This Week in Gluttony

These are the 10 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

This week has just about everything you could want from a food event standpoint: a beer brunch (and dinner), a wine walk, a crawfish boil, the reopening of a revered sushi spot, cupcakes for a cause — even a taco festival. (Should we keep going?) When there's this much food goodness happening, you know it's going to be a good week.

Tuesday, April 25

The Bruery and Funkwerks Pairdiné at Meddlesome Moth
Chef Robbie Lewis pairs five courses with 10 beers from these two craft breweries. Special guest hosts are Bruery head sour brewer Jeremy “Sour Jesus” Grinkey and Funkwerks’ head brewmaster Gordon Schuck. Tickets are $85, and the evening kicks off at 6:30 pm.

Wednesday, April 26

Dallas Observer Iron Fork at Centennial Hall
During this chef challenge moderated by restaurateur Kent Rathbun, two top chefs receive a basket of ingredients and go head to head for the prestigious Iron Fork award. During the event, attendees enjoy the chef challenge; tastings from local restaurants; and wine, beer, and cocktail samplings. Tickets start at $35, and the event starts at 7 pm.

Thursday, April 27

Grand Reopening Party at Steel Restaurant & Lounge
This party celebrates Steel's remodeled interior and new menu items created by Steel’s executive chef, Tysun Thomas. Steel is providing sushi bites, a hosted bar, live DJ performance, raffles, photo booth, and more for all the attendees. Admission is free and the party kicks off at 6 pm.

Friday, April 28

Granbury Wine Walk at Granbury Square
The festivities kick off on Friday with a VIP Sip and Savor event that features an evening of hors d’oeuvre and hand-selected wines from North Texas celebrity chefs. Saturday and Sunday are full of more wine, as well as food, music, and art, while guests take in the local sights, sounds, and flavors of Granbury. Tickets start at $35, and the walk starts at 2 pm on Friday.

Saturday April 30

Crawfish Boil at Episcopal Church of the Epiphany
Partnering with the Arts Incubator of Richardson, this event features dozens of local artists showcasing and selling their art. In addition to live music and games, there is also all-you-can-eat crawfish and other food and drink for sale, like barbecue and pulled pork. Tickets are $25 and the event starts at 10 am. All proceeds from this event benefit Missions and Outreach.

Taco Libre at Dallas Farmers Market
Taquerias are coming from as far as El Paso and San Antonio for this event, with taco options ranging from authentic street style to contemporary. Tickets for the third annual taco and music festival start at $16, and the general admission gate opens at 3 pm.

Cupcakes for a Cause at University Park Methodist Church
Enjoy delicious cupcakes from bakeries all over Dallas-Fort Worth, and participate in fun activities like cupcake-eating contests, bounce houses, face painting, and more. All proceeds support LEAP Global Missions, a Dallas-based nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing and enriching the lives of people around the world by providing free specialized surgical and medical care. The fun starts at 11 am.

Breakfast at Trinity Falls
Enjoy pastries, quiche, fruit, and mimosas — then go tour a home at Trinity Falls in McKinney. The KLUV FM Street Teams will also be on hand with a live remote stream of the event, which is a part of the DFW Showcase Tour of Homes. Admission is free, and the breakfast kicks off at 11 am.

Alton Brown Live: Eat your Science at Majestic Theatre
The follow-up to the Edible Inevitable tour, fans can expect more comedy, more antics, multimedia presentations, and music. For this tour, however, Brown is adding in a slew of fresh ingredients including puppets, songs, and bigger (and more dangerous) experiments. With his knack for mixing science, music, and food, this show will be two hours of pure entertainment. Tickets start at $53, and there are showings at both 3:30 and 7:30 pm.

Jester Kings Beer Brunch at Meddlesome Moth
This four-course beer-paired brunch features Jester Kings head brewmaster Averie Swanson taking guests through each course's brew. Courses include humita Benedict, ducks in a blanket, five-spice skirt steak, and crème brûlée. Tickets are $70, and the brunch starts at 10 am.

Support LEAP Global Missions at its Cupcakes for a Cause Event at University Park Methodist Church on April 29.

Photo courtesy of LEAP Global Missions

Support LEAP Global Missions at its Cupcakes for a Cause Event at University Park Methodist Church on April 29.

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Sushi News

Frisco sushi restaurant Hinoki does a slimmed-down twist on omakase

Thanin Viriyaki

Hinoki

A new sushi restaurant has debuted in Frisco with a mini version of omakase: Called Hinoki, it's open for lunch and dinner at 8050 Preston Rd. #106, in a space previously occupied by another short-lived Asian restaurant called Imura, and is serving seafood both raw and cooked.

Hinoki is from chef Leo Kekoa, who previously worked for the acclaimed Nobu chain and who also owns the well-regarded Kinzo Sushi in north Frisco, which he opened in 2022 to bring the omakase experience to Frisco and save them a drive to Dallas.

Omakase is the dining experience in which the chef prepares a multi-course tasting menu of small bites made to order, often at a premium price. While omakase has no set number of dishes, it usually ranges from 10 to 20 courses depending on how excessive the chef/restaurant is.

Hinoki offers a concise version on the omakase experience with a more manageable six courses for $75, as well as an a la carte menu featuring sushi, hot items, and composed bentos boxes for lunch.

Hinoki sushi HinokiThanin Viriyaki

"Kinzo is my fine-dining omakase restaurant," Kekoa says. "Hinoki is designed as its more casual counterpart — still rooted in discipline and detail, but more accessible."

Kekoa created the menu but he says it’s a team effort, with two veteran chefs: Chikau "Harry" Kikuchi, who brings 25-plus years of experience to the sushi counter (he and Kekoa worked together at Nobu); and chef Sachiko Hashimoto presiding over the hot line and overseeing the preparation of Hinoki's home-style and regional Japanese dishes.

No sushi restaurant can ignore basics like the spicy tuna roll, California roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura roll, but Hinoki also has a few of distinctive rolls such as the Kumo roll with crab, avocado, and chipotle aioli, wrapped in soy paper, which has a pleasing texture that's a little more toothsome than the standard crisp seaweed wrapper.

There are creative bowls as the Sake Dashi, featuring sushi-grade raw salmon, Asian pear, crushed marcona almonds, yuzu shirodashi, and truffle oil; and hot dishes such as miso black cod, teriyaki salmon, and Kushiyaki: grilled chicken thigh, kurobuta sausage, and shishito pepper on skewers. Most items average about $20.

Kekoa calls his lunch offering "honest and efficient."

"We’re bringing back the Japanese bento [referring to the cute boxed lunch with compartments for courses], such as our chirashi bento with fish, sushi rolls, and seaweed salad," he says.

Hinoki also has a full bar with sake, wine, beer, and cocktails.

Kekoa lives in Frisco and is bullish on his hometown.

"With Universal Studios on the way and PGA nearby, I believe this city deserves a neighborhood sushi spot done right," he says. "I want Hinoki to bring fine-dining service at a price more people can enjoy."

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