This week in gluttony

Celebrity chef showcase and cheesy jazz: The best food and drink events in Dallas this week

There's a wide array of food and drink events going on this week, from a celebrity chef showdown at the Westin Galleria to a kosher chili cook-off that makes the most of an early March Sunday. Let’s jump in.

Tuesday, March 5

Dallas Architecture Forum presents Setting the Table: Designing the Ultimate Dining Experience
Dallas Architecture Forum presents a panel discussion on Dallas' ever-changing restaurant scene. The panel looks at how best to blend architectural design with stimulating features that get people coming back, as well as how to create an atmosphere that complements the food.

Panelists include Kelly Mitchell of Mitchell Garman; William Baker of Jones Baker; Teresa Gubbins, senior editor at CultureMap Dallas; and Tristan Simon, CEO of Consilient Restaurants. The event begins at 6:30 pm, and admission is free.

Thursday, March 7

Mexican Home Cooking Demonstration with Pati Jinich
Chef Pati Jinich of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. leads a demonstration at Central Market Lovers to share traditional Mexican home cooking with recipes like minguichi, a tomato-zuchini soup made with Mexican chicken broth, and chilorio, a dish with shredded pork in ancho-orange sauce.

Tickets are $80 and include a copy of Pati’s Mexican Table. The class runs from 6:30 to 9 pm.

Bonne Santé
Hosted by chefs Scott Gottlich (of Bijoux and Second Floor Bistro) and William Koval (Lakewood Country Club), Bonne Santé is a mix-and-mingle affair benefiting the National Kidney Foundation. The Westin Galleria hosts top chefs from Dallas, including Abraham Salum from Komali, Tim Byres from Smoke, Samir Dhurandhar from Nick and Sam’s Steakhouse, Matt McCallister from FT33, Dean Fearing from Fearing’s Restaurant, Shuji Sugawara from Shinsei, Jason Weaver from the Omni Hotel Dallas, and David Smith from Westin Galleria Dallas, plus more great chefs from across the country.

Each interactive chef station features custom wine pairings by Gina Gottlich, sommelier of Second Floor Bistro and Bijoux. The evening also includes musical and live entertainment, as well as silent and live auctions with a variety of luxurious prizes. Tickets are $200, and the event runs from 6 to 9 pm.

Friday, March 8

Late Night at Scardello
Enjoy a casual evening with live jazz and plenty of cheese. This free event includes $6 glasses of wine, because anywhere that has jazz and cheese is legally required to offer wine as well. Best of all, Scardello isn’t asking for a cover charge or even a reservation. You can just show up from 6 to 10:30 pm.

Garden Cafe Poetry Night
Garden Cafe brings back its poetry dinners with a five-course meal featuring cranberry chipotle-glazed salmon on roasted butternut squash and slow-braised beef cheeks with sautéed bitter greens and gala apple risotto. Bring your favorite poem to read in front of everyone — or not, if that idea scares you. Fortunately, the $65 dinner is BYOB, so maybe you’ll find courage by the end of the night. Doors open at 7 pm.

Pinot Family of Wines Tasting at Pappas Bros.
Pappas Bros. just made Teresa’s best restaurants in DFW list, largely on their extensive wine collection and Master Sommelier Barbara Werley. Luckily, they’re hosting a wine tasting of the pinots in one of their private wine tasting rooms with selections of pinot blanc, pinot gris and pinot noir varietals selected by Pappas' excellent sommeliers. Enjoy wines from all over the world, from Oregon to New Zealand while tasting seasonal hors d'oeuvres prepared by executive chef James Johnson. Tickets are $55 sans gratuity and reservations are required at 214-366-2000.

Sunday, March 10

Dallas Kosher Chili Cook-Off
This cook-off celebrates 20 years this weekend, with more than 50 teams creating concoctions of the beef, turkey and vegetarian-style grub. The event, at Tiferet Israel, also includes live music, rides and games for kids, and a silent auction. The event runs from 10:30 am to 4 pm and is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Kids under 3 are free.

Fifth Annual Bits & Bites
El Centro’s Food and Hospitality Services Institute honors alumnae Shari Carlson of Dessert Dreams and Dunia Borga of La Duni for their contribution to the Dallas restaurant industry. Guests enjoy food prepared by El Centro’s students from 4 to 7 pm. Tickets are $45 in advance or $50 at the door, and proceeds benefit the institute.

Wine is a common theme in this week's food and drink events round-up.

City Room

Wine is a common theme in this week's food and drink events round-up.

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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