EATS

This week, Restaurant Critic Bill Addison reviews Irving's El Tumi Latin Restaurant, which specializes in Peruvian cuisine.

Kim Harwell reviews Bengal Coast, a South Asian spot from a Pei Wei co-founder, and Sake Toro, a Frisco sushi bar that serves rolls with risqué names.

Share your own review of these restaurants. Leave a comment below.

Nancy Silverton stands behind the right front side of the counter in the middle of Osteria Mozza, at the place dubbed the "mozzarella bar." This is where Silverton - with her trademark shock of dark red, curly hair pulled tight behind her face - plants herself six nights a week, making antipasti.

She strikes a diminutive but unmistakably authoritative presence: This is a woman who's made a fortune on previous ventures but who still obviously wants genuinely to work with food. As she prepares one plate at a time, mostly combining one of several grades of mozzarella or other fresh cheeses with seasonally rotating accompaniments, she may look up and smile and chat briefly if someone addresses her. But her focus remains on the orders in front of her.

Nancy Silverton at Osteria Mozza's mozzarella bar. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times/Alex Gallardo.

If you live on the funky-but-fab south side of downtown Dallas -- or if you work there -- you'll be happy to know that you're about to get your very own Urban Market store. (The original store is also downtown, at 1500 Jackson St.)

A PR-ista of our acquaintance sends this scoop:

We just got confirmation that Urban Market will be opening a new location here at the South Side on Lamar Lofts. It will be located on the lower level with an entrance off Belleview. It will be a small replica of the [original] location, offering all the same services including delivering groceries right to your door. ...I don't have the exact date it will be opening, but it could be mid-May.

Schweet! And what safer location could you ask for? Dallas Police HQ is right across the street...

You already knew dairy products are costing you more at the store. But if you like your dairy to be organic, get ready for a price hike.

From Karen Robinson-Jacobs' story in the DMN's BizNews section:

"Prices are going to have to move up," Gregg Engles, chairman and chief executive of Dallas-based Dean Foods Co. told analysts. "It's under way, and it's industrywide."

No news -- I just loved this snap of chef John Tesar of the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, preparing to do battle with a king crab claw. David Woo shot it Saturday at the Dallas Wine and Food Festival.

Bacon. Shrimp. Grits. Yum.
This month the wine panel paired wines with a doozy of a shrimp and grits dish. Even if you don't drink wine, you will like the food.
The best pairing of the lot was the 2006 Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Pinot Noir, easy to find and priced at about $20.
Get the recipes and other wine suggestions here.

Photo by Evans Caglage

Kent Rathbun's award-winning, five-star Abacus restaurant has been closed for a few weeks for a major renovation. Now it's back, with some notable changes both in the decor and in the menu.

Carnival cauliflower-littleneck clam chowder with grilled spring ramps (pictured), salad nicoise and a classic hearts-of-romaine Caesar are among the soup-and-salad starters. But there also are small plates such as ancho honey-glazed quail, wood-roasted foie gras, lobster-scallion shooters, grilled hamachi sashimi, and jumbo lump crabcakes with apple-smoked bacon.

According to a catchphrase adopted by Spiral Diner & Bakery's early devotees: Vegans get plenty.

It's a motto that jabs at vegetarian stereotypes (granola, slightly nerdy) while winking at the pleasure potential of a plant-based diet. We can't vouch for the latter, but there's no denying Spiral's vegan cooking brings a fresh twist to down-home diner fare. And yes, that's vegan, as in "no animal products," owner Sara Tomerlin confirms. "No milk, eggs, cheese or even honey."

Six years after Fort Worth's original Spiral Diner began earning fans (we know Dallas devotees who regularly trekked over to stockpile their freezers), the eatery's second location is now open in Oak Cliff.

Keep reading about Spiral Diner ...

Photo by Carter Rose

Maria Halkias reports that Colorado-based Sunflower Farmers Market is coming to Plano later in the year. The new store will be at Preston and West Parker roads, in part of the old Albertsons space.
Sunflower sells organic and natural foods and touts its low prices.
Read more about Sunflower Farmers Market.

Three new and/or exclusive items caught my eye in the new Williams-Sonoma catalog:

• A kids' bright red plastic chef's-style knife and matching polypropylene cutting board. What a terrific way to get younger kids involved in cooking. $27.95 (catalog and internet only)
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• New from Microplane, a box grater (left) that looks kinda like SpongeBob Square Pants' techno alter-ego, complete with little runners to grip the work surface. It has three options: extra coarse, medium and fine. $34.95.
• And just in time for grill season and Father's Day next month, mesh grill pans modeled after those used by chefs in Spain's Basque country. 'Let's you grill and sear small items like cut vegetables without losing them through the grate. Pan with lid is $49.95; skillet is $29.95.

