Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The World Beer Co. is opening its first retail location in Dallas next week.

The East Dallas-based mail-order shop will still offer its signature beer gift buckets. But its store in the former Blarney Stone on Greenville will offer hundreds of beers in a “coffee shop-meets-bar” setting. Owner Clay Hartman of Lakewood says customers will be able to take away a six pack or drink at the bar.

The store opens May 14, with a grand opening May 20.

What the …what? More incredibly good news for the former Texas Trap center on Peavy at Garland.

Teresa Gubbins of Pegasus writes that Marc Cassel will open a place called Peavy Road next to Good 2 Go Tacos and the impending Goodfriend.

He’ll serve lobster rolls, fish and chips and “beach food” he tells Gubbins. Holy cow seafood!

©The Grape

The Grape Restaurant‘s chef/owner, Brian C. Luscher, has chosen Danyele McPherson to be the iconic kitchen’s new sous chef.

“I am super excited to have Danyele in The Grape kitchen as a leader of our culinary team,” said Chef Brian. “She is a great asset, and we look forward to seeing her influences reflected on The Grape menu.”

McPherson’s latest gig was at Stephan Pyles on Ross, where she played a big part in the creation of the tasting bar, Fuego.

Welcome aboard Danyele! Just don’t touch The Grape’s most famous recipe …

The White Rock Local Market, where shoppers can buy fresh local produce and meat, is the first Dallas farmers market to accept food stamps.

The White Rock Local Market will now accept food stamps. It’s the first farmers market in Dallas to do so.

By embracing the SNAP Lone Star supplemental food assistance program, WRLM is broadening its customer base, market founders say, opening up a source for healthy, local foods to residents receiving SNAP assistance.

“The global economic downturn has had a dramatic effect on many households in our community, and that’s reflected in the big increase in SNAP roles,” says WRLM co-founder Sarah Perry. “We’re excited about the opportunity open up this market to our neighbors who participate in the SNAP program, and we’re proud to be the first farmers market in Dallas County to provide this opportunity.”

Supporting the decision, she notes that “more than 58,000 households in Dallas County receive food stamps, a figure that represents a dramatic 29 percent national growth in SNAP roles last year, according to recent Census and USDA data,” adding that farmers markets accepting food stamps has grown rapidly.

Great move—once I interviewed a doctor at Healing Hands Ministry in Lake Highlands who told me the biggest health risk in the lower-socioeconomic/uninsured groups is obesity—education coupled with the increased availability of healthy options can make a big difference when it comes to public health. It’s good for the farmers and vendors because they can sell more.

According to its founders, the White Rock Local Market has enjoyed great success in our neighborhood and is popular among regional farmers and producers too.

“On an average day the market has from 30 to 50 vendors and 2,000 visitors. The market is a community asset, and the Lone Star SNAP project will have a positive impact on the health and economic challenges facing our society.”

It runs the second and fourth Saturdays of the month outside Green Spot on Buckner. Here’s a recent Advocate interview with the founders.

When it was rainy and cold Sunday, we drove up to the Love Field area for some comfort food at Herrera’s. The cavernous Herrera’s up there has a few flat-screen TVs on the wall now, but other than that, its interior hasn’t changed a lick since the 80s. Even the day-glo paintings of Aztec warriors are the same.

And the menu hasn’t changed either. I’ve never not ordered 13A on the menu, two cheese enchiladas with chile con carne, which at Herrera’s is a meat gravy, not some weak enchilada sauce. That one dish, for me, is proof that Herrera’s is the ultimate Tex-Mex restaurant. Even the New York Times knows this is how Tex-Mex is supposed to be.

The original Herrera’s on Maple had only nine tables. And after it burned down, they moved across the street to a place only slightly larger. It appeared in National Geographic in 1984, clearly a hipster hangout.

There are several Herrera’s outposts in Dallas, including one in Oak Cliff and one in Carrollton. And now East Dallas is getting one. A sign announces Herrera’s is “coming soon” to a space on North Fitzhugh between Belmont and Manett. The place is undergoing renovations now, but it looks like it’s almost finished.

The two most unappreciated wines in the wine world are rose and sparkling wine. Don’t believe me? Check the sales data: Nielsen doesn’t even track rose, which is apparently lumped in with blush wines, a category that includes white zinfandel. As near as I can tell, maybe 2 out of every 100 bottles sold in the U.S. between March 2010 and March 2011 were rose. And sparkling? The Wine Institute reports that about 135,000 cases of bubbly were sold in the U.S. in 2008. Which is less than the wine sold by the two or three biggest wineries in Texas in a normal year.

