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Chef News
French Room at Adolphus in downtown Dallas revives dinner with big-name chefs
Sep 27, 2022 | 12:03 pm
Photo courtesy of the Adolphus
People have been clamoring to get back in.
A downtown Dallas hotel eatery is easing back to life: After a two-year hiatus, The French Room, the legendary restaurant at the Adolphus hotel, is taking the first steps towards reopening for dinner with a limited dinner series featuring guest chefs.
According to a release, the series will take place on select days in October, November, and January, and represents a return to dinner hours for the restaurant, whose dinner service has been closed since the pandemic.
The restaurant did bring back its High Tea service in 2021, served Wednesday-Sunday from 11 am-3 pm. The hotel also has two other dining options on-site: City Hall Bistro and Rodeo Bar.
But as Nik Katz, their general manager of food & beverage, observes, there is nothing quite like dinner at the French Room.
"An evening at The French Room has historically been a coveted experience, with countless special dinners and milestone moments taking place within the ornate dining room," Katz says in a statement. "The amount of guest requests we continually receive for dinner service at The French Room is overwhelming, so we are thrilled to offer an opportunity for guests to join us for a one-of-a-kind experience."
The series will launch in October when the French Room welcomes Chef Laurent Quenoix for six nights: October 13-15 and October 19-21.
Originally from Sologne, France, Chef Laurent is the owner and Executive Chef of Bistro LQ in downtown L.A., where he's hailed as one of the city's best French chefs.
Beyond the accolades, Quenoix previously worked with Chef Charles Olalia, Culinary Director for Makeready, the management company for The Adolphus.
His menu will comprise four courses plus dessert — so really, it's five courses — with optional wine pairings for an extra fee, and is $125. The menu includes:
- First Course Chanterelles foie torchon, roasted quince pomegranate, pecan praline
- Second Course Spiny lobster watercress, kaffir, spicy Chinese relish
- Third Course Dover sole chestnut and sweet potato mousse, parmesan viennoise, “Alex Humbert”, scallop “salpicon”
- Fourth Course Devil gulch ranch pigeon scented cumin date pure, almond and mint pesto, salmis reduction, confit legs and liver spread
- Dessert Tcho chocolate “marjolaine”, Texas pecans, sweet corn mousse, corn glace
Reservations for the ‘Be Our Guest Chef Series’ are limited and can be made on Resy.
Additional chef collaborations and dates for the series will be released in the upcoming weeks.
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Voter Bees
Texas-based Bumble reactivates 'Voter' badge ahead of midterm elections
Sep 27, 2022 | 9:33 am
Photo courtesy of Bumble
Bumble is adding a "Voter" badge for users who commit to vote in the upcoming race.
Whether your style is dating other passionate voters or convincing unregistered citizens to sign up with your charm and good looks, Bumble just set a target for you. To make sure the midterm elections are getting as much attention as possible, the Texas-based dating app is adding a “Voter” Badge for users who commit to vote in the upcoming race.
“We hope this will lead to interesting, impassioned, and civil conversations,” says a press release by Bumble celebrating National Voter Registration Day in partnership with I Am A Voter. The Austin-based company adds that it’s supporting an existing user behavior. “We found that last year, those on Bumble within the United States selected Filters such as ‘Dating Intentions,’ ‘Politics,’ ‘Religion,’ and ‘Family Plans’ most widely on the app to prioritize finding a partner with shared values and intentions.”
Voters already have a year-round way to show their vigor on their Bumble profile, in the “interests” section, which also adds badges ranging from activism to hobbies and favorite things. In this case, the existing “Voting Rights” Badge implies a viewpoint in current discussions about voting practices — great for those who are really informed, but some users who are excited to vote may not feel equipped to discuss those systems in detail. The registration badge keeps it simple; either you are registered to vote, or you are not. Users will see a "profile" while swiping that will allow them to add the badge.
This badge is not new to the Bumble user interface. In 2016, the dating app rolled out a feature to declare support (and apathy) for one party or another via a temporary sticker, followed by an “I am a voter” Badge in 2018 that went mostly unpublicized, although OkCupid got a little more attention with its own nearly identical feature in 2020, perhaps because of the more hotly contested race.
Some activist groups have used dating apps for similar purposes even without the handy feature, sending members out with messages on their profile inviting other users to match for information or encouragement. On a more self-preserving level, it’s not uncommon to come across an earnest profile encouraging potential matches to swipe left (eliminate themselves from consideration) if they voted for a particular candidate. With the use of a Badge, users can filter preferences through the system, saving a lot of time reading potentially annoying declarations or matching with someone who didn't think to bring it up.
Similar news almost always creates some level of moral panic in news stories, urging young daters to look past their political biases. But political values affect everything from how to raise kids to how to make them — or not. Joan from accounting is probably willing to expound on her differing political views, if you’d rather come home and debate something simpler, like whose favorite show goes on tonight.
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Flipper News
Dallas man allegedly scammed $26M from Chinese real estate investors
Sep 26, 2022 | 5:32 pm
He used funds from one investor to pay another.
A Dallas-area man has been charged for allegedly scamming Chinese investors out of more than $26 million in a real estate scheme.
According to a release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham, Timothy Lynch Barton, the 59-year-old president of real estate development firm JMJ and CEO of real estate investment firm Carnegie Development, has been indicted on seven counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
Barton made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge David L. Horan on September 26; he was arrested on September 20.
If convicted, Barton faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud, up to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and up to 20 years in federal prison for securities fraud.
He is also the subject of a parallel civil action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the indictment, Barton allegedly traveled to Hangzhou, China to pitch so-called real estate investment opportunities in Texas to Chinese investors.
His presentations included his supposed ties to U.S. politicians, as well as a builder, identified in documents as "S.W.", allegedly builder Steve Wall, whom he claimed would purchase the lots to build on and then sell to buyers. (You can get a glimpse of the hypnotic spell Barton surely wove, with his blue pinstripe suit, in this video posted by the DBJ.)
The properties were supposedly located in sought-after neighborhoods in Dallas Fort Worth. In reality, they consisted of hundreds of acres in Kaufman, Tarrant, Johnson, and Parker counties, and the cost was inflated by as much as 195 percent. In some instances, the properties were never actually purchased.
Investors were expected to contribute 80 percent of the funds necessary for the project. Barton said that he and others would contribute the remaining 20 percent, and claimed he wouldn't be taking a commission.
The payout consisted of annual interest payments for two years, followed by the return of their initial investment at the end of the second year.
For interest payments, Barton allegedly deployed the pyramid scheme routine, making interest payments to early investors with investor funds from later projects.
Despite his claim that no commission would be drawn, Barton allegedly drew commissions out of investors’ funds.
He also funneled money into unrelated projects; used it to pay consultants; and even paid an unrelated AmEx bill.
In 2020, several Chinese investors tried to force JMJ, Barton's company, into Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would have led to its liquidation and the investors possibly getting some money back. But in early September 2022, JMJ filed for Chapter 11, allowing the company to continue operations without liquidating their assets.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Renee Hunter is prosecuting the case.
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