This Week in Gluttony

Tacos + Beer tops the best food and drink events in Dallas

Did everyone know that October is right here? It can really sneak up on you when you’re not paying attention. That’s what my grandpa always said about October.

He said it about the Belgians too, but he was Dutch and that just comes with the territory. He hated the Belgians. Not as much as he hated October, but it was a real close second.

Anyway, this week we’ve got two pub crawls — one with bikes! — plus Oak introduces a seven-course Exquisite Dinner, and world beer expert Stephen Beaumont hosts an event at Meddlesome Moth.

Wednesday, October 2

Tacos + Beer at Urban Taco with Deep Ellum Brewing
Urban Taco teams up with Deep Ellum Brewing and Taco Trail for a beer dinner at 6:30 featuring a special Holy Mole Brew available exclusively at the dinner. Loaded with seven chiles, Abuelita Mexican chocolate, Mexican Coca-Cola, and additional secret ingredients, the Holy Mole Brew is served with the Churrnut, a churro-doughnut filled with house-made cajeta topped with chocolate abuelita. Other pairings include pork belly chicharron taco and Double Brown Stout. Tickets are $45.

Friday, October 4

Pappas Bros All-American Wine Tasting
Pappas Bros. welcomes fall with its All-American Wine Tasting beginning at 6 pm, which highlights 13 wines from New York to Texas to Washington State. The restaurant also serves seasonal hors d’oeuvre. Reservations are $55 and can be made at 214-366-2000.

Camp Bowie Fall Crawl
Rahr & Sons Brewing pairs up with Camp Bowie District for a Fall Crawl beginning at 5 pm. The three-stop crawl raises money for the beautification of the area as drinkers crawl from Oscar’s Pub to Jakes Burgers and then Baker St. Pub and Grill. The crawl is $10, which gets you a pint of Rahr, $3 refills and food specials. The first 100 guests get a commemorative pint glass.

Saturday, October 5

The Craft and Growler Bicycle Brewery Tour
Craft and Growler and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff host a bicycle brewery tour crawl beginning at 11:15 am at Main Street Garden. The event is free to attend, but the beer costs you along the way as you bike from Craft and Growler to Deep Ellum Brewing to Community Beer Co. to Four Corners Brewing and, finally, Small Brewpub. The whole circuit is around eight miles and ends around 6 pm. Cash is recommended.

Sunday, October 6

Exquisite Dinner at Oak
Executive Chef Richard Gras introduces his Exquisite Dinner series at Oak with a seven-course menu highlighting seasonal ingredients beginning at 6:30 pm with hors d’oeuvres. Plates include Maine lobster flan with sea urchin, pickled cucamelons and olive oil marmalade and crispy duck breast with duck chorizo, parsnip, beets and white chocolate. Reservations are $125 with a $50 option for wine pairings and can be made at 214-712-9700.

Monday, October 7

Stephen Beaumont Dinner at Meddlesome Moth
World beer expert Stephen Beaumont hosts a tutored beer dinner at Meddlesome Moth beginning at 6:30 pm. Beaumont is promoting his new book, The Pocket Beer Guide, which features more than 3,600 reviews of beers from around the world. The five-course dinner will featuring pairings from the Moth’s cicerone, Matt Quenette. Beaumont clearly thinks highly of Meddlesome Moth, as he named it one of the two best beer bars in the world last year. Tickets are $75 and can be ordered at 214-628-7900.

Craft and Growler takes bikers around Dallas for a five stops at breweries and brewpubs on October 5.

Photo by Teresa Gubbins

Craft and Growler takes bikers around Dallas for a five stops at breweries and brewpubs on October 5.

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Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

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