EATS

Starting today, members of Les Dames d'Escoffier International will hit Dallas for their annual conference.
Les Dames is a group for women in the food and wine biz. If you're a Dallas foodie, you probably know a Dame. Cheesemaker Paula Lambert is a member, as is Blue Mesa Grill owner Liz Baron and York Street chef-owner Sharon Hage. I'm a member too, so I'll be making the rounds with the rest of the group.
So what do a bunch of food types do in Dallas? Turns out, the same things the rest of us do. Today, early arrivals will hit the State Fair of Texas; on Friday, it's the museums in Fort Worth, with a demonstration by chuck wagon cook Tom Perini thrown in. Then, of course, shopping and popovers at Neiman Marcus.
Saturday is reserved for more serious subjects, like a comparison of grass-fed and grain-fed beef. The conference wraps Saturday night with the eight-course Grande Dame dinner at the Hotel Crescent Court, prepared by Dames and members of the World Master Chef Society.
Sample course: Lamb Loin Wrapped with Mushroom Farce and Beet Demi Glace with Truffle Whipped Potatoes, by chefs Patrick Mitchell and Lori Short Finkelman.
OK, maybe it's not your average weekend in Dallas.

Peanut patties. You either love them or you don't. Would you change your mind if they came in another flavor? (What is the "flavor" of a peanut patty, anyway?) Check out these peanut patties in a range of flavors. The neon darlings, for sale at the State Fair of Texas, are from Arlington-based Texas Authentic.

What a wonderful sight at the State Fair: a wine pavilion (back side of the Cotton Bowl) complete with tastings from select local wineries. It was a great opportunity to taste CrossRoads Winery's CSM, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah and mourvedre, poured by winemaker John Otis.

Back in April, wine writer Wes Marshall mentioned how good this Frisco winery's red blend was, and I have to agree: It made for a rich, ripe, round mouthful with soft tannins, good on its own or ready for red meat, like braised lamb. Check it out: 4 tickets for a 2-ounce taste.

It's about time the fair recognized Texas' growing wine industry, the same way you can get a heads-up on Texas food products in the Food & Fiber Pavilion. Very cool to see that Aye Chihuahua! has added rubs to its barbecue sauce line. Personally, this is where I buy stocking stuffers for Christmas, like salt-water taffy, flavored pecans and jerky (Dr Pepper flavor this year).

Heading to the fair this weekend? Figure out how to spend those coupons now.

First, check out our State Fair food review, which features Restaurant Critic Bill Addison's on-the-spot audio reviews and Evans Caglage's photos.

Another planning tool is the BigTex.com food locator, which allows users to search for food by cuisine type, restaurant name or keyword.

If you're headed to the Texas-OU game on Saturday, swing by the Mrs. Baird's Ultimate Grill for a free hot dog. This behemoth, said to be the largest grill in the world, is 55 feet long and can cook 500 hamburgers or 1,000 hot dogs at a time. It will be fired up from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. by the Cotton Bowl and the Administration Building at the State Fair of Texas.

On Monday, photographer Evans Caglage and I accompanied Restaurant Critic Bill Addison to his first State Fair of Texas (and I still have the sunburn to prove it). We chowed our way through the food booths, trying the old favorites and this year's crop of fried foods. It was a tough job, but as they say, somebody's gotta do it.

Was the award-winning Deep Fried Latte worth almost a sheet of coupons? Should the Fletcher's corny dog be an obligatory part of every fair visit? Find out in our State Fair food review, which features Bill's on-the-spot reviews and Evans' photos (I did the techie stuff and provided the occasional giggle).

Now tell us: What are your favorite foods? What was the biggest disappointment? What's the best new food?

If you needed one more reason to visit the State Fair of Texas this weekend, here it is.

On Sunday at 1 p.m., "the world's finest competitive speed eaters" [we quote the press release] will hit the Fair's Chevrolet Main Stage for the Waffle House World Waffle Eating Championship.

It'll be 10 minutes of all-you-can-eat waffle-mania, with gustatory stars like No. 1 seed Joey Chestnut (who ate 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes on July 4th); No. 3, Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, a dessert-guzzling specialist who recently beat Joey in a pork-rib-eating contest; and No. 26, Brad "Old School" Sciullo, a chef who can drink a gallon of milk in 26 seconds. Let us not forget local fave Walker "Texas Ranger" Duke, a waffle specialist from Dallas.

Imagine the scene that's likely to ensue. How waffle is that?

Many tasty Texas treats were on offer at Thursday night's preview party at the Food and Fiber Pavilion at the State Fair of Texas. Why, then, did I end the evening eating dog food?

Bark for Peace, based in Austin (where else?), offers "100% human-grade" dog treats. The idea is to take a snack break with your dog.

Ever the curious reporter, I agreed to nibble a patch of sweet potato jerky. It tasted like nicely seasoned, not-too-sweet fruit leather. Not that I like fruit leather all that much. I drew the line at the bone-shaped biscuit.

Bark For Peace treats are sold mostly in Austin, but look for them at the Texas Department of Agriculture shop in the Food & Fiber Pavilion during the fair.

You might think of the State Fair as being more of a biergarten kind of place -- but lovers of the grape will also have a place to gather during October, which is Texas Wine Month.

The State Fair of Texas Wine Garden will let fairgoers explore the world of Lone Star winemakers. The state has 135 wineries and 210 commercial vineyards in operation, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture, which is presenting the wine garden with sponsorship by Kroger.

There will be scheduled tastings throughout the Fair, which starts today and goes through Oct. 21. Experts will answer questions and conduct "Wine 101" classes for those who want to learn more.

You can find the Texas Wine Garden on Nimitz Drive, across the street from the Creative Arts Building.

If you're a fair food fanatic, you're already counting the minutes till the gates open. No doubt you've read all about the new fried foods in stories such as "State Fair's newest deep-fried foods have taste for creativity" and ogled the pics of these fried Fair food finalists. Perhaps you've already stocked up on Handi Wipes and Rolaids. But here's another way to get ready for the big day: the BigTex.com food locator.

This tool allows users to search for food by cuisine type, restaurant name or keyword. Make your selection, click "search" and a page opens with a map plotting all your results with a list of those vendors and a chart of their menu items. You can print the map, the list or both.

"Fried" is not a cuisine type, but if you type it into keyword search, you'll get a list of nearly four dozen vendors. The "fried" menu items will even be highlighted for easy picking. Fried bread pudding? Fried guacamole? Fried strawberries? You may not understand why these things are fried, but you will know who's selling them and where their booth is located.

Fried cookie dough? Fried Chili Frito Burrito? These are just some of the new fried items at this year's State Fair of Texas. This weekend, they'll vie for the Big Tex Choice Award. Read more about fair food here in a story by Katie Menzer.

The fair opens Sept. 28.

Over on the Metro "Bold Types" blog, they're already salivating over the incredible edibles coming to this month's Minnesota State Fair -- including such wonders as "Sloppy Joe on a Stick" and "Corned Beef and Cabbage On a Stick." Will the State Fair of Texas be able to compete?