This Week in Gluttony

Abacus turns 15 to top best food and drink events in Dallas-Fort Worth

You know fall has arrived when your calendar fills up with food events. That's the case this week, because there are oodles of festivals, fundraisers and foodie celebrations. Heck, there's even a boozy 5K. And we can't even begin to explain the wackiness going down at Garden Cafe.

Dig in.

Wednesday, September 24

Chef's Table Wine Dinner With Joel Harloff at Bridge Bistro
Join chef Joel Harloff for a pairing dinner with Oak Cliff Cellars. Menu items include sea scallops, herb-brined game hen and summer wine bread pudding. Tickets are $65 each, and dinner starts at 6:30 pm. Call 214-740-1985 or reserve your spot online.

Saint Arnold Beer Dinner at Libertine Bar
Enjoy a five-course meal with pairings from Saint Arnold Brewing Company. Dishes include sweet potato egg pasta with pancetta and snow peas, chicken sausage with mousse, alligator with crumpets and corn, venison with pearl onions and pickled okra, and pear tart with a chocolate toffee crisp. Dinner costs $60, including pairings, and starts at 7 pm. Call for reservations 214-824-7900.

Thursday, September 25

Oktoberfest Fort Worth at Panther Island Pavilion
This is an authentic German festival with just the right amount of Texas thrown in. Expect authentic German food, music, dancing, games, biergarten, dachshund races, and Spaten and other craft Oktoberfest and fall beers from around the country. Tickets range in price from $5-$15 and can be purchased online. The festival runs through September 27. Gates open at 6 pm on Thursday and Friday and 11 am on Saturday.

Foodiepalooza at Time Ten Cellars
The East Dallas Boys & Girls Club Advisory Council presents its annual event with special guest John Tesar of Spoon Bar & Kitchen and Knife. Join them for a night of food and wine, fun, and music by Chris Austin Martinez. They will be joined by nationally renowned pastry chef Katie Kennedy and chef Grant Morgan of the Ranch at Las Colinas. The evening also includes silent and live auctions with offerings such as dining packages, VIP Las Vegas getaway and private wine tasting for 20. The fun starts at 7 pm. Tickets start at $65 and can be purchased online.

Friday, September 26

Greek Food Festival of Dallas at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
Enjoy all your favorite Greek foods — prepared right in the festival kitchen — at this cultural extravaganza that runs through Sunday. Also expect live music, authentic Greek dancing, kids area and marketplace filled with a range of Greek goods. Attendees can also tour the church and visit the Greek Cultural Center and church bookstore. Admission is free for kids under 13 and $6 for adults, and you can buy those tickets online. You must also purchase food tickets to buy food and drinks inside. Doors open at 4 pm on Friday and 11 am on Saturday and Sunday.

Grapevine Brewery Beer Dinner at Cook Hall
Cook Hall welcomes Grapevine Brewery for its latest beer dinner. Courses include pork rillette with crisp plantain chips, red and white endive salad, roasted organic chicken with fall vegetables, roasted venison, and apple and pecan sticky bun with brown butter ice cream. Tickets are $55, and you can reserve your spot by calling 214-397-4111. Dinner start at 7 pm.

Taste of the Fair at Pegasus Plaza
The State Fair kicks off this weekend, and the downtown parade starts at noon. While you're there, you can start your eating adventures at Pegasus Plaza from 11 am-1:30 pm. Food vendors offer State Fair classics such as Fletcher's corn dogs, roasted corn and more.

Saturday, September 27

Past and Present Dinner at Abacus
Abacus turns 15 this month, and that calls for a party — starting with this dinner. Celebrated chefs and former Abacus toques Tre Wilcox and Omar Flores return to the kitchen for one night. Alongside Kent Rathbun and executive sous chef Chris Patrick, they are creating a four-course dinner with wine pairings, including dishes such as duck three ways, deconstructed red chili pork "pozole," dark chocolate pate with pistachio and Bing cherry sorbet, and much more. You can make reservations between 6 and 11 pm by calling 214-520-0151. Cost is $200 per person.

Oktoberfest 5K and Biergarten at Rahr & Sons Brewing Company
Who doesn't enjoy an ice cold beer after running a 5K? Runners for this fun event, presented by Discover Brewtopia, get a Rahr commemorative pint glass, tech-fit shirt and Bavarian treats. There is also a post-race biergarten and live polka music. Tickets are $40, and the race starts at 9 am. You can register online.

Sunday, September 28

Bangarang Ball at Garden Cafe
Drawing inspiration from Neverland and many other strange places, Garden Cafe's kitchen garden will be transformed at this unusual event. In addition to a special menu and wine, there will be beer from Deep Ellum Brewing Company and cocktails from Whistlepig. (If none of that excites you, then feel free to BYO drink of choice.) Chefs such a Graham Dodds and Justin Box plan to attend, along with the Rye Boys, who will keep you entertained. This event starts at 6 pm and should go strong until midnight. Tickets are $85. Buy them online.

15 Year Anniversary Party at Abacus
Help Abacus celebrate 15 years in Dallas at this party featuring food, craft cocktails, and cooking and mixology demonstrations. The restaurant is also bringing in Downtown Fever with a repertoire spanning from the '60s to today's most popular hits. Festivities take place from 2-8 pm, and the price to attend is $100 per person. For more information, call 214-559-3111 or buy your tickets online.

Abacus celebrates 15 years of Dallas dining with events on September 27 and 28.

Photo courtesy of Abacus

Abacus celebrates 15 years of Dallas dining with events on September 27 and 28.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun

This Week in Gluttony

Abacus turns 15 to top best food and drink events in Dallas-Fort Worth

Abacus celebrates 15 years of Dallas dining with events on September 27 and 28.

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Michelin-recognized chef brings Korean barbecue to Dallas' Bishop Arts

Dallas visionary joins 18 DFW billionaires on new Forbes' richest list

Massive retail village with restaurant and event barn to debut in Plano