Robert Hutchins of Rehoboth Ranch reminds me that the same organic supplier who's sending the fabulous locally grown organic lettuces I wrote about here also is sending his fresh fruits and vegetables to the McKinney Farmers Market on Saturdays now, too. So this Saturday, Oak Ridge Valley Farms Organics in Grand Saline will have lettuces, spring onions, radishes and whatever else is ripe at the Dallas Farmers Market, Coppell Farmers Market, McKinney Farmers Market and Eden's Organic Garden Center.

As America's universal love for pizza fuses with the ever-growing local-seasonal-authentic-minded food movement, a lot of lip service and print space (including from yours truly) has been devoted to cooks who seek to replicate the Neapolitan pizza ideal or its close New York equivalent.

But, then, there's Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles. Eating there last week reminded me that fantastic pizza is ultimately about the drive and expertise of those making it, regardless of its inspiration or origins.

And Pizzeria Mozza makes some of the finest I've ever eaten. If you require a label, call it Rome-meets-California ... and hear me out before you balk.

Photo of Nancy Silverton courtesy of The New York Times/Stephanie Diani

Pinkalicious fans are already tickled pink that the book about the 8-year-old with an insatiable desire for pink cupcakes has been adapted as Pinkalicious: The Musical, to be seen at Taste Addison May 10 and 11. Now for those who develop a craving for the colorful confections that will be offered as part of a $20 after-show package (along with pink lemonade and a photo with the cast), we have discovered that it is none other than Delicious Cakes that will be doing the baking. So if you gotta have more, you know where to go.

One of the newest vendors in Shed No. 1 at the Dallas Farmers Market is Fred's Alaska Seafood. Fred Sturman is an Oklahoma ex-pat who loves fishing in Alaska so much he moved there and, with his family, runs a small fishing business. The salmon they catch is frozen, then air freighted to DFW, where it finds its way to Fred's stall, manned by local musician Hank Fore.

Over the weekend, I picked up part of a fillet to share with the Significant Other. One thing led to another, and Son of S.O. joined us for dinner. So S.O. rushed to Whole Foods to add more salmon, a fresh piece from the fishmonger there. This gave us a chance to taste Fred's defrosted vs. WFM's never-frozen side by side. Drum roll, please.

I came across this gem in the May 1952 issue of Better Homes & Gardens while researching a story for the May issue of F!D luxe.

The only thing more frightening than the high-fat fried doughnut recipe in this Crisco ad is how the company brags that it's: "Truly digestible!"

As opposed to ...

Tonight, I cooked up some Texas spinach from John Lucido in Shed No. 1 at the Dallas Farmers Market. It was big, meaty, robust spinach, which I sauteed in a little Texas olive oil. Then I sprinkled on a little Spiceburst Gourmet Spices "cracked Malabar saltburst" from Austin, which contain sea sal, Malabar pepper and sumac (which has a lemony quality). What a terrific combination. Tomorrow, I'll use the spinach leftovers in an omelet for breakfast. I know all this sounds really gourmet, but I'm the kind of person who takes home toast points from Charlie Palmer at The Joule. I mean, budget dining is relative.

Thanks to Sur La Table for pointing out that Maria Simmons' class on Friday will be "Tools of the Global Kitchen," not, um, risotto as, um, I reported earlier here. Ms. Simmons is going to show how to use the stovetop smoker, cataplana, cocotte, paella pan and mandoline.

A stovetop smoker is pretty much what it says; I have one, and I love the way foods come out. A cataplana is a special Portuguese copper cooking vessel; it's also the name of the dish. A cocotte is like a Dutch oven. A paella pan should be self-explanatory, and a mandoline is a slicer that yields all kinds of wonderful, thin shapes, like julienne veggies and wafer-thin slices.

The menu includes Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp, Clam Pork Sausage and Bacon Stew, Chicken with Preserved Lemon and Moroccan Spices, Chicken Shrimp and Chorizo Paella, and Jicama and Carrot Slaw with Fresh Pineapple and Cilantro. It's $59, starts at 6:30 p.m. and you can sign up here.

We aren't quite sure what to make of our pal T.G.'s report today on PegasusNews.com.

Hawaiian barbecue? Spam, grilled?

I am just a simple Texas girl brought up on Texas barbecue, iced tea and Mexican food. This is all new and strange to me, fellow Eatsians. I need enlightenment.

