Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

First announced by Madison Partners in November 2010, Arcadia Food Park is nearly ready to break ground for a tentative opening in early 2012. The concept is to have 6 semi-permanent trailers where the old Arcadia Theater (destroyed by a fire in 2006) used to be. Most of the trailers will emulate silver Airstreams and there may be variations of cool or funky Winnebagos. Because the trailers will be bolted down and considered to be buildings, Jonathon Hetzel and his team have secured the appropriate city and building permits.

The Food Truck Trailer Park or Arcadia Food Park will have seating for 150 to 200 people in an outdoor space of 6,300 square feet. PLlans are to have parking for approximately 60 cars, a common bathroom building (there will be a beer and wine trailer with taps coming out of the side!), a playground for kids and dog park.

Do you think this new project will thrive in Lower Greenville?
With the renovation and reinvention of the Historic Granada Theater (constructed in 1946 as a Movie House) in recent years as a major music venue (hosting many music acts that would have performed at the now defunct Gypsy Tea Room in Deep Ellum), the project is positioned near one of the, if not the most popular live music venue in Dallas.

Booooooooo!

First let me preface this review with the fact that I have never been someone who craves bar-b-cue. If we are going out to eat, bar-b-cue is the very last thing that crosses my mind. It isn’t that I don’t like it, in fact nothing says summer to me more than ribs and chicken on the grill, coated in a sugary, spicy sauce. I just prefer homemade bar-b-cue on a grill that’s all.

Since bar-b-cue restaurants are prevalent in the state of Texas, when one stands out and becomes the talk of the town, I put it on my radar for a place to try. After a Saturday of chores, errands and a wedding shower, Bryan and I needed a relaxing evening and meal to ourselves. We decided to head north to Roanoke, Texas and Cowboy Chow, which was been named one of the top 3 restaurants to watch in 2009 by D Magazine. Roanoke has been busy developing excitement around a main street of new restaurants and entertainment. Walking up to Cowboy Chow, we noticed that everything about this place screamed Texas. In fact, the name and décor of the restaurant is a tribute to open range dining and chuck wagon cooking used by the cowboys in the old west. An outdoor, stone fire pit welcomed us on the patio before we hit the front door. The upper half of the restaurant walls were opened up to reveal the tables and bar stools inside the restaurant on the other side of the wall. A unique set up allowed patrons to sit inside while facing their dining companions on bar stools on the outside of the restaurant and table. It is a great arrangement for parents who want to sit inside and kiddos who want to sit outside!

Since the restaurant opened up to the patio, the feel of outside dining carried into the bar and main dining room. We chose to sit in the bar at the highball tables because they provided a great view of the entire place. Large blackboard menus and turquoise longhorn heads covered the rustic, wood walls. Cactus and multicolored string lights hung whimsically over the windows and old saloon wallpaper framed the bar. It was the little touches that added a western warmth; booth seats were covered with cow hide printed material, lanterns flickered on the tables and a stone fireplace provided a hearth in the corner for the kids to sit on.

The menu wasn’t complicated. In fact it was refreshingly simple and easy on the pocketbook. The buzz I heard on the streets was that they are known for their brisket tacos and mashed tater parfait. Neither one sounded appealing to Bryan and me so we studied the menu while our server got our drinks. To snack on while we decided, we ordered some Cowboy Nachos made up of homemade potato chips covered with pico de gallo and cheese, served with Southwestern ranch dressing. We both agreed that this was the best dish of the entire meal. The chips were crispy and salty with the perfect thickness. They were served on an iron skillet like most of the other menu items. That made me feel like I was sitting on the ground around a campfire on the prairie! One dollar bought a fried green tomato lollipop on a stick. The idea and presentation is adorable but the flavor wasn’t quite there.

