Bon Appetit Declares Undying Love For Texas: Dallas Included

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Desserts like this vol au vent helped Oak get national recognition as a best new restaurant.Usually when a national glossy compiles a list Dallas is all but forgotten, but this month Bon Appetite decided to honor not one, but two restaurants in our area. Oak, which has received nothing but positive press since it opened, was named along with Tim Love's Woodshed Smokehouse as two of candidates for the nation's best new restaurant.

Texas received seven mentions in the list -- more than any other state including New York and California -- including Elizabeth Street Cafe and Lenoir in Austin, and Oxheart, Uchi and Underbelly in Houston.

Here's what they had to say about the two restaurants closest to home:

Woodshed Smokehouse You'll know chef Tim Love's latest spot by the dozens of picnic tables fronting on Fort Worth's beautiful Trinity River trails. The open-air, waterfront restaurant does Texas 'cue two ways: "Traditional Q" and "New Q", with nods to Mexico. The food is monumental; bring a small village to help you out. Look For 16-hour smoked beef shin; chicken skin tacos We Love Curious about what's in the smoker? Just check the flag flying at the entrance.

Oak

This swanky Design District spot is home to what might be Big D's most talented restaurant trio: chef Jason Maddy, pastry chef Sarah Green, and bartender Abraham Bedell. Expect global flavors with definite Germanic leanings -- think schnitzel, strudel, and spaetzle.

Look For
Grilled Bandera quail; quark spaetzle; Gianduja chocolate panna cotta
We Love
A huge oak tree outside the restaurant inspired the name and decor, including wallpaper and a projected tree image that changes with the seasons.

Check out the rest of the list, here.

3201 Riverfront Dr, Fort Worth, TX

Category: Music

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Dallas Suaqueso > Philadelphia Cheese Steak = This Should Be Dallas' Official Bar Food

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Ignore the two pastor tacos in the background. Clearly I have a problem.If humans are anything, they are adaptable. When I lived in D.C. I had a serious cheese steak problem. After a night out with friends, if burritos weren't immediately available I'd be willing to walk miles for a cheese steak. I did it many times. I'm convinced this habit has prevented a statistically significant amount of hangovers, and I'll continue to indulge my late-night cheese steak habit until no less than five years after a doctor demands that I stop.

The problem is, I haven't found a single good cheese steak in Dallas. (Finding a good one in DC was hard too.) But don't think I'd let that stop me from nurturing what is a very real need. There's a new meat and cheese mixture that I can honestly say is better than any cheese steak I've ever had in any city. It's called suaqueso.

I had something similar to La Banqueta's suadero and queso hybrid (clearly an obsession has started) stuffed between two tortillas at El Tizoncito a while back. I'd asked the waitress her favorite dish and she pointed to bistec con queso so I went for it. I took one bite and I called it: This is a cheese steak. It had steak, peppers, onions and plenty of melted cheese. All it was missing was the roll that defines the Philadelphian icon.

La Banqueta's suaqueso is even better because the suadero's crunchy bits add flavor and texture that's missing from El Tizoncito's version. It's also missing from most Philadelphia cheese steaks because cooks crowd the grill with meat, which weeps moisture, cools the cooking surface, and prevents browning. It tastes like steak, I guess, but it doesn't have an texture or personality. That's why I can say with a high degree of confidence that La Banqueta's suaqueso is better than any cheese steak in Philadelphia and maybe the entire world. I'm serious.

Maybe I'm just a fish out of water, and maybe this is some sort of environmental adjustment I've made to cope with a new life in Texas, but suaqueso makes me seriously happy. The only problem is my favorite La Banqueta location closes at 9 p.m. and the other locations are too far for a late night drive. So here's my solution: Let's make suaqueso Dallas' iconic barfood.

Every bar in Dallas should offer suaqueso, just like every bar in New York offers buffalo style chicken wings. If they do it right (and it's really not that difficult) they'd clean up. They'd give Dallas something to cheer for. And I'd be really fucking fat.

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A Scene from National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A in Dallas

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Larry Farris and Tyler Savage, one of two couples who showed up to a Chick-fil-A protest in Dallas, surrounded by news camerasTwo days ago, on the Mike Huckabee-chosen Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, supporters of the Chicken Sandwich Chain Against Gay Marriage cause flooded locations across the country. Some carried signs; some burst out in choruses of "God Bless America." It was, according a recent CNN piece, a record sales day. Down here in Dallas, the downtown location was stuffed with an hour long line and extra security.

