This Week in Gluttony

Tastemaker Awards headline the best food and drink events in Dallas

There are plenty of food events happening around town this week, and they are more interesting than your average beer or wine dinner. For example, you could swing by our Tastemaker Awards on Tuesday, as we honor the top talent in the local restaurant community.

So go ahead. Pick your poison:

Monday, May 5

The following restaurants are beckoning you with Cinco de Mayo specials:

Abuelo’s. Dos Equis draft beers for $2.50 and Mexican flag margaritas for $5.95.
Campuzano Mexican Food. Complimentary appetizer with drinks.
Cubiertos. Puebla margarita for $5 with melon, lime and pomegranate, plus menu specials such as $5 shrimp and pineapple salad and $23 chiles en Nogada.
On the Border. Special Cinco de Mayo drinks, including Angry Orchard Hard Cider blended with sweet and sour, topped with a shot of cinnamon whiskey on the rocks, plus frozen margaritas in mango, strawberry or wild berry.
Blue Goose. All-day happy hour includes $1 off liquors, $2.25 domestics, $3.25 premium beers, $3 top shelf frozen margaritas.
Mattito's Tex-Mex. Festivities include live band, Bob Armstrong queso-eating contest, mechanical bull rides, tequila tastings, games and prizes, and drinks specials.
Chuy's. Happy hour all day includes margaritas served in a commemorative cup, plus free fully loaded Nacho Car from 4-7 pm.

Tuesday, May 6

CultureMap Tastemaker Awards
We are proud to launch the Tastemaker Awards in Dallas, our annual tribute to the talent in the local restaurant community, with a kickass party in the Design District. From 6-9 pm, foodies can indulge in fine food and killer cocktails while toasting the winners in 10 categories, from Best Rising Star Chef to Best New Restaurant. You can also expect the famous CultureMap swag and other party tricks. Proceeds benefit Carry The Load and North Texas Food Bank. Tickets are $45 and include food, three premium drinks and valet. There are limited tickets at the door, so secure your spot online.

Herman Marshall Whiskey Dinner at Bone Daddy's Grapevine
Killer barbecue and Texas whiskey will come together for the Herman Marshall Whiskey four course dinner including bacon wrapped chicken jalapeno, chopped salad, 12 oz. bone-in pork chop topped with a Herman Marshal Bourbon Gravy with granny smith baked cinnamon apples and garlic mashed potatoes and housemade bread pudding with Herman Marshall Whiskey sauce. Seats are $50 per person, and reservations can be made by calling 817-251-0835.

Wednesday, May 7

Larry McMurtry Texas-themed dinner at the Dallas Museum of Art
Author Larry McMurtry discusses The Last Kind Words Saloon, his first novel in five years, with author/collaborator Diana Ossana. During the event, the DMA cafe is serving a Texas-themed three course dinner inspired by Texas settings in McMurtry's fiction. Dishes include Green Valley Farm’s snow pea shoot salad or roasted corn and poblano chowder, jalapeno and bacon stuffed free range chicken breast or spiced and braised beef brisket, and Dude Sweet Chocolate semi-sweet chocolate tart or pecan pie with soured cream. Dinner is $22, and you can purchase live simulcast tickets online.

Thursday, May 8

Taco Talk with José R. Ralat at Four Corners Brewing Company
From 6-9 pm, Slow Food Dallas presents a talk and taco fest with José R. Ralat, who starts with the taco's humble Mexican beginnings and ends with its place in Dallas food culture today. Admission includes the talk plus two tacos: one al pastor and one fried potato. Beer is available for sale before, during and after the presentation. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.

Humane Hearts Hoedown at The Southwestern
The Humane League honors Rip Esselstyn, author of the bestselling book The Engine 2 Diet, with its first Humane Hero award. Join the nonprofit for a vegan buffet, including "chickn" and waffles. VIP cocktail hour starts at 6:30 pm; party follows at 7:30. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online.

Saturday, May 10

5th Annual Boil for the Brave Crawfish Boil at The Foundry
Hosted by the Rosedale Group, the annual Boil for the Brave Crawfish Boil raises funds for the construction and renovation of veterans' homes in the Dallas community. Guests can indulge in unlimited crawfish, potatoes and corn, as well as beer provided by Andrews Distributing. Tickets are free to U.S. military veterans and $25 to all other attendees and can be purchased online. Fun starts at 1 pm.

