This Week in Gluttony

These are the 10 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

The Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner is Sunday, October 21, at The French Room.

Photo courtesy of the Adolphus

Coming up this week, Dallas is hosting its first Friends of James Beard benefit dinner, and the French Room will surely represent us foodie folks well. Which event tops your list?

Wednesday, October 17

Dream Builders Dinner at The Statler
Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity presents a fun, baseball-inspired evening, featuring a seated dinner and ballpark treats. The night is capped off with a conversation with MLB Hall of Fame catcher and Texas Rangers icon Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. Tickets start at $175 and the program starts at 7 pm.

Freemark Abbey Wine Dinner at Perle on Maple
Freemark Abbey estate manager Barry Dodds leads guests through an intimate, four-course dinner created by executive chef Wade Burch. Courses include slow-cooked lamb shank tortellini, seared Texas quail breast, Broken Arrow Ranch venison medallions, and Merlot-braised beef short ribs. Tickets are $100 and the evening begins at 6 pm.

Friday, October 19

Smokin' Blues and BBQ Festival at Armstrong Park Duncanville
This KCBS-sanctioned barbecue competition and live blues music festival is hosted by the Duncanville Lions Club and the City of Duncanville. In addition to mouthwatering barbecue, guests can expect various other food vendors, live music, and arts and crafts for purchase. There is even a kids cook-off competition. This year’s live music line-up includes the All Star Charity Blues Jam, Jay-B & The Zydeco Posse, Larry Lampkin, Ally Venable Band, Beth Garner Band, and The Peterson Brothers. Tickets are $10 and this two-day festival starts at 5 pm on Friday, October 19, and 10 am on Saturday, October 20.

Plano Steinfest at Haggard Park
Downtown Plano presents its fourth annual Fall Festival that celebrates outstanding beer, great food, and the right kind of polka music to get you and your friends dancing in the street. The festival will include beer from Karbach Brewery, German-inspired cuisine, live music, contests, games, more than 40 Marktplatz vendors, the annual Wiener Dog Fashion Show, and more. The festival is free to attend and starts at 5 pm on Friday, October 19, and 10 am on Saturday, October 20.

The Art of Wine Blending Tasting at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse presents an exclusive wine tasting as the wine team explores the limitless possibilities of the art of blending. From renowned Old World classics of Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley to the bold visionaries of Australia and the United States, blending is associated with both tradition and innovation. Tickets are $80 and the event starts at 6 pm.

Date Night Under The Stars at Messina Hof Grapevine Winery
This Friday night, the late-night happy hour features beautiful music with a great purpose. Guests can enjoy award-winning Texas wine on the bandstand and in Liberty Park while Texas Chamber Music Project plays classical music. This event is free to attend and kicks off at 7 pm.

Saturday, October 20

McKinney Wine and Music Festival at Adriatica
Enjoy wines from Texas and California, McKinney musicians, talented artists, local restaurants, a beer garden, demos from North Texas culinary experts, a play zone for kids, and more than 60 boutiques and shops. This event is free to attend with wine tasting tickets starting at $15. The festival lasts from noon to 4 pm.

Tipsy Tea Party at La Duni
Do not miss this afternoon of tea tipples, savory nibbles, and fine fashion. The afternoon is led by Hendrick’s Gin brand ambassador Mattias Horseman, who plans to lead a discussion about the history, etiquette, style, and essentials of a proper British afternoon tea. Admission is free and the tea party starts at 3 pm.

Sunday, October 21

Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner at The French Room
The French Room hosts the city’s first Friends of the James Beard Benefit dinner, supporting the next generation of great American chefs. The evening begins with a Champagne reception in The French Room Bar followed by an eight-course seated dinner in the dining room, featuring exquisite wine pairings by The French Room’s sommelier, Leslie Hartman. For this special evening, each participating chef creates a course highlighting the ingredients of fall, ultimately creating a menu that is a true culinary collaboration by some of the country’s best chefs. Participating chefs include Anthony Dispensa (The French Room), Peja Krstic (Mot Hai Ba), Angela Hernandez (Fine China), and many more. Tickets are $225 and the evening begins at 6 pm.

