Eater Dallas picked up the story from Central Track and ran with it: Baker's Ribs will soon have a new location in Deep Ellum.

Staff file photo

Follow Leslie on Twitter @lesbren

On the banks of the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Tim Love opened his highly anticipated Woodshed Smokehouse last night. The menu starts with a key: four leaves, each representing a particular type of woodsmoke. Each item gets a leaf to indicate whether it's smoked over hickory, oak, pecan or mesquite.

Artichokes, for instance, with lemon and Parmesan are smoked over hickory; a whole cauliflower head is smoked over oak and treated to olive oil, lemon and chile arbol. Bulgogi beef is smoked over pecan and served with house kimchi; redfish en papillote gets oak-smoked. Dishes designed for four to share include "open fire" paella with mussels, clams, shrimp, rabbit-rattlesnake sausage and game birds -- smoked over pecan wood. Wow -- doesn't that sound like a blast?!

Woodshed Smokehouse, 3201 Riverfront Drive, Fort Worth; 817-877-4545

Photo by Mark Rodgers/Special Contributor

Karen Robinson-Jacobs has the scoop: Restaurateur Phil Romano and business partner Stuart Fitts have announced plans to bring a "restaurant incubator," along with restaurants, a cooking school, artisan cheesemakers and more to Trinity Groves, a new development near the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on Singleton Blvd.

Carrollton's Super H Mart plaza has a new spot for pho -- Pho Doan. It's from the owners of Pho Doan in Garland, but assistant manager Hung Tran says while the Garland location sells a lot of to-go orders, this is more of a sit-down dining room. It quietly opened two months ago, and the menu's in flux -- some new dinner items are being added, and a wine and beer license is expected in a week or so. Till then, it's BYOB. Open Monday-Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Pho Doan, 2625 Old Denton Road (at Trinity Mills Road); Carrollton; 972-323-4999; phodoan.com

Charlie Palmer has announced that Michael Sindoni has taken over as executive chef at the Joule hotel, where plans are in motion to transform Charlie Palmer at the Joule into Charlie Palmer Steak. Sindoni's last gig, says the press release, was as executive chef at AGAINN, a contemporary British Isles bistro in Washington, D.C. Sindoni, a graduate of Johnson and Wales, also held positions at two California restaurants, Cervinia Restaurant in Mammoth Lakes and Navio at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, as well as Il Cibreo, in Florence, Italy. He'll be overseeing the Joule's food and beverage program and development and management of the new food hall Palmer plans to open in the fall.

Though dates are still up in the air, Charlie Palmer at the Joule will close only briefly before reopening as Charlie Palmer Steak, a transformation that will be overseen by executive sous chef Joel Harrington.

Do you plan to dine out on Valentine's Day? If so, you should probably nail down a reservation soon. Like, maybe, now! If you seek someplace romantic, quiet enough for conversation and intimate for the occasion, those places tend to be small -- and will probably get booked quickly (if they're not already booked!).

I've been thinking about some good places to celebrate V-Day, and I've put together an incipient list, below. And GuideLive has been compiling a list of places doing something special.

Of course we'd love to know what you think. Please add to the list by letting us know where you're thinking of bringing your sweetheart. We'd also love to know whether you've been to any of the places mentioned on this list -- and how they measured up for V-Day.

Baboush. The West Village Moroccan-Lebanese place has exotic, romantic allure, sexy drinks and fab light bites. You'll leave feeling good.

The Cedars Social. A good spot if you're looking for a place that's not stuffy or formal, with great cocktails and food, not terribly expensive. Chef Kyle McClelland is offering a special menu that looks pretty compelling.

Campo Modern Country Bistro. The chic-yet-homey new restaurant in Oak Cliff is small enough that I can't imagine it will be a crazy scene. Chef Matt McCallister, who's in charge of the kitchen for now, is doing wonderful things there. For food-lover-type-lovers.

Just in time for the imminent opening of the nearby Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Kay Agnew (you remember her from Margaux in the Design District) has opened Bridge Bistro. "We tried to make it a neighborhood hangout," she says, "a comfort place." Her longtime fans have followed her, demanding she keep serving Margaux favorites like gumbo, crawfish etouffée and soft shell crabs. But chef Manuel Contreras is also turning out new salads, sandwiches and bar snacks, plus daily fish specials such as pan-seared ruby red trout on rice with a lemon beurre blanc and pesto.

For now, it's breakfast and lunch weekdays, dinner Wednesday through Saturday nights, and brunch weekends. Cocktails are cleverly named after famous bridges of the world, and after the place is "up and running for a while," Agnew plans to add a rooftop lounge and suspended staircase with 360-degree views of the bridge and downtown. Sounds like dizzying fun.

Bridge Bistro, 921 Riverfront Blvd., Dallas; 214-740-1985

Photo of Bridge Bistro's ruby red trout by Ben Torres/Special Contributor

Last year's KRLD Restaurant Week raised a record sum for the North Texas Food Bank and Lena Pope Home. The total estimated take -- including restaurant and event promo totals, according to the press release, was $695,000. Participating restaurants donated $7 to one of the two charities for every $35 fixed-price meal they sold.

Dates for this year's KRLD Restaurant Week are August 13-19, with some restaurants extending the event for an extra week or two.

Will you be planning your summer vacation around Restaurant Week, in order to be in town for the event? If so, what's on your Restaurant Week wish list of restaurants?

In this morning's New York Times, the paper's new restaurant critic, Pete Wells, reviews Parm -- a sandwich shop next door to Torrisi Italian Specialties (from the same chef-owners) and one of the inspirations for Julian Barsotti's upcoming Carbone's Fine Food and Wine.

Wells raves about Parm's meatball parmigiana hero, pointing out that chefs Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone make the veal-beef-pork sausage meatballs -- which are flattened to prevent them being launched "into orbit" when you take a bite -- by braising the meat mixture at 180 degrees in a cVap low-temperature cooker. Clearly, what the two chef are up to in Manhattan has much in common with what Barsotti plans here in Dallas. Wells also has chef Carbone talking about the historic uncoolness of suddenly super-cool Italian-American cooking. Very interesting reading.

As for the Carbone name, I'm guessing it's a coincidence -- Barsotti told me on Monday that the name for his place comes from his grandmother's business in New York and New Jersey -- Carbone's Fine Foods and Liquors. But maybe it's a nod to the co-owner of Torrisi as well. Chef, if you're reading, we'd love to know...

I just caught up with Julian Barsotti, the talented chef behind Nonna, who's been working hard to open Carbone's Fine Food and Wine -- an Italian-American deli. He's hoping to open the doors soon, he says, maybe toward the end of March.

Barsotti is extremely excited about the project -- inspired by Jimmy's Food Store here in Dallas, Torrisi Italian Specialties in New York and Italian-American delis in San Francisco. He just returned from an R+D trip to San Fransciso, and seemed quite energized by it.

The shop will be a deli by day and a restaurant one night a week -- Sunday evening, when Nonna is closed. It's all about the Italian-American experience as felt by Barsotti. "The idea is to sell as many dry goods and Italian ingredients that come from the U.S.as possible," he says "and try to avoid Italy." That will include house-made ricotta and sausages, olive oils from California and Texas, cured meats (such as prosciutto) from La Quercia in Iowa -- and lots of dried semolina pasta, which is very ambitious and exciting. "It's something I've wanted to do forever," says Barsotti. "I've had the machinery to do it" -- he extrudes the pasta through bronze dies, and has been studying the process of drying and packaging, which is way more involved than it sounds: "Trying to figure out the proper humidity to dry it out -- either not be too wet or too dry -- it's not easy." There will be fresh pastas too, raviolis all boxed and ready to go, dishes to take home like lasagne and meatballs, and American wines that work with the food, which he sees as a challenge.Of course there will be sandwiches: "Great Italian-American sandwiches -- our versions." Like a meatball hero, chicken parm, and sausage and peppers. "We'll also do a hot Italian beef sandwich and a roast pork sandwich made with porchetta."

Bruce Tomaso has the story on the Scoop blog: Tim Love plans to open his high-toned barbecue spot in Fort Worth next week. You may remember reading about it here last summer. Something to look forward to!

I admit that I still miss the original La Madeleine, for all its flaws, a place where the counter folk spoke French, and you got your own coffee and picked up slices of bread and little pots of butter and jam. It had a sort of rumpled, ad hoc character, and that was good.

I had the occasion recently to catch lunch at La Spiga Bakery and Cafe in Addison, and it captures a lot of that early La Mad spirit, even if its origins are Italian. The Caesar dressing was one of the freshest and most satisfying I've had in long time, and what a pleasure for the cashier (I think it was co-owner Carolyn Milano) to make the effort to create the plate I wanted: half chicken salad and half Caesar.

La Spiga is bunched up and crowded, with closer tables than the photo suggests, but a nice communal feel. I was set to pull up a stool to the small counter when a couple offered me their table. The little bread boxes were full of wonderful bread samples, from brioche to rustic wheat. Next to them were little cups of butter and jam. Lunch is sandwiches, pasta, pizza, all made in back; you can watch through a glass window. You can get espresso, too. What a treasure.

4203 Lindbergh Drive, Addison; 972-934-8730; www.laspigabakery.com

From the website

What I mostly think about, when I'm not thinking about food, is food. Specifically, Chinese food. More often than I would like to admit, I cannot shake the thought of the roast pork at First Chinese Barbecue in Plano, for instance. I can't sleep at night because I'm thinking of dumplings. Every winter when Chinese New Year approaches, it gets worse.

Do you share my affliction? If so, where do you plan to celebrate? I can't decide.

The Dallas area, especially north of LBJ, is a wonderland of Chinese cooking -- you'll find some terrific places in last year's the Best in DFW: Chinese Restaurants story. As far as I know, all the places except Fu Zhou Cuisine are still open. You can also eat extremely well at North China in Plano, which I discovered too late to include in the Best in DFW roundup.

For the deep-pocketed, there's an event coming up that sounds amazing: a Chinese New Year menu at Five Sixty. The fixed-price menu (5 courses plus amuses) is $125 per person, or $175 per person with wine pairings. What's on it? Wok-fired lobster dumplings with XO chile sauce; roasted loup de mer (aka branzino) with preserved lemon and black pepper sauce; applewood-smoked Peking duck with Chinese mustard and duck fried rice; Szechuan pepper-crusted filet with wok-fired longevity noodles; and golden pineapple sticky cake with black pepper ice cream and gold dusted chocolate talon.

