Acclaimed restaurant's closure tops this week's 5 most-read Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

Photo by Brad Murano

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Top Dallas restaurant Homewood closes following death of co-owner. One of Dallas' most acclaimed restaurants has closed: Homewood, the restaurant led by creative and award-getting chef Matt McCallister, closed on February 14. The closure followed the death of its co-owner Michael Barnett, who died on February 13, confirmed by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's office.

2. 4 Dallas-Fort Worth hotels praised among Texas' best in coveted U.S. News ranking. Four luxurious Dallas-Fort Worth hotels are among the best in the state this year, according to US News and & World Report. The publication collects its information through hotel ratings, customer reviews, and industry award analysis.

3. Dallas' Vegan Vibrationz brings tantalizing crunchwraps to Plano food hall. A super buzzy vegan concept from Dallas has expanded to Plano: Vegan Vibrationz, famous for its vegan version of the fast-food favorite the crunchwrap, has softly opened a location at Legacy Hall, the food hall at 7800 Windrose Ave., where it's serving an irresistible menu of sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and salads.

4. 3 Dallas neighbors lock in rankings as safest cities in U.S., report says. Real estate may be all about location, location, location, but when movers decide where to settle down within a large metro area in 2023, safety and security are huge factors, too. No wonder so many people are moving to Frisco, then. For the second year in a row, the Dallas suburb has been named the safest city in America by SmartAsset. Neighbors McKinney and Plano also land in top five.

5. Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 bombshell cocktails for February. This February edition of Where to Drink, our monthly roundup of fun cocktails and drinks to try, is anything but run-of-the-mill. It's a quintet of unexpected sips you'll find in unexpected locations, none of which are traditional bars. Some of these drinks have alcohol, but some do not.

Photo courtesy of Douglas Elliman

Wild $20M Southlake mansion tops this week's 5 most-read Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

1. A peek inside the $20 million Southlake mansion going wild on social media. One of the most expensive homes in Texas is on the market for $20 million in Southlake - and it's drawing more than a little attention on social media. And, no wonder: The opulent 31,000-square-foot mansion, at 1469 Sunshine Ln., features such over-the-top amenities as a full-size basketball court, bowling alley, batting cage, movie theater, and "indoor glass-enclosed" trampoline.

2. Cult fave Bojangles fried chicken chain breaks ground on first Dallas location. To great anticipation, a favorite Southern fried chicken chain is finally coming to Dallas (and Texas!): Bojangles, a chain based in Charlotte, NC will break ground on a location in Frisco, slated to open this spring.

3. These Mardi Gras pastries in Dallas beat regular King Cake by a mile. Mardi Gras in 2023 is February 21, and that means king cake, the flashy seasonal treat that has been a New Orleans tradition since 1870. Dallas has some creative spinoffs that celebrate the spirit of king cake; here are several.

4. Chinese restaurant Fortune House plumps dumplings on Greenville Ave Dallas. An acclaimed Chinese restaurant from Irving has expanded to Dallas: Fortune House, known for its soup dumplings, noodles, and authentic Shanghainese dishes, has opened a second location on Lower Greenville, at 2010 Greenville Ave. #B, next to HG Sply Co.

5. Bagel expert weighs in on the 8 best bagels in Dallas right now. If you're someone who likes bagels, then Dallas is the place to be right now. Thanks to a wave of bagel shops that have opened in the past few years, we get to be fussy about our bagels again. Here, and expert rounds up the top eight bagels in Dallas.

Photo by WJNPHOTO

Spring galas glam up this week's 5 most popular Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

1. Save the date for these 13 must-attend Dallas galas and luncheons of spring 2023. With the busy holiday season behind us, it's time to start looking forward to all the bounties of spring. And in Dallas, that means the glitzy galas and lavish luncheons that benefit beloved nonprofits. Here are the dates and events to circle in your social calendar. (Young professionals, your list of top parties is here.)

2. 'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. There was exciting news for Yellowstone fans this week: Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler," and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, were coming the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo to meet fans and sign autographs.

3. Legendary Longhorn Ballroom reveals first acts to perform at restored North Texas venue. The big acts are coming out for Dallas' famed Longhorn Ballroom, slated for a comeback in spring 2023. The historic venue, currently in the final throes of a renovation, is anticipated to softly reopen at the end of March, and already has shows on the books by epic performers including Emmylou Harris.

4. Event celebrating Dallas' Braniff Airways a must for fashion & flying buffs. Dallas' original hometown airline is having a moment: Braniff International will celebrate its 95th anniversary with an event that promises to be a must for fashion and airline buffs alike. Called The Braniff Style Tour & Fashion Show, it'll take place on March 11 at the Alexander Mansion.

5. Black Sheep Coffee from the U.K. comes to U.S. with debut in Dallas. A coffee shop from the U.K. with celebrity ties is opening its first U.S. location in Dallas. Called Black Sheep Coffee, it's a growing chain based in London with a renegade stance: to champion the robusta coffee bean, one overlooked by most coffee snobs.