For dinner, Bryan ordered the ribs with root beer bar-b-cue sauce, oven roasted green beans and cheesy corn mashed potatoes. I ordered the Cowboy Grilled Cheese; brisket, sauteed onions, cheese and horseradish on grilled bread with a side of macaroni and cheese to share with Bry. I was really disappointed with the lack of flavor in my sandwich. I was looking forward to the horseradish and brisket combo but I honestly couldn’t taste much of the horseradish. I could see it but it might as well have been non-existent. The macaroni and cheese was served in a tiny cast iron pot which I think made it taste better. It was warm and creamy. I ended up eating it with some of the green beans. The meat on the ribs fell off the bone like ribs are supposed to do but the root beer sauce was an odd combination of sour and sweet. It was a little too trendy for us.

We decided to skip dessert but watched as their signature s’more sundae come out of the kitchen one by one. They weren’t giant as desserts have been upgraded to lately. It was the perfect size to share after a filling meal.

We sat for a while and enjoyed the ambiance. Bryan nursed his beer and I sipped on my Texas Claret. Our server, Melissa, was wonderful and never let us go without anything we needed. It was proof that great surroundings and service could make up for the ordinary food. We both agreed that we probably won’t go back, not because the experience was terrible, but because it just wasn’t our cup of tea, or cattle-drive coffee, I should say!

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It’s a good thing Ash Wednesday is next week, because you’re going to need to do a lot of repenting after this weekend. You’ve got an excuse to indulge in gumbo, King Cake and plenty of beer because it’s Mardi Gras, so go ahead and sin a little. You can ask for forgiveness next week, if you’re into that kind of thing.

That better be apple juice in that cup.

In Oak Cliff, Mardi Gras is serious business; that’s why it takes two days to celebrate. Runners will be draped in beads and boas at tomorrow morning’s Dash for the Beads 5k and Costume Contest, and guests will be decked out in extravagant costumes at the Masquerade Ball at Kessler Theatre tomorrow night. On Sunday afternoon, floats — including an Alice in Wonderland themed entry and one dedicated to Harry Potter — will take to the streets for the annual parade, and at 3 p.m. Bishop Arts will transform into a Creole block party for the first-ever Oak Cliff Mardi Gras Crawfish Boil. As Hanna reported on Tuesday, Michelle Carpenter of Zen is planning on boiling 500 pounds of the buggers, so guests better be ready to peel quite a few crustaceans. You can purchase tickets for $15 here or $20 at the event, and part of the proceeds benefit Go Oak Cliff’s community projects. Your ticket gets you one pound of crawfish, but you can buy an additional pound for $8. Wash down your Cajun feast with a few cold beers (for an additional cost). We said a few. This isn’t the French Quarter.

Speaking of cold beer, we see a free pitcher in your future. Seriously. The good people at Cowboy Chow (2801 Commerce St.) love Texas Independence Day so much that they want to keep the celebration going just a little longer. Today and tomorrow, they’re offering a free pitcher of Franconia Lager with the purchase of an entrée. CFS and locally crafted lager for lunch? Those guys at the Alamo would approve.

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Jason Boso is wearing jeans, a battered SMU hat, and a mechanic’s shirt with the name “Easy” on the name patch. He’s cute. Really cute and he’s at the bar having a beer when I get to Cowboy Chow. The hostess introduces us and he gives me the “hey” head nod. I have to remind myself for a minute that I’m here for an interview and not a date. And, for a second, I’m a little disappointed it’s the former.

Country music (the good kind) drifts from the speakers and behind the bar, the staff is tending to some tequila that Boso infuses with 10 different chiles: “Serranos, habaneros, poblanos, a bunch of things that end in os,” he explains.

They make bacon bourbon too, and when I ask where he got the idea for such a thing, he explains, “I perused the Internet and stole it from some bar up north and put my own twist on it. If I have an original idea, it’s because I forgot where I stole it from.”

If you’re wondering how one drinks bacon bourbon (straight up, mixed in a cocktail, etc.), well, Boso, 38, says, you “get a Pabst and shot of bacon bourbon on the side.” For some reason, at that moment, such a suggestion strikes me as perfectly reasonable.

