This Week in Gluttony

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

The Dallas Arboretum's annual Food & Wine Festival arrives this week.

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden/Facebook

Spring officially arrives this week and events inspired by the season are right on cue. Makes plans for not one, but three food festivals, a rib-smoking class, brewery crawfish boil, and multiple wine dinners. Save room for free soft-serve cones to start the week.

Tuesday, March 19

Free Cone Day at Dairy Queen
This year’s first official day of spring is March 19 and DQ restaurants in Texas are ready to celebrate the impending arrival of warmer weather. Visit any location for a complimentary small plain soft-serve cone, no purchase required. Customers can also enjoy this month’s featured Mint Brownie Blizzard, blended with brownie pieces and chocolate chunks.

Inglenook Wine Dinner at Monarch
Inglenook dates back to the late 1800s in Napa Valley, and reps from the vineyard will visit Monarch to talk through the winery’s heritage while sharing six of its wines. The four-course dinner will include sea scallop crudo, French white asparagus with sea urchin, duck confit, Texas Wagyu strip loin, and salted caramel-filled mousse. Tickets are $300, plus tax and gratuity. Arrive by 5:30 pm for a champagne reception.

Thursday, March 21

Butcher’s Cut with Ziata Wines at Wicked Butcher
Recently opened steakhouse in downtown Dallas will host Ziata Wine founder Karen Cakebread for a five-course wine pairing dinner. The industry leader will guide guests through her selections to match up with dishes like Spanish Hamachi tartare, Atlantic salmon with brown butter and matcha cream, and roasted dry-aged ribeye. Dinner is $150, plus tax and gratuity, and begins at 6 pm.

Beyond Jameson Whiskey Tasting
Keep the St. Patrick’s Day festivities going with this Irish whiskey tasting that will take patrons on a journey beyond Jameson. Hosted by local bourbon steward Jeff Underwood, founder of Bourbon in Black, the tasting will highlight single grain, single malt, and blended malt Irish whiskies. Tickets are $45 plus tax and the tasting will take place at The Algiers Club in the Design District from 6–8 pm.

Italian Wine Pairing at Gorji
The Mediterranean restaurant will celebrate its 21st anniversary with a three-course pairing dinner featuring wines from Tuscany and Sicily. Menu items include three-cheese spinach lasagna, grilled avocado with prawns, and prime beef tenderloin with gnocchi gorgonzola. The dinner is $179 plus tax and begins at 6:30 pm.

Dallas Arboretum Food & Wine Festival
Seventh annual event will host more than 40 restaurants and chefs, serving small plates to pair with wines from two dozen wineries. Participating restaurants include Petra & the Beast, Encina, Meridian, Asian Mint, and more. Taking place at the height of the Arboretum’s Dallas Blooms display, the festival is $149 ($129 for members) with entry at 7 pm.

Saturday, March 23

McKinney Asian Festival
Historic downtown McKinney will host its very first Asian festival featuring more than a dozen street food vendors, traditional performances, dragon dances, shopping, and kids activities. Authentic dishes will range from Vietnamese noodle soup, Japanese obanyaki, and Thai sticky rice to fish cakes, bubble teas, and Chinese barbecue. The event will run from 11 am–6 pm.

Sunday, March 24

RibsU at Deep Ellum Brewing
It’s officially backyard barbecue season. Hone your rib-smoking skills during this pitmaster class that will cover the six types of ribs: beef plate short ribs, beef chuck ribs, beef back ribs, St. Louis style pork ribs, pork baby back ribs, and lamb ribs. Participants will learn how to butcher a rack, use a candy, dry rub, and sauce. It's $139 ($129 for additional participants), and takes place at Deep Ellum Brewing Company from 9 am–12 pm.

Vegan Soul Food Festival
Vegan food vendors from Houston, Kansas, Arkansas and more will embark on Dallas to serve soul food favorites, from fried chick'n to mac & cheeze. Admission is free with an RSVP. The event will take place at Lofty Spaces (816 Montgomery St.) from 12–6 pm.

Crawfish Boil at Tupps Brewery
It’s the first crawfish boil of the season at this downtown McKinney brewery. (Last summer’s extreme heat wave has delayed the harvest of the crustacean this year.) Tickets start at $25 for two pounds served with corn, potatoes, and choice of beer, seltzer, or non-alcoholic beverage. Serving times are 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm, and 6 pm. Future boil dates at the brewery are Saturday, April 20 and Saturday, May 25.

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Omakase News

Downtown Dallas restaurant Sauvage expands with new dining twist

Sauvage

A downtown Dallas restaurant famous for its multi-course tasting experience is letting its hair down: Sauvage, the high-end mom-and-pop restaurant near the Statler Dallas hotel, has a new dining option that gives a smaller, more casual taste.

The restaurant opened in September with a set menu featuring 16 to 18 courses — wild game, seafood, vegetables, and dessert — all cooked via grill and smoker.

While 16 courses might sound like a lot, the courses are mostly small bites. However, owners Casey and Amy LaRue received feedback from diners wanting a smaller option.

"We were getting a ton of messages from guests who want to stop by just to try one dish, a bite, or a specific pairing without committing to the full tasting — so we built something for exactly that," Casey says.

They've introduced a new three-course "Cocktails & Bites hour" featuring three dishes, each paired with its own cocktail, served from 5–6 pm on weekdays.

Last week’s menu consisted of:

dry-aged red snapper crudo with La Chinola Way, a cocktail featuring passionfruit, mezcal, lime, and ginger
foie gras & truffle on house-baked croissant with Pendennis Club, a gin sour with apricot liqueur bitters
jerk-spiced shrimp with Clarified Paper Plane, a bourbon cocktail with Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice

The new offering continues their pattern of pairing courses with cocktails rather than wine — an approach they've embraced since opening. "Limiting pairings to wine can get boring — it so often ends up being one expensive red after another," Casey says.

You can make a reservation on Tock, or just walk in and grab a seat.

Caviar
They've also added a new version of their classic menu: no caviar.

"Some love having caviar integrated into the menu, but others prefer to skip it, whether for taste or dietary reasons, but still want the full value of the experience," Casey says. "With such a small counter, this put us in a strange position: do we give everyone caviar whether they want it or not, or do we remove it entirely and lose a core part of our menu?"

Thus, a new menu without caviar, priced at $195, with an optional caviar course available for those who want it for $245.

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