EATS

Bolsa, a fast-casual cafe-wine-bar-hangout in the Bishop Arts District, is doing such a soft opening this week that I barged in on the staff at midday, long before they open at 5 p.m. (A bolsa, BTW, is a small bag one takes to the market.)

Eventually, the chill spot will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. But for now it's just small plates in the evening while the team awaits their liquor license. Former Hotel ZaZa chef Graham Dodds is overseeing the kitchen, and his wife, Amy, keeps bees so that will be part of the deal. And with no freezer or fryer, Dodd expects to keep the menu simple and local. it's already shaping up that way.

Love, love this question, so satisfying to ponder: If you could plan your last meal on earth, what would you choose?

Nancy Nichols over at the D Mag's SideDish blog posted a fab, funny response to this soul-searcher yesterday after asking readers for their answers. Kim O'Donnel, author of WashingtonPost.com's Mighty Appetite, pondered her answer last year.

I threw up a quick response to the SideDish post yesterday, but hello, forgot to include a cheese course. So here's my augmented response for July 2008 (though I doubt the dessert or cheese would ever change):

- Maryland jumbo lump crab salad with blood orange and avocado (I'd drink Michel Picard Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Blanc "Les Chaumées" 2005 with this)

- A thali of South Indian curries, mostly vegetables and seafood, like served here.

- A modest plate of Ed Mitchell's North Carolina barbecue. A plate of barbecue from City Market in Luling would substitute nicely.

- A small dish of blood orange sorbet

- A heaping scoop of ripe, raw milk Vacherin Mont D'or, my absolute favorite cheese. And a loaf of apple-pecan-raisin bread on the side - not sliced, so I could tear it into fist-sized chunks and swipe them through the Vacherin.

- A big bowl of peach crisp (with vanilla-bean brown butter poured over the fruit before baking) with vanilla-bourbon ice cream melting atop. Then, curtains.

So, what would you choose for your last meal? Fantasy feast, comfort meal, any and all between? Go on, tell us.

Carrabba's Italian Grill (which recently shrunk by a few locations in Dallas) wants you to name its new baby - baby Super Tuscan, that is. It's partnering with Ruffino to produce the wine, but wants one of us (you) to give it a name.

Whoever submits the winning name scores a case of the wine, a catered 2008 holiday dinner for 12 and a year's worth of Carrabba's dinners in 2009. Check out the criteria here, and submit your entry by July 31.