Tag Archives: Stephan Pyles

Strap on the food bag: Beaujolais, Pyles, Dish

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This is a foodie kinda season anyway, with Thanksgiving around the corner, but I gotta say, there are almost too many interesting eating opportunities going on this week even for me. Here are a few:

• Beaujolais Festival. The French-American Chamber of Commerce for DFW hosts this event every year, on the Friday after the third Thursday in November — traditionally, the day in France when the beaujolais nouveau is first released. It’s a fun, huge event (back at the World Trade Center this year) that offers up not only 2010 beaujolais but some vintage French wines as well as some Texas-grown grape. It starts Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. and tickets are $60 at the door. Visit FACCDallas.com for info.

• Stephan Pyles 5th Anniversary Festival. Pyles has been full of celebrations this week: On Tuesday his Samar cheered its naming by Esquire as one of the top 10 new restaurants in America (they didn’t hold a similar part last December, when it made my top 5, but let’s not linger). Now on Sunday, he’ll toast the fall harvest with live music, cooking demonstrations and of course food and drink. It’s Nov. 21 from 4 to 8 p.m.; the cost is $50. Visit StephanPyles.com for tickets.

• Dish dinner and benefit. You can get a great meal for a good price ($45/$65 with wine pairings) and do something wonderful for the community on Wednesday — Thanksgiving Eve. Just stop by the ilume restaurant from 6 to 9 and order the special thee-course dinner and the restaurant will donate a week’s worth of groceries to a client of Resource Center Dallas for each dinner served. I mean think about that for a sec: You eat one meal, you feed someone else for a week. The dinner includes such options as mushroom risotto, herb roasted tenderloin and pecan brownie. Call 214-522-DISH to make a reservation.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Local briefs • 11.05.10

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COH holds vigil for equality

The Cathedral of Hope 20Something Ministries and Peace House Dallas in conjunction with other community activism groups are hosting a candlelight vigil to commemorate and express gratitude to those who struggle for peaceful equality on behalf of LGBTQ people.

They will gather with local community leaders on the grounds of the recently dedicated Interfaith Peace Chapel, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. Speakers will include representatives of Lambda Legal, Cathedral of Hope and Peace House Dallas.

The evening will conclude with a prayer for peace and strength with a progressive lighting of candles as a tribute in honor and memory.

Celebrichefs grill burgers for AIDS

A dozen celebrity chefs joined Chef John Tesar, culinary director of DRG Concepts, on the fifth floor pool deck at The House in Victory Park, for the second annual Burgers & Burgundy event benefiting Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. The chefs crafted a variety of burgers from BBQ spiced beef with smoked sausage to grilled garlic lamb sliders to raise funds for DIFFA.

This year’s event raised more than $25,000 while guests sipped burgundy wines and with  downtown Dallas serving as a backdrop.

Chefs who participated in addition to Tesar included Cooking With Friends host Nick Stellino, James Beard award winner R.J. Cooper, Stephan Pyles, Kent Rathbun, Tim Byres, Scott Romano, Dan Landsberg, Samir Dhurandhar, Sharon Van Meter, Kevin Williamson, and Brian Luscher. They represented restaurants as diverse as Samar, Nick and Sam’s, Smoke, Tillman’s Road House and The Grape.

Silent auction packages included four Kenmore grills paired with a celebrity chef visit or a party with Michael Martensen.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition November 5, 2010.

—  Michael Stephens

Local eateries help you ‘go vegan’ for a week

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Here’s the problem I have with most vegans: It is all-or-nothing with them. Sure, I like soy burgers on occasion or a big leafy salad (no egg or cream dressing!) for my entree every once in a while. But I also crave veal scallopini and foie gras occasionally — so sue me. (No. Don’t.)

But this is why my friend Eddie Garza is different. Eddie’s not a proseyltizer. He’s a true vegan, and I avoid ordering steak tartare when I’m with him, but he’s not the kind to throw blood on me as I exit a meat factory. He just wants people to be aware of the damage done to animals for the sake of food, cosmetics and the like. But he knows I drink milk and he’s still my friend.

He’s also the local organizer for Mercy for Animals, the national vegan-friendly organization established by a gay guy, Nathan Runkle. And he wants everyone in Dallas to go vegan … at least for a little while.

First there’s “Vegan Day at the State Fair,” which takes place on Saturday. Local chefs and foodies will judge the best fried vegan foods and no-kill lovers can commune with Big Tex. (Hint: Steer clear of the corny dogs — not exactly vegetarian, despite the word “corn.”)

CORRECTION: The Texas State Veggie Fair is NOT affiliated with the State Fair of Texas. It takes place at 406 S. Haskell St. on Oct. 16. DallasVegan.com

Then there’s MFA’s planned “Go Vegan for a Week” initiative with area restaurants. From Oct. 24–31, five upscale restaurants — Salum, The Second Floor, Bijoux, Tillman’s Roadhouse and Stephan Pyles — will offer vegan options — “compassionate, sustainable and healthy” — on their menus. That’s in addition to already-vegan and -vegetarian places like Bliss, Kalachandji’s and Cosmic Cup Cafe.

Many of the options sound yummy: tempura cauliflower and broccolini with white bean puree at Salum; soba noodles with bok choi and Thai chile vinaigrette at The Second Floor — which may prove you don’t have to give up flavor to save an animal.

