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Marc Cassel, owner of 20 Feet Seafood Joint in East Dallas, threw an interesting post up on his Facebook page this week.

Holy Flying Decapod Crustaceans Batman! A few dozen soft-shell crabs (can I get a Hallelujah?) will be boarding a red-eye flight from the Chesapeake to Big D this evening, then chauffeured tomorrow morning to East Dallas. Stand by for updates on their journey to your mouth! Get down.

I couldn't wait. I called for my own update. After spending a significant portion of my life with a view of the Chesapeake Bay I know these beauties all too well. Get excited.

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After 49 years of liquoring up Lower Greenville Avenue, the original location of Goody Goody Liquor will close its doors permanently on June 22. A spokesperson for the company confirmed the closure, saying the company was unable to negotiate a lease with a new property owner.

John Dragna, a banking pro and real estate investor, was the landlord when Joe Jansen first opened Goody Goody in 1964. Dragna died in 1990 and Jansen has been negotiating his lease with his trust since. But last year the property was sold to Centric Capital Inc., and when the lease came up for negotiation again the rent figure had tripled. The figure was high enough that Jansen decided to close his flagship store.

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Foodways Texas, Elgin BBQ

There's a barbecue revolution afoot. Put a tiara on that slab of meat and give it a dozen roses. Barbecue is the new beauty queen in the culinary world.

For many of us, smoked meat is as right as being born a Texan, or getting here as soon as you could. Brisket and ribs are clogging our veins and we all have our particular places or styles we grew up with. More than anything, we love to argue about which place or style is best.

After Texas Monthly anointed Daniel Vaughn as its barbecue editor, a New York Times article pointed to a "golden age of barbecue."

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Late last night, after a tense end-of-session standoff on the Senate floor, the beefed-up Cottage Food Bill, HB 970, passed and is now on the way to the Governor's desk. As we reported last week, there was some fear the bill wouldn't make it on the final calendar for a Senate vote. Then, once that hurdle was passed, it came down to the wire.

See Also:
Time to Cry Over Spilled Milk: Raw Milk Bill Dies

Home bakers across the state will wake up to the good news. Around midnight last night, a follower on the Texas Baker's Bill Facebook page posted, "I'll take my 21 flavors of fudge to the market."

For a brief history, in the 2011 legislative session a bill made it legal for home bakers to sell certain goods, which did not require refrigeration. This session, Representative Eddie Rodriguez of Austin introduced a bill that expanded sells to include nut butters, popcorn, cereal, granola, vinegars, dried fruits and vegetables, mustard, pickles, coffee and tea.

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Catherine Downes

Lark on the Park, which I review in this week's paper, feels like the start of something to me. Downtown Dallas can be such a sleepy place in the evenings, and pedestrians are few and far between. There are a few lines outside of the clubs deeper downtown, and the bars draw a few patrons, but the streets always seem empty.

See Also:
- This Week's Review: LARK Brings Lunch to the Park

After one late dinner at LARK I took a walk around Klyde Warren Park and admired the skyline. I felt like I was in a different city. The park was dead compared to a busy Saturday afternoon, but there were a few people milling about. And you could hear the chatter from LARK's outdoor patio from across the street.

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@chefpyles

Remember last year when we stumbled on Stephan Pyles' Twitter feed? The chef was traveling around Mexico, gathering ideas for menu items for Stampede 66, and tweeting up a storm.

See Also:
- Stampede 66 Teases Tacos de Chipolines

Pyles snapped a picture of a bin full of grasshoppers and teased that selling tacos de chipolines in Dallas would be next to impossible. I cheered him on, but no luck. There were no grasshopper tacos when the new restaurant opened.

But what if they were to become available here in Dallas... Would anyone eat them?

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Chef Omar Flores of Driftwood

Each week we track down a chef for a few burning questions. This week, Omar Flores at Driftwood shares some cookbook advice, spills on a few crazy requests and has a suggestion for a damn good margarita.

What are a few of your favorite cookbooks?
I love anything by Thomas Keller. Recently I've been reading Modernist Cuisine, which is just mind blowing considering the time, effort and money that went into producing that book.

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Damn pigs need to get a haircut and stop smoking weed.

High prices have lead many farmers across the country to look for cheaper feed sources. Now NPR reports that a Seattle butcher stumbled on an alternative that's doubled as a very successful marketing ploy.

William von Schneidau is feeding weed to his pigs. Now everyone's out to get some of his bacon.

If you're picturing a bunch of teenage pigs sitting around the pigsty eating pot brownies, you've got it all wrong. The growing medical marijuana industry is creating an excess byproduct of leaves, stems and root material. It turns out the surplus green makes for passable pig fodder. It also creates a lot of curious customers.

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Deep Ellum Brewing Co. will host its Third Annual Brew-B-Que this Sunday, an event that was a launch party of sorts back in 2011. It will a chance to pack the brewery and courtyard with hopheads, sip local beer and have Pecan Lodge barbecue, all while listening to tunes of Cody Foote (who hopefully covers Islands in the Stream again), Grant Jones, The Pistol Grip Lassos and The Vic Duncan Band.

Guest brewers at the event include Armadillo Ale Works, Rabbit Hole Brewing and Martin House from Fort Worth. Check out the specifics and ticket info here.

See also:
- Tracing the Hops in Deep Ellum Brewing Company's Newest Beer
- Texas Lawmakers Vote to Lift Restrictions on Craft Breweries

We tracked down Tait Lifto at DEBC to chat about the brewing business for our biweekly-ish "One Year Out" interview (although, it's been a year and a half since they started brewing). Lifto turned in his starched-button-down-shirt-job for this gig at the brewery, where he's the Brand Ninja and is charged with making sure beer drinkers far and wide know of DEBC.

Working at a brewery is just a big party, right?
Ha! I wish, although it truly is the perception of many people. I personally work about 60-70 hours a week, yet mostly people see me just at events. I may look relaxed, but most often my mind is going a billion directions; meeting everyone, talking about our beers, answering questions, staying on point, etc.

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We've all been there, hopefully: that moment in the adult world when we're invited to dinner by another grown-up. Specifically a grown-up we're not close enough with to have the understanding that grabbing a case of Shiner and showing up "whenever" is appropriate.

Societal custom dictates the invited guest brings a bottle of wine to the gathering, but figuring out how to choose a proper wine to go with a meal you have no input in preparing and will be sharing with people you don't know is like learning all the rules to chess in 15 minutes.

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