This week in gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

These beautiful macarons are arriving.

Photo courtesy of Le Reve

After a busy holiday season, restaurants are tiptoeing their way into the new year, mostly laying low, meaning week’s events are a bit out of the ordinary. There’s a Cambodian street food festival, a plant-based cooking class for kids and virtual cheese classes for adults, a farmers market sip-and-shop, and a once-monthly brewery brunch. Also, put those resolutions off for another week — there’s a new dessert bar grand opening, too.

Friday, January 7

Drink Dash at the Dallas Farmers Market
Shop and sip while toasting to 2022. Each participating Dallas Farmers Market vendor will provide participants a drink to toast the new year, from mimosas to hot apple cider. The $25 ticket includes 10 drink toasts (some with alcohol, some without), five bites, and a souvenir glass. The event will run from 5-8 pm.

Virtual Classes through Scardello Artisan Cheese
The Dallas artisan cheese shop begins a new year of virtual classes, beginning with "European Classics" from 6-7 pm January 7. Tickets are $30 per person for the virtual seminar, which covers the origins and traditions of cheesemaking throughout Europe. Future class prices vary; tickets and information are available at scardellocheese.com. Upcoming classes include:
January 13: Virtual Women and Cheese and Wine
January 14: Virtual Honey and Cheese
January 20: Virtual Cheese 101
January 21: Virtual Pickles and Cheeses
January 28: Virtual Blue Cheese and Wine

Saturday, January 8

Cambodian Street Food Market
All are invited to attend the Cambodian Buddhist Temple of Dallas’ 37th annual street food festival fundraiser, which will feature authentic tastes of Southeast Asia. Think fried bananas, skewered meats, fried prawn cakes, papaya salad, and more. Entry is free for the two-day event, and specialty food vendors will be cash only. Also expect live music and dancing. The festival will run from 10 am-10 pm Saturday and 10 am-2 pm Sunday.

Plant-Based Cooking Classes for Kids
Little ones can learn how to create simple and delicious meals and desserts using a variety of plant-based ingredients during this month-long series offered by the Lakewood Conservatory of Fine Arts. The 90-minute classes will take place on Saturdays in January (starting January 8) at 10:30 am. Kids ages 6-15 are welcome. Note that no oven or heat will be used — only basic utensils, along with blenders. The fee is $165 for a monthly membership.

La Cruda Hangover Brunch at Four Corners Brewing Co.
Held once a month the morning after the brewery’s “Viernesito” first Friday event, the taproom brunch features breakfast tacos, micheladas, and Four Corners' new “Buchalada” boozy kombucha seltzer. There’s also live DJ music and coffee for those who need it. Visit from 11 am-2 pm.

Le Rêve Gelato & Patisserie Grand Opening
Meaning “the dream” in French, Le Rêve is the name of a new European-inspired dessert, gelato and coffee bar opening its doors in the Preston Valley Shopping Center. The concept comes from Andy Pham, a recent college grad who’s been baking macarons for parties since he was 16. Visit from 11 am-10 pm to try not only the macarons, but also intricately designed French pastries, house-made gelato, and espresso.

Monday, January 10

National College Championship Game Celebration at Scout
The College Football Playoff National Championship Game will take place at 7 pm January 10, with No. 1 Alabama facing No. 3 Georgia. No matter who wins, Scout at the Statler hotel will celebrate with food and drink specials all day, leading up to the big game on big screens that night. Specials include $20 buckets of beer and a Brew & Bowl package for $125 (bowling lane for up to four bowlers for two hours, two buckets of beer, and 20 wings). Happy hour pricing will be in effect all day, including $4 wells, pints, and select wines by the glass; and $19.56 pitchers of beer.

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More Guy

Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives is taping in Dallas this week

Guy Fieri/ Instagram

Guy Fieri at a previous DD&D taping.

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri is coming to Dallas this week as part of a meet-and-greet, in support of Santo Spirits, a liquor brand he does in partnership with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sammy Hagar.

But Fieri has not come alone: The Food Network star is also filming future episodes of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

According to a source that requested anonymity, the perennially popular TV show currently has two crews in town, who began recording segments at restaurants around Dallas on December 4. The taping will continue through December 6.

The restaurants — there are six — have all signed nondisclosure agreements, and the tapings themselves are buttoned down tight. And a spokesperson for Food Network said they have no news to share.

So no one is willing to go on the record about DD&D being in town.

However, that does not stop an observant diner from noting abrupt closures of their favorite restaurants — blamed on perfectly-reasonable-sounding excuses such as "plumbing issues" and/or "routine maintenance."

There have also been loose-lipped employees bursting with pride who've been unable to resist sharing the news.

So far, restaurants that have been observed enacting sudden closures such as this include at least two barbecue joints, one of which is a chain: Soulman's Bar-B-Que, founded in 1974 in in Pleasant Grove; and Slow Bone, the acclaimed barbecue restaurant from beloved chef Jeffery Hobbs.

Barbecue is one of the most popular cuisines featured on Diners Drive-ins, and Dives, along with restaurants that specialize in quirky over-the-top dishes. The show favors independently-owned restaurants that offer a good bargain, and that also have "legs" — places that have been open for a minimum of two years and display the ability to handle the business side of ownership, since the show does not want to recommend a place only to have it close.

“Triple-D” has been airing on The Food Network since 2006 and has spotlighted at least 1,000 kitchens in all 50 states. Getting featured on the show has an incomparably beneficial effect because the episodes go into reruns and bring restaurants subsequent waves of business.

A story about the behind-the-scenes reveals their selection process, including suggestions from restaurateurs who've appeared on the show previously. They avoid places that’ve already been on TV, and seek out places where the food is made from scratch.

Post-pandemic, DD&D has been on the rebound, with a renewed intensity in tapings in cities such as San Antonio, where sandwich shop Ro-Ho Pork & Bread will appear an episode on Friday, December 6.

About two dozen restaurants around DFW have been featured including Afrah, Avila's, Cane Rosso, Chef Point, CrushCraft Thai Street Eats, Fred's Texas Cafe, Jamaica Gates Caribbean Cuisine, Louie's, Maple & Motor, Nora Restaurant and Bar, One90 Smoked Meats, Original Chop House Burger, Pecan Lodge, Pepe & Mito's, Prince Lebanese Grill, Tacos Mariachi, Taste of Europe, Tutta's Pizza, Twisted Root Burger, and Whistle Britches — nearly all still open.

Meanwhile, Guy is guaranteed to be found at Spec’s at 9500 N. Central Expressway #200, where he'll do his meet & greet and bottle-signing on Saturday, December 7 from 6:30-7:30 pm.

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