EATS

Well, we had been a little puzzled over the incredible outpouring of votes for Lavendou Bistro Provençal on the post soliciting your picks for the Best in DFW French restaurant. There have been 55 raves about it posted only since yesterday. Plus my email inbox is stuffed. Yes, we know Lavendou has its genuine fans, but this was incredible -- literally. Could this be the best letter-writing campaign ever organized? Or maybe the restaurant really has that many devoted fans? I dined there very recently (for the second time), and there were only two other parties in the whole restaurant, so that seemed highly unlikely. And why would they only start more than a week after the Best in DFW: French Restaurants blog post went up?

The answer came late last night, in an email promotion a friend forwarded me.

Yes, there is an art to pouring Guinness beer, and bartenders from around Dallas will compete in the Guinness "Pour the Perfect Pint" competition Tuesday at Trinity Hall Irish Pub in Dallas.

Direct from Ireland, the judge will be Guinness master brewer Fergal Murray. No pressure there. The professionals start pouring around 7 p.m., with a little pro-am activity starting at 6 p.m. The finals will probably take place between 9:30 and 10 p.m. if last year is any indication.

'Sounds like a great way to celebrate St Patrick's Day a little early and maybe, just maybe, get a little face time with the master brewer himself. Trinity Hall is in Mockingbird Station at North Central Expressway and Mockingbird (northeast corner).

Dr. Sue Williams, a bonafide M.D., is the area's newest chocolatier, and I love her pitch: "Dr. Sue's Chocolate, is the creation of Sue Williams, M.D., done in an effort to create a more healthful alternative to what is an otherwise decadent experience. Chocolate, in its purest form, is a powerful antioxidant. Combined with other natural ingredients, with no additives or preservatives, and eaten in moderation, Dr. Sue's Chocolates will provide you with the perfect ending to any meal."

I just had some delivered, and they are terrific. She starts with a very dark chocolate - not bitter, but definitely not milk-chocolate sweet. My favorite of the items I ordered was the orangettes (pictured), freshly candied organic orange peel dipped in dark chocolate. You can taste the freshness of the orange peel, its flavor vivid and not washed out.

I also tried the mediants, little chocolate disks each topped with a blueberry, cranberry, orange peel and an almond, and the cherry-pecan bark has just a touch of ancho chile in it. There are other items, of course, including assorted chocolates and cookies made with the bark.

You can find Dr. Sue's Chocolates at the Wine Therapist and, later in the spring, at the Dallas Farmers Market and the Coppell Farmers Market.

Starting March 14, they will be available at Eatzi's, and Dr. Sue will in-store with samples that day.

Oh, please, gentle readers -- don't you think I'd like to review fewer steakhouses? Talk to the folks opening restaurants!

This seems like the moment to explain how I choose the restaurants I review. Why did I review Dallas Chop House? It's a new restaurant. The mandate of any newspaper, including The Dallas Morning News, is to cover the news, and that includes restaurants that are new. We cannot, nor would we want to, ignore what's new in our coverage areas. Dallas Chop House is a prominent new steakhouse downtown, so obviously it warranted a review.

The unfortunate fact is that there are more steakhouses opening than other kinds of restaurants. Oh, how I wish I had a wider range of types of new restaurants to review! The truth is, I don't even like to eat a lot of red meat. I rarely eat it at home anymore.

La Madeleine Country French Cafe is changing the look and feel of the restaurant, and the company is testing the prototype at the Preston-Forest location (northeast corner).

New features include:

• A central ordering point.


• Highly visible menu boards.


• A simplified menu.


• Delivery of orders to guest tables.


• More retail offerings, including 10 new artisan breads.


• More seating.


• A new look.


• Kitchen upgrades.

I plan to check it out and keep an open mind. But despite the many inconveniences of the old ways, something was lost in the translation from founder Patrick Esquerre's ownership to the present group. I know that sounds cranky, but that's the way I feel.

Jay Jerrier e-mails to remind everyone that this Thursday through Saturday, 5 p.m. till "the dough runs out," will be the last for Il Cane Rosso's traveling pizza party until service resumes again on March 25.

"We are sending the oven our for some dome repairs and other tweaks," he writes.

Il Cane Rosso takes over the Chocolate Angel Too space in North Dallas at Preston-Forest (northwest corner). It's BYOB, no corkage fee, and Jay says, "We are also testing some whole-wheat dough this weekend, despite my better judgment."

I wonder what the Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana has to say about that.

