is a very close 2nd. I like him because he is confident, actually it's borderline "cocky," but that's cool too. Joey, well...he'll be gone soon enough (LOL). I am glued to the TV on Wednesday nights!!!!!

The Food Network site is featuring dietitian Ellie Krieger's online cookbook. It's a collection of short how-to videos in which she shows you how to make healthy recipes from Fettuccini Bolognese and Garden Risotto to Mango Lassi and Maple-Glazed Walnuts.

Look, we take care of our peeps here on the blog.

That's why I rushed to post this link to a printable coupon for 25% off your total lunch or dinner check at the Landmark Restaurant, inside the Warwick Melrose Hotel. You know, that historic beauty at 3015 Oak Lawn Avenue at Cedar Springs, reservations at 214-224-3152.

CLICK HERE for the coupon (scroll down, left side of the screen)

Here's the disclaimer-y stuff: The downloadable coupon is good thru December 31, but some restrictions apply. Coupon must be presented in advance to the server. One coupon per table.

White Knight, Clarksburg, Viognier 2005, $12.99

Viognier (pronounced vee-own-yay) can be a nightmare grape variety. By the time it’s ripe enough to show off its lovely fruit flavors, low acidity and high alcohol can make it downright tiresome. At its best, as in this wine from California, viognier is lush with floral aromas and juicy, peachy flavors with enough zing to keep the aromas and flavors bright and fresh. Enjoy with fried chicken. Available at Whole Foods Market.

Rebecca Murphy

The crisp, delicately flavored Bohemian-style Summer Pils comes from the acclaimed St. Arnold Brewing Co. of Houston, the oldest craft brewery in Texas.

Light and refreshing, it has a sweet, malt flavor balanced by a clean, bitter hops finish.
The company conducted 20 trials before it hit on the ideal recipe, which uses German pils malt and two Central European noble hops varieties.

The stakes are high for this beer: Since Texas summers can seem interminable, the summer Pils has the longest sales period of all the brewery’s seasonal beers.

Just about six months after the closing of Sage, Chris Svalesen has resurfaced at Tucker where he's introducing himself with a summer menu and adding some of his trademark seafood dishes to the regular menu.

Chicken fried steak has been a hot topic among Texas food writers of late. Scott, the man behind dallasfood.org, did an extensive series about CFS that D Magazine eventually ran as its cover piece.

Last week, Robb Walsh of the Houston Press published a cover story entitled “I Love CFS.” (Robb’s cover stories are always intelligent, zesty reads; this one is no exception.) In the story, he reports on his chicken-fried experiences at Ozona, Scott’s top pick, and Allgood Café, where Walsh had a better experience.

I’ll admit, I’m new to the cult of CFS and the dish’s many subtle variations and potential pitfalls. But I’m game to learn. So colleague Kim Pierce and I headed over to Allgood Cafe to check out what the fuss is about.

Special contributor Mike Hiller reports from the floor of the Southwest Foodservice Expo in the Dallas Convention Center:

This is the final day of the 70th annual Expo for the foodservice industry, the second largest foodservice tradeshow in the nation and produced by the Texas Restaurant Association. A battalion of more than 1,000 exhibit booths is spread across the Convention Center. If you're a vendor or a restaurateur, this is the place you go to check out the newest products and services. Among the highlights available to consumers:

Guest columnist Darla Atlas copes with a mom who is too good of a cook:

"When company comes, her kitchen becomes a celebration of Southern cooking: biscuits from scratch, fried chicken, butter beans from the garden, macaroni and cheese (made with Velveeta, the only way to go), homemade peach cobbler, homemade brownies – OK, you get the idea. It's an eating festival. We should give it a name: Gobble-a-palooza. Chow Days 2007. Foodstock."

Read how the fitness-minded Darla copes here.

It’s time for the Dallas Farmers Market Chefs Cooking Class Series, with some of the most popular (and bargain-priced) classes in town. Local chefs demonstrate favorite dishes inspired by market produce.

Each Saturday through July 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Individual classes $25 with reservation or $30 at the door. Five-class package $110. Make reservations with prepayment by mail: Cooking Class, c/o AIWF, P.O. Box 12384, Dallas, TX 75225. Make checks payable to AIWF, and include which class(es) you would like to attend.

Classes held in the demonstration kitchen upstairs in the Market Resource Center, 1010 S. Pearl St. Call 214-653-8088 for details.

CLASS SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY: Mickie Crockett, Trader Vic’s (poolside Polynesian)

JULY 7: David Holben, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse (summer grilling and marinades)

JULY 14: Jim Severson, Sevy’s Grill (summer picnic fun)

JULY 21: