This Week in Gluttony

Scardello's best cheese class ever and more top food events in Dallas this week

Just because the weather is heating up does not mean the food events are slowing down. Cheese enthusiasts get especially lucky this week, and a big food event debuts at Fair Park during Taste of Dallas.

Tuesday, June 9

Summer Top 10 Wine Dinner at Whole Foods Lakewood
Chef Thomas prepares six courses paired with Whole Foods’ top wine picks for summer. Menu items include prosciutto and plum bruschetta, shaved summer squash with asparagus ribbons and heirloom tomatoes, chilled avocado soup, grilled chicken, fiery flank steak, and Key lime panna cotta. Tickets are $30, and dinner starts at 6 pm.

Young Culinary Masters Baking Class at Pirch
The Pirch culinary team teaches young bakers how to create delicious favorites. It’s the perfect opportunity to learn basic baking skills and develop an early love for the culinary arts. Tickets are $30, and the class starts at 5:30 pm.

Wednesday, June 10

Vision Cellars Wine Dinner at Jasper's Plano
Mac McDonald of Vision Cellars is one of the few African-American winemakers in California. He grew up in Texas, where his father was a moonshiner. McDonald entertains guests throughout the dinner with stories spanning his childhood to tasting his first sip of Burgundy. Courses include sherry chicken liver mousse, boat scallops, Red Wattle pork belly, aged New York strip loin and black cherry-chocolate fudge with strawberry mousse. Tickets are $95, and the dinner begins at 7 pm. For reservations, contact Shannon Tinsley at shannont@kentrathbun.com or 972-673-0823.

Friday, June 12

Out of This World Cheese Pairings at Scardello
Scardello claims this is one of the best classes it’s ever done. Experience cheese paired with both classic accompaniments and more unexpected foods. If you want to sit with other attendees, simply put their names in the special instructions section during checkout. If it's sold out, you can call 214-219-1300 to get on the waiting list. Tickets are $40, and class begins at 8 pm.

Taste the Difference: Culinary with a Cause at Fair Park
During this intimate, high-end tasting experience sponsored by CultureMap, chef such as Brian Zenner, Kirstyn Brewer, Omar Flores and Anthony Van Camp cook in open kitchens. Attendees can also taste samples from 20 North Texas restaurants, as well as wine, spirits and more than 150 craft beers. Each of the four tasting experiences (Friday through Sunday) lasts four hours. Tickets are $125 per session, and that includes admission to Taste of Dallas.

Saturday, June 13

The Life of Cheese at Urban Acres Farmstead
This is an introduction to all things cheese, including how it’s made, constructing a cheese plate, cooking with cheese, and pairing cheese with wine and beer. Cordon Bleu Paris-trained chef and cheesemaker Claudine Martyn teaches attendees to make soft, fresh goat cheese; roasted cauliflower feta spread; bacon-cheddar-chive muffins; and more. Tickets are $75, and the class starts at 4 pm.

Sunday, June 14

Taste of Dallas at Fair Park
This is the final day for this event, which starts Friday at 5 pm. It features food from more than 70 local restaurants, cooking competitions for top prizes, a culinary and exhibitor marketplace, Taste the Difference VIP tasting experience, the sweet factory, and more. Tastings cost $1 to $4 each.

Monday, June 15

Guest Chef Dinner Series at FT33
The guest chef dinner series continues with Kim Floresca and Daniel Ryan from One Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Enjoy eight courses inspired by the visiting restaurant’s innovative New American cuisine. Cost is $105 per person plus $55 for wine pairings. Call 214-741-2629 for reservations.

Whole Foods Lakewood hosts a Top 10 Summer Wine Dinner on June 9.

Photo courtesy of Whole Foods

Whole Foods Lakewood hosts a Top 10 Summer Wine Dinner on June 9.

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Hummus News

New Mediterranean restaurant in McKinney spotlights Greek and Lebanese

Ilio's

Chicken shawarma plate at Ilio's Greek & Lebanese

A new Mediterranean restaurant starring two cuisines has debuted in McKinney: Called Ilio’s Greek & Lebanese Restaurant, it's now open at 210 N. Custer Rd. #130, with a collection of Middle Eastern favorites like gyros, shawarma, kebabs, hummus, falafel, and pita wraps.

The restaurant, which opened in mid-May in a center on the newer west side of McKinney, is from a pair of restauraunt veterans, Anas Abu-Ziad, nicknamed "Ziad," and Talal Hammad, who owned a similarly-themed and similarly-named concept in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Managing the front of the house is Ziad's affable wife Jessica Gardener, whose doting customer service has quickly made her a diner favorite.

"The idea with combining Greek and Lebanese was to make the restaurant inviting to everyone," Gardener says.

Baton Rouge has a reputation for good Greek and Lebanese food, even boasting a few restaurants that feature "Greek & Lebanese" as part of their name. Those two cuisines are slightly less common in Dallas, where the Middle-Eastern restaurant scene has been dominated mostly by Turkish and Syrian places.

Ilio's, which was the ancient Greek name for the city of Troy and is a popular moniker for Greek restaurants across the U.S., specializes in sizzling grilled kebobs, which are available in chicken, beef, shrimp, and kafta, the Lebanese favorite consisting of ground meat — often a combination of beef and lamb, with spices, onions, and herbs — molded into a long cylinder.

Greek dishes include dolmas (stuffed grape leaves with rice), spinach pie, and lamb shank — all dishes that can appear on many Middle Eastern menus but are most closely allied with Greek cuisine. That includes moussaka, the homey casserole dish made with eggplant, meat sauce, and bechamel — although Ilio's version is deconstructed, which is easier for restaurants to execute than the traditional layered version favored by home cooks.

Hummus comes in three options: traditional, Mediterranean, and Sultan, topped with chunks of meat. Other Mediterranean classic dishes include chicken shawarma, gyro plates, falafel, and fried halloumi cheese.

Most dishes come in under $15 and the restaurant is also BYOB.

There are extra-healthy dishes including salads, lentil soup, and pita wraps, made with pita that's a little softer and less doughy than many pitas in town. And there's also a fusion twist that's very Texas: a "Greek quesadilla" with your choice of grilled meat stacked between pita bread.

greek cuisine lebanese cuisine mckinney mediterranean restaurant middle eastern favorites openings