This Week in Gluttony

These are the 9 best food and drink events in Dallas-Fort Worth this week

The last full week in February brings no shortage of fun food events around Dallas-Fort Worth. Wine is a big theme, with over half the events focused on it to some degree, but you can also indulge in special cocktails, margaritas, crawfish, and beer.

Tuesday, February 21

Cane Rosso presents Happy Week
Cane Rosso kicks off its new Spring cocktail menu at each of its five Dallas-Fort Worth locations, and that includes the return of crowd favorite Frozen Limoncello. All specialty cocktails will be at happy hour prices — that's $5 each — every day through Sunday. While you're enjoying the cheap drinks, you can also eat some of the best pizza the area has to offer.

2017 Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival: Centerstage
A precursor to the actual festival in March, CenterStage celebrates fine food and fine arts with a caviar-and-champagne reception in the Grand Lobby at Bass Performance Hall, followed by dinner on the elaborately set stage. Fort Worth chefs like Denise Shavandy and Donatella Trotti will collaborate for the event, with each course matched with a prized wine carefully chosen to complement the cuisine and its region of origin.

Wednesday, February 22

T. Blanco's Grand Opening and National Margarita Day
T.Blanco’s Mexican Cantina, which recently started serving fine Mexican cuisine in Addison, celebrates its grand opening to coincide with National Margarita Day. The evening event features free margaritas — said to "rival any in town" — light bites, music, and a raffle with exciting prizes.

Abacus Wine Dinner: Goldschmidt Wines
Led by executive chef Christopher Patrick, Abacus has created a special menu of delicious starters and four courses to be expertly paired with Goldschmidt Wines. Winemaker Nick Goldschmidt will be on hand to interact with diners and speak about the lineup of red and white wines, which includes a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec.

Cogill Wine & Film Oscar 2017 Preview
Gary Cogill, KXAS-TV film critic, and his wife Hayley Hamilton Cogill, sommelier and founder of Dallas Uncorked, present an evening of wine and film toasting the 2017 Oscars at Studio Movie Grill Royal Lane, benefiting the Dallas Film Society. Gary will walk through the top nominations for the 89th Annual Academy Awards, which take place February 26. Hayley will join the discussion, pairing a selection of wines with key award contenders and categories. Light appetizers and movie favorites from Studio Movie Grill’s menu are included with the selections.

Thursday, February 23

The Grape presents Come-As-You-Are Wine Dinner
For its monthly event, The Grape presents a special Chef’s Come-As-You-Are “Samplings from Mediterranean” wine dinner. Sous chef Scott Girling, who spent six months studying at the Italian Culinary Institute in Calabria, takes the lead, featuring an intimate three-course bistro menu to complement selected wines. Special guest host is John Keeton from Virtuoso Selections.

Friday, February 24

Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas presents Wines of the Beautiful South Wine Experience
Four Seasons Dallas' master sommelier James Tidwell helps guests taste their way through the Southern Hemisphere of the World of Wine, paired with bites from Four Seasons' signature restaurant, LAW, crafted by LAW chef de cuisine Johan Van Niekerk. Tickets are $55 each.

Saturday, February 25

Oak Highlands Brewery presents Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil
Celebrate Mardi Gras a few days early at Oak Highlands Brewery, with live music, beads, booze, and crawfish. Mardi Gras entry is free, but tickets must be purchased in advance online for the crawfish boil, which takes place from 12-3 pm. An adult ticket includes all-you-can-eat crawfish and one beer, with additional beers available for purchase. Tickets for children under 12 include all-you-can-eat crawfish and house-made soda. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Sunday, February 26

Flying Saucer Addison Turns 21
Addison’s Flying Saucer is turning 21, and its celebrating big. The event features a beer bingo starting at 2 pm, special flights at 3 pm, and draft and bottle releases starting at noon and 6 pm. There will be appetizer specials throughout the day, as well as cake and ice cream for everyone. If you want to participate in the raffle to win a special Saucer cooler, bring a small, unwrapped toy, book, puzzle, or stuffed animal for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children to exchange for a raffle ticket.

Oak Highlands Brewery presents Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil on February 25.

Photo courtesy of Oak Highlands Brewery

Oak Highlands Brewery presents Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil on February 25.

event-planner dinner drinks festivals pizza wine cocktails

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