You can learn more at DallasVeganWeek.com.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Tasting notes

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Stephan Pyles’ fundraiser  sets lofty goal; Seasons 52 finally arrives in Texas

ARNOLD WAYNE JONES  | Life+Style Editor jones@dallasvoice.com

TASTEFUL PURSUERS

TASTEFUL PURSUERS | Stephan Pyles, third from left, with the platoon of chefs preparing the annual dinner which aims to end childhood hunger in the U.S. by 2015. (Photo courtesy Carter Rose)

Stephan Pyles made a startling admission Sunday at his annual A Tasteful Pursuit dinner, which raises money for the anti-hunger charity Share Our Strength: More children go to bed hungry today than they did when Pyles helped found the organization. But that has not deterred Pyles from setting the goal of ending childhood hunger by 2015. It’s a startlingly ambitious aim that he came a little closer to achieving at the event this week.

Seven chefs from six restaurants (including two from Pyles’ namesake eatery) regaled $175-a-plate diners with lavish bites paired with wine (and some beer). Starting strong with a dessert-like fois gras mousse from chef R.J. Cooper (opening a new restaurant later this fall in Washington, D.C.), it ended just as sweet with Maggie Huff’s trio of deconstructed but delightful dolces with retro appeal: a Moon Pie, a Thin Mint and the best of the lot, a Snickers.

Pyles oversaw but did not cook a dish. The treat of that experience was saved for my tablemates, who bid $7,500 for a private dinner for eight prepared by Pyles himself at his home. A bid well-worth the experience — for a cause well-worth the effort.

At a time when so many businesses are suffering in the economy, it’s refreshing to go into a restaurant on a Wednesday night and see tables abuzz with diners. But at Oishii, they need to manage it better.

It’s frustrating to be told you’ll have to wait 35 minutes when you can see three cleared, empty tables in front of you; to be told it will be another 15 minutes after you’ve been waiting 45 minutes smacks of chaos. (We weren’t the only ones to complain either, although our fussing did miraculously get us our seats faster.)
The food itself is good as ever. I especially enjoy the crunch from the tempura roll and the spider roll, which were spackled with a miso glaze. The Philadelphia roll divided the table: Cream cheese is hardly traditional Japanese fare, and it tended to overwhelm the tuna, but it’s well-priced and tasty.

I’m just glad we ordered edamame (fresh pods well-cooked, though inconsistently salted) to start the meal. The rolls, which aren’t exactly complicated dishes, took forever to arrive following our prolonged wait in the bar without so much as the offer of a beverage.

“Nobody goes there anymore,” Yogi Berra once noted about a popular restaurant; “it’s too busy.” Good for Oishii to have a wait. But empty tables and a wait and slow dinner service? Might not be busy long, which would be a shame. The food is worth an effort, but there are limits.

It took long enough, but finally Seasons 52 is making it to Texas. I first tried the Florida-based restaurant in 2004 at the recommendation of then-Ciudad chef Joanne Bondy when I was headed to Orlando. The concept — all the entrees cap out at 475 calories; all the “mini-indulgence” desserts just 300; and everything made from the freshest ingredients selected for a rotating menu throughout the year — was an early adopter of local, healthy, good-tasting cuisine. I couldn’t wait to get it nearby.

It took six years, but the restaurant will open at the Shops at Legacy in Plano this October — the first Season 52 in Texas. Management is hiring for all positions starting Aug. 23. If one of the perks is free food, go.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 13, 2010.

—  Kevin Thomas

Pyles gets cookin' with Martha Stewart

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Dallas celebrichef Stephan Pyles, who pioneered the development of Southwestern cuisine 30 years ago, will be talking with everyone’s favorite domestic goddess, Martha Stewart, on Martha’s Sirius Radio (channel 112) talk show, “Living Today,” at 1 p.m. local time today. Pyles will also discuss his latest concept, the award-winning Samar that opened downtown last summer.

If you don’t have Sirius, you can sign up here for a seven-day free trial to check it out.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Stephan Pyles gets two shout-outs from James Beard Foundation

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The James Beard Awards, named for the celebrated gay gastronome, announced their semi-finalists for the best culinary achievements of the past year, and Dallas’ Stephan Pyles appears on the list. Twice.

Pyles was among the nominees for outstanding chef, an overall award of the 20 best chefs nationwide for his eponymous Downtown Dallas restaurant. The list also include Pyles’ fellow founder of Southwest cuisine, Robert Del Grande of Houston’s Bar Annie, Craft’s Tom Colicchio and Michael Mina.

Pyles was also singled out for best new restaurant for Samar, which opened last fall across from Stephan Pyles. (You can read my review here.)

Sharon Hage of York Street was, again, a finalist for best chef in the Southwest.

Two recent Top Chef competitors, Kevin Gillespie and Bryan Voltaggio, are also in their categories — Gillespie for rising chef and Voltaggio for his Volt restaurant (Mid-Atlantic).

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

LGBT community makes a mark in D Magazine's modern Dallas history

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In D‘s January issue, they celebrate not only their 35th anniversary, they mark the 35 biggest moments in modern Dallas history. Some good stuff but we especially like seeing the following listed.

Coming in at 21 (although the list is in no particular order) is simply, the Cathedral of Hope with a piece by Reverend Michael Piazza detailing the church’s history.

Former DGLA board member Campbell Read recalls the Dallas PD raid of the Village Station, which is now Station 4. Did you know over 20 years ago, cops “arrested 12 people who were doing a bunny hop on the dance floor for public lewdness.”

And of course, how you could not have Stephan Pyles in the list. His article goes back to the opening of Routh Street Cafe.

—  Rich Lopez