More Fried Foods

Funnel Cake Burger wins big at State Fair of Texas Big Tex Choice Awards 2017

The Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger in all its glory.

State Fair of Texas

In a major upset, Froot Loops were completely bypassed at the 13th Annual Big Tex Awards, announced at a judging ceremony in the Tower Building on August 27. And yet, one dish won two awards: Props to the Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger, the big winner, earning trophies both for "Most Creative" and for "Best Taste Savory." Winning for "Best Taste Sweet" was Gulf Coast Fish Bowl, a cocktail with blue punch.

The Big Tex Awards, aka the "fried food awards," is the splashy annual event in which concessionaires submit creations they'll serve at the fair that year. The contest has not only become one of the biggest publicity generators for the State Fair, it has lent a modern facade to what was previously a declining, dowdy event. Prior winners have included fried butter and fried Jell-O.

This year, Fair organizers increased the total finalists from 8 to 10. Also for the first time, they handed out three awards, instead of two. Previously, it was "Best Taste" and "Most Creative." This year, they broke the Best Taste category into "Sweet" and "Savory."

Would it be considered a backfire that one dish won two awards? Having one dish win two awards is surely not the outcome they anticipated. Meanwhile, that must be one heckuva Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger.

The full list of finalists included:

Deep Fried Chicken Noodle Soup on a Stick. Homestyle chicken noodle soup deep fried and served on a stick.

Deep Fried Froot Loops. Sweetened Froot Loops folded into marshmallow, dipped in batter, and fried.

Fat Smooth. Three mini cream puffs on a skewer.

Fernie's Fried Texas Sheet Cake. Chocolate brownie cake coated in panko and ground cocoa puffs and fried.

Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger. Burger with bacon and queso on two funnel cake "buns."

Gulf Coast Fish Bowl. A cocktail with blue alcoholic punch served in a round plastic cup that's meant to look like an aquarium.

Pinot Noir Popcorn. Cheddar-cheese flavored kettle corn dusted with a Pinot Noir burgundy wine powder.

Surfin' Turfin' Tator Boat. Baked potato stuffed with lobster and steak.

Texas Fajita Fries. Meat "fries" made of breaded beef fajita strips, seasoned with Sriracha and served in a bread cone.

The Tamale Donut. Pork tamale served in a doughnut shape.

While the additional number of entries amped up the volume, it also threatened to bog down the judging event. To "help move time along," each savory finalist was supposedly randomly selected to be paired with a sweet finalist.

Deep Fried Chicken Noodle Soup on a Stick was paired with Pinot Noir Popcorn. Texas Fajita Fries were paired with Fat Smooth. Surfin' Turfin' Tator Boat was paired with the Gulf Coast Fish Bowl cocktail. The Tamale Donut was paired with the Deep Fried Froot Loops. The two heaviest items, the Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger and the Texas Fried Sheet Cake, were last.

Could the pairings have had an effect on the ultimate winners? That seems like a definite possibility. Nothing against the Tamale Donut, but is it possible it dragged down the Froot Loops, which was surely the rightful winner?

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Pub News

New pub The Irish Goodbye to open on Greenville Avenue in Dallas

dallas.culturemap.com

It's a good thing Dallas likes pubs, as a new one is coming to Lower Greenville. Called The Irish Goodbye, it'll open at 1928 Greenville Ave. in the space previously occupied by Hide, which closed in March.

Named for the custom of departing from an event quietly, The Irish Goodbye is from One Esca Group, the hospitality company by restaurateur Michael Kim, who also owns Blackfriar Pub.

He and his operating partner Kevin Bartley plan to begin hosting soft opening events within the week.

Their vision is an elevated Irish pub with a sports bar element, Kim says.

"Our inspiration comes from some of the higher-end pubs we've visited in New York," he says. "These are places that are classy, not a hole-in-the-wall, a place that might appeal to professionals, sports and pub fans."

Kim, who also owns the restaurant Sugarbacon Proper Kitchen, got into the hospitality industry almost by accident.

"My background was in private equity, working for a company that specialized in restaurant acquisitions," he says. "It gave me a unique perspective on the restaurant world from behind the scenes."

His company was involved in the dissolution of Spaghetti Warehouse, and at one point Kim served as president of the chain. (It now has three remaining locations, two of which he owns.) Having caught the restaurant operations bug, he acquired Blackfriar Pub in Uptown, originally founded by Feargal McKinney, in 2019, then opened a second location in Lakewood in 2022.

"When I started, I was foolish enough to think operating a bar would be comparable to restaurants but learned quickly that the experience is dramatically different," he says. "I was lucky that a couple key employees taught me how bars worked."

The Irish Goodbye will be the first concept that he and Bartley create from scratch. The venue will have three zones including a 3700-square-foot interior; a 2,000- to 2,500-square-foot rooftop patio; and a new front patio. It'll be outfitted with 40 TVs, plus a complex AV system that'll allow them to dial in different programming for each space.

The food menu is still being finalized, but will cull from their other concepts such as Sugarbacon, including weekend brunch.

"Our goal, it's probably ambitious, is to be one of the names that pops into everybody's head when you ask about pubs in Dallas," Kim says.

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