The Bite of Life

the original taco bar

Before Torchy’s, before Rusty’s, before Velvet, before Republic, before Fuzzys and before Diggs there was Tin Star. In my humble opinion, Tin Star is the best of all. Their salsa oasis is only second to Taco Cabana. Their smokey corn relish, salsa roja, and salsa verde are available with complimentary chips.

My favorite taco is the Buffalo. Tender juicy chicken breast is fried and slathered in tangy Buffalo hot sauce. Blue cheese crumbles, shredded carrots, and cilantro round out this winner. Perhaps the real feature that makes Tin Star’s tacos stand out is the flour tortilla. This homemade tortilla is only second to Taco Cabana’s. Even in it’s simplicity, I’d put Tin Star’s taco up against and other taco on the market.

Buffalo Chicken Taco and Beef Brisket Taco

If Tacos aren’t your thing, they offer generous salads, hearty soups, and quesadillas. The trouble with Tin Star for this blogger is that they are all located north of 635. For a third generation Dallasite that is just not acceptable. Park Cities and Preston Hollow residents didn’t support Tin Star in Preston Center. So now if I have venture outside the bubble to go to…..say….The Galleria….. then Tin Star, located accross the street is a good choice.

a must have

Things Cooks Love is a true celebration of food—more than 300 pages packed with wonderful recipes from around the world plus tips, techniques and in-depth looks at ingredients, tools, cookware and more.

From selecting the perfect chef’s knife to preparing Cornish hens al mattone, if you love to cook, this book will become the cornerstone of your global kitchen. A sampling of recipes you’ll find in the book:

• Pizza with Radicchio, Pears, Gorgonzola, and Walnuts
• Chicken, Shrimp and Chorizo Paella
• Lamb Tagine with Artichoke Hearts, Dried Apricots and Preserved Lemons

We intended to run in for a quick dinner after many positive referrals from friends. We spent 5 hours at Densetsu! It wasn’t because the service was poor. Quite the opposite, the entire experience was one of the best Saturday nights out that we have had in quite a while!

We were greeted by young, cute, energetic owner Jenna. When we said that we were there for the first time, she replied, “Oh, I know that you are going to have fun and really like it!”. She was genuine and so warm. She was right on. We ordered many sushi selections all of which were tasty, attractive, and inventive. Then to our surprise, not-ordered, selections started coming our way. With each arrival, the Sushi Chefs from behind the sushi bar waved and hollered, “enjoy”. Then the staff insisted that we try sparkling sake and the complimentary beverage was served to us in shot glasses.

We were taught a lachiam-like, salud-like, opa-like chant before everyone was required to down the refreshing drink. We were amazed as customer after customer would enter the restaurant and each of the staff from waiters to chefs to hostesses would yell a warm greeting of “welcome back!”

The evening also included a show from the sushi chef’s which involved a domino effect of beer glasses, saki glasses, chanting, and a large Gulliver Travels sized spoon. It’s much to cool to describe here. It must be seen. At the conclusion of our meal, Jenna brought her husband Justin over to the table to be introduced. The young couple are recent imports from Japan and also have an established restaurant in LA. You MUST try this place and go back often. Apparently Densetsu translates as “legendary” in English. I can not think of a more befitting name!

Sushi Platter

After trippin’ out on turkey and hammin’ it up on spiral sliced ham, grab a store bought roasted chicken and create a heart-warming chili that is sure to please.

This is all you need!!!!!

Eddie’s Green Chicken Chili Chowder

Ingredients:

1 store bought roasted chicken, pulled

6 roasted tomatillos

1 bag Frontera green chili salsa

2 cans hatch green enchilada sauce

2 small cans chopped hatch green chilis

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can white corn, drained

1 box chicken stock (not broth)

1 chopped onion

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 bunch cilantro chopped

2 tablespoons cumin

1 tablespoon chipolte chili powder

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon oregano

3 cups small creamer potatoes, whole

2 tablespoons butter

Technique:

Shuck tomatillos and wash the stickiness off. In a 450 oven roast whole tomatillos for 15 minutes. Let cool.  Pull the chicken and shred.  Chop the onion. Seed, de-vein, and dice the jalapeno. In a 5 quart pot, melt butter. Saute the onion, corn, and jalapeno until softened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the green chilis to the hottub. Now the party can start! Add the pulled chickn and roasted tomatillos. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the beans. add the dry seasonings. Add the lime juice and the chicken stock. Add the green salsa and the green enchilada sauce. Add the potatoes and simmer for 45 minutes. Finally add the cilantro and serve.

Roasted Chicken Green Chili Chowder

You just got to laugh on Election night. Wether you’re a Republican or Democrat,  everything is better with bacon!

Everything is better with bacon!!!!!

Best Burger in Texas – Perfect Medium – OMG WOW CRAZY GOOD and their brunch which includes blueberry corn flapjacks is awesome!!!!

