This Week in Gluttony

Bird Cafe's first beer dinner tops best food and drink events in Dallas-FortWorth

Bird Cafe hosts its first beer dinner on March 2.
Photo courtesy of Bird Cafe
The Bird Cafe beer dinner features Prairie Artisan Ales.
Beef tenderloin is just one course at the February 26 Hogue Cellars Wine Dinnerat Olenjack's Grille.
Photo by Paula Murphy
Lazaranda hosts a Partida tequila dinner on February 27.
PartidaTequila.com
Nonna is devoted to exploring balsamic vinegar February 27-28.
The Rustic welcomes Real Ale for a February 28 beer dinner.
The Rustic/Facebook

This Week in Gluttony is jam-packed with tasty dinners, featuring wine, beer, tequila and balsamic vinegar — but not all during the same meal. If sitting down for a multicourse feast is your idea of a good time, then this week is for you.

Wednesday, February 26

Hogue Cellars Wine Dinner at Olenjack’s Grille
Olenjack’s Grille hosts Hogue Cellars for a four-course dinner paired with wines from Washington’s Colombia Valley. Dishes include baby back ribs, warm mushroom and arugula salad, beef tenderloin, and chocolate angel food cake with hazelnut mousse. Cost is $65 per person, and you can reserve your spot by calling 817-226-2600.

Thursday, February 27

Partida Tequila Dinner at Lazaranda
Chef Antonio Marquez prepares a six-course dinner paired with Partida tequila for those who dare to partake on a school night. The menu includes crab-stuffed piquillo peppers, Caesar salad, Parmesan chicharron and smoked salmon, chicken breast with zucchini blossoms and black beans, sauteed prawns in Partida Silver tequila, goat cheese and peanut-crusted filet mignon with wild mushroom sauce, and corn flan for dessert. The cost is $46 per person, and you can reserve your spot by calling 972-866-8900.

Aceto Balsamico Dinners at Nonna
For two nights only (February 27-28), the menu at Nonna is devoted to exploring aceto balsamico — better known to Americans as balsamic vinegar. The dinners have a unique format with three categories: young balsamic, medium aged balsamic and old balsamic. Dishes include fennel salad, beef tongue with sunchokes and balsamic mayonnaise, sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter and Castelmagno, Windy Meadows chicken and sausage with butter and sage, and fluke with fumet and leeks. Pricing is à la carte. Call 214-521-1800 for reservations.

Friday, February 28

Real Ale Beer Dinner at The Rustic
The Rustic hosts a six-course beer dinner with Real Ale Brewing Company. Chef Matt Balke prepares courses such as avocado salad with grapefruit, endive, beet and tarragon; blue cheese and bacon dates with chestnut puree and arugula; steak tartare with dill crème fraiche, egg yolk and grilled baguette; rabbit sausage risotto with spicy soppressata, Spicer’s mushrooms, mustard jus and kale; pork cheeks with grits and stinging nettles; and goat cheese cheesecake. Cost is $75 per person. Reservations can be made by emailing at events@therusticrestaurant.com.

Sunday, March 2

Prairie Artisan Ales Dinner at Bird Cafe
Bird Cafe in Fort Worth has chosen Prairie Artisan Ales for its inaugural beer dinner. Owner and brewer Chase Healey pairs his beers with six courses prepared by chef David McMillan, including Hawaiian fish auction crudo, mushroom fritto misto, pork belly, chicken with forbidden rice and squid ink, and chocolate mousse with almond mole and cream scones. The dinner costs $75 per person, and reservations are highly recommended. You can call 817-332-2473 for those. The event is going down in the Rookery on the second floor.

unspecified

Quonset Hut News

Familiar names take over Quonset hut for new Far-Out Dallas bar

Yelp

Wriggly Tin is now Far-Out Dallas

There's a new Dallas restaurant and bar coming to everyone's favorite Quonset hut: Called Far-Out, it'll take over the space at 1906 E. Haskell Ave. in East Dallas that was previously home to Wriggly Tin, with a grand opening slated for 2025.

Founders Caroline and James Lee are calling it Far-Out & La Hermana Cerveceria and promise that a culinary adventure awaits.

"After months of creative brainstorming and a bit of furniture rearranging, we are thrilled to announce an exciting new pioneering concept that will open its doors in 2025," the duo says. "Introducing Far-Out & La Hermana Cerveceria, a dynamic new restaurant and brewery born from the collaboration of industry veterans."

The team includes some beloved East Dallas names:

Marc Cassel of The Green Room and 20 Feet Seafood Joint
Christopher Jeffers of Bolsa and Smoke
Stephanie Houston, the trailblazing first Latina Production distillery owner in America

Also joining the team is Bar Director Adam Mercado, whose resume includes stints at Billy Can Can and Brass Ram.

Marcado will crafting a unique beverage program, with support from mixologist Brian McCullough. Together, they will create what the founders call "unforgettable drink experiences to complement our delicious culinary offerings."

Wriggly Tin opened in November 2023 as an ultra-hip pizza and craft beer spot inside a renovated Quonset hut near Dallas' Fair Park — a former Cajun fried turkey place which they gave doting makeover with custom plaster walls and art objects from around the world. They replaced one whole side of the hut with glass for sunsets and created a spacious outdoor patio in front.

They earned two nomination in CultureMap's 2024 Tastemaker Awards, one for Best Bar and another for Best Patio.

Alas, the original founders, who'd previously owned Small Brewpub in Oak Cliff, parted ways shortly after it opened. And the bar closed down in September 2024, for what they called "internal changes."

Now the hut is back: The new Far-Out bar is already up and running a few days a week. In the coming days, they will offer updates and sneak peeks as they gear up for the opening of their kitchen.

openings