Here Little Cookie

Surprising new foodstuff dethrones cookie butter on Trader Joe's top 25 products of 2013

Uh-oh, we feel a shortage coming on. Gourmet foodie emporium Trader Joe's has released its list of top products for 2013, and it's bad news for Speculoos cookie butter. The gingerbread spread has been toppled by an even more ginger-y interloper: triple ginger snaps.

Overtaking cookie butter is no small feat. The super-hot spread topped Trader Joe's top products for 2012 and became such a smash that TJ's suffered a national shortage. In its valiant struggle to keep Speculoos on the shelves, the chain was forced to limit sales to one bottle per customer. The national nightmare finally waned in August, when the supply was replenished.

But this spicy, feisty ginger snap seems up to the task. It contains a triplet of gingers: crystallized ginger, fresh ginger and ground ginger. Other ingredients include wheat flour (hey, it's healthy), brown sugar, butter, molasses and egg. The butter and molasses provide a flavorful platform for the bits of crystallized ginger, which sets off explosions of bright flavor and moist gummy-bear chew.

Triple ginger snaps are not a new product; they took the No. 3 spot on last year's list. And as an FYI, Whole Foods Markets sell a nearly identical cookie in its bulk bins. But that shouldn't stop anyone from storming Trader Joe's and creating a run on the cookie so that we have something fun to write about for all of 2014.

Here's the full list (an * indicates that the product was limited-edition and probably can't be had right now, boo):

1. Triple Ginger Snaps. Not one, not two, but three gingers.
2. Speculoos Cookie Butter. Made of cookies. Like a gingerbread spread. No nutritional value whatsoever.
3. Joe Joe’s Cookies (all varieties). TJ's version of Oreo's, with the limited-edition holiday-season peppermint being an annual highlight.
4. Reduced Guilt Chunky Guacamole. Does anyone really feel guilty about regular guacamole?
5. Charles Shaw Wine (all varieties). Cheap good wine remains a Trader Joe's trademark.
6. Pumpkin Coffee.* New pumpkin item proving that anything pumpkin sells, even god-awful pumpkin-flavored coffee.
7. Mac ‘n Cheese. Returning favorite moves up from last year's position at No. 16.
8. Pumpkin Butter. * Last year's No. 12. And if we haven't mentioned this previously, pumpkin = popular.
9. Almond Butter (all varieties). New to the list, almond butter has become more popular with the rise of (and phobia over) peanut allergies.
10. Pumpkin Pecan Instant Oatmeal.* Oatmeal with pumpkin and pecans. TJ's is going to turn into a big pumpkin.
11. Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. Burgers made not of beef are hot.
12. Fennel Bulbs.* How refreshing to see fresh produce on this list.
13. Cranberry Goat Cheese Log.* Tangy cheese from Wisconsin, hand-rolled in candied cranberries.
14. Harvest Blend Herbal Tea.* Limited-edition tea is a no-brainer because it has cinnamon, ginger — you know, the pumpkin pie spices. Pumpkin again, oy.
15. Pound Plus Chocolate Bar (milk and dark). Longtime TJ's product is a lot of good chocolate for a low price and a boon for bakers.
16. Almond Cocoa Spread. An almond cousin to Nutella, the chocolate-hazelnut spread that's gotten hot in the past couple of years.
17. Pumpkin Bread & Muffin Mix.* Returning favorite (No. 14 last year) has one, ahem, ingredient we won't bother mentioning again.
18. Rosemary Marcona Almonds. Nuts are one of TJ's stock-in-trades. "Marcona" almonds means they're fried until extra-crunchy. Add rosemary and voila.
19. Corn & Chili Pepper Salsa. This salsa-without-tomatoes was No. 20 on last year's list. Inching up!
20. Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels. Awww, sank from No. 8 last year.
21. Chocolate Orange Sticks. Candied orange gel enrobed in chocolate. Bit of a surprise to see on this list.
22. Pesto Gouda. Introduced as a St. Patrick's Day item because it's green duh, this got bumped up to year-round availability.
23. Mandarin Orange Chicken. Once found at the top of the list (sniff!), this frozen dinner-in-a-bag is a longtime bestseller.
24. Spinach & Kale Greek Yogurt Dip. Returning champ is a kale-y twist on spinach artichoke dip, with yogurt standing in for sour cream.
25. This Cranberry Walks Into a Bar … * Cross between a Pop Tart and a Fig Newton, this limited-edition breakfast bar has a thin pastry shell and lots of fruit.

Triple ginger snaps was Trader Joe's No. 1 best-selling product of 2013.

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Triple ginger snaps was Trader Joe's No. 1 best-selling product of 2013.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun