This Week in Gluttony

These are the 8 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

How many sliders can you eat?

Photo courtesy of Oak'd

Another benchmark on Dallas' return to normal from the dregs of the pandemic is the return of foodie events — and the revival of CultureMap's food events roundup, highlighting the best food and drink events happening over the next seven days.

These events feature wine, beer, BBQ, and even more wine.

Wednesday June 9

Wednesday Wine Chat: Kings of Chardonnay at Cru Wine Bar
Hail to the Kings of Chardonnay in this cool Wine Chat featuring four Chardonnays paired with chef's small plates. Wines featured include Bourchard Bourgogne Burgundy, William Febre Champs Royaux Chablin, Jordan Russian River Valley, and Mes Soleil from Santa Lucia Highlands. Tickets are $30 and the event runs from 6:30-7:30 pm.

Texas bartender competition: Fish House Punch
Chefs Christian Armando Guillén of El Cantinero, Haley Merritt of Midnight Rambler, Trey Roland of Parliament and the Hard Shake, and Pedro Tapia of Hillside Tavern will make one of America's oldest drinks, featuring rum and brandy, with bites by chefs Misti Norris and Philippe Gaston, plus wines from Ribera y Rueda from Spain. The event starts at either 5 pm or 6 pm, depending on who you ask, but it's definitely at The Gaston Dallas Bed & Breakfast at 4802 Gaston Ave. Tickets are $50, buy them here.

Thursday June 10

Dallas Arboretum Food and Wine Festival
The 2021 Dallas Arboretum Food & Wine Festival has been reimagined into a three-day celebration. On Thursday June 10, from 7-9 pm is a Gatsby Garden Soiree, with food, wine, and beer stations outdoors; roaring '20s attire is encouraged. On Saturday-Sunday June 12-13 from 10 am–3 pm is a farmers market event featuring local vendors. Tickets are a rather steep $125 and can be purchased here.

6th Annual Tap Fest at Texas Ale Project
Festival celebrating sixth anniversary of this Design District brewery runs four days, June 10-13, and includes: Thursday Night on the Midway with Fletcher's Corny Dogs and fair games; Friday VIP brewers' night; Saturday Tap Fest with new beers and live music; and Sunday Brunch at Stock & Barrel. Tickets run from $15-$175 and can be purchased here.

Friday June 11

BarNone Bar & Grand Re-Opening
East Dallas bar will host a Grand Re-Opening weekend from June 11-12 with specialty drinks and live performance by Rosco Johnny on Friday 6-8 pm and Honey Folk on Saturday 7-9 pm.

Saturday June 12

Rosé Wine Walk on Greenville Avenue
Fourth annual Rosé Wine Walk takes place on Greenville Avenue. Check-in at the Libertine Bar between 12-2 pm for wine glass, map, and a $15 wristband that gives access to specials at participating businesses such as $6 rose at Son of a Butcher. According to organizers Dallasites 101, a highlight of the experience is seeing everyone dressed pink, so apparently pink clothes are encouraged. It's 12-5 pm, and you can buy your $15 wristband here.

Oak'd BBQ Bash
East Dallas BBQ restaurant hosts party with live music, cornhole, and all-you-can-eat sliders, ribs, beans, mac & cheese, slaw, and potato salad. It starts at 6 pm and ends at 10:30 pm unless they run out. Tickets are $15.

Monday June 14

Ida Claire Wine Dinner with Elyse Winery
Five-course dinner features Lee Abraham from Elyse Winery guiding guests through a menu paired with wines from Napa Valley vineyards including Fried Pickled Green Strawberries with JP Chenet Sparkling Rosé, Kale Salad with Elyse Winery C'Est Si Bon, Duck Leg Confit with Petite Sirah, A Bar N Ranch Hangar Steak with Elyse Winery Cabernet Sauvignon from Holbrook Mitchell Vineyard in Yountville, and Texas Blackberry Crostata with Kopke 10 Year Tawny Port. Tickets are $90. Call 214-377-8227.

event-planner cocktails

Documentary News

Dallas native directs new Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse

Waco: American Apocalypse

ATF agents at Waco compound in 1993.

Netflix has a new series on the tragedy that took place in Waco three decades ago: Called Waco: American Apocalypse, it's a three-part series documenting the standoff between cult leader David Koresh and the federal government that ended in a fiery inferno, televised live, with 76 people dead.

The series debuts on March 22, to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the event which took place from February 28 to April 19, 1993. There's a trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scZ2x7R_XXc.

It's an oft-told tale and not the only new release to try and exploit the 30-year anniversary: Jeff Guinn, former books editor at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, just came out with a book also described as definitive, called Waco: David Korsh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage.

Waco: American Apocalypse is directed by another "local": Dallas native Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer), who obtained never-before-seen videotapes of FBI negotiations, as well as raw news footage and interviews with insiders.

Those insiders include one of David Koresh’s spiritual wives; the last child released from the compound alive; a sniper from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team; the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit Chief; journalists; and members of the ATF tactical team who watched colleagues die in the shootout against the heavily armed members of the religious sect.

The FBI videotaped inside the hostage negation room, thinking they'd be there maybe 24 hours, not 51 days.

"These are video cassettes that were sitting in somebody’s closet for 30 years, that show the mechanics of hostage negotiations in an intimate setting - not the hostage negotiation scenarios you see in films, but a team of people grinding, day in and day out, for 51 days," Russell says.

He also procured footage from Waco TV station KWTX, who had a reporter embedded in the initial gunfight.

While the standoff was broadcast live on TV at the time, much of it was out of camera range. The film uses 3D graphics to recreate the details of the compound.

Russell acknowledges that the tale of the cult leader who was also a pedophile, the debate over the right to bear arms, the constitutional limits of religious freedom, dredge up painful conversations that continue today.

"It cast a long shadow, pre-saging the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma, the shooting at Colombine, and a growing distrust of government, but I think it's important to reckon with our past so we don't repeat mistakes," he says.

"So much of what’s roiling in culture today can be traced to Waco, a story about God and guns in America with all these children at the center whose lives were determined by the adults around them," he says. "There was no playbook for what happened, everyone was out on a limb, and people made mistakes. But almost everybody was trying to do their very best."

"I think this is a story that's often recalled in politicized terms, with finger-pointing on who screwed up and how did we get here, but there's a profound humanity to it all," he says.

history movies

This Week in Gluttony

These are the 8 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Documentary News

Dallas native directs new Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 bars with cool cocktail specials

Hill Country nature preserve steps up conservancy efforts with new wildlife plans

Dallas-Fort Worth International lands new honor as North America's best airport