Re: Update to assignment list

Even if breakfast weren't the most important meal of the day and we know of no other meal that provides for an excuse to be late for work there would still be ample reason to check out some of Dallas' many well-regarded, morning-enhancing eateries. Sure, we've got juevos rancheros and breakfast burritos like some cities have potholes (and we have those, too), but we can also out-powder anyone's French toast and hold our own in the bagel department to boot. And, yes, some of us consider chicken fried steak to be a breakfast item. Frankly, we're right.

Denizens of uptown possessing a profound love of leisurely breakfasts, bountiful menus, and nuanced egg dishes make up the bulk of the patronage at Bread Winners. Here, brunch offerings run the gamut from "scrambles" (known elsewhere as "omelets," and available in heart-friendly, egg-white-only incarnations), banana bread French toast, and muffins, to such more nuanced items as smoked salmon bagels with tomato, red onions, capers, and herb-based cream cheese. Vegetarian offerings abound one breakfast casserole includes asparagus, artichoke hearts, spinach, and broccoli. During temperate months, the resident patio ranks among the hottest spots in Big D... figuratively, of course.

Because the city's automobile-inclined layout leaves few fine spots for prime people watching, Lucky's Cafe's location on the relatively well-trafficked Oak Lawn is all the more precious for those who like their breakfasts accompanied by pedestrians. Belgian waffles, pecan French toast, and country potatoes abound, while migas, grits, and grapefruit halves await the carb-adverse. But Lucky's does nuance just as well as it covers the staples; the Paella Frittata consists of rice, chicken, sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and Monterey jack.

Before the increasingly populated Uptown area had the myriad morning-time eating options that it boasts today, neighborhood resident possessing an understandable aversion to cooking could depend on Dream Cafe to keep them well fed. Today, the area's breakfast crowd still looks favorably upon their longtime staple, drawn in by Tex-Mex-y items like huevos rancheros with Monterey jack. By and large, Dream deals in both healthy and pseudo-healthy fare; stir-fried veggies are a popular choice among the sort of people with the ability to turn down pancakes.

East Dallas breakfast enthusiasts aren't catered to quite as thoroughly as are their counterparts elsewhere in the city, and thus it is that Garden Cafe is a treasure beyond value for those who like their portions ample and their coffee cups perpetually overflowing. This hard-to-find diner skimps on décor in favor of ultra-hardy morning meals of the sort that rely on eggs, potatoes, and toast. The pancakes in particular stand out by virtue of their sheer, unadulterated fluffiness; this is the kind of place where the grilling of flapjacks is both an art and a science, not simply a routine.

Cafe Brazil bills itself as "not just another coffee house," and Dallas restaurant goers seem to agree the chain has managed to expand from one to nine locations in the years since the original spot in Lakewood appeared in 1991, racking up plenty of awards from the local dining press in the process. Here, breakfast may be had at all hours, and the menu features plenty of options with which to keep its regulars thoroughly enticed. The breakfast relleno consists of a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with scrambled eggs, chorizo, and cheddar cheese, and further adorned with a spicy cream sauce; milder palates might be more inclined towards the rosemary potatoes, a noted house specialty.

Here and there, one happens to come across that special sort of truck stop-y diner where the regulars tend to regard chicken fried steak as chiefly a breakfast dish, to be supplemented by something a little more substantial at lunch; Barbec's is such a place. Those who'd prefer to have breakfast for breakfast have plenty of options, but the best of these is the surprisingly sweet beer batter biscuits accompanied by a somewhat more orthodox bowl of gravy. By and large, this is a no-nonsense breakfast spot, although the waitresses will still call you "darlin'" whether or not you're particularly cute.

Mecca is the sort of place where both the waitresses and customers have been coming in for a couple of decades and know each other just as well as they know the menu. The uninitiated, meanwhile, need only a know a few things: that the cinnamon rolls are huge and well-regarded; that while one might be tempted by the banana pancakes, the whole wheat blueberry version is the more highly acclaimed of the two competing sorts; and that, Mecca not being the well-kept secret it once was, one should expect a bit of a wait on the weekends.

Dallas' nascent status as a third-coast fashion node continues to solidify thanks to a spate of new boutique openings in Uptown and beyond. High-end women's apparel outlets like Valley of the Dolls serve to enhance an already admirable array of sources for designer pieces, for instance, while the newly-launched American Girl Boutique and Bistro ensures that no actual dolls need be seen in the same dress twice. Unabashed bargain hunters aren't left out by a longshot; Mybag and Salegirl are treasures beyond measure for those whose budgets don't quite match up to their own irrepressible cuteness.

Whereas young girls once had to suffice to treat their dolls to makeshift tea parties on old card tables and haircuts performed by older sisters equipped with safety scissors, the newly-launched American Girl Boutique and Bistro takes things to a new level altogether. Aside from offering much of the brand's popular doll lineup and assorted doll accessories, the Galleria wonderland also features a doll salon, an in-house restaurant, and a never-ending slew of special events perfect for girls of both the real and plastic sorts.

