Month: May 2004

El Ranchito Cafe & Club – Dallas, Texas

Gil GardunoMexican, Texas

In the Mexican neighborhoods of west Dallas, adventurous “gringo” diners who grew up on Tex-Mex cuisine have apparently discovered the wonderful cuisine of Old Mexico. On the night we visited, this was evidenced by the lively and decidedly “white” crowd enjoying their meals almost as much as the generations of Mexican-American patrons craving (and receiving) authentic tastes of home. Since moving to the United States from Monterrey Mexico, entrepreneur and owner Laura Sanchez has carved a niche in the Dallas…

Kincaid’s Hamburgers – Fort Worth, Texas

Gil GardunoBurgers, Rated 23, Texas

Local, statewide, national and international acclaim for Kincaid’s Hamburgers places this former grocery and market in stratospherically elite company as one of, if not THE best hamburger restaurants in the world. In 2003, Michael and Jane Stern, America’s preeminent dining Americana authorities proclaimed Kincaid’s one of America’s top ten burgers. A book called The Perfect Hamburger, replete with effusive testimony by long-time patrons, was published in 1999. Call it blasphemy if you will, but I believe perfection can be improved.…

Celebration – Dallas, Texas

Gil GardunoAmerican, Texas

To adventurous restaurant patrons, the term “foodie” is often used with derision to connote someone who won’t eat somewhere unless Zagat’s has proclaimed it fork worthy. In theory foodies won’t boldly go where Zagat’s (or in the absence thereof, the local fishwrap) hasn’t gone before. Chowhounds, on the other hand, are (at least by definition) adventure eaters who blaze new trails and traverse the deepest, darkest regions under America’s spacious skies for undiscovered treasures. Sometimes the twain does meet and…

Joseph’s Table – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAmerican, Closed in 2010, Food Nation With Bobby Flay, Food Network Eats New Mexico, Gone But Not Forgotten, New Mexico, Taos County

When chef and owner Joseph Wrede launched Joseph’s Table several years ago in Ranchos De Taos,dining patrons and pedantic critics alike were ready to beatify him (a culinary Saint Joseph). In 2000, Food & Wine magazine named him one of the top ten chefs in America, extolling his use of locally grown organic produce in “surprising, sensual ways.” The London Times called him “the voice of modern American cuisine.” Even Food Network luminary Bobby Flay came calling during a visit…