Cowboy Chow serves the kind of food that one might not expect to be chef inspired — chili, sloppy joes, chicken pot pie, grilled cheese. But Boso inspires it. You might think such an inclination would stem from a lifetime of eating and being exposed to that kind of “home on the range” cooking. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“Did you grow up eating this stuff?” I ask.

“My mom is 100 percent Cuban,” Boso says. “I’m white with red hair because I’m adopted. Growing up in Miami, I was eating arroz con pollo, ropavieja. I thought that was what people ate.”

After getting fired from a corporate gig at the age of 28 — for telling off a customer — Boso decided to pursue his true love — cooking. He attended culinary school where he met Quincy Hart, with whom he would later partner. Boso went on to get a gig at the Four Seasons Resort and Hotel in Las Colinas and Hart got a job with Pappas Brothers.

In 2006, once they got their funding together, the vision they had been working toward since they met in school became a reality, Twisted Root Burger Company, “the only trained chef-driven burger joint in town.” Twisted Root even has its own pastry chef, Steve Thompson, formerly of the Four Seasons, who makes homemade ice cream for the restaurant every day. And, two years later, Cowboy Chow was born.

“I wanted to provide a place that you can come with flip-flops and hat on backwards and still get a good piece of meat. It’s almost better that eating at home.”

Of course, well-cooked basics aren’t all Boso’s interested in. In fact, these days, he’s up for trying almost anything when it comes to food, including the duck tongue tacos at Jose Andres’ restaurant in Vegas. “It’s a little tongue-y. It actually tasted good. But after the second taco it starts to infiltrate your mind. ‘Who’s tasting who here?’ you wonder.” But even though he’s open to any kind of food, there is one kind of people he does not care for. Posers.

“I got my CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine) just so I could go and say, ‘You’re an idiot. It’s not at all fruity’ to people acting like they know all about wine but don’t.” It’s no surprise that Boso has no patience for that sort of nonsense. He wants everything he does to be authentic.

Both Cowboy Chow and Twisted Root are grounded in food as well as space. It’s the experience that Boso is after, not just a taste. “As you can see, as important as the food is, the entertainment that comes from the restaurant [is even more important]. I hope you leave with a chuckle and a laugh. I hope you see something interesting on your plate, that you think, ‘Woah, that was cool.’”

The burgers at Twisted Root are ratio rock stars — just the right amount of everything, combined together to give you all the tastes and flavors your mouth is rooting for. But the sides are no slouches either. The “Fried Ride,” for example, although terrible for you, is ridiculously good. Hand-Cut Sweet Potato Chips, Twisted French Fries, Fried Green Beans, Quincy’s Spicy Fried Pickles, Onion Strings served with Peppercorn Ranch and Chipotle Ranch. You can see how it would be tough to go wrong.

The star at Cowboy Chow, on the other hand, is the brisket. Saucy and tangy, sweet and tender, served on tiny slider buns, you can make a meal of those alone. But that would be a shame since the fried green tomato lollipops, Indian Fry Bread, and Cowboy Nachos made with homemade potato chips and cojita cheese are equally drool worthy.

There was just the right amount kitsch and downright good cooking in Cowboy Chow’s food to make it elevated chuck wagon fare instead of themey grub.

Ask Boso how he makes it all work and he makes it sound so easy. “It’s simple: Just a good combo of flavors. The reason Cowboy Chow is different is because we take the time to braise [the meat]. Braising is my favorite way to cook something. I wanted to base a restaurant around braised meat. The secret is seven hours. The secret is patience.”

We talk about the food scene in Dallas and I ask him about something Kent Rathbun said. Are Dallas diners really scared of food? “Yes,” he says. “They have grown up as meat and potatoes kids and they are scared to venture out. I have friends I have to hold down and shove fois gras in their mouths. I wouldn’t be embarrassed of anything [we serve here]. But the ribs and chicken-fried steak are there because people want them. It’s hard to jar people off of what they’ve been eating for 15 years. No chips and salsa. I want everyone to order the fry bread.”

