The Fort Worthian: August 2007

Friday, August 31, 2007

Southern Playalistic

Well, tomorrow is the first day of September. That means only 21 days until The Wall of Sound Festival takes place at La Grave Field. This is going be one of the best showcases of local, national, and international music that has ever graced our fair berg and I am already counting the days.

I wanted to take an opportunity to do a little familiarization exercise on some of the bands that are going to be there. I'm sure many of you are quite familiar with some of the acts, but here is a quick rundown of those acts about which I am most enthused:

Pinback

Pinback is an unlikely pairing of musical minds that create baritone heavy, verse trading, multi-layered rock music. Both Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV (Zach Smith) have been front men in several bands, and Crow also has a fairly successful solo career, but when the two got together to do some "experimentation" the results were like nothing either of them had ever produced before.

From Nothing to Nowhere (via Spinner) Right click to download.

Their new album comes out September 11, view their website for more details.

Ghostland Observatory

Another unlikely musical duo. These Austin based electro-rockers define themselves as "not a band, but an agreement between two friends to create something that heals their beat driven hearts and pleases their rock 'n roll souls". They have also defined their sound as "A robot making love to a tree". One thing is certain, you will want to be up front when this perennial crowd pleaser takes the stage.

Sad, Sad, City Right click to download

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More band profiles to follow, stay tuned...

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

hoagies and grinders, hoagies and grinders... navy beans, navy beans, navy beans, navy beans

so, i hadn't traveled to dear einstein brother's since probably last spring. since the opening of which wich, i'd kind of neglected potbelly and einstein's. however, i decided to trek to the little bagel shop that once captured my heart with their pick 2 combination, and low and behold... my bagel life as i know it is in shambles.

not only have they completely eradicated the love of my life with the elimination of pick 2 (no more veg out + bistro salad goodness for me), but upon choosing one or the other, you get an ultra-lame side, like potato salad or fruit salad. no more fattening bread. no more bleu cheese crumbles on a high calorie salad. so really, between cafe express closing and einstein's changing, i need a little stability.

but on a side note, i was pleasantly surprised with what i'd ordered at dutch's... i wasn't able to try the mushroom burger due to my lame monster allergies, but their gazpacho is fantastic, and a mere $3.75. woo wooo

Mmm, tasty

My search is over for inexpensive Asian cuisine. Yum Yum, a nice little restaurant near Rosa's and the Hulen Mall, boasts authentic curry and a $7 weekday lunch buffet.

A word of caution, though. On certain dishes, you can choose your level of spice, which ranges from 1 to 5. According to our waitress, 1 is nothing, 3 is pretty hot and 5, well, "no one gets the 5," she said.

But if you're in the mood for Italian, click the jump.

JOE'S PIZZA AND PASTA HAS A NEW(-ish) LOCATION ON BERRY! Why all-caps? Because Joe's is amazing, and if people don't start going to this new location, it'll face the same fate as every other restaurant that's been in that spot.

So next time you're craving Joe's New York-style pizza or fantastic baked pasta, head over to Joe's. It's across from King's on Berry right next to TCU.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Wall of Sound update

So, does anyone have their Wall of Sound tickets?

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Buffalo Brothers Pizza & Wing Co.

Back in early August, I mentioned that the Texadelphia near TCU was no more, and that workers were doing heavy remodeling inside the space. Well there's a sign above the space now, and it looks like we're getting a Buffalo Brothers Pizza & Wing Co. A quick Google search didn't show many locations, and it seems to be a North Carolina thing so far...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Evil Eye: Cat Powered

I like Cat Power. There ya go.

Does that make me a total dork? I don't know, nor do I care. The point is, she's going to be in Dallas at the Granada this Friday, and I will be there reviewing the show for the Star-Telegram. You should go to. If you want to go, I can also sell you a reduced price ticket.

Who couldn't love a girl who got a Chanel contract while looking like this? (Photo after jump)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I forgot to title this...

Some of you guys may remember Jeramy's post a few months ago on the subject of cupcakes. Well, in the midst of all his Seinfeld-ian struggle, the post was passed on to Sandra. Here's here reply:

Someone recently sent this post to me.

I sure hope you’ve not given up on a cupcake from The Cupcake Cottage. I assure you it was never our goal to turn our cupcakes into tiny quests! While you're busy sleeping-in I am busy baking and my husband follows in to frost our little treasures so they're ready at 10:00a.m. We are kicking out hundreds of these sweet treats each day!

