This week in gluttony

These are the 6 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

A boozy afternoon tea comes with your very own bonsai tree.

Kessaku/Facebook

It’s officially time to get fancy. This week’s list of holiday dinners, brunches, buffets, and one elegant afternoon tea warrant donning your Christmas best and toasting with friends and loved ones. From a seven-course wine dinner to a breakfast with Santa brunch with live jazz, these happenings will be a hit – and sure to fill up fast.

Tuesday, December 13

Holiday Dinners at the Dallas Arboretum
Enjoy a festive, elegant dining experience amid the beauty of the Dallas Arboretum this month. A special three-course holiday menu will be available on select weeknights through December 29. The $79 dinner includes choice of salad; choice of entrée including Texas Angus short rib; and dessert including hazelnut roulade with salted caramel sauce. Or visit on Saturday, December 17 and Friday, December 23 for a holiday dinner buffet featuring carved sirloin, herb crusted halibut, and smoked turkey. The buffet is $75 for adults and $45 for kids 2-12. Seating times are 6 and 7:30 pm for both dining events.

Thursday, December 15

Orin Swift Cellars Wine Dinner at Restaurant Beatrice
Orin Swift Cellars winemaker Dave Phinney was recognized as winemaker of the year in 2019 by Wine Spectator magazine. Taste his portfolio of wines at the contemporary Creole restaurant during this seven-course menu featuring beef bourguignon, beef tartare with quail egg, poached pear and fennel salad, and chocolate Mississippi mud pie. Dinner is $150 plus tax and gratuity. Seating times vary and are limited.

Saturday, December 17

Santa Brunch at Nine at the National
Santa will visit the ninth floor restaurant of the Thompson Hotel for an upscale brunch worth wearing your holiday best. There’ll be a live jazz trio, a bloody Mary bar, and elaborate brunch buffet. Brunch is $50 for adults and $15 for children. Reservations are available Saturday and Sunday from 10 am-2 pm.

Breakfast with Santa at Legacy Hall
Santa is bringing Blitzen to the Box Garden at Legacy Hall for a family-friendly brunch. Table reservations include one brunch entrée per person and Christmas tree hot cocoa piled high with homemade marshmallows, candy canes, chocolate sauce, and more. Reservations are $25 per person, and tables are available for two to six guests. Brunch starts at 10 am.

Boozy Bonsai at Kessaku
Style your very own Bonsai tree during this boozy afternoon tea at Kessaku. The $200 price includes tea cocktails, tea bites, and an authentic Bonsai tree to take home. The event will run from 1-3 pm.

Afternoon Tease at Elm & Good
No teasing. Guests can honor the tradition of traditional afternoon British tea at this Deep Ellum restaurant inside the Kimpton Pittman Hotel. The tea service will come with a towering array of goodies including scones with raspberry compote and clotted cream; mini sandwiches such as cucumber with crème fraiche; crepe-wrapped salmon roe and crème fraiche; deviled quail eggs with pancetta and chives; and fresh pastries. Glasses and bottles of bubbles will be also available. The price is $48 plus tax and gratuity and the tea will take place from 2-4 pm.

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Quonset Hut News

Familiar names take over Quonset hut for new Far-Out Dallas bar

Yelp

Wriggly Tin is now Far-Out Dallas

There's a new Dallas restaurant and bar coming to everyone's favorite Quonset hut: Called Far-Out, it'll take over the space at 1906 E. Haskell Ave. in East Dallas that was previously home to Wriggly Tin, with a grand opening slated for 2025.

Founders Caroline and James Lee are calling it Far-Out & La Hermana Cerveceria and promise that a culinary adventure awaits.

"After months of creative brainstorming and a bit of furniture rearranging, we are thrilled to announce an exciting new pioneering concept that will open its doors in 2025," the duo says. "Introducing Far-Out & La Hermana Cerveceria, a dynamic new restaurant and brewery born from the collaboration of industry veterans."

The team includes some beloved East Dallas names:

Marc Cassel of The Green Room and 20 Feet Seafood Joint
Christopher Jeffers of Bolsa and Smoke
Stephanie Houston, the trailblazing first Latina Production distillery owner in America

Also joining the team is Bar Director Adam Mercado, whose resume includes stints at Billy Can Can and Brass Ram.

Marcado will crafting a unique beverage program, with support from mixologist Brian McCullough. Together, they will create what the founders call "unforgettable drink experiences to complement our delicious culinary offerings."

Wriggly Tin opened in November 2023 as an ultra-hip pizza and craft beer spot inside a renovated Quonset hut near Dallas' Fair Park — a former Cajun fried turkey place which they gave doting makeover with custom plaster walls and art objects from around the world. They replaced one whole side of the hut with glass for sunsets and created a spacious outdoor patio in front.

They earned two nomination in CultureMap's 2024 Tastemaker Awards, one for Best Bar and another for Best Patio.

Alas, the original founders, who'd previously owned Small Brewpub in Oak Cliff, parted ways shortly after it opened. And the bar closed down in September 2024, for what they called "internal changes."

Now the hut is back: The new Far-Out bar is already up and running a few days a week. In the coming days, they will offer updates and sneak peeks as they gear up for the opening of their kitchen.

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