And lest you think Boso believes he’s the only one doing right by food, he greatly admires others who are striving to do the same. “If you go to a Kent [Rathbun] restaurant you should order anything you don’t usually eat because you know it’ll be done right. The same with Dean [Fearing's] restaurants. People eat too much at Outback Steakhouse and think that’s good,” Boso says with disdain and then adds with a smile, “I’m an opinionated son of a bitch.”

Boso has three restaurants, which spreads him thin, so how does he keep things as he intended? “I hire great people like Andre [my manager] who has been with me for three years. You hire people with passion and keep them on the crazy train. And I set up very simple systems that even a non-food person could understand. Everyone is in charge of one thing and what makes it great is the five different components put together in an interesting way.”

“The culture is harder to keep up with than the food.” And the culture is key to both the Twisted Root and the Cowboy Chow experiences. Cheekiness and plain old “laid-backness” is the order of the day. Everyday.

“I look for personality people as much as people in the food industry. I just hired Dan Glazer, a headliner at Ad Lib, so he can get on the mic and make fun of people [at Twisted Root]. We’re irreverent like that. My philosophy is that if I can embarrass one person and 99 others snicker, then I’m really making 99 percent of the people happy and one percent unhappy.”

Down the line, Boso says he’s “looking into doing a sandwich place with cheese steaks, grilled cheese, Korean barbecue sandwiches. Elevating all that. Not just cheese steaks but cheese steaks with caramelized red onions. All hot sandwiches. Let the New York guys do that [cold deli] stuff. I want to do all iron skillet stuff.”

As I shut down my Macbook Air and get up to go, Boso touches my arm. “You don’t even have to write this down. But I want you to know what I’m really trying to do.” There’s an earnestness that comes over him that makes me settle back into my stool. “I wanted to bring an everyday local place with a chef attitude [to Dallas]. My average ticket is seven bucks. I can do a really damn good brisket Sloppy Joe and a really interesting grilled cheese and a damn good pot pie that you can’t get somewhere else. I’m bringing the chef in the white coat to the everyday guy.”

Original Article Here

“The parking issue is an excellent problem to have,” said Justin Springfield, whose Old Town Development has attracted Twisted Root Burger Co., Cowboy Chow and other restaurants to Roanoke. “Most cities would kill to have that problem.”

“It’s really none of my business and none of our business as a company,” said Justin Speights, a manager at Twisted Root Burger Co., just east of Scott’s Automotive on Oak Street.

“We’re in the middle of this long process,” said City Manager Jimmy Stathatos, describing the town’s proposals to purchase the property — or acquire it through eminent domain — as fair. But Scotty Mizer tells another story.

“It was never for sale until they condemned it,” said Mizer, frustrated by the city’s attempts to buy 17,500 square feet of his 108 N. Highway 377 property. Stathatos emphasized that the condemnation process is ongoing and not complete.

“We are in the middle of the condemnation process, but have not condemned the property,” Stathatos said. “At any time the city can bail out and not buy it.”

Mizer currently uses the location for parking, prohibited by city regulations that require paving, drainage and other modifications before the surface can legally hold vehicles.

With council approval, the property could be paved and made into a public parking lot.

City officials are seeking more parking spaces to accommodate motorists visiting town and its newly renovated Oak Street.

Several restaurateurs and shop owners asked by The Times-Register to discuss eminent domain and its role in providing additional parking for their customers declined.

Several recent City Council meetings have ended with executive sessions focused on Mizer’s property. The council discussed offers made by the city for the property, all of which Mizer said were unacceptable.

The city’s latest offer was for $262,500, which also is the city’s appraisal of the property. The county’s appraised value of the property is $404,616, according to the Denton County Appraisal District.

