This week in gluttony

These are the 8 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Sample bites from The Rustic and other Uptown restaurants at a big event this week.

Photo courtesy of The Rustic

It’s a week of elegant experiences, with several upscale events on the list, including a truffle dinner, high-end dessert tasting, Chartreuse liqueur tasting, and a fine Italian wine dinner featuring a guest sommelier from a tony Colorado restaurant. Save room by week’s end for a soul food festival featuring comfort cuisine favorites.

Tuesday, October 19

Frasca Takeover – Fruili Food & Wine Dinner at Meridian
Sommelier and restaurateur Bobby Stuckey of Boulder, Colorado Italian restaurant Frasca Food and Wine, will visit Meridian for one-night takeover. Stuckey will collaborate with Meridian chef Junior Borges on a six-course dinner with wine pairings. Menu highlights include roasted scallops on the shell, polenta with burgundy truffle, and short ribs with apples and horseradish. The dinner is $225 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and includes a signed copy of Stuckey’s new cookbook, Fruili Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy’s Mountains, Vineyards and Seaside.

Thursday, October 21

Spooky Omakase at Make Your Life Sweeter
The high-end dessert boutique at the Galleria Dallas is offering a sweet and spooky dessert experience. Taste 13 different Halloween-themed desserts during this one-hour tasting. (Have your iPhones ready for lots of Insta-worthy shots.) Reservations are $65 per person and the tasting will be offered through October 31.

Wine Dinner with Pinea at The Crescent Club
Located at the Hotel Crescent Court, The Crescent Club will host a three-course wine dinner featuring Pinea Wines. Guests will partake in seared yellowtail tuna, filet mignon, and chocolate gateaux. Reservations are $110 per person and a welcome reception begins at 5:30 pm, with dinner to follow at 6 pm.

Trolley Taste of Uptown
To be held at the Marriot Dallas Uptown (and not on an actual trolley), this tasting event features bites from restaurants located along the M-Line Trolley route. More than a dozen participants include Sixty Vines, Meso Maya, and The Rustic. The fundraising event will include live music and silent and live auctions, too. Tickets are $100 per person and the event will run from 6-10 pm.

Truffle Dinner at The Adolphus Hotel
It’s white truffle season and we’re here for it. Lap in a little luxury at this five-course dinner in The French Room inside The Adolphus Hotel. The progressive experience will begin in the Salon for canapes, proceed to the dining room for dinner, and commence in the bar with a digestif. Reservations are $185 per person, plus $85 for optional wine pairings (plus tax and gratuity). Valet parking is included and the dinner begins at 6:30 pm.

Saturday, October 23

Wine 101: Zinfandel at Neighborhood Cellar
The Bishop Arts wine bar and bottle shop will host a class all about Zinfandel (which spans beyond Beringer of the 1990s). Participants will try four types along with snacks from Fount Board & Table. Class is $35 per person and will run from 12-1 pm.

Sunday, October 24

Soul Food Festival
Taste comfort cuisine from 20 different Texas caterers who’ll set up to sell dishes like pork chops, oxtail, candied yams, collard greens, fried chicken, barbecue, turkey legs, tacos, and more during this all-day dining event. Located at Lofty Spaces in Dallas, the festival will run from 12-7 pm. Reserve your ticket by Wednesday and admission is free. After that, the entry free is $5 per person.

Monday, October 25

Supper Club at The French Room with Chartreuse
A centuries-old herbal liqueur, Chartreuse is finding new life in the modern bartender’s repertoire. Try it in cocktails and straight pours during this tapas-style supper club event at The French Room inside The Adolphus Hotel. Reservations are $95 plus tax and gratuity. Valet parking is included and the event begins at 7 pm.

uptown desserts festivals news-you-can-eat wine

Smoothie News

Healthy smoothie chain from the Northeast makes Dallas-area debut

Fresh Monkee

Fresh Monkee smoothies

A smoothie chain from the Northeast has landed in Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Fresh Monkee, it's a chain from Connecticut that made its DFW debut in Richardson at 3501 Custer Pkwy. #119, in the Custer Creek shopping center, where it opened July 1.

Fresh Monkee was founded by entrepreneur Judy Flynn in Wethersfield, Connecticut in 2014. It has since expanded to 20 locations across 15 states. Four locations are planned for Texas, including Austin and Houston. The Richardson location is from franchisees Anam and Omer Nawab.

In a release, Flynn notes that many smoothie places rely on sugary fruit blends and "strange" powders.

"Most juice bars strip away the fiber from fruits and veggies, which is essential for a healthy gut and feeling satisfied," Flynn says in a press release. "I was convinced we could do better."

Their menu includes 30 varieties: fruit smoothies, green smoothies, chocolate smoothies, and coffee smoothies, with seasonal flavors such as the summer-ready watermelon strawberry limeade shake.

Notable options include:

Chunkee Monkee — milk, chocolate or vanilla protein powder, banana, and peanut butter
Filthy Monkee — milk, chocolate protein powder, brownie protein bar, and peanut butter
Coffee Buzz — milk, a splash of cream, chocolate protein powder, coffee cubes, vanilla extract, and Stevia
Orange Cream — milk, orange juice, vanilla protein, and a whole orange
Maui Colada — coconut milk, orange juice, vanilla protein, unsweetened coconut shreds, pineapple, and mango

They also carry a protein ball snack with peanut butter, oat flour, chocolate whey protein, and maple syrup, rolled in coconut oil and chocolate chips.

Each location has indoor seating, including couches and tables, but they're mainly a to-go concept.

Another pair of franchisees, Clarence Gadapati and Karuna Annavajjala, are opening a location in Arlington, at 5904 S. Cooper St. #120, in the Sublett Corners center, where it will open in August.

openings