Catering to customers and sensibilities both European and American, J. Lindeberg specializes in everyday wear that's anything but, with the overall lineup bearing a keen emphasis on blacks, whites, and grays, as well as beyond-the-ordinary sporting outfits perfect for those golfers who insist on being dressed to the nines while playing same. The resident women's offerings are particularly sleek such items as the Zoey Metallic Outerwear Vest go a long way towards turning jeans and a t-shirt into something more adorably dramatic.

Situated adjacent to the Charlie Palmer restaurant and housed within the soon-to-be-launched Joule Hotel, Next Vintage offers a selection of some 300 wine labels taken from the 700-strong wine list that makes up the selection next door, and which itself was chosen by master somelier Drew Hendricks with an eye towards complementing the restaurant's acclaimed take on progressive American cuisine. Surprisingly enough in light of its pedigree, Next Vintage still manages to offer some of the most incredible wine bargains in Dallas.

If "friendly and accommodating" isn't the first thing that comes into your head when you think of high-end apparel boutiques, then get your fashionable little self over to V.O.D. Boutique ("Valley of the Dolls," natch), which offers stylish pieces from such designers as Paric Sweeney along with some notoriously helpful customer service employees will work around your schedule to stay open if need be, and the store even makes deliveries to boot.

Some shoppers delight in paying top dollar for their duds; Salegirl Dallas isn't for them, but rather for the rest of us. The store's ever-rotating selection of post-season apparel ranges in degree of bargain-friendliness from 40 to 70 percent off the initial retail price, with the items in question drawn from such outlets as J. Lindeberg and Daryl K. Accessories, shoes, and an exclusive selection of home furnishings are also on hand at similarly budget-conducive prices.

Thanks to a staggering selection taking up more than 3000 square feet of floorspace, Mybag has already earned plenty of street cred among those area handbag enthusiasts for whom variety is an integral component of their overall accessory strategy. It certainly doesn't hurt that the retailer has also won acclaim for its unusually knowledgeable salespeople, most of whom are clearly delighted to be there. Best of all, almost everything on hand is priced less than $50.

Though Free People is actually based in New Jersey, many of its offerings seem to scream "Dallas," presumably by some happy coincidence; the resident fare consists largely of razorbacks, chemises, slips, camis, and tanks ranging in style from hippy-dippy floral patterns to slightly more conservative stripes, thus catering admirably to Big D's increasingly schizophrenic stylistic sensibilities. Fans of solids and black would be best advised to look elsewhere Free People is unflinching in its celebration of color.

Tastefully minimalist martini bars are all well and good, but there'll always be a place for the humble (and not-so-humble) dive bar in the heart of the Dallas lush. Some, like Adairs, have inherited their status as "dive" by virtue of having been around for decades and having once been frequented by Willie Nelson; others, like The Loon, seem to defy that categorization by way of top-notch Italian bar food of the sort that's not really bar food at all. And then, there's Double Wide, which proudly cultivates the ethos, and does so rather convincingly at that.

Winedale leaves no rock unrolled in its ongoing quest for area music venue supremacy. Not only does the longtime local favorite offer an eclectic mix of live music acts hailing from Dallas and elsewhere, but it also plays host to prominent Djs, open mic nights, and even weekly karaoke sessions, thus supplementing its on-stage talent pool with the musical stylings of Bill from accounting. Pool tables and other, similarly appropriate diversions help to liven things up even further.

Rightfully billing itself as an "upscale dive," Lakewood Landing has reinvented itself as a somewhat more cerebral drinking spot over the past couple of years while still retaining much of the same inimitable flavor that made it a neighborhood favorite to begin with literally. The menu includes wings of both the "hot" and "scorching hot" varieties, not to mention chicken fried steak, pork tenderloin sandwiches, and even some vegetarian offerings, most notably the quesadillas. Flavor of a more figurative sort may be found within the jukebox, which has actually won awards for the general niftiness of its selection.

The Loon takes the not-so-subtle art of the bar menu to brave new territory, supplementing its suds with an Italian-heavy menu drawn from the work of a prominent local chef. Pizzas come equipped with gourmet touches like radicchio, caperberries, pine nuts, and pesto, while such other signature entrees as the chicken boscaiola with artichoke hearts served in white wine sauce might reasonably force the patron to wonder if this is really a bar, and, if so, what Italian province he's in and how he managed to end up there without realizing it.

Cosmo's has plenty to recommend itself to those among the younger crowd with a penchant for low lighting, kitschy knick-knacks, and reasonably inexpensive drinks. But it's also a swell watering hole for older nightlife lovers, incorporating reasonably adult-friendly music and a generally mature ambiance into a nonetheless dynamic, perpetually interesting overall bar scene. The old-school jukebox lends the place a bit of Neil Diamond-esque credibility as well.

