This Week In Gluttony

Downtown Dallas taco festival tops best food and drink events this week

Celebrate the first official week of summer at any of these hearty events. Options range from a sushi-making class to a first-ever taco festival. Dig in.

Tuesday, June 23

Celebrity Bartender Showdown at Snuffer’s Addison
Reality show personalities Jake Pavelka and Meghan Jones are helping to break in the new Snuffer’s Addison with a cocktail creation battle. From 6-8 pm, the two guest bartenders compete for donations to benefit their favorite local charities. Jones’ cocktail benefits the Boston Terrier Rescue of North Texas, and Pavelka’s competing on behalf of the Pat & Emmitt Smith Charities. The winning cocktail is added to Snuffer’s beverage menu for 30 days.

Wednesday, June 24

Special Flamenco Dance Performance at Sangria Mediterranean Tapas and Bar
This Knox District hot spot hosts a special performance from Ida Y Vuelta Flamenco Dance Company from 8-10 pm. There is also a special $40 menu featuring ham and chicken croquettes with riojana sauce, seafood paella with chorizo and saffron rice, and gluten-free chocolate cake with raspberry gelato. Reservations are recommended by calling 214-520-4863.

Thursday, June 25

Best of the West Party at Stampede 66
Stampede 66 and Cowboys and Indians magazine are honoring three of the 15 trailblazer chefs featured in the the current issue— Stephan Pyles, Tim Byres and Tom Perini — from 6-8 pm. Tickets are $60, and that includes brisket by Stampede 66 and dishes from Byres and Perini.

Sushi-Making Class at Whole Foods Plano
Chef Jason Campbell leads a class on how to make sushi. In addition to enjoying samples, you learn what type of rice to use, where to get the fish and how to roll it all up. Class size is limited, so get your tickets online for $35. The class starts at 6:30 pm.

Friday, June 26

Top 10 Wines of Summer Dinner at Whole Foods Park Lane
Enjoy a four-course menu paired Whole Foods’ summer wine favorites. Dishes include oysters with a champagne mignonette; panzanella salad with buffalo mozzarella; seared tri-tip steak with pearled couscous, charred zucchini and tapenade; and panna cotta with summer berries and amaretto cookies. Tickets are $30, and dinner starts at 6 pm.

Saturday, June 27

Taco Libre Festival at Main Street Garden
What more can you ask for on a Saturday than tacos, music and ice-cold beverages? Sample the goods from the finest joints in Texas, including TacoDeli, Good 2 Go Taco, Urban Taco and Chile Pepper Grill. In addition to food, drinks, and tunes from bands such as Ozomatli and Deep Blue Something, there is also some good old fashioned wrestling. Tickets start at $12. Early entry starts at 2 pm; regular entry begins at 5.

Dallas Design District Farmers Market on Hi Line Drive
At the area’s first farmers market along Hi Line, shoppers can select fresh goods from JBG Organic, order from food trucks, and buy from other fun vendors such as Steel City Pops and Joy Macarons. Also expect live music and onsite fitness demonstrations. The fun lasts from 9 am to noon.

The Best of the West party on June 25 at Stampede 66 features a mobile margarita cart serving the Modern Star Canyon Margarita.

Modern Star Canyon margarita at Stampede 66 in Dallas

Photo courtesy of Stampede 66

The Best of the West party on June 25 at Stampede 66 features a mobile margarita cart serving the Modern Star Canyon Margarita.

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RIP Murph

Dallas restaurateur Ed Murph, owner of Norma's Cafe, dies at 78

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Edward "Ed" Murph III, RIP

Dallas restaurateur Edward "Ed" L. Murph III, owner of Dallas' treasured home-cooking chain Norma's Cafe, passed away on Monday, February 23; he was 78.

A statement from the Dallas chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association called him "a respected leader and cherished member of our restaurant community" who'd served as a former GDTRA President, Texas Restaurant Association State Board Member, and was a Hall of Honor Inductee.

Murph was also the first-ever Texas recipient of the National Restaurant Association Restaurant Neighbor Award, reflecting his unwavering commitment to community service and leadership through Norma's Cafe.

"His impact on our industry and the countless lives he touched will not be forgotten," the association said. "He was truly a great man who will be greatly missed."

One of Dallas' oldest restaurants, Norma’s Cafe was originally opened in Oak Cliff in 1956 by namesake Norma Manis. Murph was a Dallas native who grew up in Oak Cliff and ate at the original location even into his days as a student at Adamson High School.

He'd been in the hospitality industry since 1970, owning a series of clubs, bars, and restaurants, including Café Cancun in the early 1980s.

When he learned Norma's was up for sale, he acquired it in 1986, seeing an opportunity to buy a restaurant that was not only a Dallas icon, but a place he enjoyed as a child. It became his legacy.

"As a kid, my parents took me [to Norma’s Cafe] to eat, and in high school it was the place to go to have French fries and a Coke, because that’s all the money you had,” Murph recalls on the restaurant's website. “It’s been around for so long that [it seems like] everybody in the world has eaten there."

Norma's is the ultimate everyman restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with signature dishes such as the “eNORMAus” chicken fried steak, fried chicken, fluffy biscuits & gravy, cornbread, and housemade "Mile-High Pies."

Murph went on to open four more locations — in Plano, Frisco, North Dallas, and Park Lane — as well as takeout operations in Garland and Fairview. Each location became a destination for its neighborhood.

He also exhibited an uncommon sense of philanthropy, stepping up with many charitable overtures during the pandemic, and continuing its epic annual tradition of serving a free turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day to those in need.

“Working people like to have breakfast and lunch,” Murph told D Magazine in a 2017 story about his passion for outfitting each location with period-era antiques that would match the profile of the food: lowkey, homestyle, and friendly.

"It gives a feeling of comfort," he said.

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