This week in gluttony

These are the 8 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Try some wines from Rioja, Spain this week.

Photo by Meredith Holser

Snap out of the winter funk with some zesty events this week, one that features a month’s worth of citrusy goodness. There’s also a free brewery yoga class for those keeping resolutions, as well as two opportunities to get educated on wine. Finish the week with some boozy kombucha at a local brewery, and get happy because Girl Scout cookies area here.

Tuesday, January 11

Citrus Fest at Central Market
Now through January 25, all locations of the gourmet grocer will be bursting with fresh flavor during their annual Citrus Fest. The event features not only 55 citrus items in the produce department from around the world, but specialty foods like cookies, sauces, sparkling waters, and citrus-infused baked goods. Even those buttery house-made flour tortillas get a new flavor — cilantro lime. Also look for citrus-themed cooking classes like Lemony Delights from the Amalfi Coast on January 14 and Citrus with a Texas Twist on January 21.

Uncorked at Distinctive Vines Wine Lounge
This educational tasting of four wines — the standard white, rosé, and two reds — will school participants on wine styles, wine etiquette, wine regions and more. Tish Wiggins of the Dallas-based blog Tish Around Town will lead the event. Tickets are $40 per person and include paired light bites. The tasting starts at 6 pm.

Friday, January 14

Girl Scout Cookie Season begins in Dallas-Fort Worth
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas kicks off the 2022 Girl Scout Cookie Season on January 14, allowing consumers to participate in the very charitable act of supporting local Girl Scout entrepreneurs by purchasing cookies. There's also a new flavor: Called Adventurefuls, it's a brownie-inspired cookie with caramel-flavored crème and sea salt. Visit www.girlscoutcookies.org, text COOKIES to 59618*, or use the official Girl Scout Cookie Finder app on iOS or Android devices to find socially distant or contact-free cookie booths if they are available in your area.

Saturday, January 15

Home Barista Hands-On Class
White Rock Coffee in East Dallas hosts a small, hands-on class showing how to get the most out of your home espresso set-up. It covers the basics of pulling espresso shots, properly steaming milk, and grinder adjustment. An SCA certified instructor from White Rock Coffee will be teaching the class, which runs from 9 am-12 pm. It's a peppy way to start the new year and the perfect class for anyone looking to further their home barista skill set. Tickets are $165 and can be purchased on EventBrite.

Saturday Morning Brewery Yoga at Westlake Brewing Company
The Deep Ellum-area brewery is continuing its free Saturday morning yoga classes for 2022. All levels are invited for poses followed by pints. The class will run from 10-11 am and will take place outdoors if temperatures are above 60 degrees. Tips are welcome for the instructors. Don’t forget your mat and towel.

Chilipalooza at Longhorn Harley-Davidson
Longhorn Harley-Davidson in Grand Prairie is bringing back its annual chili cookoff, with live music, complimentary cocktails, and craft beer from Outfit Brewing onsite. Contestants must prepare 3 pounds of chili from scratch, on-site from 8 am-12 pm. No marinating, no chili mixes, and no fillers, which they say includes beans, macaroni, rice, hominy, or other similar ingredients. Just meat meat meat. It's judged by the public, and it's all free, including a complimentary "Make-It-Your-Way" chili bar.

Wine 101 at Neighborhood Cellar
The Bishop Arts wine bar and bottle shop will start its 2022 schedule of wine education opportunities with a class about wines from Rioja, Spain. Participants will try four types, and the $35 per-person price includes a cheese and charcuterie board. Class will run from 12-1 pm.

National Kombucha Day at Four Corners Brewing Co.
Booze and kombucha combine to create Buchalada at this popular Dallas brewery, and in honor of National Kombucha Day, all varieties of it will be on special for $3 each in the taproom. Think light and fizzy seltzer that’s big on flavor. Varieties include prickly pear ginger and grapefruit sea salt. The taproom is open from 12-11 pm.

supermarkets wine news-you-can-eat craft-beer

Opening News

Dallas diner & music venue will open in former Ferris Wheeler space

Courtesy

Pancakes

A new restaurant has been unveiled that will take over the former Ferris Wheeler space near Dallas' Design District at 1950 Market Center Blvd.: Called AM/FM, it'll be an all-day diner and lounge with a big backyard and a stage for live music, and it's from Spune Productions, the music and event production company.

According to a release, it'll open in early January initially with evening hours, cocktails, and a few afternoon soccer matches. Music acts are already booked beginning January 8. More hours will be added down the road.

Ferris Wheelers BBQ, which was also a restaurant with a big backyard and a stage for live music, closed in November after eight years. Spune had already been involved since 2023 to help ramp up the live music side. Now they'll take it over with a fresh new personality and long hours.

They were famous for having a Ferris wheel on-site; an inquiry on its status went unanswered.

The diner will open daily at 7 am, serving "musicians coming off late nights, workers heading into morning shifts, and neighbors who want a place that remembers their name," says the release very poetically.

They've redecorated the interior with a new bar and banquettes that wrap the room. Alongside the renovations inside, the set-up outdoors will evolve over the coming weeks, with extra care given to the concert experience,

Menu
The food at AM/FM will be rooted in elevated Diner classics, with a menu overseen by chef Anastacia Quinones-Pittman (Oh, Hi! Hospitality) that's influenced by Mexican-American kitchens and Nuevo Southern traditions.

Breakfast offerings include huevos rancheros, breakfast tacos, breakfast empanadas, French toast, avocado toast, pork belly toast, and an intriguing twist on pancakes called masa pancakes, made using masa harina AKA corn flour.

Lunch includes a chicken Milanesa Caesar salad, Sonoran hot dog, fried catfish po'boy, kale salad, Cobb salad, and a Mexican twist on chicken noodle soup with fideo noodles.

Entree plates include pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken, and a weekly pot pie.

The beverage program will aim for accessibility with coffee, cocktails, and craft beer, says Victor Rojas, Quinones-Pittman's partner at Oh, Hi! Hospitality.

openings