Though it can be easy to miss even for those who may have reasonably believed themselves to have hit up every hot spot in town, The Slip Inn is well worth the effort to locate behind the windowless walls is a downright admirable music venue of the sort that sets itself apart from others of the genre by way of such notable features as amateur DJ night, whereby the humble patron may try his or her hand at scratchin' away to the bemusement of others.

Louie's is that particular sort of dive that manages to bring in reporters, the people the reporters are reporting on, and other local power players, and not just because the hole-in-the-wall, unlike many others, actually takes credit cards; the biggest draw (aside from the booze) may very well be the unusually gourmet-friendly sandwiches and pasta dishes, not to mention some memorable desserts. If you happen to be an investigate journalist hoping to overhear a hush-hush conversation between city council members and local lobbyists, this is the place to be.

Perhaps best know to area commuters as the little place with the black-and-white pinstripe awning next to the dry cleaners, Time Out Tavern better deserves to be known as your favorite after-work hangout, particularly if you happen to be a sports fan. Among other things, the longtime Lovers Lane mainstay offers big screen satellite football games, shuffleboard, pinball machines, and pool tables, thus providing the thirsty sporting enthusiast with all manner of amusements of both the active and not-so-active varieties.

Back in the day way back in the day, that is Adairs was a major hangout for such venerable icons of Texas strummin' as Willie Nelson and Junior Brown, and if that de facto endorsement doesn't quite cut if for you, there's always the burgers, which can't claim the same level of widespread fame as can Willie or Junior but are nonetheless very big and satisfactorily greasy. Tellingly, each weeknight brings a different drink special; Wednesday's one dollar drafts are pretty durn hard to beat.

There's plenty to like about The Grapevine, and plenty of patrons to like it weekend evenings often see the house thoroughly packed, thus giving latecomers an excuse to check out the rooftop patio which itself offers an eagle-eye view of the well-trod environs. Among other delights, the bar offers particularly strong frozen drinks (with the bellinis being a major draw), an ultra-cozy interior, and one of those new-fangled jukeboxes possessing every song one could imagine along with plenty others that one probably couldn't.

Some say that naming a bar after a notorious assassin is in poor taste; we say those people haven't tried Lee Harvey's panini sandwiches with portobello mushrooms, which are every bit as tasteful as Dear Abby circa 1970. Nor are they likely to have munched on one of the bar's resident grilled cheese sandwiches, served on jalapeno bread for a bit of much-appreciated bite. Meanwhile, the patio found outback makes for a swell place in which to sip on a Pabst Blue Ribbon.

After re-opening under the ownership of two of its former bartenders, Double Wide continues to enthrall Dallas residents with what may very well be the finest collection of southern-chic knick-knacks to be found this side of Garland. It's also a great resource for those who like their beers obscure and their ambiance moderately anachronistic, but who'd rather not visit the in-laws out in Longview to experience such things with too much authenticity.

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 2:16 PM, Karen Lancaster <lancaster.karen@gmail.com> wrote:

I've already got those. Just the blurbs, please! Thank you, MSTG.

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 12:55 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:

Word. As for format, they want addresses and phone numbers or not?

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 9:30 PM, Karen Lancaster <lancaster.karen@gmail.com> wrote:

On breakfast list, "Crescent City Cafe" is closed.

On shopping list, "New Vintage" is actually "Next Vintage" - a wine shop adjoining a restaurant called "Charlie Palmer" which adjoins a hotel - the Joule. Story on that below.

Charlie Palmer spins off wine boutique

12:11 PM CST on Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Next Vintage, the retail wine boutique adjoining Charlie Palmer, is so small, it's like a vertical glass-and-steel aerie. There, wine director Drew Hendricks and his team oversee 300 bottles rotating from the Charlie Palmer wine list, which has about 700 selections.

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That means the wines are tightly focused. Each is chosen to build a portfolio representing styles and regions from around the world that also match Mr. Palmer's progressive American cooking.

Despite Next Vintage's diminutive size and close ties to the restaurant, "we want it to be a retail wine shop for everybody who lives in Dallas," says Mr. Hendricks, who recently became Texas' third master sommelier.

But when he decided to include the large number of half-bottles, he says, "I had in mind the hotel guests."

The Joule, a boutique hotel next door, opens later in the spring, and Next Vintage offers guests a convenient way to grab a bottle of wine or a half bottle to enjoy in the privacy of their hotel room.

One other very cool fact: Charlie Palmer's restaurant-wine prices are the standard retail price at Next Vintage, plus $25 to $35, says Mr. Hendricks.

That makes the wines some of the best bargains in the city, where a mark-up of 3 ½ to 4 times wholesale is not unusual.

"We're selling a lot of wine because the pricing is so generous," Mr. Hendricks says.

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KAREN LANCASTER, WRITER/EDITOR
3419 Westminster Ave., Box 25
Dallas, TX 75205
(214) 914-0455
lancaster.karen@gmail.com