The feast is available January 23 through February 3, and Wolfgang Puck will make an appearance at the dinner on February 1.

File photo of Yao Fuzi's lion's head meatballs

Hooray -- the Rangers have signed Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish! How exciting that he'll be coming to Dallas.

The question uppermost in my mind is where he should dine to get a real taste of Dallas? Here's where I'd take him:

Smoke. The restaurant run by Tim Byres, Chris Zielke and Christopher Jeffers is what I'd want Darvish to experience first, for its laid-back, funky, funny Dallas vibe -- and Byres' original take on Texas cooking.

I'd also take him to Fuego for Stephan Pyles' modernist-slash-wood-fired tasting menu. Yes, it's pricey, but Darvish's wallet is stuffed with $60 million!

To celebrate his first no-hitter for the Rangers, I'd send him to Fearing's -- probably the most festive, most Dallas-y place to celebrate. There he could sample not just Dean Fearing's fine cooking, but some excellent Texas wines.

Japan's steak culture is huge, so maybe he'd want a bone-in cowboy ribeye. At the moment, I'd have a hard time figuring out where to send him for the best (there's been lots of development in our steak scene lately, and I'm not as caught up as I'd like to be!). Normally I'd say Pappas Bros., but steaks I had there recently, while quite good, didn't blow me away as they had in the past. Maybe Charmberlain's Steak and Chop House?

Of course I'd want him to try some of the great Mexican food that's revolutionized our town of late, so I'd send him to Alma. Oh, wait...it's closed. OK, I'd send him to Komali, where ex-Alma chef Anastacia Quinones just started cooking. I'm sure she'd make him something wonderful.

I'd direct him to Lucia, too. We want him to stay in Dallas at least the full six years of his contract, right? So he can think of that as a charming neighborhood spot that happens to have incredible food. There's terrific Italian and French in Japan, so we wouldn't want him to imagine that we don't have great Italian here. Or French, so off to the Mansion Restaurant he'd go, for a dose of Bruno Davaillon treatment.

And if he's homesick, I'd steer him right to Tei-An for a bowl of soba. Or for a sublime Dungeness crab flan, or spectacular live uni. For a sultry late night homesick snack, I'd whisk him to the terrific izakaya Sharaku Sake Lounge, or next door to Yutaka for sushi.

Or we could show him a Dallas-style izakaya: Cedars Social, where he could sip one of Michael Martensen's beguiling cocktails, nibble on Kyle McClelland's terrific dishes and soak in the groovy vibe. And he'd better get to Campo quickly, before Matt McCallister escapes. And for the coolest downtown experience, I'd have him head straight to the Chesterfield. I'm sure Eddie "Lucky" Campbell would be thrilled to mix him a fabulous custom cocktail.

Wow, that's kind of overwhelming, isn't it? But hey -- I'm happy to escort the pitcher around town myself!

How about you -- where would you send Yu Darvish for a taste of our town?

Photo of Yu Darvish by Jeff Chiu/AP; staff file photo of Tei-An's matsuma zuke soba

We didn't expect Graham Dodds, the longtime Bolsa chef who took over the kitchen at Central 214 last month, to introduce his new menu until the spring, but he's ready to roll it out tonight.

There's lots to look forward to tasting: appetizers like "popcorn" sweetbreads with lime zest and butter or salt cod fritters with piquillo pepper rouille; salads of shaved celery root with Honeycrisp apple and pine nuts or dinosaur kale, ricotta salata and raw artichoke; and main courses like blood sausage ravioli or lamb breast with smoked paprika-honey glaze and crushed canellini beans. Where do you ever see lamb breast? Pretty cool. Desserts include a lemon-honey cake with sweet mascarpone; churros with cajeta ice cream and Fuji apple; and a chocolate-cranberry Pavlova with pistachio-white chocolate cream.

He's introduced an enticing new menu, too, for Central 214's bar, a popular hangout. How about a chicken liver parfait with crostini and fennel marmelade? Or crispy pig's ears with radish and buttermilk dressing?

There are changes coming to the dining room, too: The restaurant will get a face-lift this spring.

Central 214, Hotel Palomar, 5680 N. Central Expressway, Dallas; 214-443-9339; central214.com

Photo by Central 214

Here's some exciting news: Coleen O'Hare and Jeana Johnson, the chefs behind Good 2 Go Taco, plan to open a fine-dining restaurant this spring. Acme F+B will be in the former Cretia's (and more recently Bull and Bear) space at McKinney Ave. and Monticello.

For the concept, which they're calling "come as you are fine dining," they're partnering with bar entrepreneurs Brooke Humphries and Brianna Larson, founders of Barcadia Bars in Dallas and Fort Worth and the Beauty Bar on Henderson Ave., who will manage the bar.

Says O'Hare via the press release, "We're going to cook dinner the way we would at home - where we grab a baguette and pate and a bottle of wine. It's about the five senses, the enjoyment of cooking, eating, of sitting down and sharing a meal and enjoying some one's company."

Meanwhile, is F+B the new "Social"? DFW.com reported yesterday that Consilient Restaurants plans to open a new restaurant, American F+B, in Fort Worth's West 7th District; Consilient's Tristan Simon confirmed the details reported.

2009 file photo of Jeana Johnson (left) and Coleen O'Hare

Anastacia Quiñones, the talented chef who ran the kitchen at the erstwhile Alma, told me her good news via Facebook message yesterday: She has started work at Komali, Abraham Salum's Mexican restaurant. Today I caught up with Salum, who tells me Quiñones has come aboard as the restaurant's chef. "I'm very excited," he says. "She brings a lot of technique and a lot of experience to the kitchen."

Salum had been feeling like the restaurant needed some refining, he says. "It was a little too homey, and the interior didn't help. Our logo says 'contemporary Mexican cuisine,'" -- so that's the direction they're taking it. "We'll be playing around more, using Mexican ingredients and being a little more adventurous with our food." He expects Quiñones' new menu to debut on the restaurant's first anniversary, Feb. 1.

I'm excited to check out her cooking once she settles in -- I really loved what she did at Alma, which as I wrote in my Best in DFW: New Restaurants of 2011 story, I'd likely have chosen as Restaurant of the Year had it not closed.

Komali, 4152 Cole Ave., Dallas; 214-252-0200; komalirestaurant.com

2011 File Photo

Joel Harloff is the new executive chef at the Second Floor Bistro and Bar, the Galleria restaurant run by chef-partners Scott and Gina Gottlich (owners of Bijoux). Harloff was last seen running the kitchen at the resurrected Green Room, which closed last winter, after a brief run. Prior to that, he was executive chef at Dali Wine Bar; his resume also includes positions at the Warwick Melrose hotel, Mi Piaci and Nana Grill at the Hilton Anatole.

"Not only on paper was Joel a good fit, but I can personally attest to his skills as he has helped me out on several occasions at Bijoux," the press release quotes Scott Gottlich as saying. "Joel has proven that he is successful in leading multiple kitchens. I look forward to a new progressive dialogue between us. Just like a person progresses and develops to reach their greatest potential, a restaurant does the same. We believe Joel will be able to do just that by bringing some of his individual cooking style to The Second Floor."

The release continues: "Patrons of The Second Floor will definitely see a good amount of change to the menu in the upcoming months. Gottlich's meticulous finesse is to be harmoniously blended with Harloff's personal style and direction to create a fresh and exciting new menu with the promise of a new voice by way of Harloff. Daily features orchestrated by Harloff are just one of the things guests can expect. Menu to be announced at a later date."

The Second Floor Bistro and Bar, Westin Galleria, 13340 Dallas Parkway, Dallas; 972-450-2978

File photo

Here's some pretty big news concerning the renovation of the Joule: Charlie Palmer at the Joule will become Charlie Palmer Steak -- the fourth in the country. Erin Jevis, director of PR and marketing for the Charlie Palmer Group, tells me that the target opening date is in March. The new menu will be similar to those at other Charlie Palmer Steak restaurants (in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Reno) -- "generous portions of great American artisan beef cuts as well as updated seafood classics, paired with bold wines." But the Joule restaurant, she says, will also feature "locally inspired twists from our Dallas chef team."

Well, the Joule already has a dry-aging room, so that's pretty boss. You can check out the menus of the other Charlie Palmer Steaks here. What do you think? Will you be sad to see Charlie Palmer at the Joule go, or excited to have a snazzy new steakhouse downtown -- or both?

Photo of the dining room at Charlie Palmer at the Joule by Ben Torres/Special Contributor

Eater Dallas reports that Lumi has closed its doors -- a bit of news that makes me sad. Only yesterday I wrote a note to myself that it was time to stop by and check it out again.

And on Side Dish, Nancy Nichols reports that Joel Harrington has taken a position at Charlie Palmer at the Joule rather than lighting out for Beaver Creek, Colorado, as originally planned. "I am officially executive sous chef of The Joule," she quotes Harrington as saying, "but I am basically going to be executive chef of the restaurant when the renovation is complete."

I just checked in with the restaurant's publicist. "Joel Harrington is our new Executive Sous Chef," she writes in an email, "however, there are plans to hire an Executive Chef soon." The hotel's renovation is scheduled to be completed toward the end of 2012. In addition to 31 new hotel rooms, penthouses and suites and a new spa, there will also be a new Charlie Palmer food hall. Eater had an item about it in November.

Sounds like a good thing for anyone who works downtown!

File photo

One2One Restaurant and Bar, which opened in the summer of 2010 with chef-partner Jeff Moschetti in charge of the kitchen, has a new chef, Tommy Simpson. His resume includes stints at N9NE Steakhouse, Nobu Dallas and Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa; more recently he was executive chef at AMPM Lounge, the downtown spot that opened in 2009 and later closed.

Actually, I quite liked his cooking at AMPM, which I gave a three-star rating when I reviewed it. Having started at One2One in mid-December, according to the press release, he already has a new menu in place, though it's remarkably similar to the opening menu. There are some dishes that look promising, though, such as a sage-brined pork chop and "Granny's fried chicken." You'll find the menu on the restaurant's website.