You may have missed us due to our business goal which is a little different from most in that we ‘break for life’. Visit our website and Click on Taking Breaks for details: www.thecupcakecottage.com

Like Steve, we also encourage customers to trek over to Dallas for the Sprinkles experience, not to mention the increased volume of baking compared to our wee kitchen. What we didn't anticipate is having Dallas customers find their way to us, but we get them all the time! We've even had couriers sent to pick up as many as 12 dozen to be delivered to a large firm in Dallas!

If you've not been in yet, be sure to try again or call us, 817-732-5670. We hold cupcakes for late-coming customers all the time! You are even welcome to call a day or two ahead so you don’t interrupt your morning slumber! ;)

We deeply appreciate the patience and perseverance of each customer that finally finds us open and NOT sold out! They have caught on that we're serious about calling and having us hold cupcakes! (and) Many make that extra effort to get to our shop early…

Fort Worthians are quick learners and a smart lot!! We love ‘em!!

sandi =)

Now, I've spent a fair amount of time as a reporter, and I can generally sense when someone is not cool. Sandra, however, seems way cool. So, I am making an executive decision to throw all of my cupcake-lovin support behind this Cupcake Cottage.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Restaurant Week!

In honor of my birthday, KRLD NewsRadio 1080 has Restaurant Week during August every year... Thanks KRLD, I'm honored beyond belief! Actually, Restaurant Week is a benefit for the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home. The fact that it happens around my birthday every year is just a nice little bonus. (Restaurant week and Hatch chiles! August loves me!)

Here's the deal for those who haven't done this before. You make a Restaurant Week reservation at one of the participating restaurants (this ain't one of those "just show up places" like you're going to Applebees or something). For $35 per person, you get a 3 course meal (4 courses if you use the Central Market coupon). Now, $35 per can sound like a lot of money, but at some of these places, it's a bargain. And you get warm fuzzies for it too, because $7 of each dinner goes to one of the charities.

For my birthday last year, my wife and I made reservations at the Dallas Nobu location, and it was marvelous! They had the black cod with miso on their Restaurant week menu, and ladies and gentlemen, it is not just hype -- this dish is divinity on a plate!

I haven't decided where to go this year, but I'm leaning towards Dragonfly or Craft because I haven't tried either of those. Of course, there's also the possibility that I might be pulled back into the epicurean gravitational pull of Nobu once again...

The bulk of restaurant week happens August 13-19, with some restaurants extending through August 26 and September 2, so get on the KRLD site and make some reservations... It's a great way to visit an amazing restaurant or two while doing a good deed.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

A ticket for stupidity

The other day, I parked facing the wrong direction on McPherson Avenue over by TCU. I do this all the time at my house, but apparently Fort Worth cops don't patrol my neighborhood (makes me feel safe). Anyway, I got a $25 ticket, which I promptly paid.

Last week, my mom called. She received a letter from the city saying I hadn't paid. Because my payment was late, I owed $35. I called the city, complained like crazy and then stopped pursuing the issue once I realized my own stupidity.

I made two mistakes:
1. I mailed cash. Do what your mother says and never send cash in the mail.
2. I mailed cash from the post office in the Fort Worth federal building, which is one block from the place to which I mailed my cash. Had I bothered to look at the envelope, I would have seen that I was within spitting distance.

The moral of the story: Never mail cash, and never mail anything when you could just walk over and hand them a check. You get the free lesson. Mine cost me $60.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

The mystery of the Hatch...

Nope, this isn't a post about Lost or geekgirls who find Richard Hatch sexy... This is a post about my favorite food time of year here in Foat Wuth. I'm all excited because the Hatch chiles are in town! (and yeah, for the cynical out there, this does get me excited...)

For the uninitiated, Hatch chiles are from Hatch, New Mexico, and are a bit spicier than standard Anaheim peppers. Hatch chiles are so popular that there's a festival in Hatch every labor day weekend. So of course, the chile-heads here in Fort Worth have their own celebrations.

Central Market has received their shipment of Hatch chiles. I was there on Monday, and they had boxes and boxes of fresh, but none of the pre-roasted. So if you don't mind doing your own roasting, you're in luck. I imagine they'll have the roasted ones out soon.

After seeing the chiles at Central Market the other day, I was hopeful that Blue Mesa already had their annual Hatch chile menu up and running. You see, every year during Hatch chile season, Blue Mesa offers a special menu that's only available until they run out of chiles. I become a very frequent Blue Mesa customer during August...

So I was excited to see the Hatch chile menu cards on the table last night! I immediately ordered a bowl of Hatch chile Pozole. It's made from veal, veal stock, hominy and Hatch chiles, and it is this rich, thick soup that is so delicious... I really wish Blue Mesa offered this in the winter...