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These are the 10 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Weekend Event Planner

If this week's list of things to do around Dallas looks odd, that's because there's a wide variety of choices, including a very odd convention. Also happening are two comedians, an opera, a trio of concerts from across the musical spectrum, a local theater production, a Shakespearean festival, and a dance production.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, March 23

Luke Comb at his November 2021 concert at AT&T Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Luke Combs

Luke Combs returns to AT&T Stadium on March 25 for another huge concert

Improv Arlington presents DeRay Davis
DeRay Davis has been killing it in Hollywood with his hilarious humor and persona, with film credits like Semi-Pro, Imagine That, Scary Movie 4, Barbershop 1 & 2, and Johnson Family Vacation. On the small screen, he has appeared in HBO's Entourage, Comedy Central's Reno 911, and as numerous voices on The Boondocks. He'll perform nine times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Friday, March 24

The Dallas Opera presents Così fan tutte
In Così fan tutte, the women have the last laugh when the men they plan to marry come up with a really bad idea: Egged on by a cynical old bachelor, the guys decide to put their fiancées to the “fidelity test.” Big mistake, as the resulting romantic debacle demonstrates. Mozart does it again, with glorious music fueling comedy that cuddles right up to a calamity just waiting to happen. The production, which is sung in Italian with English supertitles, will have four performances through April 1 at Winspear Opera House.

Marco Antonio Solis in concert
The 2023 concert season at outdoor venue Dos Equis Pavilion gets started a bit early with this visit from Mexican singer Marco Antonio Solis. For the first half of his career, he was part of the group Los Bukis, during which he became known as a great songwriter. He finally went out on his own in the late 1990s, releasing 10 albums, most recently 2013's Gracias Por Estar Aquí. He'll come to Dallas as part of his El Buki World Tour.

The Core Theatre presents A Trip to Bountiful
A Trip to Bountiful is a classic American play about a remarkable journey home. In her autumn years Carrie Watts dreams of escape from the bustling city and of a return to simpler times in her beloved Bountiful, Texas. She sets out on a risky journey to her long lost hometown, with her family in hot pursuit. The production runs through April 9 at The Core Theatre in Richardson.

Sabrina Carpenter in concert
The 23-year-old Sabrina Carpenter is a multi-hyphenate who's dipped her toes into multiple parts of the entertainment industry. She's had parts in productions as diverse as Disney's Girl Meets World, the film The Hate U Give, and the two Tall Girl movies on Netflix. She put out her first music single in 2014, and has gone on to release five albums, including 2022's Emails I Can't Send. She'll perform at The Factory in Deep Ellum.

Saturday, March 25

Oddities & Curiosities Expo
The Oddities and Curiosities Expo features over 150 oddity vendors and artists selling a wide variety of rare and unusual items, including taxidermy, preserved animal specimens, original horror and Halloween-inspired artwork, antiques, handcrafted oddities, skulls, bones, and funeral collectibles. The one-day expo at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center will also feature photo ops, tarot reading, sideshow performers, and concessions.

Adriatica Village presents Shakespeare McKinney
Shakespeare McKinney provides residents and businesses with an opportunity to show their support for the local arts community, including theatre, dance, music, and visual arts, at the celebration of culture, creativity, and community. Shakespeare’s work comes to life through presentations, adaptations, and modernized renditions of his repertoire performed on the MainStage. Taking place at Adriatica Village, there will be multiple other stages of entertainment, as well as street performers and visual artists, a variety of food truck options, a vendor market, and a kids zone.

Luke Combs in concert
There was no wait-and-see period with country star Luke Combs; he was big out of the gate, going to No. 1 with his 2017 debut album, This One's for You. He maintained that popularity with his next two albums, so there's no reason to think that his just-released fourth album, Gettin' Old, won't have the same success. He'll be joined at this huge concert at AT&T Stadium in Arlington by special guests Riley Green, Lainey Wilson, Flatland Cavalry, and Brent Cobb.

Dallas Black Dance Theatre presents "Dancing Beyond Borders"
DBDT: Encore! takes its talents to Richardson with "Dancing Beyond Borders," pushing the lines of contemporary modern dance. Choreographer Jess Hendricks brings the dancers to the brink of physical exhaustion in the dance Shedding Skin. Tears of War choreographer Christopher L. Huggins mirrors the heartbreak of war during six periods of American history. Spiritual Suite is a collection of spiritual works choreographed in a collaborative effort by Nycole Ray, Richard A. Freeman, Jr., Floyd McLean, Jr., and Dianne Grigsby. The production will be at Eisemann Center for Performing Arts.

