Critic News

Dallas Morning News hires another restaurant critic from Los Angeles

Michalene Busico.

Photo courtesy of Twitter

After nearly a year-long search, the Dallas Morning News has hired a dining critic: Michalene Busico, a native of Southern California and journalist at publications such as The Robb Report and The Los Angeles Times.

Busico replaces Leslie Brenner, the newspaper's most recent critic, who left in 2017 and now works for Rebees, the moniker-challenged company founded by restaurateur Tristan Simon.

Although Busico was once a food editor, this will be her first crack at being a restaurant critic. According to her Linked-in page, she was deputy editor for the Robb Report for eight years, and was previously with Entrepreneur magazine. The last time she worked at a newspaper was in 2008.

According to sources who prefer to remain unnamed, Busico was not the first candidate to be offered the job. Her salary is rumored to be "within the six-figure range."

Sadly, her hire is a rejection of our five suggestions for who should be the next critic, which included chef Jeana Johnson, man-about-town Wylie H. Dallas, and Instagram. With sites such as Facebook and Yelp, and a declining readership in the newspaper world, restaurant critics seem like a dying breed.

Busico represents a doubling down on the part of the DMN to a more old-school style of criticism. Her social media presence is currently slim, with a Twitter account currently boasting only 199 followers and a total of four tweets issued from 2016. Nonetheless, she will not be anonymous, and posed for a photo in the column that announces her hiring.

Among her stated goals is a plan to reshape the newspaper's star rating system, "so we can recognize less formal restaurants in a stronger way."

Busico has already written articles for the newspaper, including a profile of chef Julian Barsotti. In her column, which is behind a paywall, she divulges that she and Brenner are friends. (Her very first tweet was a retweet in support of Brenner, awwww.)

But dang, their friendship would seem to put her out of the running to cover Billy Can Can — which the paper momentously dubbed "the Texas saloon that might finally save Dallas' Victory Park" — or for that matter, any of the other Tristan projects coming soon to Victory Park.

Brenner's reign was controversial. She had some lingo issues, was banned from some local restaurants, and endured run-ins with chefs such as John Tesar and local heroes such as "BBQ Snob" Daniel Vaughn after "BBQ-Gate," in which a best barbecue list she crafted featured a number of restaurants he'd written about first.

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Hummus News

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas

Samantha Marie Photography

Zon Zon food spread

An upscale Mediterranean restaurant is coming to North Dallas from a trusted name: Called Zon Zon, it'll open at 5455 Belt Line Rd. #130, in the Work/Shop center, and it's hospitality group Yela Concepts led by Yaser Khalaf (Darna, Baboush), together with his son Mak Khalef in their first collaboration.

According to a release, it'll open on December 22.

Named for Mak's sister Zaina (“Zon Zon”), the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner with a refined take on Mediterranean dining, rooted in tradition but with modern influences.

"We tried to merge what embodies Mediterranean cuisine with dishes that people in Dallas love," Mak says. "A lot of the dishes we have on menu are Mediterranean but have American and Texan influences."

Mezze favorites include hummus topped with green shatta and extra-virgin olive oil; baba ghanoush with charred eggplant, tahini, dukka, and pomegranate; crispy cauliflower with saffron labneh; tuna neya with tahini, mixed pickles, and Aleppo pepper; and kibbeh with ground lamb, onions, pine nuts, and dill labneh.

Salads include seared tuna salad with freekeh and golden beets; Tahini Caesar with tahini–Caesar dressing and za’atar croutons; and roasted beets with burrata, oranges, and pistachios.

Entrées include roasted chicken with garlic-batata and pomegranate jus; chicken shish kebab over saffron rice with almonds and raisins; hanger steak shawarma frites — a clever twist on steak frites with hand-cut fries; ZZ’s Wagyu cheeseburger with smoked provolone and house pickles; Prime ribeye with za’atar chimichurri and heirloom carrots; and apricot lamb couscous.

The beverage program complements the menu with a Mediterranean-focused wine list and creative cocktails such as the coffee-kissed Midnight Istanbul and ZZ’s Margarita, with burnt pineapple and ras el hanout.

Designed in collaboration with Dallas-based Coeval Studios, the restaurant features a 2,130-square-foot interior with an expansive 735-square-foot patio that seats 76, for a total occupancy near 100.

The restaurant boasts an open kitchen, while decorative finishes include modern woodwork, rich textures, and Middle Eastern-inspired details — stylish yet inviting, with a setting that feels like home.

“The inspiration behind Zon Zon came from wanting to create the kind of place we’ve always wished existed — a neighborhood Mediterranean spot that feels both familiar and exciting - we wanted to create a comfortable space where guests can meet up with friends or neighbors on a regular basis,” says Yaser in a statement.

Mak went to college to sudy biomedical engineering, but says he couldn't resist the lure of the restaurant world in which he grew up.

"Zon Zon is a reflection of everything we love about food," Mak says. "What makes this especially meaningful is building it with my dad — bringing our family’s story and passion to the table."

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