This Week in Gluttony

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

El Fenix will celebrate 105 years in business with $1.05 echiladas.

El Fenix/Facebook

With the change in weather comes a busy week of events packed with wine dinners, Oktoberfest celebrations, and even a lunch dedicated to okra. There are not one but two restaurant anniversary parties: one commemorating one year in business and the other, 105 years. There’s a price point for every wallet, from $1.05 enchiladas to a $500 per person Italian pairing dinner.

Tuesday, September 12

Discover Italy Wine Dinner at Carraba’s
All three area locations of the Italian chain (Hurst, Plano, and Dallas) will host a four-course dinner that will journey through the wine regions of Italy. Menu highlights include beet & goat cheese salad, penne with black pepper cream sauce & sausage, chicken ardente, and chocolate mousse. Wines will be paired with each course and dinner is $55 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Arrive by 6:30 pm.

Valdicava Wine Dinner with PierFilippo Abbruzzese at Monarch
Live your best life by snagging a ticket to this $500 per person wine dinner (plus tax and gratuity) featuring PierFilippo Abbruzzese of Valdicava in Tuscany. Courses will include wood oven clams, Hudson Valley foie gras, mafaldine pasta, Wagyu strip loin, and pecorino camomilla. Courses will be paired with Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino wines, including a 2006 reserve that earned 100 points. Dinner starts late at 8 pm.

Wednesday, September 13

El Fenix Mexican Restaurant’s 105^th Anniversary
The historic downtown flagship location of El Fenix Mexican Restaurant will celebrate 105 years in business with an all-day party. Visit from 11 am–10 pm for live music, performances by Mexican folkorico dancers, and giveaways. All El Fenix locations will host happy hour all day, including $5 margaritas, $2 small beers, and $4 large beers. The first 105 guests at all locations can also get enchiladas for just $1.05.

Thursday, September 14

Grapefest
The largest wine festival of the Southwest returns to historic downtown Grapevine for its 37th annual four-day run. GrapeFest features the best of Texas-grown wines, and this year, guest wineries from Australia, Barossa Valley, and Napa Valley. New this year is the Rose Rendezvous sponsored by Messina Hof Winery, Landon Winery, and Llano Estacado Winery. Musical acts include country singer David Lee Murphy (Friday) and Carnie and Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips (Saturday). GrapeFest opens at 11 am daily. Admission is free all day Thursday and on Friday until 5 pm. After that, adults are $10 ($5 for 62-plus and children 6-12). Note that admission does not include tasting experiences, including the popular People’s Choice Wine Tasting Classic, which is $28 per person (in advance) and booked in 90-minute increments throughout the weekend.

Addison Oktoberfest
The four-day family-friendly festival will celebrate German culture through live music, Bavarian dancers, races & games, and of course, German food and drink. Go hungry for sausage, schnitzel, sauerkraut, strudel, and pretzels to be washed down with Paulaner Bier. The party will take place Thursday through Sunday at Addison Circle Park. Tickets are $10 for adults and children under 10 get in free.

Graci Sicilian Wine Dinner at Dolce Riviera
Harwood District Italian restaurant will host a four-course wine dinner inspired by the Italian region of Sicily. Wines by Alberto Graci will be paired with each course. Menu highlights include spaghetti alla Nerano, Spanish mackerel al guazetto, and pistachio tiramisu. Tickets are $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and dinner begins at 7 pm.

Friday, September 15

Thirsty Lion First Anniversary at Preston Hollow
Gastropub will celebrate one year in Preston Hollow with a party for a cause. Enjoy all-day happy hour and complimentary tastings, including Tito’s Vodka (4-6 pm), Revolver Brewing (5-7 pm), and Deep Eddy Vodka (6-8 pm). There’ll be live music on the patio starting at 7 pm and raffle giveaways for big prizes. Each dollar spent on raffle tickets will benefit the United Way Maui relief fund. Don’t miss the Maui Mai Tai and Hawaiian Sunshine cocktails; one dollar from each will also benefit the fund at all Thirsty Lion locations from September 15–30.

Adolphus Biergarten
Iconic downtown hotel will celebrate Oktoberfest for the first time ever with the opening of a rooftop biergarten. Visit starting at 4 pm for access to authentic Oktoberfest music, food, and beer. Admission to the rooftop biergarten is $20 per person and open dates include September 15–17, 21–24, 28–30, and October 1, 6–8. Access is only for those 21 and up.

Saturday, September 16

Omakase Collaboration at Namo
Sushi spot in the West Village will host a Michelin Star sushi chef from Japan to collab with Namo exec chef Kazuhito Mabuchi on a weekend-long 20-course omakase dining experience. Seating times are available both Saturday and Sunday: Saturday at 3 pm, 6 pm, and 9 pm; and Sunday at 1 pm, 5 pm, and 7:30 pm. Tickets are $275 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and sake, wine, and Japanese whisky pairings are available upon request.

Sunday, September 17

Okrapalooza 2023
See what 12 local chefs can do with okra during this daytime dining event benefitting local non-profit, Promise of Peace Gardens. Featured chefs include Adam West of Local Yocal BBQ & Grill, Marshall Cole of Evans Meat Market, and Richard Vana of The Heritage Table. Tickets are $80 per person (which includes adult beverages) and the lunchtime event will take place from 11 am-2 pm at Dallas College Culinary, Pastry, and Hospitality Center.

chefs beer holidays event-planner

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