Last month, a Denton County special commissioners court, considered an objective third party under Chapter 21 of Texas property code, ruled that the city would have to pay $329,000 to purchase the property.

Former Cowboy Ciao Chef, Bernie Kantak

After keeping a low profile since he left his longtime chef position at Cowboy Ciao in 2009 — with the exception of his solo appearance at last spring’s Devoured Culinary Classic — this weekend Bernie Kantak returns to Old Town Scottsdale with the launch of his very own restaurant, Citizen Public House.

Set to soft-open on Saturday (doors officially open Sunday), the upscale “new-fashioned” gastropub is located in a completely renovated building that previouly housed the nightclub Next, and was the original location of Trader Vic’s. It’s decked out with leather booths, mahogany accents, a stainless steel-topped bar, and vintage family photos for a nostalgic vibe. There’s also a private upstairs dining room, a semi-private, 12-seat alcove, and a patio.

Kantak met his partners, Andrew Fritz and Rich Moe, during his days at Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz, and here, they’ll be handing the front of the house and an ambitious beverage program that showcases craft beers, inventive cocktails, and wine.

Meanwhile, Kantak has created an enticing menu of contemporary American pub grub with a lot of unique twists. Here, the popcorn is heirloom, popped in Tenderbelly bacon fat, while the mac ‘n cheese goes for the jugular with gorgonzola and Emmental cheeses. The burger is made with decadent wagyu beef, and there’s a lamb burger, too. Like the grilled Halloumi cheese sandwich, it’s served on a Serbian lepijna roll (a salute to Kantak’s Eastern European roots).

Starters include the Mirliton Chopped Salad (chayote, snow pea greens, grape tomatoes, heirloom popcorn, grilled halloumi cheese, cucumber-onion salad, and parsley-garlic dressing), which just might outdo the much-imitated Stetson Chopped that Kantak created for Cowboy Ciao. There’s also crispy squid with lemon-anise tartar sauce and pickled fennel, and pork belly pastrami with rye spaetzle and brussels sprout sauerkraut.

Among the half-dozen entrees, look for fair trade coffee-charred shortribs with dried cherry barbecue sauce, porcini-dusted filet mignon, and pan-seared scallops with lardons, roasted corn grits, wilted snow pea greens, and Red Rock Cola gastrique.

Desserts by pastry chef Tracy Dempsey (also an alum of Cowboy Ciao and Kazimierz) sound homey, but a little naughty, too: you can have your milk spiked to go with an order of cookies, or slurp up chocolate toffee bread pudding with soy sauce caramel and chocolate Maker’s Mark ice cream. There’s also “Irish coffee three ways.”

Old-school cocktails like the Sazerac and Pisco Sour are listed alongside new creations like the Citi-Zen, with pear vodka, ginger liqueur, housemade sweet & sour, rock candy, and a lemon twist. There’s a long menu of spirits, digestifs, apertifs, and cordials, plus more than 70 different wines from around the world. Among six draught beers, two are from local fave Four Peaks, while bottle brews sound much geekier than what you’ll generally find in Old Town — there’s Stone Smoked Porter, Green Flash Summer Saison, Dogfish Head Midas Touch, and more.

For now, Citizen Public House will be open for dinner only, but lunch service is planned for the near future. Happy hour is from 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and dinner service runs from 5 to 11 p.m. daily at 7111 E 5th Ave. in Scottsdale. Call 480-398-4208 for details.

Original Story Here

The creator, Bernie Kantak – former executive chef of Cowboy Chow, is consulting at the new restaurant in Cave Creek at Tatum and Dynamite boulevards. Though, now it is called the “Kantak Chop”, which consists of smoked salmon, dried sweet corn, black currants, pepitas, asiago cheese, couscous, bruschetta, tomatoes and arugula in pesto-buttermilk dressing.

Amaro is owned by Frank Vairo, former Cowboy Ciao bartender, and Tagan Dering, former GM of Cowboy Ciao’s lounge, Kazimierz World Wine Bar. The executive chef is Jon Spahr, who trained at T. Cook’s at the Royal Palms.

