This Week in Gluttony

Taste of the Championship tops best food and drink events in Dallas

Traditionally people spend the first week of January making resolutions about eating better and all that. But not us. Although there is one healthy event, mostly it is business as usual, with a Henderson Avenue grand opening, a desserts-only cooking class and a championship tasting.

Tuesday, January 6

Engine 2 28 Day Challenge at Whole Foods Market Addison
If you want to jump on the Engine 2 diet bandwagon, join this 28-day challenge and get help along the way. Each week Whole Foods Market Addison hosts supportive meet-ups with cooking demos, speakers, fitness tips and more. This is the kickoff and orientation, which includes a program outline, resources and store tour; it starts at 8 pm. It's free to attend, but you must sign up.

Thursday, January 8

Henderson Avenue Country Club Grand Opening
The new Henderson Avenue honky-tonk hosts a grand opening January 8-11, replete with barbecue and other vittles; craft cocktails and beer; and tunes by country, Americana, folk and Texas music artists. You must RSVP to get complimentary hors d'oeuvre from 6-9 pm, and you have to pay for the drinks you consume. Shows start at 10 pm, and there is no cover.

Wine 101 by Dallas Wine Education Center at Visit Addison
In this class you learn a logical system for tasting and evaluating wine that helps you remember, describe and classify what you taste. You also will walk away understanding the differences between the classic red and white grape varieties, expressions on a wine label, and basic food and wine pairings. The class runs from 6:45-8:15 pm and costs $75. Sign up online.

Saturday, January 10

Four Desserts Every Cook Should Know at Sur La Table
This hands-on cooking class focuses on everyone's favorite course: dessert. Recipes include vanilla crème brûlée, no-fail chocolate soufflé, pear and almond tart, and individual salted caramel cheesecake. Cost is $69 per person, and the class runs from 10 am-noon. Book your seat online.

Chocolate Momentum Tour
Your love for chocolate can help change the lives of at-risk youth, because a portion of proceeds from this event benefits Cafe Momentum. Enjoy a cornucopia of chocolate treats from Kate Weiser Chocolate, Village Baking Company, Isabelly's Sweet Treats and others on this excursion presented by Dallas Bites Food Tours. The $39 price tag includes transportation in a private bus, tour guide, food samples and beverages. (You can also bring your own.) The bus leaves at 1 pm. Buy tickets online.

Sunday, January 11

Taste of the Championship at Irving Convention Center
The College Football Playoff championship game comes to North Texas on January 12, and as part of the festivities, local top chefs — including Richard Chamberlain, Omar Flores, Kevin Garvin, TJ Lengnick, Scott Gottlich and Gilbert Garza — and their peers from around the country gather for this big-deal dinearound. Guests can also meet former NFL and college greats — including Tim Brown, Larry Brown, Tony Casillas, Tony Dorsett, Preston Pearson and Randy White — who will be stationed near the chefs. Proceeds go to the College Football Playoff Foundation and North Texas Food Bank. The event kicks off at 7 pm; tickets cost $300 for general admission and $400 for VIP, and they can be purchased online.

Shinsei is just one of the many restaurants participating in the Taste of the Championship at Irving Convention Center on January 11.

Photo courtesy of Shinsei

Shinsei is just one of the many restaurants participating in the Taste of the Championship at Irving Convention Center on January 11.

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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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