UPDATE: I misunderstood the press release. Simpson's new menu is not yet posted on the website; co-owner Amy Cole just informed me he'll be introducing it next week. "It's going to be all his own and much different then the one you see on our website," she wrote in an email. She also answered my query about what happened to Jeff Moschetti. He left One2One in September, she said, adding that he's now at Sfuzzi.

ANOTHER UPDATE: I just heard back from Sfuzzi owner Robert Colombo, who confirms that Jeff Moschetti is executive chef at Sfuzzi in Las Colinas.

One2One Restaurant and Bar, 1339 Legacy Drive, Frisco; 214-618-2221

2009 file photo of Tommy Simpson at AMPM Lounge

This is pretty big news: Central 214, the restaurant at Hotel Palomar that's been without an executive chef since Blythe Beck left in September, just announced that Graham Dodds will be heading the kitchen beginning at the end of this month. The local-produce-loving chef, who was the founding chef at Bolsa, will be introducing his new menus sometime in the spring.

2009 File photo

As you know if you're a Dallas Morning News print subscriber, we launched a redesigned Guide a few weeks ago. The Guide now includes movie coverage, more music coverage and pretty much everything you need to plan the greatest weekends in Dallas. The new Guide has lots more photos, and some new dining features I'm excited to tell you about.

One is a new column about fast-casual dining -- the Impatient Palate. I'm thrilled to announce we've snagged a terrific columnist to write it: Jessica Elliott. If you're a fan of FD Luxe, you know Jessica's work -- she is FD Luxe's longtime managing editor. However, Jessica has recently decided to light out on her own and take on some new challenges -- her Impatient Column is a start in that direction. Have you seen it? Here's Jessica's first. We would love to know what you think.

Also, I'm writing a new mini-feature called the Find. Here's this week's edition. If you know of something delicious that would make a great Find feature, I'd certainly love to hear about it -- please email me at lbrenner@dallasnews.com. In the print edition of Guide, you can find the Find some weeks in the dining listings. Other weeks you'll find another new featurette, New in Town, similar to what we've been doing here on the Eats blog.

We hope you enjoy these new features, and, as always, we welcome your feedback!

Photo of Snappy Salads' "Bulldog" salad by Ron Heflin/Special Contributor

In my review of the Pyramid, I didn't have the space to mention that the restaurant is without a general manager at the moment. That makes it all the more remarkable that the service there is so good.

The exception, as I mentioned in the review, is the fact that the servers aren't equipped to help much with the wine list. I hope whomever the hotel brings in as the Pyramid's new GM will make wine training a focus. No doubt sommelier Hunter Hammett needs a day off every now and then!

Photo of Hunter Hammett (right) with diners at the Pyramid by Mona Reeder/Staff Photographer

Good morning. Is it too early to think about food? No? Well, then, here's my new Critic's Notebook -- a first look at Campo Modern Country Bistro. That's the little house next to Jonathon's Oak Cliff where Matt McCallister is cooking up a storm.

Have you been? What did you think?

Photo of Campo's rabbit in porchetta by Robert W. Hart/Special Contributor

Reservations are required or recommended at most locations below. For more listings, visit GuideLive.com.

1 CANARY BY GORJI Three-course dinner offers field-green salad; turkey or pork chop with dressing, potatoes and vegetables; and pumpkin or pecan pie. Christmas Eve from 5 to 10:30 p.m., and Christmas Day from 5 to 10:30 p.m. at 5100 Belt Line Road, Suite 402, Dallas. $30. 972-503-7080. www.canarybygorgi.com.

2 CRAFT Fixed-price, four-course menu with options such as mussels and tarragon; chestnut tortellini and black truffle; quail and pecan; sirloin and bone marrow; kale and dates; and apple custard tart. Christmas Eve from 5:30 to 10 p.m. and Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the W Hotel, 2440 Victory Park Lane, Dallas. $95, $45 for ages 6-12, free for ages 5 and younger. 214-397-4111. www.craftdallas.com.

3 FEARING'S Three-course dinner offers choices such as cider-glazed quail on roasted apples; halibut on cornbread-sage pan stuffing; mesquite-grilled coriander lamb chops; and double chocolate mint crunch cake with peppermint candy. Go home with a box of cookies for Santa. Christmas Eve from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Ritz-Carlton, 2121 McKinney Ave., Dallas. $100, $35 for ages 12 and younger. 214-922-4848. www.fearingsrestaurant.com.

4 FERRARI'S ITALIAN VILLA The restaurant offers a special: lamb chops with pesto sauce, fregula, cherry tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano plus a glass of house wine. Christmas Eve from 5 to 10 p.m. at 14841 Midway Road, Addison, 972-980-9898, and 1200 William D. Tate, Grapevine, 817-251-2525. $28 (regular menu also available). www.ferrarisrestaurant.com.

5 GAYLORD TEXAN Buffet brunch includes a festive spread of omelets, carving stations and more, with seating in the Texas Ballroom, featuring ice sculptures and live entertainment. Christmas Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine. $68, $27 for ages 4-12, free for ages 3 and younger. 817-722-9024. www.gaylordtexan.com.

6 HUMPERDINKS Feast includes turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, yams, cranberry sauce and pie. Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to midnight and Christmas Day from 10 a.m. to midnight. $17.99, $9.99 for ages 6 to 12, free for ages 5 and younger. (Regular menu also available.) 6050 Greenville Ave. at Southwestern, Dallas, 214-368-6597; 3820 Belt Line Road at Marsh Lane, Addison, 972-484-3051; 1601 N. Central Expressway, Richardson, 972-690-4867; 700 Six Flags Drive, Arlington, 817-640-8553; 2208 W. Northwest Highway at Loop 12, Dallas, 214-358-4159. www.humperdinks.com.

7 MIGNON French-style steakhouse offers a three-course meal, with options including lump crab cake; lobster bisque; pan-roasted Atlantic salmon; mint-crusted rack of lamb; and white chocolate and Grand Marnier bread pudding. Christmas Eve from 4:30 to 10 p.m. and Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 4005 Preston Road, Suite 518, Plano. $59.95. 972-943-3372. www.mignonplano.com.

8 MORTON'S THE STEAKHOUSE Dining room and bar offer full-service menu. Reservations required for the dining room; bar is first-come, first-served. Christmas Eve from 5 to 10 p.m. at 2222 McKinney Ave. at Pearl Street, Dallas. Entrees $38-$53. 214-741-2277. www.mortons.com/dallas.

9 OPIO Buffet brunch includes omelet station, pastries, ham, turkey, bourbon-glazed salmon, desserts and Champagne. Christmas Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hilton Park Cities, 5954 Luther Lane, Dallas. $44.95, $20 for ages 6-12, free for ages 5 and younger. 214-368-0400.

10 Y.O. RANCH STEAKHOUSE The restaurant will offer its regular menu plus some wild game and fresh-seafood specials. Christmas Eve from 5 to 9 p.m. at 702 Ross Ave., Dallas. Entrees $23-$47. 214-744-3287. www.yoranchsteakhouse.com.

Compiled by Tyra Damm

POST YOUR EVENT ON GUIDELIVE.COM

Add your dining event listing (such as cooking classes and demos, wine dinners, wine tastings and culinary fundraisers) by logging in to GuideLive.com. (New users will be required to register, but it's free and fast.) We will consider online submissions for print listings in Guide. If you would like to submit information on happy hour specials and dining specials or deals, please email guide@dallasnews.com. Deadline is two weeks before publication. Information must include description of event, date, time, address, cost and a phone number for the public to call.

This month's Texas Monthly cover story celebrates the 40 best places in the state for breakfast.

In Dallas, the food critics staff pay homage to Allgood Cafe (scrambled eggs), Company Cafe (the Deep Bowl), La Duni (Salsa Baked Eggs), White Rock Local Market (Village Baking Co.'s croissants and Green Spot Market & Fuel's breakfast tacos and and Holy Kombucha tea), Crossroads Diner (the sticky bun and the pork schnitzel I raved about when it opened), Oddfellows (Hatch Chile Scramble) and Smoke (beef brisket and green chile rajas atop diced cornbread all topped with a poached egg), with quick nods to specific dishes at Buzzbrews (Mr. C), Original Market Diner (Sam's Benedict) and Bread Winners Cafe (veggie scramble).

I keep thinking this obsession with breakfast and brunch is yet another manifestation of the drive for comfort dining - and what meal is more about comfort food than breakfast? What favorite local breakfast of yours did Texas Monthly miss?

In case you haven't noticed, special contributors to the Dallas Morning News have come out from behind the paywall. That means that you can now read our wonderful freelance critics Mark Vamos and Kim Pierce even if you don't subscribe to the paper (or have an online subscription). Don't believe me? Check out Mark's review of Zeppole here. And here's Valerie Jarvie's story about the cookie contest winners, led by the adorable sock monkey cookie. Kim hasn't published a review since this went into effect, but she'll have one up next week.

Photo of Zeppole's frutti di mare salad by Taylor Glascock/Staff Photographer

Now say that six times fast. Whew!

On Dec. 13, when the Hillcrest Avenue Burger House location turns 60 years old, all locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth and Lubbock areas will celebrate the event by offering a single-patty cheeseburger for just 60 cents each. Stop in any time throughout the day. No more than five deals per person.

They're usually $3.49, so sounds like a delicious deal to me, but I've never had a burger from the House. What do they compare to?

Photo: Angelo Chantilis Jr. and Christopher Canellos are the sons of the orginal owners of Burger House.

I have not heard back from the owners of Shine's Mediterranean Market, which recently closed, but I did get a note from Erkan Zohre, who tells me he was a manager at Shine's who also sometimes helped out in the kitchen. He and Yustun Yasa, a chef from New York, are now running Olive Tree Specialty Foods in Richardson, on the southeast corner of Coit and Arapaho . The "long serving" kitchen staff from Shine's is working there as well, he says.

"In addition to Shine's mouth-watering falafel, gyros/shawarma, Greek salad, baklavas, hummus, tabouli, and babaganoush," he writes, "one will find adana kebab (ground lamb marinated with special spices), empanadas, kunefe (kataifi with sweet cheese), and a delicious lunch buffet served daily for $ 8.99 plus tax." They also bake their own bread and desserts, and they sell produce, meats and grocery items from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Bosnia, Lebanon, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Argentina and the Middle East.

