This week in gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Oktoberfest celebrations and other fall-themed food and drink events for the days ahead.

Photo courtesy of Jaxon Texas Kitchen & Beer Garden

Oktoberfest events are still on the docket this week, but so are glimpses of fall-themed food and drink. There’s a fall harvest tasting, a bourbon-pairing dinner, and a three-day grand opening event for a new Italian bakery. A taco festival rounds out the list, proving that tacos are a year-round favorite.

Tuesday, September 28

Angel’s Envy Pairing Dinner at Whiskey Cake Plano
Partnering with Angel’s Envy distillery in Kentucky, the folks from the Plano location of Whiskey Cake will serve a six-course bourbon pairing dinner. Menu highlights include lamb croquettes, Caribbean coconut soup, jerk prawns, and coconut cake. The dinner is $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and it begins at 7 pm.

Wednesday, September 29

Zero Gradi Grand Opening
The new Italian dessert bar in downtown Dallas, which features gelato, sorbettos, pastries, and espresso, will celebrate its grand opening with a three-night affair. Visit from 5-9 pm Wednesday through Friday for live entertainment and complimentary samples. Note that its big brother restaurant, 400 Gradi pizzeria, sits just next door.

Thursday, September 30

Wine & Cheese Fest: Fall Harvest at Eataly Dallas
Peruse the gourmet Italian mecca at this strolling tasting event. There’ll be more than 15 fall wines to try along with an overflowing selection of cheeses, cured meats, house-made pasta, and more. Tickets are $65 per person, and the event will run from 5:30-7 pm.

Blind Wine Tasting at La Tarte Tropézienne
Rely on your senses to decipher characteristics of certain grapes. The downtown Dallas French bakery will partner with Allen’s Vetted Cellars to host a blind wine tasting. Tickets are $40 per person, and the tasting begins at 6:30 pm.

Saturday, October 2

Oktoberfest at Jaxon Texas Kitchen & Beer Garden
Visit the downtown Dallas restaurant and bar for day-long Oktoberfest features, including a beer wall with German-themed pours available in 16 or 22 ounces, a bratwurst station, and a Bavarian-style pretzel station. Bring the kids, as there’ll be face painting and a balloon artist. For the grownups, plan for costume contests, yodeling and stein-hoisting competitions, and live music. The event will run from 11 am-7 pm, and admission is free.

Frisco Oktoberfest
There’ll be two stages at this two-day event, featuring live music and dancing to be enjoyed with German beer, brats, pretzels, and more. Expect classic Oktoberfest shenanigans like stein-hoisting competitions, keg rolling, and lots of lederhosen. Tickets start at $20, which includes a sheet of 20 tickets redeemable for food and beverages. The event will run from 11 am-10 pm on Saturday and 12-5 pm on Sunday.

Tacotopia
Nebraska Furniture Mart is throwing a taco party. To be held on the Grandscape Lawn, the all-day event will feature local food vendors, live music and Jalisco dancers, nacho and hot sauce eating contests, and even a Selena tribute band with pre-show dance lessons. Beverages will be provided by The Colony Wine Bar. Patrons can purchase a $10 taco sampler pack, which includes choice of three tacos from participating vendors and one drink. The event will run from 12-6:30 pm.

openings wine dinner

Deli News

Gourmet market Ari's Pantry to open in Dallas' Trinity Groves

Ari's Pantry

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A new gourmet grocery is coming to Trinity Groves: Ari's Pantry, the market launched in Oak Cliff by husband-and-wife Ari and Amy Lowenstein, will open a second location in West Dallas’ Trinity Groves, with a grand opening celebration on Saturday, November 30.

Located at 3011 Gulden Ln. #119 in the space that was once home to Potato Flats who remembers them, the Trinity Groves store will offer: pasta, olive oil, vinegars, preserves, candy, bread, crackers, cheese, meats, pizza dough, fresh pasta, housewares, cocktail ingredients, novelty kitchen gadgets, spices, prepared foods, fresh pesto and Ari’s own tomato sauce.

“We are excited to open our newest location at Trinity Groves joining the great businesses already there and the wave of new ventures opening in the development,” Ari Lowenstein says in a release. “With this location we will reach a new audience in West Dallas and be closer to our customers coming from downtown and the north.”

The couple opened their first location in Winnetka Heights at 1307 ½ W. Davis St. in December 2023 to fulfill Ari's passion for all things Italy. The idea was a small Italian food store with recipe-ready staples, with a hyper-local vibe. It has since blossomed into a general-purpose gourmet stop.

In addition to the food staples for sale found at their Bishop Arts location, Ari’s Trinity Groves location will also include a commercial catering kitchen that will enable them to provide full-service catering, prepared meal pick-up, pasta classes, and private dinners.

“Amy and Ari bring something new and special to this development as our first partner to offer consumer packaged goods made by people and companies outside of Trinity Groves,” said Sam Romano, Partner at West Dallas Investments, parent company of Trinity Groves. “They are part of the vision we have for the future of Trinity Groves that will combine innovative, up and coming chefs and restauranteurs with lifestyle and entertainment options like pickleball, bocce ball, popup events, arcade game play and additional retail partners.”

The Ari's empire doesn't stop here: Their goal is to open multiple locations "in all corners of DFW and beyond," and that includes a location in the Cyprus Waters community in Coppell, slated to open in spring 2025.

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