Amaro Pizzeria and Vino Lounge
28234 N. Tatum Blvd., Cave Creek
480-502-1920
www.amaroaz.com

At Cowboy Ciao, Kantak, 39, was celebrated for his offbeat, Southwestern-accented fare, which ranged from an exotic mushroom pan fry in ancho chile cream sauce to buffalo carpaccio.

But he’s pretty much ditching the Southwestern notes at Citizen, in favor of what he calls globally inspired “eclectic comfort food” in a white-tablecloth setting.

He promises to give “familiar ingredients a new life.” That means starters like mussel chowder with smoked pork belly ($8), pork belly pastrami with spaetzle and Brussels sprout sauerkraut ($12) and crispy squid with pickled fennel ($9). There will also be a version of his acclaimed chopped salad ($12).

Main dishes include coffee-charred short ribs ($26), porcini-dusted filet ($32) and pan-seared scallops with bacon and grits ($17).

There are also a couple of burgers ($12): wagyu beef on challah, and a lamb burger on lepinja, a pita-like bread from the Balkans.

After he left Cowboy Ciao, Kantak worked on two ambitious projects, both done in by the recession: a multi-restaurant group in downtown Phoenix, and the never-opened Mexican Standoff at SouthBridge.

Address: Citizen Public House, 7111 E. Fifth Ave., Scottsdale.

Boso, executive chef of Twisted Root Burger Co. and Cowboy Chow, created five fried dishes to celebrate Fair season, but admits his fried chocolate and strawberry Pop-Tarts have been the runaway customer favorite.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he says.

Boso, who prefers fried ice cream, hasn’t yet sampled Isaac Rousso’s Deep Fried S’mores Pop-Tart, which dazzled Big Tex Choice Award judges.

“I didn’t even know they were having them,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have done it if I knew.”

Boso’s Fair-inspired line-up also includes deep-fried peaches and cream, a bacon-wrapped deep-fried hot dog, a deep-fried slider and – at the Roanoke location only – green chile cotton candy.

“It’s pretty weird to taste spice through sugar,” Boso says. “It’s more of an interest thing. People try it and say ‘what the hell?’ I don’t think anyone wants to eat the whole thing.”

While the deep-fried foods will be retired when the fair ends, Boso plans to keep experimenting with cotton candy; vanilla latte cotton candy’s on next month’s menu. But the treat will remain a Roanoke-only special.

“It’s the only store where I have room for the cotton candy maker,” he explains.

Original Here

When:
Saturday, September 04, 2010 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CDT

Where:
Cowboy Chow
101 S. Oak St, Ste 300
Roanoke Texas 76262

www.westlakeacademy.org

Arizona wines are coming into their own. Though many people have been supporting them for years, one person, Pavle Milic of FnB restaurant in downtown Scottsdale, has kicked awareness into high gear. I recently sat down with him.

Question: You created an Arizona-only wine list. Why?

Answer: That question is asked often. I remember when I first worked at Cowboy Ciao in 1999 and had the opportunity to try and really enjoy Callaghan’s wines (Callaghan Vineyards in southeastern Arizona). Fast-forward to 2004. I moved to Napa Valley, where most restaurants give a tip of the hat to the local wineries by placing their wines on the lists. Fast-forward again to 2009. (Filmmaker and Arizona vintner) Sam Pillsbury walks into Prado, at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa where I was general manager . . . and said the magic words: “Would you like to taste some local wine?” Sam remembers this well because apparently my eyes lit up.

I remember tasting Pillsbury’s wine and reacting in a rather uncouth fashion by stating: “I can’t believe this is Arizona wine.” . . . We did a couple of winemaker dinners at Prado and found that guests were very happy. Last fast-forward: FnB is 2 weeks old. Chef Charleen Badman’s cooking philosophy is to try and source local, organic and sustainable whenever possible. I began to think about the possibility of exercising the same ideology with the wine list. It was simply a question: Is there enough good juice in AZ to construct a list?