I also had the Hatch chile rellenos, which are also wonderful. The dish comes with one chicken and one cheese, and both are good for showing off the Hatch chile flavors. The chicken relleno shows off the spiciness and the way the spice builds, while the cheese relleno brings out the smokiness of the roasted pepper.

My other favorite Blue Mesa Hatch item is the steak relleno taco, but that will have to wait for the next visit.

Hatch season typically begins in early August and runs through early September. Roasted peppers freeze well, so put some up for the winter cooking.

Blue Mesa will feature a Hatch happy hour on August 14 from 5-7. They'll offer free tastings of some Hatch chile items, and they'll also have free tastings of Tezon tequilas.

If you're more inclined toward dinner than happy hour, Blue Mesa will have a Hatch dinner party on August 23. Reservations are recommended.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Movie Tavern, you done me wrong

Well, I went to see Hot Rod at the Ridgmar Movie Tavern tonight, which used to be my favorite place to go see a movie. I was met with a few disappointments.
1) They took away the student/military discount. Now everyone pays $6. Still a reasonable price for a movie, but sad to see my $4 ticket disappear.
2) To purchase alcohol you must have a TEXAS State ID. Even a passport won't work (I tried). So, being from out of state, that sucks for me.

Then when I got into the movie, the lights came on after the previews and we could only hear the movie without picture. Then about fifteen minutes in they fixed that but the lights stayed on, and halfway through the movie when they fixed that the sound kept cutting out. Then they didn't apologize or anything. It was weird.

Still, you can see a movie for relatively cheap, drink while you watch a movie, and eat. Plus the seats are comfortable and there's lots of leg room. Plus you won't have to deal with high-maintenance 13-year-olds, who are promptly corralled by the police in the parking lot after 10 pm (Rave, anyone?). But ye be warned! The student discount is gone! And bring a Texas state ID if you want to drink.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

More TCU area changes

Texadelphia is gone... The sign is still up, but as we walked by on the way to Dutch's, there was a crew removing the brick from the bar. After we had lunch, the crew was gone but a Ft. Worth Water guy was waiting outside the door. I asked him what was going on and he said he was there to turn the water back on for the (de?)construction crew.

The Texadelphia website now says that a Ft. Worth location is coming soon...

So how was lunch, you ask? It was good... Dutch's has made some menu changes, and the portobello burger is most excellent for those who would like a more vegetarian-inclined offering... Next to try for me: the chicken with roasted green chile sandwich.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Foxy

At some point, someone on this blog asked about barber shops. I can't find the post, but I figured I'd make a plug for Fox's, a 1960s anachronism on Sandage and Berry. They weren't cheap ($14 with tip), and they weren't fast, but they were friendly, and they're all Horned Frogs fans.

Beyond that, it's probably the best haircut I've ever had. Instead of using a trimmer to even out my neck, he used a straight-blade razor and hot shaving cream. It was amazingly relaxing.

Fox's is located in the one of the only blocks from Bellaire to McCart that TCU doesn't own, and I'm a firm supporter in the owner's refusal to sell. If TCU had its way, all of southwest Fort Worth would be a perfect little neighborhood with no character (I almost cried when Perrotti's sold out).

Spend a little more money and check out Fox's. Sure, they don't have sports on every HDTV (or a TV at all, for that matter), but they have Texas country music, Horned Frogs flags and the personal service that you can't find at ProCuts.

Oh, and bring cash or your checkbook. They don't take plastic.

Stores and restaurants on S. Hulen

So, this is less of a post and more of a musing, but what's up with all the new stuff on S. Hulen? I don't hang out over there too much, but I was going by Half Price Books the other day when I noticed a new Burlington Coat Factory, the restaurant Steve reviewed, as well as a new sushi place. What gives? Is there more new stuff over there?

There are no good photos, and I haven't bought my camera yet...

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The Roustabouts @ The Aardvark

This summer, I lived in an apartment in Mansfield while in transition between the TCU on-campus apartments and my new house. I had four roommates in that two bedroom apartment: Dave Brower and I shared a room, Johnny Brower had his own room, and Jason and Josh Nix slept on the couch. The four of them also happen to be in a band together. With their drummer Andrew Suggs, they are the Roustabouts.

The reason I tell you all this is because on Friday August 3, they are playing a show at the Aardvark. I may be biased, but their music is pretty good and worth showing up for. I believe they are third in the line-up, so they'll hit the stage around 9:30 or so. Take a listen to their music on their MySpace page and come on out to the show.

www.myspace.com/roustaboutsmusic

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