Hence this Mother’s Day wine review, which is both rose and sparkling — and cava to boot, which makes it a terrific value. The Casteller ($12, purchased, available at Central Market) has a bit of what Champagne geeks call yeastiness (it’s a good thing), a burst of strawberry fruit at the front, and a surprisingly long mineral finish, something rarely seen in a a wine that costs this little. And the bubbles? Long, lingering and lovely, which is also a surprise in a wine at this price. I love Cristalino, and this wine makes Cristalino seem quite ordinary.

Toast Mom with this wine on Sunday. She’ll appreciate it. It’s also a fine food wine; pair it with any sort of brunch dish, main course salads or grilled chicken. And, if you need a little variety, Casteller makes a regular cava, also about $12, also worth checking out.

Goat cheese fonduta and bread along side a slice of pizza topped with onion and feta, makes for an amazing low-key Italian meal. My husband and I love meeting at Pizzeria Venti any night of the week. It is laid back and authentic.

Their weekly in-house offer -Wednesday Family Nights. Every Wednesday, you can feed a family of 4 for $20. The family meal is a 12 by 18 pizza with your choice of  sausage, pepperoni, or cheese. Included are also endless salad and soft drinks. You can also add a pasta for only $5. Talk about feeding the whole family!

A second offer that is only going on today is Groupon’s deal of the day. It is $20 worth of delicious Italian food at Pizzeria Venti for $10.

This deal is available for close to eleven more hours (it’s 2 p.m. Tuesday now) or until they sell out. Your credit will go towards fresh out-of-the-oven pizza, pasta, soups, and beverages (excluding alcohol). This offer cannot be used towards any other deal at Pizzeria Venti (ie. family night).

Not bad for a little piece of Italy right here in Lakewood. Enjoy!

Pizzeria Venti
6465 E Mockingbird Ln., Suite 5255
Dallas, Texas 75214
(214) 818-0820

Photo courtesy of kentuckyderby.com

Most important, Sunday is Mother’s Day. The annual Dallas Arboretum plant sale is Saturday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. That could be a good opportunity to find a gift for mom. More than 23,000 plants will be for sale, starting at $2. Parking is $7.

The arboretum also is celebrating Cinco de Mayo tonight, Tuesday May 3, with a concert from Havana NRG. Sure, salsa music comes from Cuba, but it’s popular everywhere. Tickets are $9.

Urban Taco at Mockingbird Station is celebrating Cinco de Mayo all day Saturday with DJs, mariachis and drink specials.

The Kentucky Derby is Saturday, and J. Black’s is having a party, starting at 11 a.m. That includes mint julep drink specials and a fancy hat contest.

Just wanna watch the Mavs game? The Granada Theater is showing the Mavericks/Lakers playoff series in high definition on a 30-foot screen. Upcoming game times are 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 4 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 8. Admission is free, and food specials include an $8 fajita plate.

Dallas-based Rusty Taco has opened a location in St. Paul, Minn.

Minnesota food magazine Heavy Table reported in March that restaurateur Bruce Ringgenberg was bringing the concept to St. Paul, next to Trader Joe’s (We’re jealous. Can we have a Trader Joe’s next to our Rusty Taco?).

Ringgenberg told the magazine he brought Rusty Fenton’s concept to the Twin Cities because of its success in Dallas and high quality.

“The reason we’re working with Rusty is the quality,” Ringgenberg said. “We’re very careful not to expand the menu too much to more traditional Hispanic restaurant menu boards.”

It’s cute he called it a “Hispanic” menu instead of “Mexican”. They’re PC to a fault up there, yes?

Ringgenberg told the magazine he wants to open another Rusty Taco in St. Paul and at least two in Minneapolis.

Heavy Table reviewed the new Rusty Taco last week. We’re impressed they know about proper tacos in Minne-snow-ta.

• The one thing I didn’t like about the Villa Maria ($13, sample, widely available): It’s not $9 any more. Stupid weak dollar.

• Best thing about the wine besides the taste: The screwcap, of course.

• So what did it taste like? It didn’t has much grapefruit as most New Zealand wines, but you could still taste citrus. The middle was a bit short and without any New Zealand-like tropical flavors, but there was a very long minderal finish. In some respects, it was more French in style.

• What do you pair this with? The web site suggests green bean and potato salad, which must be a New Zealand thing. Otherwise, almost any shellfish, grilled or roast chicken and one of my favorites, spaghetti with clam sauce (though I use canned clams).

• What’s with this bullit-style layout for the wine of the week? Trying something different. Not sure that it would work every week, but it was fun to do this time.