This week in gluttony

These are the 5 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Learn to smoke the perfect brisket in 2024.

Photo courtesy of BrisketU

Opportunities for culinary education abound this week, so start the year by learning something new. Class topics include sushi-making, brisket-smoking, and chef-level knife skills. There’s also an informative walking tour of a popular food district. Toast with a mocktail on Sunday, and still feel great on Monday.

Thursday, January 4

Simple Sushi Making at Grape Vine Springs Winery
Start the New Year with new sushi-making skills. The downtown Grapevine wine bar will host this hands-on class in which participants will learn to make a California roll, spicy tuna roll, and their choice of a smoked salmon or prawn roll. The class is $55 and begins at 6 pm.

Saturday, January 6

BrisketU at Peticolas Brewing Company
The Backyard Pitmasters are back to teach a brisket-smoking workshop at Peticolas Brewing Company. Participants will learn how to select the right cut, trimming techniques, wood selection, managing the fire, timing, and how to properly slice the final product. Class is $94 ($84 for each additional participant) and begins at 9 am.

Sharpen Your Knife Skills at Central Market Cooking School
Sharpen your knife skills during this hands-on class at Central Market on Lovers Lane that promises to forever change the way you slice and dice. The $70 price includes a seasonal meal the instructors will prepare with the fruits and vegetables of the class' knife work, along with a glass of wine. Class begins at 11 am.

Sunday, January 7

Taste of Bishops Arts Food and Historical Walking Tour
Get your steps in while getting a taste of Bishops Arts. The walking tour includes stops in galleries and shops, as well as eateries for bites along the way. The price is $58 and the tour will run from 1-4:30 pm.

National Mocktail Week kickoff at Legacy Hall
Doing Dry January? Find fun and mocktails at Legacy Hall in Plano starting Sunday, where alcohol-free specialty drinks will be featured at the food hall’s various bars. The specials will run all week, until January 13.

cocktails event-planner news-you-can-eat

All You Can Eat News

Eki Sushi will bring buzzy sushi experience to southwest Dallas 'burb

A sushi restaurant with a little something extra is coming to Cedar Hill, on the southwest corner of Dallas: Called Eki Sushi, it'll open at 649 Uptown Blvd., where it will bring two buzzy options to a neighborhood eager to have them.

The restaurant is opening in a former Applebee’s, and is from a team that includes Meng Yang and Ben Zhu, who've operated other Asian restaurants in Texas. A spokesperson says they chose Cedar Hill, which is 18 miles southwest of downtown Dallas and just below Duncanville, because it's an up-and-coming area without many sushi restaurants so far.

They'll open in mid- to late-September.

Eki Sushi will offer:

a "revolving sushi" experience, in which pre-plated sushi is placed on a conveyor belt that circulates past tables, allowing diners to pluck them as they pass
"AYCE" all-you-can-eat sushi, in which diners pay a set price and order as much as they want

Both of these options have proven to be highly appealing to diners. The revolving sushi experience, for example, is a novelty with a sense of "fun" that takes it beyond the usual restaurant meal; entire chains are dedicated to the experience such as Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, which has numerous locations in the DFW area.

AYCE sushi places, also plentiful around DFW, are a lure for those seeking variety and instant gratification. And like a buffet, they allow diners unfamiliar with a cuisine to try a variety of dishes at a low-risk low price.

That said, Eki will follow the lead of many AYCE places that monitor your consumption to avoid waste; if you don't finish the food you order, you get charged regular price. There's also a 90-minute limit — no all-day gluttony — and it's priced differently depending on time of day: $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner, and $31 on weekends.

Eki has a massive menu with sashimi, sushi rolls, 25 specialty rolls from the prototypical Rainbow Roll with crab, cucumber, and avocado, draped with tuna and salmon, to the Sweetheart Roll with spicy tuna, cucumber, and avocado, wrapped in soy paper as well as seaweed and artfully fashioned into a heart-shaped roll.

In addition to sushi, the menu also offers Asian appetizers like edamame, spring rolls, egg rolls, tempura, and gyoza, plus wings and French fries, which are surely welcome in any restaurant, regardless of cuisine.

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