Best Burger in Texas, only served on Sunday

We make the journey to South Dallas as often as possible for the best Tex-Mex in town! The extra thick homemade tortillas are the best ever made! We judge a Mexican restaurant by their beans, tortillas, gaucamole, and queso. None disappoint. This establishment even makes its’ own taco shells, chalupa shells, and chips. I’ve never had better. The only trouble with the menu is, I WANT IT ALL! I would be remiss is I didn’t comment on the salsa….truly unique….smokey and served warm. This restaurant started out on Wycliff at Maple, moved to Northwest Highway across from Bachman Lake, and now is on Jefferson Blvd. next to the Texas theater. The service is exemplary.

photo courtesy of Trapper Collova

Botanas

http://www.gonzalezrestaurant.com/

Rather than go to our usual Thai haunt on Saturday night we invited our friends to join us at the highly praised Coconut Thai Grill to see what all the talk was about! Tucked away in a rather odd spot on the edge of Carrollton, we felt like we hit the culinary jackpot. In an old Long John Silver’s outpost, this amazing place had plans for us to have a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

We shared the corn patties a traditional spring roll, and a fried version. All were fresh and tasty. We moved on to splitting a green papaya Salad in a lime vinaigrette. WOW WOW WOW! Crushed peanuts and green beans highlighted the perfectly julienned papaya. When I fell out of my chair, I knew that the papaya would help the bruising. Our foursome then shared a variety of entrees, all different, all review worthy. The restaurant’s signature dish, Coconut Chicken was served with perfectly moist and sticky rice and an unusual tamarind sauce. It was decided that a trip to Coconut Thai Grill would not be complete without ordering this entree. We also went for the Thai menu staple, Pad Thai. They also offered a “crispy” pad thai made with flat noodles but we opted for the standard version. It was, by far, the best in Dallas! For something unique we ordered Chicken Larb, finely ground chicken, peanuts, and peppermint infused with basil and mint in a lime sauce. WOW AGAIN. It went very quickly at our table. For our final selection we chose Pad Ke Maow. The flat noodled dish was again the best we’ve ever had. There was no room for the much lauded desserts offered at Coconut Thai Grill but we saw them pouring out of the kitchen and vowed that we would save room on our next visit. It’s not just the food that made our evening special.

The ambiance from the family created artwork that decorated the walls to the lighting, to the music of Ben Folds and the like, our evening seemed to be complete. But we were in for a treat when a senior citizen came out of the kitchen with an apron on and introduced herself as Momma, the owner. She was proud to say that she had prepared our dinner tonight as she does every night for all customers. It was such a nice way to personalize our experience.

We can’t wait till the weather is warmer and we can return to their quaint outdoor patio surrounded by tiki torches. Somehow, someway, we will put out of our minds that we on sitting on Beltline Road and let the music, food, and friendly family service transport us to a beach on the coast of Thailand.

Linguini with Clam Sauce

Quattro Fromage Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce, Peas, and Proscuitto

Back in the 70s on the Northwest corner of Preston and Royal a sucession of Mexican restaurants dominated the neighborhood shopping center. El Chico, Pulido’s, and Ojeda’s all came and went. Then a flower store gave it a shot in that spot only to be replaced with short lived outposts of La Madeline, Applebee’s, and Popolos.

Fast forward to the 21st century. The nice outdoor seating, the warm and inviting interior, the friendly and knowlegable staff, and simply elegant menu selections make Princi Italia the go-to spot for Italian food in North Dallas. Like established competitor Mi Piaci, Princi makes all of their pastas from scratch which is never more evident than in their righteous raviolis. These billowy pockets of toothsome pasta are filled with a tart salty cheese blend that make your eyes light up and your tummy say howdy (thanks neighbor)! We also tried the Fig, Gorgonzola, Arugula Pizza. There was certainly a lot going one in this thin crust pie. But the mix of salty, peppery, and sweet was assembled with perfection. It was a hard decision not to order the Mussels after having loved them on our last visit. However, I chose to order the Linguine with Clam Sauce and was not disappointed. The little neck clams were tender and carried the taste of the sea across my palate with each bite.

Once again I had a problem with the noise level in the Dining Room. I think I’m getting old. But Princi Italia will never grow old in Russwood Acres and the surrounding areas.

Fig, Gorgonzola, Arugula Pizza

The Pappas family out of Houston does everything BIG! Wether it’s Pappadeaux, Pappasita’s, Pappas Bar-B-Que, Pappas Seafood Kitchen, Pappas Brothers Steakhouse, Pappas Burgers or the Dot Cafe, this established Greek family knows how Texans want their meals…..full of flavor and BIG! That’s exactly what we got tonight at Pappas Brothers Steakhouse. Located on Lombardy Lane or Pappas Row this old world steakhouse strives to present the best product available served by a capable professional staff. As we were seated in the Dining Room we noticed that it encircled a club-like room complete with fireplace. The lighting was very low and appealing at first. As the experience progressed the lighting became not only a challenge but an annoyance! Maybe it’s my age but my 23 year old daughter found it irritating as well. True to the Pappas vision, portion sizes were over the top. Layers of flavor in everything from the lobster mac and cheese to the well seasoned steaks were a comfort to our senses. We found the waitstaff to be unobtrusive and well informed. On the bite-of-life scale of chopped liver to foie gras this establishment earns the rank of veal shank. For our trio, the evening was to celebrate that we were all together as a family. Whether it’s a special occasion or just a desire for that old world experience where food and service are paramount, count on the Pappas family.

Amazing Crabcake

Pumpkin Cheesecake