I decided to conduct a controlled experiment: I would ask guests to blind taste in exchange for a complimentary dessert. Not once did anyone guess Arizona. The most valuable part of this experiment was that most guests really enjoyed the wine.

Q: What are the top six wines on your list, and how would you describe them?

A: 2008 Canelo Hills Chardonnay: . . . This Chardonnay is restrained and bone dry. You get some toasty vanilla notes on the nose from a delicate oak aging. The wine is slightly lean, but finishes supple. I get citrus and a little tropical notes on the palate. Their property is located right next door to Kent Callaghan (of Callaghan Vineyards).

2008 Page Springs Vino Del Barrio Blanca: Sauvignon Blanc and Malvasia Bianca mostly compose the blend. Great dichotomy of dry and fruity. Grassy and herbaceous on the nose at first but as it tempers the peachiness from the Malvasia starts to blossom. Great with our fennel salad.

2009 Pillsbury Rosé: Mostly composed of Zinfandel. This one I love. I have had Bandol, the benchmark of rosé for a lot of us. Pillsbury Rosé pleases the same way. Bone-dry and not too alcoholic. The wine is light on its feet but with assertive tannin structure. Great versatility; it goes well with salads, seafood, poultry and even grilled beef salads. Great quaff, especially with the weather warming up.

2006 Dos Cabezas Toscano Blend: This wine is my “go to” when a guest asks for a Pinot Noir. The nose is full of cherry and spice. The wine also has zippy bright acidity that makes it a refreshing red wine. I love this one.

2008 Arizona Stronghold Nachise Syrah Blend: First place at the 2009 Arizona Wine Festival. A full-bodied Syrah with a beautiful red color courtesy of Grenache and Petit Syrah added to the blend. The wine is spicy and peppery but tamed by blueberry notes on the palate from the presence of Petit Syrah. A crowd pleaser.

2008 Callaghan Cabernet Sauvignon: Kent has always made blends, and I was both excited and surprised when I heard he’d bottled a single varietal wine. It’s a nuanced, delicate and well-balanced wine that I often coin as civilized. . . . It’s made to enjoy with food and won’t take center stage but elevate and complement stews, grilled meats, cheese and poultry. More Old World than New World.

Q: How would you rate the price-to-quality for Arizona wine vs. the rest of the world?

A: Arizona is a relatively new wine industry. A lot of the folks making wine here are still paying new mortgages and equipment. Everything costs a little bit more here. Whereas in Napa, you have mobile bottling lines; here they don’t have that luxury yet. Yields are also another factor. Most wine-growing regions in the world yield 5 to 6 tons of fruit per acre. In Arizona, they are lucky if they get 3 tons. In terms of perceived value, if you buy an Arizona wine for $15, I think they stand up to similarly priced wines.

Q: Who, in your view, are the current stars and leaders of Arizona’s wine industry?

A: I think Eric Glomski has done a lot for the industry. His association and partnership with Maynard (Keenan) of the world-renowned band Tool also has helped to get the word out there. Sam Pillsbury is a one-man show, opinionated and passionate; one trailblazer to look out for who makes great focused wines. Todd Bostock of Dos Cabezas continues to please with great wines. I couldn’t talk about Arizona wine without mentioning Kent Callaghan as one of the first to put Arizona wines on the map.

Original Here

Take our monthly Gay List Daily subscriber mixers. We usually approach our favorite places and ask if they’d like to host a party for our readers. And with the exception of our plea to the Taj Mahal for open bar and male strippers, everyone has accepted our request.

But this month, we were contacted by Cowboy Chow in Deep Ellum because they’d heard about our parties and wanted to host one. We were thrilled, but we hadn’t been there in more than a year and didn’t want to give our approval until we knew it was up to our high-falutin’ standards.

