This week in gluttony

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

Komodo Dallas has launched Omakase Nights on Tuesdays.

Photo courtesy of Komodo Dallas

It's a week full of festive pairing events, including wine and cookies, tequila and tamales, and bloody Marys and brunch. Make note of a new weekly omakase night, then hone your holiday cooking skills during a Christmas dinner cooking class by week's end.

Tuesday, December 17

Omakase Nights at Komodo Dallas
The Asian restaurant and bar has launched Omakase Nights, held every Tuesday, featuring three different menus priced at $48, $65, and $95. Highlights include creations like the crudo tasting box, salmon tacos, premium nigiri, toro caviar hand rolls, and lobster crispy rice. The offerings are available from 5-10 pm.

Wine & Mary’s Mountain Cookie Pairing at Lone Star Winery
The McKinney winery will host a pairing event featuring local Mary’s Mountain Cookies paired with festive holiday wines. The $42 price, plus tax and a small fee, includes five tasting pours paired with five different cookies. The tasting will begin at 7 pm. Can’t make it Tuesday? Plan for the Saturday pairing at 11:30 am.

Thursday, December 19

Tequila & Tamales: Masterclass at Little Daisy
The lead mixologists at Little Daisy, the French American bistro at the Thompson Dallas, will guide guests through a tequila tasting experience while the Thompson’s exec-chef team gives a lesson on making tamales from scratch. The $125 price includes tamales to take home. Class begins at 6:30 pm.

Saturday, December 21

Brunch with Santa at Thompson Dallas
As part of Thompson Dallas’ 12 Days of Christmas festivities, adults are invited to sip wine and champagne while the little ones explore the festive hot chocolate bar during this brunch with Santa. The $60 price ($20 for children) includes a mimosa bar, bloody Mary bar, and michelada bar. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Toys for Tots and bringing an unwrapped toy is encouraged. Brunch will run from 10 am-3 pm Saturday and Sunday.

A Holiday Dinner at Central Market Cooking School Plano
Amid all of Central Market Plano’s festive classes this week, which include make-and-take Buche de noel, sugar cookies, chocolate bark and truffles, and gingerbread houses, is this hands-on lesson covering an elegant holiday dinner. Participants will make blue cheese souffles with mixed greens, roasted prime rib of beef with pink and green peppercorn crust and red wine pan sauce, creamy Swiss chard gratin with Parmigiano-Reggiano, butter roasted herbed fingerling potatoes, and chocolate and peppermint tart. Class is $105 and will run from 6:30-9 pm.

Family Friendly Christmas Lights & Treats Tour
Among the many Dallas-area holiday light tours presented by operator Dallas by Chocolate is this event for the whole family. Guests can view holiday lights in sweet style on the private heated motorcoach, taste treats from premier local dessert venues, and relax as the lively tour host showcases some of Dallas' most spectacular holiday displays. The tour - which focuses on Park Cities neighborhoods - will highlight a cool Santa House, a unicorn house, and more surprises in the Park Cities. It embarks at 4:30 pm and tickets are $43-$56; free for children 3 and under.

chefs holidays events

French Food News

Dallas restaurant Frenchie debuts in former Corner Bakery spot

Frenchie

A French restaurant has debuted in an iconic Dallas space: Called Frenchie, it's a new concept from Travis Street Hospitality (Knox Street Bistro, Georgie) now open in North Dallas’ Preston Center Plaza in the former Corner Bakery space at 8420 Preston Center Plaza.

Described as a quintessential French brasserie — designed as a casual, everyday restaurant serving an all-day menu of lunch and dinner (with breakfast launching in the coming weeks) — it's a new direction for Travis Hospitality, who are venturing outside of their usual Knox-Henderson neighborhood, with their first venture without white-tablecloth service.

Frenchie is the natural evolution for founders Stephan Courseau and Daniele Garcia and culinary director, Bruno Davaillon, who have built a reputation on refined, French-forward restaurants like Knox Bistro, Georgie, and Le PasSage — tempering their French-born culinary heritage and fine-dining training with American sensibilities to create a more family-friendly concept designed for North Dallas’ premier mixed-use district.

"Frenchie is an American French restaurant made by French guys who are now in the American mainstream,” Courseau says in a release. "Frenchie represents the version of the French people we are today. It’s who we became over the years – authentic to who we are today."

Food and drink
The menu blends classic French comfort food with all-day versatility, featuring crepes, rillettes, quiche, poulet rôti, tartare de boeuf, salade Parisienne, and pâtes au pistou. In the morning, coffee and croissants. At lunch, burgers and onion soup. At dinner, steak frites and profiteroles dinner.

The wine list will feature small French wineries, while cocktails will include a "freezer martini" — custom bottled and pre-chilled by Travis Street Hospitality’s Executive Mixologist, Mario Martinez, exclusively for Frenchie.

Decor
The 4,000-square-foot restaurant will feature seating for 150 in the dining room and bar, and a 1,200-square-foot covered patio with an indoor-outdoor bar.

Decor will be grounded in the fundamentals of classic French bistros, with design details such as pewter bar tops, patinaed mirrors, brass sconces, rattan chairs, and rows of banquettes.

Audience
The goal will be to become an everyday destination for families, parents, office workers, and shoppers at the Preston Plaza Center.

Founded by Stephan Courseau and Daniele Garcia, Travis Hospitality has been on the dining scene since 2013 with the debut of Le Bilboquet. This was followed by the opening of Knox Bistro, Georgie and The Georgie Butcher Shop (2019), Rose Café at Le PasSage and Le PasSage (2024).

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