Definitely sounds like a place to check out. Or maybe you've been? What did you think?

Olive Tree Specialty Foods, 970 N. Coit Road, Richardson; 972-238-7154; www.olivetreeonline.net

Craving a falafel sandwich, I swung by Shine's Mediterranean Market on Saturday -- you know, the cool shop on Preston and Belt Line where you could pick up lots of great Turkish ingredients or order doner kebabs, falafels and many more Mediterranean treats?

I was chagrined to find it was closed up tight, with a "For Lease" sign in the window.

I'm trying to find out what happened. The website and phone still work, but the machine doesn't take a message. If I can reach the owners, I'll update.

File photo

Alberto Lombardi's Italian restaurant formerly known as La Fiorentina Tuscan Steakhouse is now called La Fiorentina Tuscan Grill. The change, says the press release, reflects a "more relaxed image." White tablecloths have been replaced by bare wood with a homey-looking cloth used as a skirt under it.

The new executive chef, Ben Ackland, comes to La Fiorentina by way of the Common Table, where he was development chef, according to publicist Lindsey Miller. Prior to that he was executive chef at Six Steps in Toronto and chef de parti at the Ivy in London. The menu is designed to be "more approachable," and that means, from the looks of it, more pasta dishes. The last couple of times I dined there (most recently in early September), I didn't feel pastas were Fiorentina's strong suit, so I'll be curious to taste them. The release says the menu combines the talents of Ackland and corporate executive chef Carlo Allesina, a native of Piedmont, drawing on "centuries-old recipes." I guess seared ahi tuna with tomato-basil tartare, shaved fennel and basil oil has a longer history than I'd thought. There's also pappardelle al ragu, fettucine with crabmeat and heirloom tomatoes, wild mushroom capellacci, potato-spinach gnocchi and spaghetti carbonara. I wish the spaghetti carbonara didn't mention cream in the description, but it does. I don't know what they do in Italy, but where I come from, spaghetti carbonara does not have cream in it.

Alessio Franceschetti, chef-owner of the erstwhile Alessio's Il Ristorante, last seen running the front of the house at Zio Cecio, is the new general manager.

Bistecca alla fiorentina for two is still on the menu, at $56. I'm told the prices have dropped, and in fact the branzino, for which I paid $38 in September, is now $29.

La Fiorentina Tuscan Grill, 4501 Cole Ave., Dallas; 972-528-6170

Photo by La Fiorentina

Pegasus News reports that Sol's Nieto on Mockingbird has closed. It seems business just wasn't booming.

"Sol's is done," manager Blanca Perez said in an email. "Business wasn't as good anymore, and we got a bit behind on rent. The landlords refused to make any kind of deal with us, so there is nothing we can do. After 10 years, it's heart-breaking for us to go down this way."

I never ate at this location but did frequent the Deep Ellum original and loved their chicken nachos before they closed in February. Anyone else sad to hear of an affordable Tex-Mex place closing?

NOTE: If you choose to write in your Tex-Mex choice in the poll above, please let us know the name of the place in a comment on this post. Thanks!

The People's Last Stand in Mockingbird Station really is a cocktail lounge with food, so it's not likely to be reviewed (although Leslie Brenner has the last word on that). That said, it's a fine spot for eating as well as enjoying cutting-edge cocktails.

The cocktail crowd has already discovered the place, which kind of butts up to the back of Trinity Hall. And why not? Bartender Omar Yeefoon stirs (or shakes) up some wonderful libations with beautiful layers of flavor and nuance.

The Sig-O and I stopped by for a bite before a movie recently and were quite taken with the food as well, the work of chef John Hickey. The menu is basically appetizers, salads, sandwiches and desserts. The nubbly, slightly spicy hummus was excellent, surrounded by wafers of carrot and cucumber plus whole-wheat pita triangles. It was partnered with mixed, marinated olives enlivened with a bit of feta and pine nuts.

We split a Gandhi sandwich and loved the combination of portabello, bell pepper, red onion, tomato, cucumber and melted goat cheese on fresh ciabatta. For dessert, we split the warm chocolate-walnut brownie. It was just the right amount of food before the show - and even with Last Stand's many hard surfaces, we found it easy to carry on a conversation. The inviting leather chairs helped, too.

When Stephan Pyles started Fuego more than a year ago, I was impressed, but ironically, the molecular gastronomy-driven dinner in front of the wood-fired oven left me a little cold. Since then, the chef has turned the tasting menu he offers for two seatings on Friday and Saturday nights into what is quite simply the most exciting dining experience in Dallas. I wrote about it this week in a Critic's Notebook.

Please let us know what you think.

Photo of Fuego's creme caramel with jellied Far Niente Dolce, pear ice cream and almonds by Nan Coulter/Special Contributor

When I was told that Jason Weaver would be not only executive chef for the new Omni Dallas Hotel, overseeing all the restaurants except Bob's Steak and Chop House, but that he'd also be executive chef at Texas Spice, I was super excited. After all, Weaver earned rave reviews at the French Room, where he was executive chef from 2005 to 2009, and I never got a chance to experience his cooking there -- or anywhere.

But I just got my hands on Texas Spice's menu, and at the bottom it credits Cory Garrison as chef.

Whoa -- what's up? Whose menu is dat? What happened to Weaver? I spoke with the publicist, Brandon Smulyan, who tells me that Weaver created the menu, with Garrison's help. Weaver will be in and out of the kitchen, as he'll have so many operational duties at the hotel.

The New York Times named Pete Wells as its new top restaurant critic today. He has been dining editor at the paper for the past five years and is a veteran of Food & Wine and Details magazines.

Here's an excerpt from the paper's internal memo about Wells' credentials: "Pete was an accomplished food writer long before he came to The Times. He wrote a column, 'Always Hungry,' for Food & Wine, and was a top editor at Details. He has received five James Beard Foundation Awards for writing about eating and drinking. He wrote a terrific memo about how our critics have operated since 1963, when Craig Claiborne established a regular review column and codified the standards that have always set the Times apart."

Plus, the memo says he's getting outfitted "with a variety of seasonal, local and organic wigs," although, the paper notes, its critics don't usually wear disguises.

The New York Times has an interesting story today about people raising money to open restaurants by funding them through Kickstarter.com and other unusual, community-based ideas. Pretty cool stuff. I wonder whether there's any of that going on here in Dallas. Has anyone heard of anything? Or are you a fledgling restaurateur trying to raise money in community-based way? We'd love to hear about it!

Every Monday 6:30 to 9 p.m. for the next several months, Cane Rosso's Jay Jerrier will bring in a celebrity chef to make a special pie ($16). The celebrity that sells the most pies, says the press release, gets the Cane Rosso Golden Peel and Trophy.

Here are the celeb chefs and dates for Industry Night/Celebrity Chef Pizzaiolo:

Monday - Brian Luscher from the Grape
11/14 - Chad Houser and Janice Provost from Parigi
11/21 - Randall Copeland from Restaurant Ava and soon to open, Left Bank
11/28 - Jack Perkins from Maple & Motor
12/5 - John Tesar from The Commissary
12/12 - Dean Fearing from Fearing's
12/19 - and one ringer: Daniel Vaughn from the Full Custom Gospel BBQ blog

A portion of the proceeds benefit the Deep Ellum Urban Gardens, which still has some hurdles to jump before it's a reality.

This morning, Steven Doyle reported on Crave DFW that Stephan Pyles signed a lease for a new restaurant Uptown.

I just confirmed with Pyles: He did sign a lease at Granite Properties' Park 17 development. The restaurant, which he hopes to open in the second quarter of 2012, will be something "very modern Texas," he told me.

"it won't be Star Canyon," he said, "but hopefully we'll evoke that spirit -- a celebration of Texas." It will be much more affordable than his namesake restaurant, with main courses in the $20's, and check averages in the 40s. "I haven't quite developed it fully," said the chef. "It'll have influences from the south -- a lot of southern food. The techniques and tastes in general have come so far since Star Canyon was around; it's been 15 years." There will also be Mexican influences -- he plans to have a taco bar, with corn and flour tortillas made in-house -- plus range and cowboy cooking, along with a bit of Cajun and Creole, "because that's around in the state."

Pyles has always wanted to do a "really good fried chicken," he said. He offered one at Baby Routh, but only at lunch time. Using sous vide and C-Vaps, he'll be able to cook fried chicken at his new place to order. "When i found out Tiffany [Derry] was doing it over at Private Social," he said, "I thought shoot! Somebody beat me to it!" His will be a honey fried chicken.

He is close to deciding on a chef, probably someone from within his organization. The name? That's another story. He's looking for something that evokes modern Texas. A couple of ideas he liked were shot down by the trademark attorney, he said.

Hey -- maybe you have an idea. What should Stephan Pyles call his new restaurant?

Photo by Chris Plavidal/Special Contributor

Campo Modern Country Bistro, which we wrote about back in August, opens tonight in Oak Cliff. The restaurant, brought to us from Miguel Vicéns and John Paul Valverde, owners of Coevál Studio, a design firm, has a menu created by consulting chef Matt McCallister, whose last gig was as executive chef at Stephan Pyles. Apparently there's no website yet, but here's The website is still just a landing page; look for updates onCampo's Facebook page.

I'm trying to get my hands on a menu; will update. McCallister told me in August that he'd be creating the menu and overseeing the kitchen, but that one of his top priorities would be hiring a chef. The press release makes no mention of a chef; will let you know about that, too. The liquor license is still pending, so presumably it's BYOB till then. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: McCallister will be running the kitchen for now. His brief menu, which changes "every few days," is intriguing. Appetizers include smoked baccalao dip; chorizo donuts (!) with charred oregano aioli; something called "rabbit in porchetta"; and crushed beets with beet top pesto, beet mostarda and sheep's yogurt. There's a trio of daring pastas (braised oxtail orecchiete with butternut squash and mushrooms; Gulf shrimp tagliarini with oregano pesto and sea urchin; Gorgonzola country ham gnocchi with pear and walnut). Mains include leg of lamb with mint salsa verde; cinnamon short ribs with braised romaine, raisin chutney and celery root; and hay-smoked scallops with charred cabbage puree, Brussels sprouts, bacon and bone marrow. The mains are $17 to $21.