Which leads us to today's National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick-fil-A. Our contributing photographer Stephen Masker was down at the location off Southwestern and Highway 75. Around lunchtime, Stephen reported there were only a two couples and a few TV cameras.

Stephen checked in with one couple, Larry Farris from North Dallas and Tyler Savage from Arlington, on why they were protesting:

Larry Farris and Tyler Savage protest at the National Kiss-In at Chick-Fil-A

Tyler Savage had this to say:

I just want everyone to know that I'm no longer going to spend my money here. Now that I found what they're doing with the money I've been giving them, 'cause I've been eating at Chick-Fil-A for a long time, I don't want to give any more money to something that bashes my rights.

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The Awesome Cheese Fries of Dallas

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A few weeks ago we asked you to let us know about some of your favorite cheese fries in Dallas. We took those suggestions and put together an ultra-cheesy slideshow, just for you. Because we're super caring and stuff like that. You can check it out here.

Try not to lick your monitor.

What a Week for Beer in Dallas

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Via Lakewood Brewing Company's Facebook.This is one of the most eventful weeks ever for beer aficionados in Dallas.

First off, yesterday marked the release of Houston brewery Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve 12. Divine Reserve is a series irregularly released special, rare single-batch offerings. Each is inspired by an entry in the Big Batch Brew Bash. This one is an old ale with an ABV of 10 percent, and the brewery recommends aging it for a year or more. I got a six pack yesterday at the Park Place Whole Foods and was told it was the last one -- apparently store employees got the first crack at buying them, and they weren't shy about snatching them up. Release date is something of a social event and competition; Twitter is ablaze with the hashtag #DR12, offering leads on where to score it -- after the tweeter has already procured his, of course. It seems the release will be staggered, as not every store had theirs for sale. Check with your favorite beer stores to see if they have any; Spec's and Total Wine were planning to sell theirs today. It may be worth it to call stores that already said they're out, as it's possible that people who reserved some failed to pick theirs up. I'll offer my thoughts on it after I have a chance to try it.

Yesterday also saw the release of a new Deep Ellum Brewing Co. beer, Wealth and Taste, a 9.5 percent ABV Belgian-style golden strong ale made with muscat grape juice, grapefruit peel, rose hips and chamomile flowers. Half the batch was aged in Chardonnay barrels, then blended with the regularly fermented portion.

As far as I can tell, I'm the only person who didn't like it. It was too sweet for me, and the grapes and white wine taste are very noticeable. It's also tart, almost cider-like. But some very knowledgeable beer lovers raved about it; Chad Montgomery, he of the Big Texas Beer Fest, went so far as to call it one of the best beers to ever come out of Texas.

Hopefully I'll like the next one one better. Dallas Blonde is billed as a "citrusy, balanced session ale," a 5.2 percent ABV American blonde ale, and will be tapped Friday at the Katy Trail Ice House. Even more exciting, Saturday sees the official public release of Lakewood Brewing Co. at Goodfriend. It starts at 4 p.m., with two offerings -- the American rye wheat "Rock Ryder" and a Belgian-style IPA "Hop Trapp." I tried the latter at Brew Riot a few months back and was very impressed.

In other local beer news not involving local or Texas breweries, the latest beer-related holiday is IPA Day tomorrow, August 2. Several bars are celebrating that day, this week or even all of August. Meddlesome Moth taps Brooklyn Blast!, an excellent double IPA, today at 5 p.m. Tomorrow sees the release of Great Divide Rumble, an oak-aged IPA. Check their Facebook page for more. Also tomorrow, Holy Grail Pub in Plano will tap Sneaky Pete Imperial IPA, He'brew Lenny and Stone Ruination 10th Anniversary.

Further out are the Untapped Festival September 8 at The Common Table, a concert featuring Givers, The Antlers, Akron/Family, Burning Hotels, David Dondero and Fish Fry Bingo and beer; more on the beer lineup later. Dallas Observer's own BrewFest is a week later, September 15, and tickets went on sale today. And the second Dallas Beer Week is November 10-17. But let's just see if we get through this week with our livers intact.

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Hey Dallas, Send Us Your Instagrams!

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Our annual Best of Dallas awards are around the corner, which means you can vote for your favorite local people, places and businesses. But this year, to shake things up a bit (and because we know how much you love to Instagram stuff) we're having a Best of Dallas Instagram contest.

Send Instagram photos of your favorite people, places, restaurants, bars, food trucks and dishes in Dallas to instagram@dallasobserver.com. Don't forget to include your name. We'll post our favorites around the time we announce our Best of Dallas winners. Snap to!

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