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INSIDE
PEPPARD: Brinker back at White House 3E
BOOKS: Amigoland by Oscar Casares 5E
TRUE ROMANCE: Each anniverary brings a
familiar surprise 8E
The Dallas Morning News Arts, Entertainment & Life Section E Sunday, August 16, 2009
CRITIC’S NOTEBOOK POP CULTURE
Woodstock
Elevating vicariously
Dallas dining Really, most of us
weren’t there, so
these CDs, DVDs
and book are the
next best things
By MARIO TARRADELL
Music Critic
mtarradell@dallasnews.com
For some of us, Woodstock
is more a historic signpost of
music’s communal, bonding
powers than an actual
memory. It’s a symbolic
benchmark that proves masses
of people can come together,
let down their inhibitions and
become instant friends simply
because the music unites them.
Most of us were not there
Aug. 15-17, 1969, at Max
Yasgur’s dairy farm, a 600-acre
whopper at White Lake, which
is in the town of Bethel, N.Y.
But this summer, four decades
After six months By LESLIE BRENNER later, there are plenty of newly
Restaurant Critic released tributes to the mega
of eating in Dallas, lbrenner@dallasnews.com
music and art fair billed as “An
restaurant critic Aquarian Exposition.”
T
he fall opening of the Leslie Brenner’s We even have a new movie,
Leslie Brenner tells Dallas Center for the prescription for Dallas
restaurants, 7E
director Ang Lee’s Taking
Performing Arts, Woodstock, which opens in
what it would take housed in dazzling theaters Aug. 28. It’s the true
buildings by renowned archi- COMING MONDAY: Chat story of Elliot Tiber, who was
to make this a great tects, has the city all abuzz. with Leslie Brenner at 1 instrumental in leading the
With Dallas positioning itself p.m. about Dallas’ festival to its famed location.
restaurant city to become a world-class center dining scene. The film’s soundtrack on
eatsblog.dallasnews.com Rhino Records will be in stores
of arts and culture, it’s an
exciting time to live here. three days before the flick
But what of the culinary visited, I was tremendously premieres nationwide.
arts? For at its best, cooking is impressed by the vibrancy of In the meantime, let’s take a
absolutely a form of art, and so the dining scene. Everywhere quick look at a sampling of the
is dining. In a restaurant, the I looked there were restau- flurry of Woodstock products
two come together, not just as rants: Uptown, downtown, out there.
creativity expressed on the Oak Lawn, the Arts District,
plate, but also as expressed in the Park Cities, Bishop Arts
interior design and in the art of District — and they were
hospitality. filled with people, even at
Restaurants are theater, lunchtime, when most people
and despite the recession, in my hometown, Los Ange-
nowhere is that kind of theater les, are stuck eating sand-
more alive than in Dallas. wiches at their desks or brav-
But if the city’s dining scene ing the office cafeteria. Woodstock — 40 Years On:
is ever going to be considered Dallasites love to dine, and Back to Yasgur’s Farm
among the best in the country, that’s a marvelous thing. This six-CD box set
Dallas’ chefs and restaurateurs Here’s the rub: We have packaged by Rhino Records is
have some work to do. good and decent restaurants without a doubt the best
One of the things that aplenty, but surprisingly few commemorative release. In
helped persuade me to move great and truly interesting typical Rhino fashion, you get a
here six months ago was hav- chefs who are putting their thoughtfully annotated book
ing heard that Dallas has more mark on the city’s culinary filled with photos of artists
restaurants per capita than any culture. onstage and fans everywhere
other city in the United States,
MARILYN BISHKIN/Staff illustration;
photo source: Istockphoto including New York. When I See ELEVATING Page 7E See 40 YEARS Page 4E
THEATER
The Wyly’s wide array of options
Unique design seems dangerously low. there will be seats there. frequent colleague and one of
“Here’s a true test,” he tells “I have to say, this is more several nationally ranked
allows for space to one of his colleagues. “You complicated than I thought,” designers on the project, on
be reconfigured walk through the row and see he says ruefully. his first visit to the
what you can hit your head Moriarty, the artistic not-quite-finished theater.
on.” director of the Dallas Theater It’s always challenging to
By LAWSON TAITTE Director Kevin Moriarty Center, will be directing be a pioneer.