BYOB is fine until the restaurant gets its liquor license. "Folks are welcome to bring a bottle of wine," writes publicist Amity Thomas in an email, "but they will be pouring a glass or two for them if not."

1115 N. Beckley, Dallas; 214-946-1308; campodallas.com

Taylor Adams catches up with the story on the East Dallas Blog. Back in the spring, Hypnotic Donuts owner James St. Peter sent a couple of huge boxes of his donuts to the newsroom, and the reaction was decidedly mixed.

Have you tasted them? What did you think?

Cafe San Miguel will serve its last dinner on Saturday night. The news came via an email to restaurant patrons. "After making a home at 1907 N. Henderson Ave. for over 6 years, with great sadness we announce the closure of Cafe San Miguel," it said. The owners still have Hacienda San Miguel in Fort Worth's West 7th development.

Have you been to Cafe San Miguel lately? Will you miss it? Do you plan on stopping in between now and Saturday Sunday brunch?

UPDATE: I just spoke with Cafe San Miguel's owner, Hugo Galvan, who told me the restaurant's final meal with be brunch on Sunday. "It's time to move, time to do something else," he said. "It's not doing that well anymore." The location was the problem, he said -- that stretch of Henderson is "more like a bar destination at this point." He added that he'd like to re-open elsewhere; around the first of next year he'll start looking for a new location. Cafe San Miguel opened in 2005. Galvan told me he and Ron Guest owned the restaurant together, and he bought out Guest about three years ago. Then eight months ago he opened Hacienda San Miguel in Fort Worth.

Staff file photo

No doubt you've heard about the bar that Eddie "Lucky" Campbell and Michael Martensen have been planning to open downtown on Main Street in partnership with Ed Bailey,, owner of the Bailey's Prime Plus restaurants.

It will be called the Chesterfield, and it will be a restaurant -- not just a bar. And Martensen is no longer involved. "It's myself and Ed Bailey moving forward with this," says Campbell. "Michael Martensen has resigned from the project and we wish him much continued success" wrote Gary Van Gundy, president of Edward C. Bailey Enterprises, in an email.

The chef will be Michael Ehlert, a recent transplant from New York City, where he was executive sous chef at DBGB Kitchen and Bar, one of Daniel Boulud's New York restaurants. Ehlert's menu will include small plates, such as short ribs braised in veal stock enriched with roasted coffee beans and poblano chiles, served with a parsnip puree. And main courses. And salads, like a nicoise featuring deviled quail eggs and preserved tuna he'll make in-house. And flatbreads. And sandwiches. He's brining a pastrami as we speak, with the idea of featuring it in, say, a Reuben.

Did you ever eat at the Grazing Cow, the cheerful grass-fed burger place that opened last year in Plano? If not and you've been meaning to go -- as was the case for one of my newsroom colleagues, who happened to mention it was on his must-do list a few days ago -- it's too late. The burger place, in an unfortunate hidden strip mall location on Avenue K and E. Spring Parkway in Plano, closed three and a half weeks ago. They just couldn't make it, co-owner Amy Martin told me on the phone. "Honestly, the only people who came in were couponers," she said. "People say they want to pay for great beef," she added, but they don't really.

Martin was using excellent locally raised, grass-fed beef from Burgundy Pasture Beef in Grandview, with 20% fat in the grind, and cooking them to order -- even rare. Martin still has her catering business, Mangez. When I stopped by for burgers in spring of 2010, they were charging $5.95 for a 1/3 pound burger.

This raises a question. We know lots of people love coupons, and when you're struggling financially, they can be a godsend. But is the coupon craze hurting the restaurant business? If so, how much? In the case of the Grazing Cow, I suspect the dismal, hard-to-find location also had something to do with it.

Staff File photo of the Grazing Cow's "Pow Burger"

Taylor Adams, a clever editor at Neighbors Go, turned up a surprising post on Craig's List: Charlie Palmer at the Joule is looking for an executive chef.

Which begs the question: What happened to Scott Romano? He'd headed that kitchen since the hotel opened in early 2008. Calls have been placed. Will keep you posted as I learn more.

UPDATE: OK, I am so out of it. Crave DFW had this ages ago, as Andrea Grimes, who's about to leave Eater Dallas -- and Dallas itself -- for Austin -- was kind enough to point out. Please tell me I'm not the only one to have missed the very big news that Scott Romano resigned. According to Steve Doyle, Romano is going to work as a personal chef for six months, then open his own restaurant in the Dallas are with Charlie Palmer's assistance.

According to Charlie Palmer at the Joule food and beverage director William Friedrichs, Richard Blankenship -- who served as Romano's executive sous chef -- is heading the kitchen while the search for new top toque is underway.

Photo of Scott Romano by Ben Torres

Ed Bamberger, creator of Single Gourmet DFW, has died, according to Nancy Nichols on Sidedish. A fixture on the local scene for years, Ed was a commensurate foodie who loved bringing people together for good food and good wine.

Single Gourmet was his baby, an organization for adult singles who enjoyed food and wine. In fact, that's how he met his wife, Mariann. Their courtship and marriage was the subject of a Dallas Morning News True Romance in 2006. "Even though Ed says he never dates clients," goes the story, 'it just happened, and it was right. It was absolutely right.'" They were married in 2005.

Nichols reports that Ed died in his sleep after a long battle with prostate cancer. You can read her post here. A memorial service, she says, will take place in a few weeks.

File 2002/Staff Photo

In my review of Dough Pizzeria Napoletana that appears in this morning's Guide, I wrote that the management of the pizzeria takes pride in its Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana certification. Well, that may be true -- only the restaurant does not have that coveted certification. A source who did not want to be named tipped me off to the fact late yesterday.

Up until this morning, Dough's website stated that both the San Antonio and Dallas locations were VPN-certified. "DOUGH Pizzeria Napoletana, located in San Antonio and Dallas, Texas is to date one of an elite 54 restaurants in the United States and #292 in the world to receive the prestigious certification from L'Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana for serving authentic Pizza Napoletana," the website said.

In fact, only the San Antonio location is has the VPN certification, says Peppe Miele, president of the U.S. Association Verace Pizza Napoletana. This morning I spoke with Lori Horn, co-owner with Doug Horn of Dough Pizzeria Napoletana in San Antonio; Keith Hall and Brad Liles are the licensees who run the Dallas location. Horn said she knew that the Dallas store was not certified. "You have to be open at least six months to be certified," she said. But she said she was unaware that the website said that the Dallas location was VPN-certified. "I guess we'll have to update that," she said. She took care of that right away; the mention that the Dallas location was VPN-certified has already been removed.

There's also the matter of Dough's menu, which does not say outright that the pizzeria is VPN-certified, but in reading it, I think many diners would be led to believe that it is. I know I did.
"AUTHENTIC PIZZA NAPOLETANA" says a line in bold type across the back of the menu.

With so many Italian places that have "c's" and "cc's" and "ch's" in their names, it's time for an Italian pronunciation lesson. I am no expert; I still stumble, but I've got the basics down, I think. I'm sure some real Italian speaker will correct me!

C or CC followed by an I or E = ch
(A good way to remember this: We already know that cello, the stringed instrument, is pronounced chello.)
C followed by a consonant = hard, like "c" in chianti
(Think of CH or CC in an Italian word, but where the CC isn't followed by an I or E)

Examples:

Mi Piaci = Mee Pee-ah-chee (you already know this one)
Cappuccino = Cap-poo-chee-no (you know this one, too)
Lucia = Loo-chee-uh
Princi Italia = Prin-chee Italia
Pio Cesare (the winery) = Pio Chez-a-ray
Bruschetta (the toasted bread appetizer) = Broo-sketta (not broo-schetta)
Cane Rosso = Cah-nay Row-so
Tom Colicchio (the celebrity chef-restaurateur) = Tom Co-leek-io

Here's the real tongue-tripper:

Zio Cecio = Zee-o Chech-io

Got that? There'll be a test in an hour. Ciao.

Frank Bruni, the former New York Times restaurant critic who now writes an Opinion column for the Times, has a hilarious column today about a new restaurant -- Romera New York -- that takes our culture's food obsession to a ridiculous new level.

Argentine-born chef-owner Miguel Sánchez Romera, a neurologist-turned-chef, has created something he calls neurogastronomy (Neurogastronomía was the name of one of his cookbooks). The chef, according to a Wall Street story, spent more than half of his life in Spain. When he opened a restaurant, l'Esguard, near Barcelona in 1996, he was concomitantly working as a neurologist at a nearby hospital.

This photo of "chocogel" of Venezuelan creole chocolate with a variety of toppings was taken at l"Esguard in 2005.

Check it out. Think something like this would fly in Dallas?

File photo

I went by today to check out the chicken-fried steak at Mama Connie's Diner, in the former Beckley Diner spot in North Oak Cliff that's been open since June. It really is a lot like like a diner in spirit, albeit a Texas diner (think Texas toast). The food's inexpensive, hearty and largely house-made.

As for that CFS, I come with mixed results and, for next time, a challenge. The piece of beef, appropriately punctured from tenderizing, is surprisingly beefy and good and gristle-free. It's also breaded in the kitchen before being deep-fried. If you know me, you know I prefer the more traditional pan-frying. But the crust was delightfully crackly and good.

Oops, the CFS self-deconstructs, but if you stab your fork through a piece of meat, followed by a piece of crust, and swab them through the white gravy (maybe doctored with a mix) and some real mashed potatoes, it makes a wonderful mouthful.

I was stunned and saddened over the weekend by the news that Consilient Restaurants closed Alma on Saturday. I felt that the N. Henderson spot -- which was only eight months old -- was the best Mexican restaurant in Dallas.

