Season Announcement

Kitchen Dog Theater spans Dallas to ancient Rome in 2021-22 season

Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus on Broadway

Nathan Lane starred in the Broadway production of Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus.

Photo by Julieta Cervantes

Two world premieres and a celebration of previous New Works stand-outs highlight Kitchen Dog Theater's 2021-22 season, which will be staged at the Trinity River Arts Center.

First up is a show that was originally scheduled for last season but, well, coronavirus and all. It's the world premiere of Good Latimer by Angela Hanks, a Brooklyn-based playwright who was raised in Dallas. Directed by KDT co-artistic director Christopher Carlos, the play follows Dallasites Ravinia and Good as they reach a crossroad in their 35-year relationship.

Ravinia has had a sudden epiphany: she is no longer in love with Good. And Good? Far from accepting his fate, he is determined to win her back, even if it means overcoming a sky that rains armadillos, a rare North Texas earthquake, and Dallas' maddeningly ever-evolving landscape. It runs October 7-24, 2021.

Next up is the regional premiere of a recent Broadway hit: Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus by Taylor Mac. KDT artistic company member Tim Johnson directs the comedy, which is set just after the blood-soaked conclusion of William Shakespeare’s first — and goriest — tragedy.

During the fall of the Roman Empire, the years of bloody battle are over. The civil war has ended. The country has been stolen by madmen, and there are casualties everywhere. And two very lowly servants are charged with cleaning up the bodies. It’s the year 400 AD, but it feels like the end of the world. It runs February 17-March 6, 2022.

For its 24th annual New Works Festival, Kitchen Dog has made a killer "mix tape" of festivals past, complete with commissions, staged readings of the hottest new plays around, and the 21st anniversary of DPAC PUP Fest. The events include:

2022 NWF Mainstage world premiere of High Five, directed by KDT co-artistic director Tina Parker. This evening of five short plays that will each shine a spotlight on one of the five senses: taste, touch, vision, hearing, and smell. It runs June 9-26, 2022.

The 2022 NWF Staged Reading Series will take place in June 2022, featuring exciting new plays selected from four of the past NWF top-ranked playwrights from DFW and beyond. In addition, the Staged Reading Series will include a commissioned new play by a Kitchen Dog Theater artistic company member.

The DPAC PUP (Playwrights Under Progress) Fest is also in June 2022, showcasing six staged readings of jury-selected plays by DFW high school students with student actors and professional directors. PUP Fest is the culminating event of Dallas Playwriting Arts Collective (D-PAC), a partnership with Junior Players and Dallas ISD.

A KDT season subscription is $60 for adults and $45 for students/seniors (65-plus). This includes three mainstage productions and all the annual New Works Festival events. Visit kitchendogtheater.org or call 214-953-1055 to purchase.

KDT will also offer a streaming option for all three mainstage performances, for those who are uncomfortable returning to in-person events.

theater

Chef news

3 Dallas restaurants appoint new chefs, while another chef gets on TV

Photo via Houston Culinary Awards

This is called a toque. While many chefs no longer wear them, it's still symbolic.

It's a big week for big chef news in the Dallas restaurant world.

Three high-profile restaurants have made major new chef appointments. There's also a celebrity Dallas chef who will appear on TV this week.

Here's all the Dallas chef news you need to know:

Adolphus Hotel
Chef Rolf J. Weithofer has been appointed Executive Chef of culinary operations at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas, where he'll oversee restaurant, bar, and catering including Rodeo Bar, City Hall Bistro, Otto’s, in-room dining, and banquets. (The hotel's acclaimed French Room has still not fully reopened post-pandemic, although it is open for tea Wednesday-Sunday, 11 am-3 pm.)

Weithofer has 22-plus years of experience, most recently as Executive Chef at Stone Harbor Golf Club in New Jersey, where he led two restaurants and banquets. Prior to that, he worked at restaurants and hotels in New York, Maui, Germany, Japan, Los Angeles, Venezuela, Miami, and Puerto Rico, including Maxim’s de Paris in New York. Weithofer has also racked up awards including a Gold Medal in the Culinary Olympics.

Ocean Prime Dallas
Charlie Tkacik has been appointed Executive Chef at Ocean Prime Dallas, the upscale seafood and steakhouse from Cameron Mitchell Restaurant (CMR) which opened in Uptown in 2009.

Tkacik was born in Rhode Island and the Northeast is his major influence, particularly in preparation of seafood such as the restaurant's Texas redfish. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University in North Miami, he interned at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York, and has more than a decade of experience at upscale restaurants across New England, including a four-year stint at the iconic Boston Grill 23 & Bar. He joined Cameron Mitchell Restaurant several years ago and was most recently Executive Sous Chef at Ocean Prime Boston.

Mexican Test Kitchen
Matt McCallister is executive chef at Mexican Test Kitchen, a new pop-up restaurant at the West Village in Dallas from Local Favorite Restaurants, the group from restaurateur Mike Karns that also encompasses El Fenix, Snuffer's, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Tulum, Village Burger Bar, Jalisco Norte, and Twisted Root. Mexican Test Kitchen took over the former Honest Taco space and is an interim concept to be replaced by a new restaurant in the fall. McCallister is now working with Local Favorite Restaurants full time.

A native of Scottsdale, Arizona, McCallister began his Dallas career at Stephan Pyles, where he served as executive chef and had his own tasting room. In 2012, he opened FT33 in the Dallas Design District, which earned accolades locally and nationally in magazines such as Bon Appétit and Food & Wine. In 2019, he opened Homewood on Oak Lawn Avenue which had its own on-site garden. The restaurant made Texas Monthly's Best New Restaurant list in 2020, and Best New Restaurant in CultureMap's 2020 Tastemaker Awards.

Fox TV MasterChef
Tiffany Derry joins Fox TV series MasterChef as a guest judge, appearing on an episode on Wednesday, June 14, airing at 8 pm.

Derry, who owns Roots Southern Table, appears on United Tastes of America in an episode called "Regional Auditions - The South." Contestants have 45 minutes to prepare a dish that will secure them one of five remaining spots in the top 20. The show is hosted by Gordon Ramsay, with judges Aarón Sánchez and Joe Bastianich. Derry will be the week's Guest Judge.

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