This week in gluttony

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

Cane Rosso at The Star will be serving star-shaped pizza-calzones on Cowboys Draft Night Out.

Photo courtesy of Cane Rosso

This week is busy with delicious events for both humans and canines. Read closely — there’s also opportunity for free lunch and dinner. Pairing events are also prevalent this week, featuring whiskey, bourbon, and Napa Valley and Spanish wines. Watch the weather forecast, as a handful of the events are planned for outdoor settings.

Tuesday, April 26

Free Tacos & Jarritos
Mexican soda brand Jarritos is partnering with local Dallas eateries Del Sur Tacos and El Come Tacos to pick up customer tabs. Visit Del Sur Tacos from 11 am-2 pm for a complimentary lunch, and El Come Tacos from 5-8 pm for a complimentary dinner. The campaign encourages diners to support local while highlighting how tacos and Jarritos make the perfect combo.

High West Pairing Dinner at Whiskey Cake Plano
There’ll be six lip-smacking courses served during this whiskey pairing dinner, with highlights including pork dumplings, pickled shrimp salad, blue potato cakes, “shake & bake” pork chop, and double chocolate bread pudding. All courses come with either a straight pour or cocktail made with High West whiskey. Dinner is $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and begins at 7 pm.

Wednesday, April 27

Global Dinner Series at Harper’s Steakhouse
Experience a taste of Japan during this four-course dinner and cocktail tasting. Dishes include tonkotsu ramen, A5 Wagyu ishiyaki, mochi and more, all prepared by Harper’s executive chef Daniel Griffith. Dinner is $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and begins at 6:30 pm.

Thursday, April 28

The Pour with Sagamore Spirits at Bourbon & Banter
The latest edition of The Pour — a series of spirits and culinary tastings at The Statler’s underground speakeasy — will feature Maryland’s Sagamore Spirits, known for its rye whiskey. Highlights from the three-course menu include grilled Scottish salmon, West Texas wild boar and buffalo meatloaf, and a Texas pecan tart with strawberry and rhubarb jam. The pairing event is $100 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and will run from 6-8 pm.

Wine & Wag Walk at Victory Park
Victory Park will transform into “Victory Bark” during this weeknight dog-friendly sip-and-shop event. Bring your canine companion and enjoy wine and dog treats at multiple stops including Biago Wine and Spirits, Escapology, ViVi’s Victory Park, and more. Tickets are $15 and the event will run from 6-9 pm.

Lamborn Family Vineyards Wine Dinner at Al Biernet’s North
Special guest Brian Lamborn of Napa Valley’s Lamborn Family Vineyards will visit the iconic Dallas restaurant to lead guests through a four-course wine dinner. Red wine varietals will be paired with menu items such as grilled poblano pepper Caesar salad, roasted quail with gruyere sausage risotto, and grilled lamb chops. Save room for chocolate peanut butter brownies and spiced rum banana milkshakes. The dinner is $175 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and begins at 6:30 pm with a reception.

Wine Dinner at Saint Ann: Tour of Spain
Seating is limited for this five-course dinner and wine pairing, which will take guests on a culinary tour of Spain. Wines include Mercat Brut Cava, Menade Rueda Verdejo, and Vall Llach Porrera Vi de Vila. Reservations are $185 per person, including tax and gratuity, and dinner begins at 6:30 pm.

Friday, April 29

Dallas Cowboys Draft Night Out
Coinciding with the 2022 NFL Draft, several restaurants in The Star District in Frisco will offer Draft Night Out special dishes and prix-fixe menus. Participating places include Lombardi Cucina Italiana, Tupelo Honey, The Common Table, Sushi Marquee, and more. At Cane Rosso, folks can order The Star — a star-shaped pizza and calzone hybrid. At Dee Lincoln Prime, the #1 Draft Pick Roll comes with king crab, caviar, wasabi truffle aioli and gold flakes. Look for live music, games, photo ops and more throughout The Star District.