Executive chef Anastacia Quiñones is super-talented. Of course the corn tortillas were stupendous, made from corn ground in-house. I don't know another chef in the country who does that. But it was about much more than that. Did you ever tastes Quiñones' albondigas? Made from pork jowls and Wagyu ribeye, they were tender, sumptuous, deep-flavored, incredible. Quiñones sauced them voluptuously in a smoky chipotle sauce that was at once deep and bright. Wrapped in that fabulous corn tortilla, it was one of the most delicious things to eat in town. I celebrated my birthday at Alma recently (yes, among all the restaurants in Dallas, that's where I felt like eating), and we'd had our order all planned out -- and then changed everything once we heard the specials. I loved Quiñones' velvety winter squash soup, served garnish-first (roasted corn, diced squash, peppers, cilantro, I think, and a dash of crema), then the soup poured over. Her gorditas de res -- another special that night -- rocked.

I loved the feel of the room, and the service was wonderful. The cooking, I felt, was even stronger than it had been under opening chef Michael Brown, and I'd planned to re-review it soon.

So what happened?

Back in the 1980s, American cooking underwent a renaissance as chefs all over the country, in the spirit of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse in Northern California, began mining local ingredients to produce what then was called modern American cuisine. Stephan Pyles and the Gang of Five reveled in Southwestern ingredients. Jimmy Schmidt, mostly famously at Detroit's Rattlesnake Club, also took up the cause of indigenous ingredients, with a special fondness for those of the Southwest, such as corn and chiles.

He was part of the stellar chef lineup last night at Stephan Pyles' "No Kid Hungry Share Our Strength" dinner, which raised money toward eradicating child hunger in America through the chef organization Share Our Strength. I was an invited guest.

Schmidt, who's at Morgan's in the Desert in La Quinta, Calif., (outside Palm Springs), said he grew up foraging, so it was a natural step to using native ingredients. "I grew up in central Illinois... As a little kid, I did foraging. Asparagus grew wild in the ditches. I was the youngest and so closest to the ground, so my brothers would yell 'snake!'"

Jimmy Schmidt and Stephan Pyles

Espartaco ("Taco") and Dunia Borga -- the couple behind the La Duni restaurants -- recently opened La Duni Latin Kitchen at the Village at Fairview. It shares a space with Dulce by La Duni, which they opened in June. La Duni Latin Kitchen is a handsome spot with a stylish feel (love the bar) and a menu similar to the other La Duni restaurants. Dulce is a quick-service cafe that sells pastries and a long list of coffees. Oh, and "micrema" -- the frozen dessert that was the subject of Kim Pierce's last post.

When I got the press release a couple days ago -- which only described micrema as an "innovative" frozen dessert, I started to get very curious, so I headed up there to check it out. First I had a salad at La Duni Latin Kitchen -- which isn't even separated by the cafe by a wall -- you can just walk from one into the other. After lunch, I told the server I wanted to taste micrema -- and he'd never heard of it.

Kim Pierce just pointed out to me that the stuff -- truffle oil, that is -- is showing no sign of ever going away. Lately truffle fries are ubiquitous. Kim and I started to think about chefs who persist in using the nasty stuff, but there were so many, it actually seemed easier to try to come up with chefs who don't! It's frankly embarrassing at this point.

If you're wondering what's wrong with truffle oil -- why it gets on the nerves of so many food writers and critics -- it's that it hits you over the head with a strong, one-note aroma and flavor. As this excellent 2007 New York Times article by Daniel Patterson, "Hocus-Pocus and a Beaker of Truffles," explains, most commercial truffle oil is not a natural product, but a chemical -- 2,4 dithiapentane, suspended in olive oil. Patterson, a well-known San Francisco chef, wrote about how he was wowed by it in the late '90s, and started using it in his cooking. "So much flavor, so little expense," he wrote. The problem is that it lacks something -- Patterson calls it one-dimensional. 2,4 dithiapentane is the flavor compound found in real white truffles, but I think part of the problem is that isolated, it lacks truffles' earthiness. Of course some truffle oil is actually made by infusing white truffles in olive oil, but it's pretty rare.

Anyway, despite the fact writers have been kvetching about it for years and years, it's been popping up on the menus of new restaurants as much as ever. Dough Pizzeria Napoletana puts it in two apps from its mozzarella bar and drizzles it freely on pizza, for instance.

But seriously, I think it would be more fun to find the restaurants and chefs who eschew it. It's blessedly absent from the menus of the brand-new Bistro 31 and Private Social. Chefs at new-wave Mexican restaurants have the sense to stay away from it. I've never sniffed it at the Mansion, Lucia, Fearing's, nor, I think, at Bijoux. Nor, speaking of pizza, at Cane Rosso.

Where else? Maybe chefs who are offended by the stuff should take a no-truffle-oil pledge. They can sign up here, in a comment. But careful -- we'll hold you to it!

Those sleek little dark leather place mats adorning the tables in the main dining room at the Mansion Restaurant? They're gone -- replaced by white tablecloths.

Not since mid-2007 has the room felt so very formal. Or so I presume -- I didn't get to dine there until 2009. The restaurant was redesigned four years ago, part of a $20 million renovation, and when it reopened that fall, with John Tesar as chef, the tablecloths disappeared from the main dining room and the garden room. The new, more contemporary look was gorgeous wood and sleek leather mats.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, which owns the Mansion, is under new ownership -- Hong Kong-based New World Hospitality acquired it in July. But that's not why the tablecloths went back on, says restaurant manager Ryan Harvey. "There were a lot of traditional diners, the folks that have been coming to the Mansion since 1980, when it changed, as far as the look and the feel. A lot of the new clientele and some of old clientele adapted to the new look."

But not everyone. "A lot of them had so many great memories with the older decor that they felt like it was a whole new restaurant," he says, and that's why they're trying out the new-old look. Now, once again, it feels completely different -- just because of the linens. "We want to give the guests what they want," says Harvey.

Does that mean jackets will once again be required? "I don't foresee that happening," he says. And the white tablecloths are only at dinnertime -- the place mats come out at breakfast and lunch.

2000 staff file photo of the Mansion back in the day

I love taking my first peek of a new restaurant's menu, and I was curious to see what chef Gabriel DeLeon would have in store for diners at Mi Dia From Scratch, the Mexican-Tex-Mex-New-Mex spot that debuts today in Grapevine. DeLeon had me at the first antojito on the menu: quesadillas de huitlacoche. That's house-made blue corn tortillas filled with queso asadero, sauteed huitlachoche (Mexican corn fungus, a delicacy) and roasted veggies. He serves it with crema and New Mexico red and green chile sauces. I am so there!

There's also pork belly sopes with a salsa negra; quails grilled over pecan wood; guajillo chile-rubbed grilled duck breast (with a duck confit flauta); and cochinita pibíl, plus "street style" tacos (duck carnitas!) and a bunch of Santa Fe dishes (New Mexico Tampiquena, stacked enchiladas).

DeLeon's cooking at the short-lived Masaryk was pretty impressive -- it'll be interesting to experience his contribution to the ongoing Mexican Revolution. It's open daily for lunch and dinner.

Mí Día From Scratch, 1295 S. Main St., Grapevine; 817-421-4747; www.midiafromscratch.com

You know the old fashion rule that you're not supposed to wear white after Labor Day? Well, the cocktail world's kind of like that too -- out with the gin, in with the whiskey. That's more or less the subject of the latest Table Talk column. With guest appearances by cocktail whizzes Eddie "Lucky" Campbell, Michael Martensen and Sean Conner.

And here is Juicy Bites -- a roundup of recent restaurant news.

Photo of Bailey's Prime Plus' Smoked Pecan Old Fashioned by Jason Janik/Special Contributor

Teresa Gubbins scooped this yesterday on Pegasus News: Cane Rosso's Jay Jerrier has brought on Dino Santonicola to head his kitchen.

Born in Naples, Italy, Santonicola is a master pizzaiolo who worked, according to the subsequent press release, at Fiorenzano Pizzeria and Brandi, birthplace of the pizza Margherita. In 2004 he opened Via Tribunali pizzeria in Seattle, then last year he moved to Washington, D.C., where he opened Pizzeria da Marco.

Jerrier says, via email, that besides making pizza, Santonicola will be rounding out Cane Rosso's menu with traditional Neopolitan dishes. "We already have started doing calzones and will likely add gnocchi and eggplant parmigiano," Jerrier writes. "We are also looking at some typical friggatoria [fried] items like arancini, croquettes, timballo, fried sardines, etc."

For the record, it is Cane Rosso, not Il Cane Rosso. The mistaken name keeps getting reprinted/reblogged everywhere, no doubt in part because the restaurant's website is ilcanerosso.com. The first time I wrote about Cane Rosso, Jerrier told me in the course of my fact-checking (a vanishing art, I guess) that the reason the website is ilcanerosso.com is that the domaine name canerosso.com was already taken.

Months later, I noticed that the website refers elswhere to the restaurant as Il Cane Rosso, not just in the url. Huh? I shot a email to Jerrier asking him about it, and here's what he answered: "Our website still says 'Il Cane Rosso' because I am the world's worst webmaster.... We are launching a 'real' website on 10/1 that will have all the branding corrected and in place."

Photo of Dino Santonicola by Cane Rosso

Just this morning I said to a colleague, "I wonder who's going to head up the kitchens at the Omni?" Well, I just got the answer: Jason Weaver, who was executive chef at the French Room at the Adolphus hotel from 2005 to 2009. Weaver will serve as executive chef for a lineup of restaurants at the Omni Dallas Hotel, slated to open downtown on November 11, that includes Texas Spice, the Owner's Box, the Uptown Terrace, the Lobby Lounge and Morsels. Weaver will also oversee in-room dining, banquets and catering. There will also be a Bob's Steak and Chop House in the hotel, but Bob's will have a different executive chef.

When then-Morning News restaurant critic Bill Addison reviewed the French Room during Weaver's reign there, he gave the restaurant a coveted five-star rating, lauding Weaver's "virtuosic" starters and "stately" main courses. "If Mr. Weaver plays it fairly safe in his use of commonly recognizable ingredients," wrote Addison, "it's in his constantly evolving compositions that he distinguishes himself as both a showman and a provocateur."

Weaver's most recent gig was as executive chef at La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa in Montgomery, Texas; his resume also includes serving as opening executive chef at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Las Vegas and the Mandarin Oriental in Manhattan, plus stints as Cafe Sambal at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami and the Grill at the Ritz-Carlton in Dearborn, Michigan.

Thoughts? Did you ever get to experience Weaver's cooking at the French Room?