Theater Critic
ltaitte@dallasnews.com
jumps up onto a railing, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer “There’s a running joke in
imagining he’s a rampaging Night’s Dream, the first show the theater that you never
Designer Tyler Micoleau actor. He gets even more in the Wyly after the grand want to do the first play in a
experimentally hangs a animated as he envisions opening of the new Dallas space,” set designer Beowulf MICHAEL AINSWORTH/Staff Photographer
2-foot-long spotlight under a performers running through Center for the Performing Boritt says. “It’s exciting and Lighting designer Tyler Micoleau (left) and artistic director
balcony of the Dee and the audience on a raised area Arts. Performances begin Oct. Kevin Moriarty plan for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the
Charles Wyly Theatre. It to one side — until he realizes 24. He’s escorting Micoleau, a See WYLY Page 4E first show in the Wyly Theatre.
_ . . . . . . . .
The Dallas Morning News dallasnews.com _ DINING GuideLive.com Sunday, August 16, 2009 7E
Elevating Dallas dining 5 great things about the Dallas dining scene
Its vibrancy. Dallasites love to dine out.
The wide variety of cuisines. There’s not just French, Japanese and
Italian, but Turkish, Moroccan, German, Spanish — cooking you
Continued from Page 1E don’t find much in other major cities.
Dallas was red-hot in the Life outside the loop: Some of the most interesting (and least
1980s when chefs such as pretentious) food can be found outside of Dallas proper.
Stephan Pyles and Dean Lunch. People go out to lunch here, and so many restaurants serve
Fearing were wowing diners lunch. (Far more, for instance, than in Los Angeles.)
with their exciting Southwest-
The budding locavore movement. The fact that people are
ern cuisine. It was a move-
beginning to appreciate Texas’ great products and produce is
ment that impressed and
wonderfully promising.
attracted food lovers all over
the country.
After it fizzled, creative 10 ways for Dallas chefs and
culinary energy waned. At the restaurateurs to raise the bar
moment, Big D dining is more Travel. Get out there. See the world. Go to the best restaurants in
about commerce than art. New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, LA. Visit London,
Fresh ideas are just not spill- Barcelona, Tokyo, Sicily, Hong Kong, Morocco. Through travel
ing out of kitchens and onto comes inspiration.
plates. Study. Great chefs are not made in a year or two. Young chefs
Still, this could mark an graduating from culinary school need to learn from masters,
important moment for dining especially if they didn’t learn to cook from their moms. Most young
here: Dallas feels to me as cooks are not ready to be chefs, let alone open their own serious
though it may just be begin- restaurant, until they’ve been at this for five, eight, even 10 years.
ning to blossom into a serious Think green, as in vegetables. Do more than pay lip service to local
food city. There’s the nascent products. Cultivate relationships with farmers to encourage them
and very promising locavore JIM MAHONEY/Staff Photographer
to grow what you want.
movement. International SQUEEZE-BOTTLE DISASTER: Hopefully, plating will look more contemporary in the future.
Appetizers aren’t just “something to get you started,” like chips and
dining, both in Dallas and in
salsa. The first course is where the chef can really show off, do
some of the suburbs, is some well to expoit it more. rants, but Dallasites still have was giving Dallas diners what something daring, different. Diners are willing to take more of a
of the most diverse, vital and Summer is also an oppor- not learned how to eat sushi, they want. chance, too, with a course that’s not the main event.
exciting anywhere in the tunity for pastry chefs to give and our sushi bars are doing I’ve been thinking a lot
world. Despite the recession, little to raise the standard. about that comment. Fast- Broaden the choices. There’s more to life than steak, chicken and
diners something other than
lamb chops. There’s more to appetizers than wedge salad, calamari
diners are hungry, and there’s chocolate or creme brulee
` ˆ´ How can we learn if the staff food chains give people what
and mussels.
still a lot of money to go (which, by the way, lost some does not understand the way they want. While I think the
around. of its allure 15 years ago). The it should be presented and gentleman has the right atti- Pastry chefs: You’ve shown that you can work with chocolate —
Dallas is home to some best pastry chefs in the coun- eaten? Waitstaff is baffled tude if he wants to make a lot chocolate pastries are on every dessert menu, and many are good.
very dedicated food lovers. when a diner wants to order of money, it’s exactly the kind Now acquaint yourself with fruit. Fruit desserts needn’t be
try celebrate fruit in their
elaborate; a simple, well-made crisp or tart is more sophisticated
With a supermarket like desserts, year-round. And directly from the sushi chef, of attitude that could stand in
(and more appealing to many) than an overly sugary cake.
