State Fair News

10 fried finalists vie for 2023 State Fair of Texas Big Tex awards

Fried pho at the State Fair of Texas

SFOT

The fried food finalists are in: The State Fair of Texas has selected 10 fried-food creations as finalists in its 19th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards, ready to be sampled during your State Fair excursions in fall 2023.

The competition began in early July with 57 entries from by 37 concessionaires. Interesting, so that's an average of two submissions per concessionaire.

According to a release, 36 semi-finalists were chosen and now it's down to 10. On Sunday, August 27, a panel will choose three winners in the categories of Best Savory, Best Sweet, and Most Creative.

UPDATE 8-28-2023: The winners are:

Best Savory: Deep Fried Pho
Best Sweet: Biscoff Delight
Most Creative: Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas

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These are the final 10:

SAVORY

Cheesy Crab Tater Bites. Isaac Rousso
Crab, potato, and cheese formed into tater bites, fried, and topped with cheesy Cajun crawfish sauce.

Deep Fried Pho. Michelle Le
Pho - noodles, beef, bean sprouts, and broth - rolled up and fried. With a side of pho broth for dipping.

Loaded Fries Pizza. Tom Grace
Pizza topped with ranch dressing, mozzarella, salted French fries, cheddar cheese, and bacon.

OX'cellent Soul Roll. Kerston & Shawn Thorns
Oxtails chunks and crumbled cornbread are rolled into a spring roll and fried.

Fried Turkey Ribs. Abel Gonzales
With stuffing-seasoned fries, gravy, and salsa.

SWEET

Biscoff Delight. Stephen El Gidi
New York-style cheesecake coated with Belgian chocolate, crushed Biscoff cookies, drizzled with Lotus Biscoff spread AKA cookie butter, and topped with a Biscoff cookie.

Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas. Cody & Lauren Hays
Sopapillas topped with vanilla-caramel-infused bananas, bourbon syrup, candied pecans, mascarpone cheese, crumbled Nilla Wafers.

Fried Cherry Pie in the Sky. Christi Erpillo & Johnna McKee
Fried cherry tart topped with butter almond shortbread crumble, vanilla ice cream, cherry preserves, whipped cream, and garnished with dark sweet cherries.

Sweet Encanto. Tony & Terry Bednar
Waffle sweetened with caramel dulce de leche, specialty cream with strawberry, kiwi, peach, and shredded coconut, topped with raspberry jam, and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk.

Trail-Ade. Ruth Hauntz
Lemonade with fruit, cucumbers, and mint. Nonalcoholic cocktail is served in a souvenir cowboy boot cup.

These finalists will go head-to-head on Sunday, August 27. This year’s Big Tex Choice Awards event will be closed to the public, but folks can follow along with the 2023 Big Tex Choice Awards event by tuning into the action live on social media.

The 2023 State Fair of Texas — themed "Explore the Midway" — will open on Friday, September 29, and will run through Sunday, October 22. We have a list of of discount passes and the full lineup of musical acts playing this year.

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Crepe News

Sweet Paris crepe chain folds in another Dallas location in Addison

Photo by Julie Soefer

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Sweet crepes are coming to Addison via Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café, the Houston-based crêpes chain, which is opening a location in Prestonwood Place, at 5290 Belt Line Rd. #110, with doors expected to open in early 2026.

Sweet Paris was founded in Houston in 2012 by Ivan and Allison Chavez with a mission to revive the art of eating crepes. There's a location in Southlake, which opened in 2024, and another in McKinney, which just opened in June. (There's also a location coming soon to Dallas' Snider Plaza.)

The menu offers 20 crepes in varieties savory and sweet including dulce de leche, lemon & sugar, s'mores, chicken enchilada, Philly cheesesteak, and a vegan option with portobello mushrooms, black bean purée, corn salsa, and chipotle sauce.

While crepes are the signature, they also serve waffles, egg breakfasts, panini, and salads. A "croque madame" crepe has scrambled eggs, gruyère, smoked ham, & béchamel sauce, while an Alaskan has smoked salmon, pickled red onions, capers, and scrambled eggs, topped with dill sour cream, & scallions. Everything is $20 or less.

They also serve beer and wine, mimosas, milkshakes, espresso drinks such as lattes, and hot chocolate.

This new location marks the third of four units to be developed by franchisee duo Ludo and Yi Le Gall.

“We fell in love with Sweet Paris the moment we discovered it,” Ludo says in a statement. “Bringing this unique experience to Texans has been a dream come true, and we’re thrilled to grow our presence throughout the state with a new location in Addison.”

Situated within Restaurant Row at Belt Line & Montford, Prestonwood Place includes hot hot restaurants like Mendocino Farms, Flower Child, Loro, Postino, Original Pancake House, and more. All it was missing was crepes. Now that niche has been filled by Sweet Paris, with crêpes, coffee, and charm.

Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café has been growing and now has 21 stores in operation in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Mexico.

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