2005 staff file photo

Way back in February, Kim Pierce broke the story that Francesco Farris planned to open his own restaurant, Zio Cecio, in the former Patry's spot on Lovers Lane. At that point, he was hoping for a spring opening. The Sardinian chef was one of the two brothers who opened Arcodoro and Pomodoro.

Well, now Farris is actually close -- according to his publicist, he'll open sometime in October; he's shooting for Oct. 7. The restaurant will not be in the old Patry's space, but rather in the old Cafe Italia spot, as Nancy Nichols noted recently on SideDish.

When Kim interviewed him last winter, he described what he'd be turning out at his new restaurant as "simple, home-style (real) Italian - affordable, casual and family-friendly."

A look at the menu (which publicist Mallory Jensen was kind enough to share with me in its not-yet-finalized form) indicates that maybe he's gone a little more ambitious than that. Antipasti include bottarga crostini with Parmagiano Reggiano butter (need some, now!); two octopus dishes (one's grilled with spicy tomato sauce; the other's baby octopus with squid ink and orzo); and there's a section of the menu devoted to carpacci -- three of beef and two seafood. Salads and antipasti are $8.50 to $13.50. Among pastas, there's a classic carbonara; fettuccine bolognese; mezzaluna with seafood and ricotta in pistacho-cream sauce and more, and four risotti -- which you can order as a quartet, for at least three people. Wood-fired pizza will be offered too, and secondi like grilled Cornish hen; Tuscan-style steak; osso bucco braised in Barolo; and a salt-crusted whole Mediterranean fish for two -- with the price stated up-front on the menu ($62.50). Other secondi range from $18.50 to $31.50; pastas are $12.50 to $18.50; risotti "per tutti" (apparently intended to share) are $21.50 to $22.50.

For dessert? How about torta di limone with a grappa infusion? Or fresh ricotta with bitter honey and black pepper? For the less adventurous, there's tiramasu and that great Sardinian classic, crème brûlée.

Curious about the name? Cecio is a nickname for Francesco, and Zio means "uncle."

Back in May, Cheryl Collette Ng wrote about plans for this year's Outstanding in the Field dinner. Traveling locavore chef Jim Denavan will bring his bus to Flower Mound on October 19, where Sharon Hage will prepare a 4-course dinner, paired with wines, at Latte Da Dairy.

I just had a call from a reader, Jan Lovell, who tried to nab seats (they're $200 each) when our story was published, but it sold out quickly. Well, October 19 is his wife's birthday, and he'd really, really like to bring her to the dinner. Because tickets are paid for in advance, says the Outstanding in the Field website, there are no cancellations or wait lists -- once it's sold out, it's sold out.

I told him this would be a long shot, but we might as well try: Is there anyone out there who purchased tickets and cannot use them? Mr. Lovell would be thrilled to take them off your hands. Please leave a comment here letting Mr. Lovell know how to reach you, or email me at lbrenner@dallanews.com, and I will put you together. Oh, and Mr. Lovell, please shoot me an email as well, so I know how to reach you.

Meanwhile, if you're lucky enough to have a ticket and do plan to go, we'd love to hear all about it after the fact -- so definitely take pictures!

2010 file photo of last year's Outstanding in the Field dinner at Tom Spicer's FM 1410

Having not experienced chef John Tesar's tasting concepts at The Table or at The Mansion, I'm hardly in a position to say how One Art, in the same space as The Table next to The Commisary, is different. But I get the distinct impression that it is, based on the response of other invited media and guests last night, who got a chance to preview the concept that opens in earnest this evening. (It's booked up tonight.)

Tesar told us that his approach to the room was inspired by Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, dedicated "to the art form of cooking and the life of the chef." He will look, he says, for what's seasonal and what's affordable. "What we want to do is find ingredients that challenge the chef." Appetizers cluster around a $15 price point; entrees in the $20s; with after-dinner items from under to $10 to $16 for a a cheese platter.

Simplicity, too, seemed paramount, and the Iberian pork with sherry-braised mission figs, marcona almond dust and baby greens from Tom Spicer (pictured left) was about as complex as dishes got. I'm not complaining, of course.

As promised, on Tuesday John Tesar plans to open a new mini-restaurant in the Commissary-adjacent dining room that was briefly the Table. As at the Table, there are only 12 seats. Unlike the Table, it will be open Tuesday through Saturday nights, offering two seatings -- at 6:30 and 8:30 -- by reservation only.

"Our new concept is dedicated to the passion and art of cooking," the press release quotes him as saying. "We will be using as many local and seasonal products as possible to create interesting and inspiring cuisine five nights per week. That is the essence of One Art."

Tesar will offer an a la carte menu, with dishes like mackerel crudo with tomato compote, caper relish and pecorino shards; a salad of persimmon, watercress, pomegranate and Brazos Valley blue cheese; pig's ear Milanese with a fried duck egg, green tomato chutney and wild arugula; and Alaskan halibut poached in almond milk and clover honey with celery root puree, almond foam and shaved almonds. White-on-white-on-white! After-dinner offerings will include a cheese selection, desserts like a grapefruit gratin with pink peppercorn-rosé Champagne sabayon and pies made by Tesar's wife Tracy.

There will also be a 3-course fixed price menu that will change weekly.

One Art, 1722 Routh St., Dallas; 469-600-4660

Photo of John Tesar in the kitchen at the Commissary by Sonya N. Hebert/Staff Photographer

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Thank you to everyone who tuned into Think with Krys Boyd on KERA yesterday -- we had a great time -- and extra thanks to those who called or wrote in with questions.

One listener called with a service peeve: She's bothered, she said, when she places her order with a server, and then the food is delivered by someone else entirely. It causes problems, she said -- such as the wrong plates landing in front of diners, or dishes not prepared the way they've been ordered. I pointed out that the way it's ideally supposed to happen, when a restaurant uses runners to deliver food, is that the server should appear at the same time the runners are delivering the plates and announce and/or explain each dish that's set down.

So -- what's your most annoying service quirk? I have one friend who can't stand it when a server places a napkin on his lap. I wrote about these kinds of service issues in a story two years ago, soliciting readers' peeves (here's the story), then followed up with a blog post asking servers what diners do that drive them crazy -- find it here (note: the post shows 0 comments, but scroll down and you'll see them archived). Servers, we'd love to hear again from you here, too.

File photo of a server being the opposite of annoying

Chef James Neel has closed Tramontana, the Preston Center bistro he bought in 1999 and had been running ever since. "Thank you to all my loyal customers and now friends who have made the last 12 years at Tramontana, the best of my life," he wrote in a note to his email list. His lease has ended, he explained, and given the state of the economy, he decided not to renew. "Let's vow to continue to enjoy great food and wine and support our local chef owned restaurants," he concluded. "I hope to cook for you again as I will continue cooking in the Dallas area."

Photo of James Neel in Tramontana's kitchen by Ryan C. Henricksen/Staff Photographer

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The Place at Perry's, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year, will be closing its doors at the corner of Routh and Cedar Springs after dinner on November 18 and moving to shiny new digs a block north on Cedar Springs.

CEO Devin Cox is quite excited about the move. The new space will be brighter and lighter, with 22-foot ceilings, he says. "And we have a fabulous new patio that will seat a little over a hundred." A 35-foot-tall rotunda will feature a glass sculpture created by Grapevine glass blower David Gappa, and Jimmy Turner, senior director of gardens for the Dallas Arboretum, is designing a garden of edible herbs and plants that will wrap around the patio. There will be a small, speakeasy-type bar in back called 1049 Bar. The servers will be getting new uniforms designed by Michael Faircloth.

Chef Jaime Corona's menu will remain largely the same; it will continue to feature meat raised sustainably and without hormones.

"We've had some changes over the last couple years," says Cox. "We're keeping the name the Place at Perry's. There's not too many places of our stature in Dallas that belong to Dallas. We are Dallas' restaurant. We're just moving a few yards north." Depending on how construction goes, he says, they'll reopen in the new location around the end of the year, "first of the year, latest."

The Place at Perry's, 2911 Routh St., Dallas; 214-871-9991

Renderings by The Place at Perrys

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Daniel Vaughn, aka BBQ Snob, just published his debut column for Texas Monthly -- about a renaissance in Dallas barbecue. He singles out five places -- Smoke, Meshack's Bar-B-Que Shack, Pecan Lodge, Mama Faye's and Lockhart Smokehouse as "torch bearers." Read all about it here.

So, what do you think? Have you been to many or any of these? The Texas BBQ Posse wrote about Mama Faye's the day after it opened in September; I haven't been yet. Have you? What's your favorite place for barbecue in Dallas?

Photo of meats from Lockhart Smokehouse by Mona Reeder/Staff Photographer

Nancy Nichols breaks the story on SideDish: Chef Blythe Beck is leaving Central 214. Beck confirms it in a tweet: "Well I guess the word is out! I will be at Central 214 until September 30th and I am doing my cooking class and my 9/11 event!! Come see me!"

2009 staff file photo of Blythe Beck

Media types got a preview of what's cookin' at the Social House in Addison last night, with a long, banquet table stretched diagonally across one of the larger rooms. Described as a "supper pub" and open since late July, the place indeed feels very pubbish - heavy, dark woods prevail, but with nice, tall ceilings, and the large space broken up into smaller spaces. One cozy room even has a fireplace (nice concept - for about six months from now).

Supper pub, I think, really says it. The idea is a place where you can get a good beer (a couple dozen on tap) and eat some good, belly-filling grub (the hamburgers were amazingly large), maybe while taking in a baseball or football game.

Brian Olenjack consulted on the menu and, although there were several highlights, his signature shrimp and grits was most interesting. Using a secret cooking method (chef Michael Weissert would have to kill us if he told us how he did it), the chef gets a simultaneously nubbier and creamier texture.

Sample size of shrimp and grits in Tabasco broth

In this rough economy, more and more restaurants in an around Dallas are offering pretty cool promotions. For instance, Zanata, the Plano spot where Jamie Samford is now chef, has a "Get Sauced Sunday" deal: $25 buys you any pizza on the list, a Caesar salad and a bottle of Chianti. The 12-inch pizzas, done in the wood-burning oven, are very good, and the Caesar's pretty giant -- so that's a nice dinner for two. The 2009 Piccini Chianti, served at the right temperature and in lovely glasses, is just right. That's about $48 worth of food and drink for $25. They have other deals on other days of the week.