So we ventured back to the restaurant and fell in love all over again. See, Serendipity in action. Minus John Cusack.

Well, you’ll be happy to know that this place should be one of your new go-to restaurants when you get a hankerin’ for some good, down-home cooking. Oh sorry, cookin’.

The key player here is brisket, which features prominently in no fewer than eight entrees. But that’s ok, because it’s some damn fine brisket. Hell, we even think they sneak it into their cookies and iced tea and just don’t tell us. Because like Ranch Dressing or bacon, everything’s better with brisket.

Start with an appetizer of the non-brisket variety (pace yourself). Fried Green Tomato Lollipops are insane. And only a buck apiece. And if you’re feeling lucky, bet your appetizer with the server. You each get a card, high card wins. If you win, your appetizer is free. If the server wins, you pay double.

Sure, it’s a gamble, but a chance at free nachos could be just what Las Vegas needs to start attracting the tourists and convention business again!

Our favorite entrée is the Mash Tater Parfait, which arrives in a Mason Jar and a big ol’ spoon. Layered inside are brisket (natch), mash taters, cowboy caviar (black beans and corn), cheddar cheese and fried tortilla strips. It’s comfort food that looks like an edible version of those baby-food-jar sand sculptures we made back in Vacation Bible School.

For something a little different than just your everyday brisket, they offer a leaner, healthier buffalo brisket that’s available in signature tacos, Caesar salads or grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s as versatile as it is lower in fat.

But Cowboy Chow is about more than just the grub. They take great pride (and a whimsical sense of humor) in creating their bar menu. For beer, you can’t get much more down-to-earth than a $2 16-ounce can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. As Obama might say, “Yes We Can. No We Bottle.” (At least that’s what he’d say if he had grammar as bad as ours.)

But it’s the house-infused liquors that immediately caught our attention. During the course of one meal, we sampled vanilla-infused bourbon (great with Mexican Coca-Cola), a margarita made with prickly-pear-infused tequila (and another with serrano-chili-infused tequila), but it was the bacon-infused bourbon with a Pabst Blue Ribbon chaser that made us laugh out loud at the absurd deliciousness of the whole thing.

We ended the evening with a Homemade Marshmallow & Brownie S’more. The brownie was great. The homemade marshmallow, fantastic. But how about that scoop of fried vanilla ice cream rolled in graham crackers as well as regular and cocoa Rice Krispies? It’s way too early to be craving the State Fair.

Thankfully, Cowboy Chow is here to fill the void.

Original Here

Anthony Damiano said he’s dedicated to Montrose’s downtown, and that’s why he’s investing in two Main Street buildings to house his culinary school and second restaurant.

“My goal has always been a restaurant company that offers consulting, management and a culinary school,” Damiano said. “I saw an opportunity here.”

Damiano moved to Montrose to be Cornerstone’s food and beverage director in 2008. He has worked as executive chef at New York’s Russian Tea Room, chef, proprietor and owner of several Florida restaurants, executive chef at Donald Trump’s Mar A Lago and chef de cuisine of restaurants at Le Cordon Bleu, Scottsdale Culinary Institute in Arizona.

When Cornerstone closed this winter, Damiano took his severance money and bought himself a job.

He opened Damiano’s Cowboy Ciao at 1140 N. Townsend Ave. on Dec. 29. Recently, he leased the former Sicily’s restaurant building at 1135 E. Main St. for the site of his second restaurant, Damiano’s on Main. And he is looking at several Main Street sites for his Western Colorado Culinary Academy.

Original Here

Anthony Damiano cooks up meal at his restaurant, Damiano’s Cowboy Ciao, Friday afternoon. (Joel Blocker / Daily Press)

Derek Miller, of Summit West LLC., stains the floor at the former Sicily’s restaurant Friday afternoon. The former Sicily’s restaurant will be the site of Anthony Damiano’s second restaurant, Damiano’s on Main. (Joel Blocker / Daily Press)

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