Central Market, how could it they’re not tempted to drizzle though this is how it’s done the way of the Dallas dining
be otherwise? My first week gratuitous chocolate squiggles not just in Japan, but in seri- scene coming of age. We need Bone up on service. Remember you’re in the hospitality business.
here, as I wandered those from a squeeze bottle on ous sushi bars everywhere. fresh ideas and better cooking, Get sensible and creative about wine lists. Offer something other
amazing aisles, with dozens of them. Why? Because that’s how you not the same old thing. than the usual suspects, and list the vintages. Don’t get greedy on
varieties of citrus, a whole get the best experience. The It’s not a moment for the markups. A lot of restaurants have rethought their menu
gallery of olives, a tortilleria, chef knows which fish are best restaurateurs to spend big on pricing; now’s a good time to do the same with wine lists. And if you
tanks full of live Dungeness
The French factor on any given day. linens and decor, but that’s are charging big bucks for expensive wines, pour it into appropriate
crabs — even a cheese section I love the fact that there are Chefs would do well to OK. Rustic is more fashion- glassware — at least something like Spiegelau or Schott Zwiesel, if
staffed by moonlighting French restaurants in Dallas travel: Through travel comes able than glitzy now. And the not Riedel.
cheesemakers — it hit me: (and Spanish, Turkish, Mex- inspiration. See and taste best chefs know how to get the Modernize your presentations, and don’t try to save time or money
This is the best supermarket ican, German, Korean, Chi- what’s going on in Tokyo, most of less-expensive ingre- by plating (or preparing components) too far in advance. Yes,
I’ve seen anywhere in the nese and Peruvian restau- London, Hong Kong and dients. painting sauce on a plate is more contemporary than squiggling
country. Clearly lots of knowl- rants). Interestingly, the Barcelona; go to Sicily or But restaurateurs simply from a squeeze bottle, but if you sauce the plates in advance at 5 in
edgeable people with great French places can be seen as a northern Thailand or Moroc- must hire managers who the afternoon, diners will notice it’s congealed at 8. Similarly, they
notice stale bread and day-old cakes.
taste are buying these ingredi- microcosm of what’s wrong co, or at least New York, Chi- understand good service. If
ents and cooking this food. and what’s right about the cago, San Francisco, LA — or they can’t find them, they need Pay attention to what diners are silently telling you. Servers:
cooking in this city. even Las Vegas. to train smart people who at Someone ate only half their food? Didn’t they like it? Honestly try to
The classically trained Some do travel, but what’s least understand the concept find out what bothered them. And chefs: Look at the plates coming
What’s next? French chefs in those kitchens going on outside Dallas is of hospitality. back into the kitchen. Half-eaten? Take a moment to really think
about why.
So what has to happen for have mastered technique; generally not turning up on Without it, dining can
Leslie Brenner
Dallas to become a great they understand what French plates here. Our French chefs never be an art.
Single Tickets On Sale Now!
restaurant city? food is supposed to be. You are a bit stuck in the 1980s;
Chefs need to focus on can get a marvelous Dover our Italian chefs are stuck in
what we have that’s great `
sole meuniere — a simple, the 1970s. Dallas’ Spanish
here, and let ingredients classic dish, beautifully pre- chefs, for the most part, offer
Full Subscriptions & KidStuff Mini Series
speak for themselves. They pared — at a number of plac- old-school tapas and paella.
need to travel for inspiration, es. You can also get terrific These are great, don’t get me
Available with 10 20% Discounts
strive unfailingly for excel- house-made pates.ˆ´ wrong, but dining will never
lence and constantly remind A number of French res- reach the level of art here if
All shows are Sunday matinees in the Hill Performance Hall
themselves that cooking is an taurants also smoke their own chefs don’t know what’s going
THEATRE SERIES
FAMILYFriends of the Richardson Library
art. A chef two years out of salmon, but this is where on beyond Texas’ borders.
culinary school isn’t necessar- things get murky.
ily ready to open his or her A classic preparation
Service: not good EISEMANN CENTER PRESENTS
own restaurant. would be smoked salmon with
Sponsored by
And chefs need to ask just lemon, a few capers and Then there’s the matter of
themselves: What can I give toast. But in no fewer than service, and here we have a
my patrons that will thrill — three French restaurants, I’ve ways to go. It’s a bit baffling
not dull — their palates? They sampled the same weird dish because Dallasites are known
need to go beyond sweet, of smoked salmon (usually an for their wonderful, warm
super-spicy sauces and pair- inferior farmed salmon) hospitality — which I’ve so
ing protein with fruit. wrapped around mashed appreciated as a newcomer.