But obviously Zanata's not the only place offering something worthwhile. Let's hear it: What's your favorite dining deal?

Photo of Zanata's "fruit and pig" pizza by Lara Solt/Staff Photographer

June Naylor has the story on dfw.com: Celebrity chef Tim Love plans to open a groovy-sounding new place in Fort Worth -- Woodshed Smokehouse. I caught up with the chef by phone this afternoon; he was beyond excited about what he's cooking up for Woodshed, on a waterfront site off University Ave., near where the old Hoffbrau steakhouse was, if you happen to know Fort Worth restaurant history better than I do. "It's a triangle of land right on the water," he says. "It's the most beautiful setting."

What Love refers to as his "quasi-barbecue spot" will feature the smoke of four kinds of wood and a lot of wild game, and have an "ethnic, world barbecue" spin. "For a long time, I've wanted to do something that has to do with open fire," says the chef. Each day he'll be doing a different whole animal on the rotisserie -- things like goat, wild boar, pig, lamb, half-steers and whole birds. Other dishes are wood-roasted vegetables; a beef shin he rubs with cayenne then smokes for 16 hours that he'll serve with fresh ricotta, lime and tortillas and serves for four and herb-rubbed-then-brined pork shoulder that he smokes -- with a bourbon-Coke cocktail in the smoker -- for some interesting steam. He'll serve that with pickled vegetables and chile. "Kind of a banh mi effect," he says, "but very Texas."

His opening date is still very much up in the air. "Certainly before the end of October," he says.

Photo of Tim Love by Courtney Perry/Staff Photographer

Urban Crust owner Salvatore Gisellu e-mailed me more details about how he makes his Hatch chile pizza, which is his pizza of the month through August. It sounded so good that I thought I'd share what he wrote with you here. Plus, look at that last sentence. Wow.

We roast the hatch chile in the pizza oven and make a puree then spread it on the dough. Next is hand crafted mozzarella and pepper jack cheese, wood fired sirloin, bake it in the wood burning oven. When it comes out it is topped with chopped cilantro, queso fresco, and tobacco onions. I also have made an addictive dark chocolate hatch chile gelato, you've got to try it!

P.S.: Friday night, I tried to go by Dough, the newest pizzeria in town, and it was so jammed by 6:30 p.m. that the wait was more than 45 minutes. Co-owner Lori Horne said they're learning fast that Dough is in an early-dining neighborhood.

Steve Doyle has the story at Crave DFW: Coéval Studio, a design group that specializes in restaurants, plans to open Campo Modern Country Bistro in Oak Cliff. Matt McAllister, whose last steady gig was as executive chef at Stephan Pyles, will be consulting chef and oversee kitchen operations. The restaurant will be next to Jonathon's, in the space that was briefly La Carreta Argentina.

I caught up with chef McAllister and asked him about his role there -- how is this consulting/overseeing position different than being executive chef?

"The menu fully reflects my creative judgment," McAllister responded in an email, "and I will be involved in the hiring process, and well as kitchen management while I am there. However, one of my top responsibilities is hiring an chef to run the kitchen - a huge responsibility. I will assist and advise the chef, serving as a consultant."

I dropped by the new Dallas location of Dough Pizzeria Napoletana at Preston and Forest for lunch today and the place was hopping. Only a few tables were available -- I opted to sit at the "chef's table," a counter where diners can watch the staff toss dough in the air and slide the pizzas into the wood burning oven. The location's owner/partner Brad Liles was moving from table to table, chatting with customers.

I ordered the lunch special: a small salad, a small Margherita pizza and a soda for $9.95. Despite a few tiny bumps in service -- hey, it's the first day -- the experience was awesome. The vinaigrette on the salad was great and the pizza was light and fresh with a crackly crust. I'm looking forward to going back to try the famous Pork Love pizza.

Have you been to Dough, either here or in San Antonio? Tell us about it!

Saint Ann Restaurant and Bar, which opened last fall in Uptown next to Saint Ann Court office tower, has a new chef: Chad Starling. He took over the kitchen about two weeks ago, says Saint Ann's marketing person, Nikki Engstrom. Starling comes to Saint Ann via Chicago, where he was chef at Aria.

When I dined at Saint Ann a while back, I wasn't exactly bowled over by the food, and I found the menu a little dull. Final touches are still being put on Starling's new menu, but Engstrom was kind enough to give me a peek, and it looks decidedly more interesting than the old menu. Dinner starters might include a young coconut soup with olive-oil-poached shrimp and cilantro, chorizo-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon with a roasted tomato-piquillo pepper sauce or crispy rock shrimp with celery root slaw, chile aioli and blue cheese fondue. Large plates run from house-made ricotta gnocchi with favas, wild mushrooms and arugula to seared golden trout with roasted corn and beet succotash and applewood smoked bacon.

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Here's an exciting addition to the thriving Dallas pizza scene: Dough Pizzeria Napoletana soft-opened on Saturday (as reported on SideDish over the weekend), and its official opening will be tomorrow for lunch. I just caught up on the phone with Lori Horn, who owns Dough with her husband Doug Horn. The menu will be the same as their original San Antonio pizzeria of the same name, she told me, Like the original store, the new Dallas outpost has a mozzarella bar, but this one will be bigger. Lori is particularly excited about that. "It's similar to a sushi bar," she said; the cooks will say, "Hey, check this out -- try this!" Also, unlike their San Antonio spot, the Dallas restaurant -- in the Preston Forest shopping center -- has a full bar.

Dough opens at 11 a.m. and will stay open "until the fresh mozzarella runs out" -- about 9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, says Horn and about 10 p.m Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday.

Dough Pizzeria Napoletana, 11909 Preston Road (northwest corner of Forest), Dallas; 972-788-4600; www.doughpizzeria.com

Have you seen "The Help"? I haven't yet, but apparently people are leaving the theater hungry for fried chicken and other Southern delights. I just got a call from the Gene and Julie Show -- Gene and Julie were wondering where I like to go for Southern food. That'll be the subject of a segment on their morning show on 103.7 Lite FM on Monday morning at 8:20 -- tune in!

Of course I pointed them to our Best in DFW: Southern and Texan Restaurants story. I didn't mention Rick's Chophouse -- which used to have amazing fried chicken -- because chef Paul Petersen left and I haven't been back to check it out. Nor have I been to Mary's Southern Cuisine and Entertainment yet -- have you? What's your favorite place for fried chicken?

File photo of the Screen Door's fried chicken and mac 'n' cheese

I'm just back from summer vacation -- with stops in rural New England, New York City, the Hamptons and L.A.-- and thought I'd share a few highlights.

My biggest take-away was this: I had pizza at the NYC spot many consider to have the best pizza in the East -- Motorino in the East Village. And you know what? It was excellent, but I like Dallas' own Cane Rosso's better. More on that after the jump.

Also in Manhattan, I swooned over the rotisserie duck at Momofuku Ssam Bar. You can't quite see it in the photo, but tucked under that incredibly flavorful, tender sliced duck breast with fabulous crisp skin (they roast them in view of the counter to a deep mahogany color) is some meltingly tender, also incredibly flavorful leg and thigh meat, confit-ish in texture but not as salty as confit. It's served over rice, and I paid $1 extra for lettuce leaves and another $2 for chive pancakes (which were a little congealed). I rolled some duck meat into a lettuce leaf, along with "duck scallion" sauce, fried shallots and hoisin. This was scary good. Duck dumpling soup and a duck sandwich (with kind of a Cuban sandwich aesthetic) were fab too.

In Brooklyn, I had a terrific dandelion-radish salad with anchovies at Prime Meats, along with a really good burger that set me back $16. (Sheesh! New York has gotten crazy expensive.) I'm going to attempt to recreate that dandelion salad for lunch; will report back.

Dogged by the compulsion to experience the grilled tenderloin bun one more time, I lined up at Pho Colonial about 11:40 a.m. yesterday with the opening day crowd. In contrast to the leisurely media-day lunch, the place was packed.

It became immediately clear that some adjustments would have to be made vis-a-vis traffic flow, instructions (not everyone knew to pick up their own silverware), the flow of food from the kitchen. And what had seemed so spacious and roomy the day before was positively cramped when filled to the brim with people.

But you expect some bumps in the first few days, and weeks even. Probably the best advice I could give is to hang back a few days before you check it out.

Pho Colonial held a training lunch today to introduce media and friends to the new downtown location. I'm afraid I forgot to take a photo of my Grilled Lemongrass Beef Bun before I'd already tucked into it.

The dish is artfully arranged in little piles - the beef, chopped peanuts, the chopped cucumber and mung bean sprouts, the pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, green onions - over chopped green leaf lettuce and rice vermicelli noodles. You douse the whole thing with nuoc mam dressing, which is sort of a diluted nuoc mam (fish sauce).

It was fresh and wonderful, as were the housemade shrimp-and-pork dumplings. For cool relief from the parching heat, the cucumber-limeade was as refreshing as it gets, with tiny nubs of cucumber and lime (including the skin) mixed in.

Read on for the location and walk-up window feature.

Pho Colonial's Grilled Lemongrass Beef Bun

Hello Eats people. It's me again. Just wanted to let you know that Leslie Brenner also has a new Table Talk column this week in which she shares her experience with an heirloom cherry tomato and celery salad at the Pyramid Restaurant. Also, here are some Juicy Bites of restaurant news.

Man, I love me some tomatoes. Had one on my grilled-cheese sandwich yesterday even. How do you like to eat your tomatoes? Or TO-MAH-TOES?

Photo of the mentioned salad taken by staff photographer G.J. McCarthy

Eater Dallas launched today -- on a busy news day in the food blogosphere. Andrea Grimes is the editor. Hallelujah! -- another fun blog to bookmark and check in on whenever I don't feel like focusing on work. I'm already loving the links.

Congratulations to Andrea on her new gig, and we look forward to being kept entertained (and distracted)!

Deadlines have keep me a little swamped today, so haven't had a chance to mention the fire that broke out last night at in the kitchen at Nosh, during a Hell's Kitchen viewing party. You can read all about it on Side Dish and on