This Week in Gluttony

Tons of tastings and tours top best food and drink events in Dallas this week

We hope you didn't overdo it with champagne and chocolate this past weekend, because there are many food events this week, and it all starts with Fat Tuesday. It continues with tastings, tours and a special meal during which you can learn all about Japanese table manners.

Tuesday, February 17

Places around town offering Fat Tuesday specials:

Capitol Pub. Abita Purple Haze and hurricanes for $4, plus shrimp po' boys and chicken and sausage gumbo.
Hard Rock Cafe. Shrimp po' boys, hurricanes, traditional Mardi Gras king cake, $3 draft beers, $4 house wines and $5 well cocktails.
Henderson Tap House. Live music by Big Mike, plus hand grenades and hurricanes, New Orleans-style gumbo, and free beads.
McFadden's Addison. Crawfish, $5 hurricanes and $10 "McFadden's-style" grenades, and $3 Miller Lite and Coors Light all day long.
Sundown at Granada. Live music from Club Wood and $3 jambalaya all night.

Herradura presents Tequila Appreciation Society Social at 3015 at Trinity Groves
This is your chance to learn everything there is to know about tequila. From 6-8 pm, Casa Herradura global tequila ambassador Ruben Aceves share his knowledge while attendees challenge their palates during this exclusive Herradura tasting. The culinary team at 3015 at Trinity Groves is whipping up savory bites, and proceeds benefit Cafe Momentum. You must be 21 to attend. Tickets are $20, and you can buy them online.

Thursday, February 19

Deep Ellum Wine Walk
During this regular event, the Deep Ellum Community Association and neighborhood merchants combine two great things: wine and shopping. Visitors can purchase a collectible Wine Walk glass for $5, raise it and repeat as they enjoy wine samplings while exploring. The event, which takes place on the third Thursday of every month, features different venues each time. Meet at Kettle One Gallery at 5 pm.

George Dickel Whiskey Tasting at The Library
From 5:30-7:30 pm, The Library is hosting a tasting of George Dickel #12, which is considered to be the gold standard of Tennessee whiskey, plus George Dickel Rye. Samples of these two premium whiskeys are complimentary; cocktails made with either are offered for a special price of $6 each.

Old and New World Small Production Wine Dinner at Grace
For this dinner, chef Blaine Staniford makes dishes such as marinated Dungeness crab, saffron risotto, lacquered duck and egg confit, rib-eye cap, and brioche pain perdu. The event starts at 6:30 pm and costs $145 a person. Call 817-877-3388 to reserve a spot.

Saturday, February 21

Community Beer Company Goes on Tour
Craft beer lovers can get on a bus and head out to explore a handful of establishments that serve Community Beer. Attendees enjoy a beer sample and food at each stop. The $45 ticket includes all samples and food, plus a T-shirt and a glass. Meet at Community Beer Company at noon and explore Cold Beer Company, Nickel & Rye, Scotch & Sausage and Rodeo Goat. The event ends at Community Beer Company around 4 pm. You must reserve in advance because no tickets will be offered at the door the day of.

Taste of Trinity Groves Walking Tour
This walking tour, 11:30 am-3:15 pm, includes nibbles at Trinity Groves eateries such as Souk, Chino Chinatown, Luck, Four Corners Brewery and Kate Weiser Chocolate. Food is included in the $55 ticket price, but drinks are not. A minimum of eight is required to make the event a "go," and the maximum number of walkers is 20. Buy tickets here.

Sunday, February 22

Academy Awards Viewing Party at Messina Hof Winery
Dress up and head to Messina Hof Winery to watch the Academy Awards with friends. Enjoy an open wine bar, endless appetizers and amazing desserts from 5-10 pm. Call 817-442-8463 to reserve a spot.

Japanese Table Manner Brunch at Tei-An
Tei-An welcomes Yasuko Robinson, a master of Japanese high arts (painting, flower arranging and tea ceremony), who is teaching Japanese etiquette at the dining table. The meal starts at 11:45 am and costs $75 a person. RSVP to George Kaiho at 214-220-2828.

Sunday Super at Urban Acres Farmstead
Join Urban Acres for a hearty meal of local, organic and sustainable food served family-style, including turkey pot pie (with turkey pasture-raised at Richardson Farms in Rockdale) winter greens salad and dessert. This event is BYOB, and there are 30 seats available at $30 per person. It lasts from 6-9 pm. Reserve online.

Taste of Bishop Arts Walking Tour
From 1-4:30 pm, visit spots like Dude, Sweet Chocolate; Eno's; Veracruz; and Lockhart Smokehouse. You also learn about the history of Oak Cliff as you stroll past hangouts of Bonnie and Clyde, rekindle memories of Dallas' busiest trolley stop, and slip into the area's many boutiques and galleries. Food samples are included in the $40 ticket price; you're on your own for drinks. A minimum of eight people is required; the maximum number of walkers is 15. Buy tickets here.

Monday, February 23

KidLinks presents Symphony of Chefs at Hilton Anatole
This event starts with a cocktail reception at 6 pm, featuring an intimate performance by members of the Dallas Chamber Symphony. At 7, renowned area chefs — including Mico Rodriguez, Chad Houser, John Franke and Brad Phillips — prepare five-course dinners tableside for tables of 10. Proceeds provide funding of therapeutic music initiatives for critically ill and special needs children across North Texas and the United States. Individual seats start at $1,000; tables of 10 range from $5,000-$15,000.

Learn all about tequila at the Tequila Appreciation Society Social presented by Herradura on February 17.

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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

This Week in Gluttony

Tons of tastings and tours top best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Learn all about tequila at the Tequila Appreciation Society Social presented by Herradura on February 17.

Spring Arrival

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

Michelin-recognized chef brings Korean barbecue to Dallas' Bishop Arts

Dallas visionary joins 18 DFW billionaires on new Forbes' richest list

Massive retail village with restaurant and event barn to debut in Plano