Monday, October 22

Red Mare Wine Dinner at Lark on the Park
Red Mare Wines proprietor Jim Striegel leads guests through a four-course paidiné paired with food by chef Ryan Barnett. Courses include a late fall melon and ham salad, seared sea scallops, grilled lamb loin, and roasted sweet potato cinnamon rolls. Tickets are $75 and the evening kicks off at 6:30 pm.

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Coffee News

East Dallas coffee shop Killer Joe crackles with sharp New York style

Killer Joe

Killer Joe Coffee

A hip new coffee shop is energizing a busy corner in East Dallas: Called Killer Joe, it's a new shop at 108 N. Fitzhugh Ave. right on the northeast corner of Columbia Avenue, next to (and in the same building as) Pupusas To Go.

Killer Joe is from Christine Sweet and Christian Napolitano, who moved from New York to Dallas in 2022 in search of entrepreneurial opportunity.

"We had been wanting to open up a business in New York for a long time," Christine says. “After the pandemic, it was really hard doing business there. We were looking for a good place to move that offered an opportunity to open our business."

Christine previously worked in travel/destination marketing, living in different places around the world. Christian was in hospitality, having worked in high-end restaurants in Manhattan, most recently at Bond Street Sushi in Soho.

Their goal: to bring a little New York culture to Dallas.

“We are more than a coffee shop — we're a place for foodies and musicophiles, we are really into music and rock & roll. Our shop is not a sleepy, quiet coffee shop," Christine says.

They serve notice of their intentions on the exterior with a quirky, personal mural by Anthony Z. Padilla, rendered in taxicab yellow, with elegant line drawings of the Statue of Liberty and highway-style signs that say "Now leaving New York" and "Welcome to Texas."

The interior is casual-chic, with pale wood furniture and an original cement floor that still sports intentional patches of old paint. The walls have a mix of B&W vintage photos and the occasional cowboy hat. The space was for many years a closed-in bar called Los Dos Reales; but now, the building boasts expansive windows that look out on Fitzhugh and create a bright and sunny space.

For their coffee program, they use organic espresso beans and make their drinks in an Italian Sanremo machine. They serve all the classics plus signature drinks such as French Toast Latte, Sea Salt Caramel de Leche, and Caliente Mocha with a hint of cayenne pepper.

Seasonal drinks include a pistachio caramel matcha latte — featuring toasted pistachios like a baklava, but balanced by the earthiness of the matcha. Other specialty drinks include rose water matcha, orange blossom matcha spritz, and cucumber lemonade.

Panini at Killer JoeKiller Joe

They also serve food, including breakfast all day: steak & eggs, avocado toast, and bagels with plain, scallion or vegan cream cheese. The "Spaghetti Western" is a twist on the traditional ham & cheese sandwich with spicy capicola, roasted tomato, Calabrian pepper sauce, and chimichurri on toasted ciabatta.

Bread is from Empire Baking Company and the bagels are from Shug's.

At lunch, they serve an umami tuna melt; a "K-Pop Cuban" with ham and cheese, plus kimchi pickles and wasabi mayo; and The Texican, with soyrizo spicy sausage, cheddar roasted poblano peppers, tomato, and avocado.

Reeves Family Farm in Princeton provides fruits and vegetables, and 4DWN brings their microgreens. Pastries are baked in house and sauces such as black olive pesto and Killer chipotle sauce are made from scratch.

“We are trying to blend our edgy New York style with a Southern Texas flair," Christine says.

They're open daily from 7am-3 pm, with a late-hour program every second Saturday featuring live DJs; people gather inside and outside the shop for music, food, and drinks.

"This community is just so great, very eclectic, and has really embraced our style," Christine says. In fact, a few customers had a tattoo made at neighbor Franklins Tattoo and Supply with the coffee shop's skull logo.

"I had to follow and get one done too," she says.

coffee openings

This Week in Gluttony

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