Preston Center is shaping up to be quite a mecca for the natural-foods set, with South Paw's Organic Cafe and about-to-be-open Bliss Cafe.

Meanwhile, Preston's American Grill, in the old Park Cities Prime space, is coming right out and touting the so-called super foods on its menu.

"We're not trying to be spa food," says chef and co-owner Jon Schwartzenberger. But he is tucking salmon, avocado, fiber, nuts, berries, citrus and more - foods with well-documented health benefits - into every dish he can. (And by the way, the black lentils with tomatoes, shallots and parsley are so tasty, you'll forget they're good for you.)

Even the white-truffle-and-Brie mac and cheese? OK, maybe not every dish. Learn more about this new take on better-for-you dining in my Table Talk column.

You've just been seated, you've barely had a chance to take off your coat, and the server asks, "What can I bring you from the bar?" You'd love something, but you need a minute to decide. The server leaves -- and punishes you for not being ready to order by not returning for what seems like forever.

Has this ever happened to you? I'll bet it has. It happened to me twice this week -- and I've only dined out twice. Both times, it was in restaurants with very few diners, and it took the server almost 15 minutes to return.

What's up with that?

For this week's review, I ventured into the meaty world of Dallas Chop House, the new downtown steak palace. Mark Vamos visited Isla Mia, a Latin-Caribbean spot in Carrollton. Please let us know what you think.

Dallas Chop House
• Read and comment on the review
• Leave your own review of Dallas Chop House

Isla Mia
• Read and comment on the review
• Leave your own review of Isla Mia

Photo of Dallas Chop House's bone-in Kansas City strip by Khampha Bouaphanh/Special to DMN

Market Street is launching a nutritional scoring system in its North Texas stores, the better to compete as Aldi comes to the area, according to a Dallas Morning News story posted today.

"Market Street's NuVal System is based on an algorithm that boils down comprehensive nutritional information to a score between 1 and 100, " writes Maria Halkias. "The higher the score, the better the product's nutritional value. Every product's score is visible on shelf labels next to the price. A typical supermarket has 40,000 different items."

It's in the Colleyville, Frisco, Plano and Allen stores, coming to Coppell and McKinney mid-March, she says.

Check out her story here, and if you've used it, tell use what you think. Easy? Hard? Confusing? Fun? Anyone showing their kids how to use it?

It had been months since I had sunk my teeth into a hamburger, and last weekend, I couldn't stand it any longer: I stopped into 12 Burgers, the new spot on Preston Road and Belt Line.

I wasn't sorry. The burger, half a pound of choice Angus beef, cooked to order, was satisfyingly juicy, very meaty; it had that indescribable, reassuring burger gestalt. The lightly toasted sesame bun provided the right bun-to-patty ratio, and the lettuce, tomato and thousand island that are standard equipment there were spot on, aided and abetted by optional pickles. There's also a long list of more complicated burgers, but I always like to judge a burger place by the basic sandwich. My only complaint was it wanted a little salt. I was quite impressed by the quality of the meat.

OK, OK, I admit it -- I also had a 12 Burger, with bacon, American cheese, avocado, sauteed onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, pickles, jalapenos, lettuce tomato, thousand island and mustard. Very good for such a big, sloppy mess of a burger.

There's a big mountain of Idaho potatoes next to the kitchen, a testament to the fact that the fries are fresh-cut there. I was taking my order home, but I tasted a couple fries before I left the store, and they were outstanding. Fabulous. So potatoey, tender inside, crisp outside. But the time I got home, they had seriously lost something. But that's my own fault. (Or, should I say, the fault of those in my household who were glued to sports on TV.)

Been there? Did you like it?

12 Burgers, 6006 Belt Line Rd., 972-239-4194

Thanks so much for sharing your memories of the Greenville Ave. restaurants that were lost in the fire yesterday. In case you'd like to read more, here's a page that pulls together everything about the fire as cleanup begins and people reflect on the history of the place.

It includes all our latest news, blog posts from crime, Eats and others, plus Twitter and news sources from around the area, both TV and pubs like the Observer and D magazine.

I just got an e-mail signed by Sasso. I haven't been able to vet that it is the real Sasso (you know we news hounds do that), the artist who painted the murals at Pazzi's which, believe it or not, was before MY time on this stretch of Lower Greenville, where fire took down the building housing Terilli's, Greenville Avenue Bar and Grill, Mick's and the Hurricane Grill this morning.

However, look what he sent.

Based on the fire photos and video, I'd say that those Hurricane Grill walls and their beloved murals are lost. This is called "The Last Cat Supper." Savor the memories. Thanks, Sasso.