Author Larry McMurtry discusses The Last Kind Words Saloon at the DMA on May 7.

NorrisPatrick.com

Author Larry McMurtry discusses The Last Kind Words Saloon at the DMA on May 7.

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Downtown News

Vintage downtown Dallas building to become lounge with stellar drinks

Brian Van Flandern

Cocktail by Brian Van Flandern

A vintage building in downtown Dallas is getting a new lease on life: Located at 1519 Main St., the space will become a spectacular new lounge and event space called 1519 Main, and it's from Hospitality Alliance, the company led by restaurant wunderkind Kevin Lillis, who helped create the original AT&T Discovery District downtown.

1519 is situated in the thick of the Central Business District, across the street from the Joule Dallas hotel and in the same stretch as The Eye sculpture and the Forty Five Ten boutique.

The building is unusual because it's a two-story space, which might be a challenge for most potential tenants. But Lillis had the ideal scenario.

"I fell in love with the building," he says. "It had so many original features like the rose-and-cream marble floors from the 1920s. I could immediately see a sophisticated lounge on the first floor. It became viable because I have a friend who was looking for office space, so we're partnering on it, and he's leasing the second floor."

1519 will boast a cosmopolitan, low-key atmosphere, with ultra high-end cocktails from acclaimed mixologist Brian Van Flandern, a food TV regular (Bar Rescue, Barefoot Contessa), author, and consultant who created the renowned cocktail program at the Palm Court at The Plaza Hotel in New York, where he and Lillis both worked.

"Brian had done the Plaza Hotel and has a taste for a concept like this, with sophisticated cocktails and 3-Michelin-star service that will match the beautiful space," Lillis says.

1519 Main St. downtown Dallas Courtesy

Hospitality Alliance beverage director Angela Montesclaros will be a partner, as well.

The project has been in the works for two years, requiring a special use permit, plus the typical delays in dealing with the city (a scenario that is supposedly going to improve!). They also needed to reassure their neighbors, including the St. Jude Chapel next door, that their impact on the area would be low-key.

Dallas County Appraisal District puts the building's date of birth at 1928 — although the building's current co-owner Scott Remphrey, CEO of The Brytar Companies, says he's not sure that's correct.

Brytar acquired the building from an oil and gas company. Prior to that, it was occupied by Bank of America, with offices and a conference room on the second floor with a glass wall overlooking Main Street.

But here's a fun fact: In its earliest pre-Depression-era days, it was home to a Planters Peanut Shop, which eventually moved to Elm Street.

"Some of the brick walls have original painted advertising from the early 1900's that were retained," Remphrey says. "They were advertisements on the exterior walls, which became interior walls of the building when the Planters store was open in the 20's."

That will definitely all stay.

"We're not doing much with the walls or the floors, other than trying to make sure we minimize any damage," Lillis says. "The goal is to retain as much of the original features as possible."

Lillis is currently overseeing the hospitality programs at Victory Park as well as Toyota Music Factory, where they've only just opened a number of restaurant concepts including Jaxon, a modern Texan Restaurant; Pistil, a cocktail lounge; and Shoals Smokehouse, a BBQ restaurant.

1519, which is slated to open in late spring, is on a smaller scale, and that's part of the appeal.

"This is a concept where I can be extremely focused," he says. "At our other Hospitality Alliance projects, we have to be different things to different guests at different times of the week — convention, concert-goers, local residents, office tenants, etc."

"Here we are being only one thing: a high end cocktail den with no compromises," he says. "We aren't trying to please everyone — we are trying to be great at one thing, for a guest looking for that experience."

cocktails downtown nightlife openings

This Week in Gluttony

Tastemaker Awards headline the best food and drink events in Dallas

Author Larry McMurtry discusses The Last Kind Words Saloon at the DMA on May 7.

Downtown News

Vintage downtown Dallas building to become lounge with stellar drinks

Acclaimed Dallas burger joint's big move leads this week's top stories

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