Super Bowl XLV: Dining in Dallas

So your coming to the D/FW Metroplex for the big game and you want to taste a little bit of the local cuisine? Not surprisingly, Tex-Mex heavily defines the local flavor and there are a ton of restaurants that offer both Tex-Mex and traditional Mexican foods, but how do you know which ones to try? Let’s start with a few of my favorites:

Mia’s Tex-Mex – 4322 Lemmon Ave., Dallas, TX 75219

A perfect place to taste some of Dallas’ best Tex-Mex and take in a little local football history. Rumor has it, this was Tom Landry’s favorite restaurant in town and, ironically, it’s the same restaurant where Jerry Jones had a “secret” meeting with Jimmy Johnson before firing Landry and hiring Johnson. On the outside, the little yellow building doesn’t look like much, but once inside, the walls are covered with signed photos of Dallas sports legends. Be sure and try the brisket tacos, you will not be disappointed. Mia’s also gave rise to the next two establishments on my list.

Taco Diner – 4011 Villanova St., Dallas, TX 75225 and 3699 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75204

Mi Cocina – 77 Highland Park Village Dallas, TX 75205 and 3699 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75204

Taco Diner and Mi Cocina are both offsprings of Mia’s. Both have several locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but for the purpose of this piece we will focus on the two nearest to downtown Dallas. Taco Diner focuses mainly on traditional Mexican tacos (don’t expect ground beef and crispy taco shells here), but they feature some traditional favorites as well, including fajitas. Mi Cocina has a little bit broader menu, but the recipes are almost identical to Taco Diner.

If the weather is nice, you have to go to the West Village (McKinney Ave.) location and dine on the patio. Here, Taco Diner and Mi Cocina are positioned directly across from one another and you can watch people dinning at both spots and watch the “beautiful people” of Dallas take in some shopping.

If you’re looking for a more family-friendly atmosphere,  the Mi Cocina in Highland Park Village and the Taco Diner in Preston Center (Villanova St.) are where you will want to go.You’ll still probably be able to spot a few local or national celebrities.

Chuy’s - 4544 McKinney Ave. Dallas, TX 75205

What makes Chuy’s unique is their strong reliance on green chilies, including their amazing green chilie salsa. Almost every dish features some unique sauce or item prepared with green chilies, and as such, you can expect a little bit extra flavor. As with all of the Tex-Mex restaurants covered, margaritas are the drink of choice, but they also feature a wide selection of Mexican and Texas beers that will surely bring out the flavor. Bring some extra money and take home a souvenir t-shirt with you.

Dallas offers a lot more than merely Tex-Mex food, we also offer some fine Italian restaurants as well.

Gordo’s - 8220 Westchester Dallas, TX 75225

If you’re an out-of-towner, Gordo’s might be hard for you to find, as it nestled in what appears to be a back alley of a local shopping center, but don’t let that keep you from sampling the food. Gordo’s features the best traditional Italian plates in town, at a very reasonable price. I personally recommend the shrimp scampi sauteed in lemon butter Chardonnay sauce, served over capilini. In the mood for something lighter? Try their Greek or Mediterranean Salads. Be sure and ask for a wine list, as they offer several well-priced wines to compliment every meal on the menu.

Campisi’s Egyptian Lounge – 5610 E. Mockingbird Ln. Dallas, TX 75206

There are several Campisi’s locations sprinkled throughout the Metroplex, but there is only one Campisi’s Egyptian Lounge and it’s the one you will want to sample. Don’t let the name fool you, Campisi’s is all about Italian cuisine. The Mockingbird location features a Tuesday night spaghetti special that is extremely popular, especially among the college kids from nearby SMU. The spaghetti is good, but my personal choice at Campisi’s is their pizza.

Snuffers – 8411 Preston Rd.  Dallas, TX 75225

What’s that you say? You’re in town for a football game and want some football food?

If hamburgers and hot dogs are what you want, check out Snuffer’s, which offers traditional American favorites served in a sports bar atmosphere. Snuffers is known for their cheedar fries. In order to get the full Snuffers experience, be sure to get them fully loaded with bacon, chives and jalapenos.

Good Eats – 3888 Oak Lawn Ave. #101  Dallas, TX 75219

If you want to taste some authentic Texas food, stroll into Good Eats. Many critics, including myself, consider their Chicken Fried Steak to be the best in town, but not everything on the menu is deep fried. In fact, I prefer many of their grilled items, including their grilled catfish, mesquite grilled  chicken and Cajun grilled chicken. As with most restaurants in town, you’ll want to begin with some chips & salsa.