Saturday, April 30

Pupchella at Happiest Hour
The Harwood District happy hour hotspot will host a dog-friendly festival. Humans can bring their furry friends for frozen watermelon pup treats, pup biscuits, and giveaways. There’ll also be live music, dog adoptions, and cocktails for adults, and $1from each one ordered will be donated to Friends of Dallas Animal Services. Pupchella will run from 12-4 pm.

Sunday, May 1

Dinner in the District
The Adolphus Hotel and its neighbor The Exchange have rounded up five Dallas chefs for one big dinner on the lawn in the AT&T Discovery District. The six-course dinner will feature dishes from Regino Rojas of Revolver Taco Lounge, Katherine Clapner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate, The Exchange chef Richard Blakenship, and Adolphus chefs Ruben Torano and Charles Olalia. Dinner is $150 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and includes wine paired with each course. Also included is a digital art show by the Discovery District’s creative director. The event begins at 6 pm.

chefs dinner news-you-can-eat wine

Movie review

Florence Pugh proves her stardom yet again in A Good Person

Photo by Jeong Park / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures

Florence Pugh in A Good Person.

The rise of Florence Pugh has been pretty astonishing to witness. After gaining acclaim for her film debut in 2016’s Lady Macbeth, the actor has gone back-and-forth between mainstream and art fare, starring in films as disparate as Fighting with My Family, Midsommar, Black Widow, and Little Women, for which she earned an Oscar nomination.

Now, thanks to her former romantic partner Zach Braff, she has another intense leading part to add to her filmography in A Good Person. Pugh plays Allison, a young, music-loving pharmaceutical rep who’s engaged to be married to Nathan (Chinaza Uche). One day, however, she’s involved in a car accident that winds up killing Molly (Nichelle Hines) and Jesse (Onwumere), her would-be sister- and brother-in-law.

The bulk of the film takes place a year after the accident, as Allison is still struggling with pain resulting from the crash and the grief/guilt over the deaths. Simultaneously, Daniel (Morgan Freeman) is doing his best to raise Molly and Jesse’s daughter, Ryan (Celeste O’Connor), and deal with his long estrangement from Nathan. A search for help with addiction for both Allison and Daniel leads them into a tentative friendship.

Written and directed by Braff (Garden State), the film touches on its serious issues in a deft manner. While Allison’s depressive state sends her down a bunch of tough roads for both her and the audience, the film is balanced with lighter moments, many of them courtesy of Allison’s mom, Diane (Molly Shannon). As much as the film is a meditation on how – and how not – to handle grief, it thrives on Allison’s various relationships, and scenes with each of the main co-stars build those bonds nicely.

Smaller details, like Allison riding her bike everywhere because she’s afraid to drive, pay dividends as well. Riding her bike causes her to show up sweaty and out-of-breath in multiple scenes, adding to the haggard and withdrawn look she maintains for most of the film. There can be a certain cliché in how someone acts when they’re trying to portray the state Allison is in, but Pugh, Braff, and the filmmaking team are able to subvert that trope with their choices.

If there’s one fault to the film, it’s that Braff can’t quite land the plane on each of the characters’ stories. All of the stories are related to one another, so it’s difficult to untangle them. After spending most of the film keeping them relatively separate, a decision to bring them all together in a late scene feels rushed and unsatisfying. It doesn’t ruin the film, but it does lessen it to a degree.

Written for Pugh by Braff when they were still a couple, the film hinges on Pugh carrying most of emotional weight of the story, and she delivers in a big way. She eschews histrionics in favor of more subtle acting, and the result is powerful. The 85-year-old Freeman hasn’t had a meaty dramatic role like this in a long time, so it’s nice to see he still has it. Shannon, O’Connor, and Zoe Lister-Jones also elevate the story.

Though it’s early in the year, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Pugh could snag an Oscar nomination for her performance in A Good Person. You could call it a star-making turn if she weren’t already a star; this just solidifies her place in Hollywood for years to come.

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A Good Person opens in theaters on March 24.

Photo by Jeong Park / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures

Florence Pugh in A Good Person.

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