We’re in high summer avocado, with a sweet sauce But that’s what’s generally
now, the best time of year for spooned around it, lumpfish missing in our restaurants: a
produce. Where are those or salmon roe scattered sense of hospitality. The
Texas tomatoes I’ve heard so around, and pico de gallo on welcome’s often warm, but as
much about? Where are the the side. None of that goes meals play out, things tend to
string beans and zucchini and together; that’s an awful dish. fall apart. This has happened
Charlotte’s Web Strega Nona: The Musical
corn? Yes, I’ve seen okra, but And they’re all copying it. to me countless times: I’ve
rarely in a form other than On the other hand, the barely touched my food be-
Sun., Oct. 4th, 2009, 2:30 pm Sun., Nov. 15th, 2009, 2:30 pm
fried. Bring on the Texas artisanal impulse that inspires cause it was terrible, a server
produce! ˆ´
those house-made pates is happily asks if I’m finished
The farmers market needs exciting. A few chefs make and removes it. When a diner
to develop; chefs need to work their own salumi; others make barely makes a dent in a dish,
with farms to get the produce good pasta by hand. the server should earnestly try
they want, and to make it a But Italian restaurants to find out if it was less than
part of the dishes they con- need a shot in the arm. Great satisfactory — and that means
ceive. If we’re going to grow Italian cooking is about pre- going a little deeper than,
up as a food city, that simply senting great, fresh ingredi- “How is everything, wonder-
must happen. ents simply, in their best light. ful?”
Wood smoke is one of our It’s easy, because it’s not tech- Diners have a responsibili-
great natural resources. nique-driven. Serving Caprese ty here too. If there’s some-
Plenty of chefs get that, and salad? Use the best, ripest thing wrong with a dish, say
A Year With Frog and Toad Mark Nizer’s 3D Juggling Show
we have not only terrific tomatoes you can get your something. Is your gnocchi
wood-grilled steaks, but also hands on. Try switching out partially frozen? Say some-
Sun., Jan. 17th, 2010, 2:30 pm Sun., Feb. 28th, 2010, 2:30 pm
crisp, smoky wood-fired mozzarella now and then for thing. Is a dish so salty you
pizza. Seafood and vegetables some great buratta. Tomato is can’t eat it? Say something.
love smoke too: In an other- a flavor food lovers crave in We all need to raise the bar
wise mediocre restaurant, I the summertime; please together.
recently had a simple wood- deliver it. Restaurant business has
grilled artichoke that made Dallas has an incredible slowed, and owners have had
me swoon. Chefs would do number of Japanese restau- to reduce staff; raising the bar
will be a challenge in this
economy. Still, the city has an
The critic amazing opportunity to rise to
the level that its enthusiastic
Leslie Brenner has covered food and wine for two decades
diners — and visitors — will
on both coasts and around the world. She arrived in Dallas in
certainly appreciate. And it
Fred Garbo Inflatable Little Mermaid
February.
comes at a moment when
Theater Co.
She is author or co-author of five food and wine books, other cities already known for
Sun., Apr. 11th, 2010, 2:30 pm
www.eisemanncenter.com • 972.744.4650
including The Fourth Star: Dispatches From Inside Daniel their dining scenes are strug-
Sun., Mar. 21st, 2010, 2:30 pm
Boulud’s Celebrated New York Restaurant and American
gling mightily.
Appetite. She has traveled extensively, eating in top
restaurants in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Rome, Istanbul and
I received a letter from a
more. restaurateur who was not
pleased with the review I gave
During her 20-year career, she has also been food editor and his establishment. In it, he
Sunday magazine editor at the Los Angeles Times,
said something to the effect
contributing editor at Travel + Leisure and she has written for
that I was wrong for finding
Charles W. Eisemann Center • 2351 Performance Dr., Richardson, TX 75082 • Group Sales 972.744.4657
Harper’s, New York magazine and other publications.
fault with his food because he