You might be thinking to yourself, since this is Texas, shouldn’t their be some BBQ joints profiled? Dallas has some good BBQ restaurants, like Dickey’s and Sonny Bryan’s, but I would stop short of calling them great. If you really want some great BBQ, you will need to venture way outside the city limits into more rural areas. If that’s your thing, allow yourself about an hour and half travel time and go East on I-20. Once you enter the Piney Woods, you will discover some of the best BBQ in the world, including my personal favorite, Bodacious.

Next up, let’s take a look at the downtown and Uptown areas of Dallas, including where to go and how to get around.

Going to California

Stephanie and I are currently in the planning stages of honeymoon. At first, we decided a trip to Napa & Sonoma would be nice, so we went to our local bookstore and bought a couple of books on traveling in the region. After reading the books and conducting some exhaustive Internet research, we decided that the region might be a little stuffy for our tastes, so we looked south on the map, down the California coastline and decided on Santa Barbara, a region that appears to offer a little more than fine wine and gourmet food. Yesterday, we purchased a couple of travel books on Santa Barbara and I couldn’t help but to notice a common theme throughout these books and the ones I purchased on Napa/Sonoma–California is fragile.

Electrical shortages, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, tar on the beaches and the overwhelming fear that one more molecule of carbon dioxide may forever destroy their eco-system were all discussed in detail in the books I read. It reminded me of the first time I heard the term “eco-anxiety,” anxiety brought on by the fear that one is bringing on the end of the world by their lifestyle.  Indeed, buried within the words in these books was the admission by the author that they played some role (and the allegation that we the reader played a role) in causing all of these problems plaguing California, including the earthquakes.

The real anxiety is the anxiety created in the mind of the reader by the authors. If I get a rental car that is not a hybrid, will the locals try to drag us through the city streets and place us in the stocks for the rest of the natives to throw rotten (organic) vegetables at us. If I take a 10 minute shower, will a gestapo like agent show up our hotel door demanding to know why our water usage is twice that of the average California resident. If we choose to use the air conditioner, instead of opening our windows, will we be verbally assaulted? If we use more than one square of toilet paper, will Sheryl Crow and Laurie David show up to protest?

I am looking forward to our trip out West. Santa Barbara seems like a wonderful place to visit and I know it will make a great honeymoon location; however, I don’t think there could be a place in the continental United States more drastically different than my native Texas than coastal California.

Texans love their land as well, but we don’t fear it and we don’t let it control our lives. While residents of Santa Barbara continue to fight oil companies drilling off their coast line, Texans understand the positive impact drilling can have on an economy and understand the minimal impact it has on the local environment. Indeed, drilling continues to this day on Caddo Lake, one of the most biologically diverse wetlands in the United States.

Texans learn to live with the whims of Mother Nature as well. While earthquakes are uncommon (legend holds Caddo Lake was formed by an earthquake), we live in the middle of “tornado alley” and face nature’s wrecking ball every spring. We accept it as part of living in this part of the country and we don’t blame the personal habits of other people for these natural disasters. Before the threat of power outages became a reality in Texas, we began addressing the problem and discussing our options. We managed all of this and still have one of the best state economies in the United States.

When we invite tourists to our great state, we remind them to be good stewards and “don’t mess with Texas,” but we do so without fear or intimidation. Perhaps authors writing about California travel should adopt the same philosophy.

Blackened Pork Chops

I have established certain staple dishes for beef, chicken and fish, but up until a few days ago I had yet to find a great recipe for pork. For years, I experimented with several different marinades and then attempted to “grill” chops on my George Foreman Grill. Inevitably, these chops always turned out dry and rather bland. I stumbled across two different pork chop recipes, both contained elements I didn’t like, but both sounded far more tasty than any of my previous failed attempts at pork chop perfection.

I decided to take my favorite parts of both recipes and combine them together for my own unique recipe, which is what I present here. I’ll remind you that everything organic tastes better and the more organic ingredients you use, the better your meal will taste.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp. rubbed sage

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. thyme leaves

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup of water

4 pork chops

1 diced onion

Begin by mixing all of your spices and flour in a bowl.  Once the spices and flour are thoroughly mixed, sprinkle this mixture on both sides of your pork chops. Pour olive oil into a large skillet and set on medium-high heat.  When you see the first wisps of white  smoke from skillet, add your seasoned pork chops and turn heat to high.  Move the chops around, ensuring that each side develops good color. Cook for approximately 3 1/2 minutes at which point you’ll reduce the heat to medium.

Add the wine and continue moving your chops around the skillet. After the wine evaporates, add water and continue cooking for 10 minutes, turning chops a few times. Add onion, reduce heat to low and continue to cook for 3 or 4 minutes.

You can serve the chops with or without the onions. Personally, I prefer mine served on a bed of rice. The meal is perfectly paired with a glass of your favorite Chardonnay.