Has anyone reading this already been to L&L, in the Vista Ridge area of Lewisville? If so, please report in and let Eats know what it's all about, before we die of unsatisfied curiosity.

Word has come that Scott and Gina Gottlich, the owners of Bijoux in Inwood Village, are developing a restaurant concept for the Westin Galleria Dallas. No name yet, but it's hoped that the new restaurant will open in late 2008, joining the Westin's other choice dining option, Oceanaire.

Under the guidance of the Gottliches (executive chef Scott and sommelier Gina), Bijoux has become one of Dallas' best-reviewed fine-dining restaurants, with Bon Appetit naming it among the 10 hottest new restaurants in America for 2006.

Scott Farwell reports that rice prices are up because of export restrictions in India and Vietnam. Costco Wholesale and Sam's Club in Dallas have limited the amount of rice you can buy at one time, but customers are circumventing the rules by buying the limit, taking it to the car and going back inside for more.
Read more about the rising price of rice here.

Photo: Sadek Chowdhury, manager of the International Market in Plano sits on small pile of rice that is usually much higher. Photo by Rex C. Curry.

Now I know how Buttercrunch and red romaine lettuce taste. You may think you know what red romaine is - that wimpy romaine in stores with slightly purplish end leaves. Oh, no.

Organic red romaine, grown in Grand Saline, is nearly the color of purple basil. And the head isn't tight the way we think of for romaine. Organic Buttercrunch has sturdy outer leaves that give way to buttery-soft inner leaves like Boston or butter lettuce. I bought them both last Saturday morning at the Dallas Farmers Market in Shed No. 1 from the Farmer Rancher Network Co-op.

These and other early season crops should be available at the Dallas Farmers Market, Coppell Farmers Market and Eden's Organic Garden Center in Balch Springs from the same supplier next Saturday morning.

I tossed the two lettuces together with my signature vinaigrette.

This just in on the pizza front: Olivella's owner Charlie Green says he's opening a second location in Victory Park in September or October. The restaurant will keep its "tastefully European" look, according to Green, but with 3,800 square feet of space instead of the tiny, Manhattan-esque first spot near SMU. There'll be a lounge in the front with designated areas for ordering pizza-by-the-meter on game nights (their version of grabbing a slice) and for picking up take-out. This location will also offer delivery.

Green has also decided to rotate Roman-style pizza, which has a thinner, more crackery crust, into the mix. He's hired a "Roman chef in New York" (he won't reveal his name yet) to act as a consultant. Otherwise, the menu will be largely the same, though with more space comes more focus on panini and pastas, as well as a few more topping options for the pizza. Best of all? Green says he's getting a cheese maker to show his staff how to whip up burrata. More on burrata Monday when I report on my pizza extravaganza at Pizzeria Mozza in LA ...

I went to a wine tasting and buffet dinner last night with premier Italian winemaker Riccardo Cotarella (who had flown in the day before from Russia) and was knocked out by the food, an Italian menu devised to accompany his wonderful wines, including a sassy Italian merlot.

It was all good, but the lasagna bolognese showed why lasagna gained such a huge following in the U.S. the same way pommes frites inspired American French fries. The pasta was thin and delicate, layered with richly meaty sauce but not drowned in it, and the final crowning cheese was just enough to complete the dish, an exercise in extravagant restraint. And a Homer-donut moment, to be sure.

The menu points up why the Food Company is often the catering company of choice for the Park Cities, and why Nonna (reviewed here), its sister restaurant, is so popular with fans of authentic Italian. Here's hoping this dish shows up on the restaurant menu, if it hasn't already.

The latest issue of Saveur includes an homage to the "Southern pea" by writer John Grossman. The magazine notes they're also called field peas or cowpeas. The category includes black-eyed peas, purple-hulls and creamers, and they're one of the best things about summer in East Texas.
In researching the article, Mr. Grossman visited the East Texas burg of Edom with Randy Evans, chef at Brennan's Houston. They shopped at Edom Marketplace, a combination produce stand and restaurant.
Edom's about an hour and a half east of Dallas, so it's a nice day trip. It's also in the blueberry belt, with several pick-your-owns operating nearby. It's still a bit early for blueberries; check the Texas Department of Agriculture Pick Texas site to find farms and check opening dates.
Edom has a handful of artist shops, including local favorites Potters Brown. And of course there's The Shed for lunch.
A few minutes past Edom is Blue Moon Gardens, a lovely, rambling garden center loaded with temptation and a friendly staff.
There you have it -- a day in the country. Don't forget the cooler.