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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Coffee News

East Dallas coffee shop Killer Joe crackles with sharp New York style

Killer Joe

Killer Joe Coffee

A hip new coffee shop is energizing a busy corner in East Dallas: Called Killer Joe, it's a new shop at 108 N. Fitzhugh Ave. right on the northeast corner of Columbia Avenue, next to (and in the same building as) Pupusas To Go.

Killer Joe is from Christine Sweet and Christian Napolitano, who moved from New York to Dallas in 2022 in search of entrepreneurial opportunity.

"We had been wanting to open up a business in New York for a long time," Christine says. “After the pandemic, it was really hard doing business there. We were looking for a good place to move that offered an opportunity to open our business."

Christine previously worked in travel/destination marketing, living in different places around the world. Christian was in hospitality, having worked in high-end restaurants in Manhattan, most recently at Bond Street Sushi in Soho.

Their goal: to bring a little New York culture to Dallas.

“We are more than a coffee shop — we're a place for foodies and musicophiles, we are really into music and rock & roll. Our shop is not a sleepy, quiet coffee shop," Christine says.

They serve notice of their intentions on the exterior with a quirky, personal mural by Anthony Z. Padilla, rendered in taxicab yellow, with elegant line drawings of the Statue of Liberty and highway-style signs that say "Now leaving New York" and "Welcome to Texas."

The interior is casual-chic, with pale wood furniture and an original cement floor that still sports intentional patches of old paint. The walls have a mix of B&W vintage photos and the occasional cowboy hat. The space was for many years a closed-in bar called Los Dos Reales; but now, the building boasts expansive windows that look out on Fitzhugh and create a bright and sunny space.

For their coffee program, they use organic espresso beans and make their drinks in an Italian Sanremo machine. They serve all the classics plus signature drinks such as French Toast Latte, Sea Salt Caramel de Leche, and Caliente Mocha with a hint of cayenne pepper.

Seasonal drinks include a pistachio caramel matcha latte — featuring toasted pistachios like a baklava, but balanced by the earthiness of the matcha. Other specialty drinks include rose water matcha, orange blossom matcha spritz, and cucumber lemonade.

Panini at Killer JoeKiller Joe

They also serve food, including breakfast all day: steak & eggs, avocado toast, and bagels with plain, scallion or vegan cream cheese. The "Spaghetti Western" is a twist on the traditional ham & cheese sandwich with spicy capicola, roasted tomato, Calabrian pepper sauce, and chimichurri on toasted ciabatta.

Bread is from Empire Baking Company and the bagels are from Shug's.

At lunch, they serve an umami tuna melt; a "K-Pop Cuban" with ham and cheese, plus kimchi pickles and wasabi mayo; and The Texican, with soyrizo spicy sausage, cheddar roasted poblano peppers, tomato, and avocado.

Reeves Family Farm in Princeton provides fruits and vegetables, and 4DWN brings their microgreens. Pastries are baked in house and sauces such as black olive pesto and Killer chipotle sauce are made from scratch.

“We are trying to blend our edgy New York style with a Southern Texas flair," Christine says.

They're open daily from 7am-3 pm, with a late-hour program every second Saturday featuring live DJs; people gather inside and outside the shop for music, food, and drinks.

"This community is just so great, very eclectic, and has really embraced our style," Christine says. In fact, a few customers had a tattoo made at neighbor Franklins Tattoo and Supply with the coffee shop's skull logo.

"I had to follow and get one done too," she says.

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