CORRECTION: A matchbook cover is just a matchbook cover (above). "The Last Cat Supper" is an artwork on Sasso's Web site: www.arttogo.com.

As you probably have read, four restaurants on lower Greenville were destroyed by a fire this morning. One of them was Hurricane Grill, the oyster bar and Cajun spot. I learned from comments on Kim Pierce's blog post about it this morning that the space used to be home to Flying Burro, a New Mexican restaurant. That restaurant closed in 2000, and Hurricane Grill opened the following year.

I spoke with reader Paul Barnes, who had posted a comment about the space once housing Three Vikings, a Swedish restaurant, in the early 1980s. "The son was the chef and the parents ran the restaurant," he said. "I think their name was Swanson. They were Swedish, and it was kind of veal Oscar and salmon dishes and shrimp chowder, lingon berries -- and they loved to serve aquavit between courses. It was a real family [spot with] white tablecloths. We loved to take out-of-towners there."

According to the Morning News archives, there was a Three Vikings on lower Greenville, which eventually moved to the space on Cole Ave. that's now Adelmo's, but I couldn't verify that it was the same address as Hurricane Grill. Does anyone else remember the place, post-Cole Ave.? Or in the Cole Ave. location?

Barnes, an M streets resident since 1981, put the loss of the four restaurants in perspective. "These are irreplaceable treasures," he said.

1996 photo of Flying Burro owner Scott Cain by Richard Michael Pruitt

Buy your Savor Dallas tickets online at http://www.savordallas.com/tickets.htm, punch in the promo code DFM10 after you select the ticket(s), and 15 percent of the purchase price will be donated to the Dallas Farmers Market Friends.

Also, if you're coming to the International Grand Tasting only on Saturday from places like Allen, Grapevine, Arlington or Far North Dallas, take advantage of shuttles from your area.

Savor Dallas takes place Friday and Saturday, starting with the Arts District Wine Stroll 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and concluding with the huge walk-around tasting 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday.

Eatzi's opens store No. 2 Friday with a big ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. (See Phil Romano up close and personal.) This is the space at The Pavilion on Lovers Lane where Dallas City Market tried a similar concept. I'll be interested to see how the new owners parse the space. Get a few more details in Karen Robinson-Jacobs' story on the business pages here.

Now that the smoke has cleared (sort of), I just learned that Daniele Osteria's Daniele Puleo was the surprise chef last night at 48 Nights last night, which means he'll be there again tonight. The menu included smoked salmon with goat cheese, gnocchi gorgonzola, pan-seared scallops with shrimp couscous and panna cotta with raspberries.

A couple of Dallas Morning News editors who were there report that a terrific time was had by all. And one of them, Garden Editor Mariana Greene, managed to ferret out some intriguing news about next week. Chris Zielke, one of the principals, announced that there will be two chefs -- one on Monday and a different one on Tuesday. "It's a chef known for New American," he said, "but instead he's going to prepare a Thai menu. Scorpions will be part of the menu as a garnish."

Really, Chris? Are you pulling our leg?

He also said that "Rathbun, Lola and other high-profile chefs have signed on." Presumably he was referring to David Uygur, chef at the erstwhile Lola.

So, New American chef channeling Thai. Who could that be? Scott Gottlich? Graham Dodds?

2005 photo of Daniele Puleo by Darnell Renee/Special to DMN

A fire that started at 5:45 a.m. in Terilli's quickly spread to the attic of the building and to the other businesses located on the block. They include the Greenville Avenue Bar and Grill, Mick's Bar and the Hurricane Grill. Built in the 1920s, the building was gutted. One witness said it was worse than losing the Arcadia Theater in a 2006 fire that destroyed that building. Check out Aida Ahmed's full account here.

Photo: Jim Mahoney/DMN

Nancy Nichols reports on SideDish that Cuba Libre on Henderson has closed so that the owners can update the 10-year-old concept. A call to the restaurant confirms: The recording tells you they're on hiatus. Look for a reopening by summer, NN says.

Roots Coffeehouse is celebrating its one-year anniversary with a "thank you:" free coffee every day for the month of March.

All you have to do is go to the independent coffeehouse and get your "Free Coffee" card, which is good for one 12-ounce drip coffee every day through March. That's it; no buy-one-get-one-free, no two-fers.

Roots serves all fair trade and organic coffees and teas. The address is 9101 State Highway 26 in North Richland Hills (in the Venue at Hometown across the street from Tarrant County College NE). Check out the Web site for more info.