Druski: "Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda Tour"
Acclaimed comedian, actor, and entrepreneur Druski comes to Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie as part of his first-ever headlining comedy tour. The tour will feature a traditional comedic stand-up performance, as well as a live element of Druski’s record label, Coulda Been Records. Online, Druski facetiously offered aspiring performers an opportunity to showcase their skills online in front of millions. Now, these prospective entertainers will have the chance to perform for a live audience for the first time ever.

Dallas native directs new Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse

Documentary News

Netflix has a new series on the tragedy that took place in Waco three decades ago: Called Waco: American Apocalypse, it's a three-part series documenting the standoff between cult leader David Koresh and the federal government that ended in a fiery inferno, televised live, with 76 people dead.

The series debuts on March 22, to coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the event which took place from February 28 to April 19, 1993. There's a trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scZ2x7R_XXc.

It's an oft-told tale and not the only new release to try and exploit the 30-year anniversary: Jeff Guinn, former books editor at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, just came out with a book also described as definitive, called Waco: David Korsh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage.

Waco: American Apocalypse is directed by another "local": Dallas native Tiller Russell (Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer), who obtained never-before-seen videotapes of FBI negotiations, as well as raw news footage and interviews with insiders.

Those insiders include one of David Koresh’s spiritual wives; the last child released from the compound alive; a sniper from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team; the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit Chief; journalists; and members of the ATF tactical team who watched colleagues die in the shootout against the heavily armed members of the religious sect.

The FBI videotaped inside the hostage negation room, thinking they'd be there maybe 24 hours, not 51 days.

"These are video cassettes that were sitting in somebody’s closet for 30 years, that show the mechanics of hostage negotiations in an intimate setting - not the hostage negotiation scenarios you see in films, but a team of people grinding, day in and day out, for 51 days," Russell says.

He also procured footage from Waco TV station KWTX, who had a reporter embedded in the initial gunfight.

While the standoff was broadcast live on TV at the time, much of it was out of camera range. The film uses 3D graphics to recreate the details of the compound.

Russell acknowledges that the tale of the cult leader who was also a pedophile, the debate over the right to bear arms, the constitutional limits of religious freedom, dredge up painful conversations that continue today.

"It cast a long shadow, pre-saging the Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma, the shooting at Colombine, and a growing distrust of government, but I think it's important to reckon with our past so we don't repeat mistakes," he says.

"So much of what’s roiling in culture today can be traced to Waco, a story about God and guns in America with all these children at the center whose lives were determined by the adults around them," he says. "There was no playbook for what happened, everyone was out on a limb, and people made mistakes. But almost everybody was trying to do their very best."

"I think this is a story that's often recalled in politicized terms, with finger-pointing on who screwed up and how did we get here, but there's a profound humanity to it all," he says.

Bluegrass trio Nickel Creek celebrates new tour + album with fall Dallas date

Welcome Back

The Grammy Award-winning bluegrass trio Nickel Creek — mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and guitarist Sean Watkins — is extending their 2023 tour into the fall with a stop at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas on October 20.

This is the first tour that the folk group has headlined since 2014, and it kicks off in Cincinnati, Ohio, on April 15. The Dallas stop is one of the tour's last, followed only by a night at Austin's Moody Amphitheatre at Waterloo Park on October 21.

Nickel Creek is also releasing a new 18-track studio album for the occasion, titled Celebrants. It's their first new album in nine years and is available beginning March 24, which is also when tickets for the Texas tour stops go on sale.

Ahead of the release, Nickel Creek has unveiled three album tracks: “Where The Long Line Leads,” “Holding Pattern,” and “Strangers."

Nickel Creek revolutionized bluegrass and folk in the early 2000s and ushered in a new era of what we now recognize as Americana music. After meeting as young children and subsequently earning the respect of the bluegrass circuit for a decade, the trio signed with venerable label Sugar Hill Records in 2000 and quickly broke through with their Grammy-nominated, Alison Krauss-produced, self-titled LP.

Each member has also kept busy with individual projects over the years. Thile is a 2012 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and served as the host of the American radio variety show Live from Here (formerly A Prairie Home Companion) from 2016 to 2020.

Sean Watkins is a co-founder of Watkins Family Hour alongside his sister Sara, who has released four albums and maintains a long-running collaborative show in Los Angeles. Sean has also released a string of solo albums, while Sara’s extracurricular projects include the Grammy-winning roots trio I’m With Her, which she co-founded alongside Aoife O’Donovan and Sarah Jarosz.

Sara has also contributed fiddle to recordings by artists like Phoebe Bridgers, the Killers, and John Mayer.

Pre-sale tickets are on sale now, with general onsale beginning March 24 at 10 am here.

There is also the option to join the VIP Celebrants Club, which in addition to a premium reserved or GA ticket includes a private pre-show performance and Q&A with Nickel Creek plus early access to the venue, an enamel pin, and a limited edition poster signed by the band. Membership starts at $169 plus taxes and fees. More info can be found here.

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