This Week in Gluttony

Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival tops best food and drink events in Dallas

With temperatures colder than most Dallasites can handle, there is only one way to keep warm: booze. This week there is so much alcohol, from a special bourbon dinner to a craft brewer’s 10th anniversary to the 31st edition of a popular wine festival.

Tuesday, November 18

Chipotle Benefit for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
Eat at any Dallas Chipotle and help the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children as part of the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon. (TSRHC is the primary beneficiary of the marathon.) It’s pretty simple: Order your burrito as you normally would, mention this promotion, and 50 percent of your meal’s proceeds will be donated to TSRHC. This is going on all day.

Wednesday, November 19

Eat Meat Drink Buffalo Dinner at Filter Building
Buffalo Trace Distillery, Kent Rathbun Catering and Eddie “Lucky” Campbell host a dinner and rare bourbon tasting in the spirit of the Dinner Lab. Attendees can taste some of the rarest bourbons from the Buffalo Trace Distillery while dining on such courses as pan-seared cod, molasses-lacquered roasted duck, wood-grilled venison and caramel apple bread pudding. Tickets are $200 a person. Reserve a spot by emailing events@kentrathbun.com.

Thursday, November 20

Basic Knife Skills: Thanksgiving Edition at Urban Acres Farmstead
Urban Acres founder Steven Bailey shares his culinary experience and proficient knife skills. This class is hands-on, so students need to bring their own knives and cutting boards. The instruction focuses on chopping and dicing produce such as carrots, onions, garlic and potatoes. Students also learn how to choose the best knife for their cooking needs and receive resources for maintaining knives. As a week-before-Thanksgiving bonus, the class also covers carving the Thanksgiving turkey. It runs 6-9:30 pm and costs $55 a person. Buy tickets online.

Deep Ellum Wine Walk
The Deep Ellum Community Association and the merchants of Deep Ellum are combining two great things — wine and shopping — at this event. Visitors can purchase a collectible Wine Walk glass for $5, raise it and repeat as they enjoy wine samplings and explore one of Dallas’ hottest neighborhood. The event, which takes place on the third Thursday of every month, features different venues every time. The walk lasts from 5-8 pm.

November Wine and Food Dinner at Sevy’s Grill
The Wagner family of winemakers is partnering with Sevy’s Grill for a special dinner. The reception starts at 6:30 pm; a four-course dinner paired with wine begins at 7. Cost is $89 per person. Call 214-265-7389 to reserve your table.

Oysters and Ruinart Champagne Thursday at Proof+Pantry
This is your second-to-last chance to indulge in French Champagne and oysters for crazy prices. Thursdays through November 27, from 4 pm until close, get a half-flute of Ruinart for $11 paired with three 25-cent oysters, a full flute for $22 with six 25-cent oysters, or a full bottle for $105 with two dozen 25-cent oysters. Ruinart would typically be $35 per glass and $120 per bottle, and East Coast oysters are usually $3 each.

Friday, November 21

31st Annual Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival at Irving Convention Center
The French-American Chamber of Commerce welcomes oenophiles to this French Riviera-themed event, where guests can sample an impressive collection of French wines from Beaujolais, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire Valley, Provence, Alsace and Rhône Valley, as well as American wines and craft beer. Admission includes a commemorative wine glass for tastings, food from local chefs, live entertainment, silent auction and more. Entry is $55 for members and $65 for non-members, and the fun lasts from 7:30-9 pm. Buy your tickets online.

Rahr & Sons 10th Anniversary VIP Beer Dinner
Rahr & Sons hosts a 10th anniversary VIP beer dinner featuring rare beer tastings with food pairings, as well as live music from High School Caesar. Attendees can sample more than 20 beers on tap with food by Chadra Mezza & Grill, Reata’s Mike Micallef, T&P Tavern, and chef Terry Chandler of Fred’s Texas Cafe. Dress is “tuxedo casual.” Tickets are $75, and you can buy them online. Fun starts at 6 pm.

Saturday, November 22

CornucopiBus
This special tour explores three local breweries: Collective Brewing Project, Panther Island and Martin House. Attendees get to sample several brews at each place and learn how they are made. Between stops the guides educate guests on the growing craft beer scene in North Texas. Guests can also enjoy grub from some of the area’s best food trucks parked at some of the breweries. Cost is $50 per person, and that gets you a seat on the bus, complimentary beer samples at each brewery, a snack from Luck and a commemorative snifter-style glass. The tour takes off from Community Beer Company and lasts from 11:30 am-5 pm. Buy tickets online.

Rahr & Sons 10th Anniversary Celebration
Rahr & Sons hosts an extended tour and tasting event featuring more than 30 rare beers, including Regulator, Midnight Cab 2013, Iron Joe, Ninth Anniversary Belgian Golden Ale, Bourbon Barrel Aged Winter Warmer 2013, Batch 1000 Pilsner, Iron Thistle, Angry Santa, and more. Attendees receive a collectible glass and can customize a commemorative T-shirt at a mobile screen printer. Also expect live music from Big Mike’s Box of Rock and snacks from food trucks such as Lee’s Grilled Cheese, Chadra Mezza & Grill, Schnitzel Shack and Gepettos Pizza. VIPs get early access from 11 am-1 pm, with live music from Brad Thompson, for $20. General admission starts at 1; tickets are $10. Buy them online.

The Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival returns November 21.

City Room

The Beaujolais & Beyond Wine Festival returns November 21.

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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