foodbitch

Le Bilboquet

Opening quietly just over two weeks ago, Le Bilboquet has confidence that can only come from experience, which makes sense, since the restaurant is actually a transplant from the Upper East Side in New York City. The original in New York is expanding, and expanding quite far to boot, since it's made it all the way to Dallas. I'm told a lot of the original has been reproduced for the new, Texan location, including a replica of the bar and a menu featuring French dishes like la terrine de foie gras maison and le risotto aux champignons.

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Photos by Catherine Downes

Forget all the politics and policies of the Dallas Farmers Market, because a new neighborhood market launched Saturday in Uptown at the Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, and it offers a wonderful breath-of-fresh-air take on the "produce dealers market" model of the downtown Dallas Farmers Market.

I'm not insulting those folks who make a living as a produce vendor, but I like the idea of buying locally grown fresh produce straight from the families who grow the stuff on their own acreage in North Texas. The rain-or-shine market at the corner of Oak Lawn Avenue and Cedar Springs opens from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays behind the Methodist church.

Lest anyone think this is just a fly-by-night operation with no real farmers or connection to the area, it's worth noting that the market already has some serious street cred thanks to produce from Baugh Farms of Canton -- a family with deep roots and three generations invested in Dallas-area markets.

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Photos by Catherine Downes

Dallas' newest coffee spot, Weekend, might not officially be open to the public, but it has been quietly brewing cups of coffee for those in the know since May. The chic coffee shop is located inside the Joule Hotel (on the Commerce Street side), next to the recently opened, LA-based indie/designer boutique TenOverSix. "Weekend is a mix between high brow and low brow aesthetics," TenOveSix and Weekend co-owner Joe Cole explains, "it's about an experiential environment pairing great coffee with a playful atmosphere." While the shop clearly takes pride in its coffee quality, the overall vibe, from the makeshift wooden shelves covered in kitschy merchandise and coffee makers to the shop's easygoing baristas, is laid back.

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Flickr

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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The Hospitality Sweet

The Hospitality Sweet, a quaint little bakery and café, opened earlier this week inside the historic downtown post office and courthouse at the corner of Ervay and Bryan streets (400 North Ervay, Suite 175). This building was originally constructed in the 1930s and has been undergoing a massive redevelopment for years led by developer Shawn Todd.

The newly installed Hospitality Sweet is the second bakery spot for Meghan Adams, who also has a small outpost inside the vintage furniture store Timothy Oulton, at Knox-Henderson. This new downtown café is, however, full service.

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Alice Laussade

Mot Hai Ba storefront, caption: Mot Hai Ba, 6047 Lewis St., right next to the Texaco.

Jeana Johnson and Colleen O'Hare are opening a new Vietnamese restaurant named Mot Hai Ba tonight. I don't know the days of the week very well, so I checked it out last night, before they were open. So, take a look, drool, and drive your mopeds there tonight. Behold: A Sampling of the Food Things of Mot Hai Ba.

I was treated to three dishes at Mot Hai Ba. The first was their steamed rice noodle, pork, mushroom and crispy shallot. This came with a bowl of broth, which Johnson instructed me to dip the rolls into. Just as I finished the roll, a staff member came by my table and slid a fried egg into the remaining broth. Nobody hates that.

Because people have made such a big dang deal out of the name of this restaurant (Saying that "Mot Hai Ba tops the cake of really, really bad names," and "I'm adding it to our growing list of worst names for restaurants, ever"), I figured it was a good idea to clarify with Johnson and O'Hare that I had mastered the correct pronunciation of the name.

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Meats and a hush puppy = happiness.

Jack Perkins' new BBQstaurant, Slow Bone, will ("hopefully") be open this Tuesday. I pretended not to know how time works and I went for lunch today. It worked for me once. Pretty sure it won't work again. But, we can all enjoy the results. Behold: the meats and other food-and-beverage-type things of Slow Bone.

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Love Shack of Denton and its glorious Bigfat-burgers-with-a-bigfat-egg-on-top were laid to rest in October when Tim Love decided to close the doors and revamp the space with visions of dry-aged steak and white tablecloths dancing in his head. Fast forward to now and Queenie's steakhouse (115 E. Hickory St.) is up and running and open to the public after a successful soft opening last week.

Gone are tangly piles of golden fried onion strings and crispy "yardbird" baskets, replaced by chicken-fried lobster and Wagyu steak waiting to be paired with a choice of savory sides and of course a glass of wine. Or four. Love's subtle humor (which rendered me giggly) is present in the form of his "Texas Vegetarian" menu options featuring pheasant confit, a pork porterhouse and lamb chops.

Total number of people confused by this: all of them.

Total number of servers with a "How come nobody thinks this is funny" look on their face: all of them.

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Yup. Spam.

Happy Aloha Tuesday, Dallas. There's a new Hawaiian barbecue place on Lemmon Avenue, and it looks pretty interesting. Aloha Hawaiian BBQ opened just last week with bamboo window treatments, a mural of the Hawaiian mountains painted on the wall, and Hawaiian radio playing over the sound system.

I'd tell you more about the music, but every song I listened to completely stumped Shazam. I did recognize a Styx cover though, and I have to say you haven't lived until you've heard Come Sail Away complete with ukelele, all while munching on Spam musubi.

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Boca Chica Tapas & Tequila

Boca Chica Tapas & Tequila recently opened above the old Bailey's Prime Plus space at the Shops at Park Lane. Designed by the always-swank Plan B Group, this spot specializes in stiff drinks and modern (yet, sometimes ancient) Mexican fare.

This little mouth is the latest footprint from Restaurants America, which is the parent company of several new restaurants in Dallas, like Park Tavern, which also at The Shops at Park Lane, the Mockingbird Taproom at Mockingbird Station, Prime Bar on Cedar Springs and Townhouse at the Galleria. Nationwide, the group owns and operates about 25 restaurants.

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