Andrea Meyer from Bisou Bisou

Regular shoppers at White Rock Local Market will likely recognize Bisous Bisous Patisserie. Owner Andrea Meyer has been setting up a tiny shop of sorts amongst the tables of farm-fresh produce there since the start of the season. Meyer's table is often loaded with freshly baked French goods -- croissants and pain au chocolat -- and a tower of macarons that presides over it all.

It's a site to behold for any lover of baked goods, but there is one small problem. The best part of buying a croissant, or any other French pastry, is the aroma that hits you when you walk through a bakery door. At the farmers market those smells are whisked away on a breeze, if the smoke from Brian Luscher's hot dogs doesn't overwhelm them first. A sensory experience was missing.

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Fresh Market opened recently in East Dallas, confusing new customers with strange weird cart/basket contraptions, and wowing them with fresh flowers and lots of candy. Customers could be heard all over the store, asking questions like "where was this sausage made," and "what ingredients are in that freshly baked cupcake?"

It's a beautiful store. Most of the shelving is kept low, giving the space an open feeling. While I walked through (nibbling samples of pound cake, Gruyere cheese, tiramisu, glazed lamb and more) the sound system filled the aisles with a fanfare of trumpets. All the products on shelves were neatly faced and the employees were eager to help. It was pleasant.

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Amy McCarthy

Sherry meads a drink? No, YOU mead a drink.

I know nothing about sherry, except that it got that guy in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado in some serious trouble. As such, I don't make a habit of ordering it on its own, or choosing a cocktail with sherry as the main ingredient. But thanks to the craft cocktail revolution, the spirit that had been relegated to the back of our kitchen pantries as cooking wine is starting to see a resurgence.

Despite my ignorance, sherry has rapidly cropped up across cocktail menus as a component that can add a touch of smoothness and sophistication to an otherwise spirit-forward or strongly-flavored cocktail. Not coincidentally, I was also sure that a few of CBD Provisions' Sherry Meads a Drink cocktails would infuse my broke ass with enough smoothness and sophistication to make it look like I actually belong in the Joule Hotel.

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file photo

Dodie's food, but fancier.

Finding good Cajun food in Dallas isn't exactly easy, but Charlie McGuinness and the folks behind Greenville Avenue institution Dodie's have always been known for serving reliably solid Cajun dishes, especially those of the deep-fried variety. Now, though, McGuinness has set his sights on a more upscale clientele with his forthcoming sports bar, 504 Bar and Grill.

Named for the area code that covers much of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana, 504 Bar and Grill will take over the space formerly occupied by New Big Wong, just a few doors down from the original Dodie's. Both spaces sit on a prime piece of real estate. As McGuinness told CultureMap, the spot is one of the only restaurants on Greenville Avenue that has a dedicated parking lot.

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Catherine Downes

Have a look at the three star digs at Proof + Pantry.

We told you yesterday about the latest chapter in the Dallas restaurant scene's epic struggle against Evil Critic Leslie Brenner: An organized effort, first reported by The Washington Post, to thwart The Dallas Morning News' critic by banding together to refuse to accept her money, boxing her into an ethical corner.

Leading the charge is restaurateur Michael Martensen. While tension has been building between the two for years, the struggle reached a tipping point back in November, when the Proof + Pantry owner refused Brenner's payment for edibles rendered. Martensen hoped his move would stymie her review efforts in protest of the paper's star system, since critics aren't permitted to accept freebies.

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Dodds way back in the Bolsa days.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Hibiscus chef Graham Dodds would be going to New York to cook his first James Beard dinner. Dodds has participated in Beard events before, but this will be his first time as lead chef in charge of a multi-course menu with multiple wine parings. Dodds says he's currently working on finalizing his menu, but his efforts for the event started long before the announcement was released.

"They contacted me through my PR people," says Dodds. He started putting together three separate menus for the Beard committee to choose from. "They were not very excited about Texas wine," he says, and a meal that sourced every ingredient from a single Texas farm was also shot down. "I can't pull off a five course winter squash dinner," he says.

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flickr/WindyWinters

Looks harmless, right? WRONG.

Usually, if Chick-fil-A is in the news, it's because its chief operating officer said something dumb, or because someone decided, wisely, to try to fill his bath with Polynesian Sauce. This time, though, the fried chicken chain is accused of something much weirder than a little draconian gay hate: giving a woman a heart attack by failing to properly inspect their pitted maraschino cherries.

From the jump, the story is pretty strange. According to a petition filed in the Dallas County district court this week, a woman named Cyndi Scruggs went to the Chick-fil-A restaurant in McKinney to enjoy an ice cream milkshake. Like most milkshakes, Scruggs' was topped with a maraschino cherry and whipped cream. Like every eager milkshake drinker, Scruggs popped her cherry-on-top directly into her mouth, only to find that it still contained a large fragment of cherry pit.

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Sara Kerens

"Cheesemonger's Birthday Surprise." Is it:

A) a clunky translation of the 1960s classic French film, "Joyeux Anniversaire, Propriétaire Fromagerie"

B) an actual food event

C) the term for an illicit act believed to have originated in Antiguan prisons

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Nick Rallo

What's that, Wagyu cow? You're delicious? Thanks.

One of the strangest bar menus in Dallas has to be at Cold Beer Company. Hot dogs are loaded up with brisket or mac 'n' cheese, and the tortilla and pita chips come with two salsas and a plastic cup of freshly mixed pimento cheese. They have a late-night peanut butter and jelly sandwich, kolaches, and oatmeal eskimos filled with Henry's vanilla ice cream. Much of it is local, as Food Critic Guy laid out, and the pimento cheese sandwich (with a side of homemade pickles) is Christopher-Nolan-good. It's an unpredictable food spot. Until recently, there was no burger on the menu.

It's a frigid Tuesday night, Christmas lights are twinkling, and the chalkboard near the entrance quietly announces: Burger Tuesdays now exist. No fries and no substitutions, says the sneaky chalkboard by the entrance. There's a single, double or jalapeño, bacon patty. OK, cool, so now Cold Beer Company has a burger -- and one of them is made of jalapeño and bacon. The waiter says to the Lady Friend and me that the grill is small, which is why they instituted the one-day-a-week burger idea. It's a cooking space issue.

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Kathy Tran

The macadamia-encrusted mahi mahi.

It had all the makings of an epic tale. Eric Brandt, a competent and capable chef, and Victor Hugo, a front-of-the-house guy with exceptional customer service skills, had grown restless and needed a change. They'd been working together at Bistro 31 in Highland Park, where Brandt plated up Americanized riffs on French cuisine under Dallas restaurant kingpin Alberto Lombardi. But like many restaurant employees, the two yearned for a place of their own. They even had the drive and resources to do it. So one day they slipped across the Trinity River into Oak Cliff and quietly opened VH in the most unlikely location.

The house at 1115 N. Beckley Ave. is hardly known for producing successful dining establishments. Campo, the modern restaurant inspired by Argentinian wanderlust, ended almost as quickly as a summer love affair, and after three chef changes, with about as much drama. Outpost came next, but opened to a chorus of crickets quietly chirping the night away, despite two ownerships. All of this while Jonathon's next door taunted with hours-long waits for brunch on the weekends, serving straightforward, casual breakfast fare.

Recent restaurant reviews:
- In the Park Cities, the Flailing Front Room Finds its Way. Will it Stick?
- TJ's Seafood Shop Has Grown into a Full-Fledged Restaurant, and a Good One
- Proof + Pantry Conjures Something Unique From a Tired Space

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