Lots of options for this weekend. There’s two I’ll highlight: Taste of Dallas all weekend and the French version of the Fourth of July on Sunday. Also, not SideDish related, but the John Mayer concert is Saturday (swoon). Here’s some music to accompany you while you read this post. Happy Friday!
Friday
First and foremost, the 27th annual Taste of Dallas is this weekend at Fair Park. I know I’ll be there tonight, which should totally give you more incentive to go (kidding). Don’t worry about eating dinner because there will be plenty of food to sample – BBQ in particular. You can also learn cooking tips from chefs, walk around with a craft brew, and maybe even dance to some live music. It lasts all weekend and starts at 4 p.m. this afternoon. Check the link above for more details. Should be a good time and definitely worth $10 a day for all the samples and fun you can handle.
Hotel St. Germain is celebrating Bastille Day with two Mediterranean Wine Dinners. One tonight and one tomorrow night – menus will be the same and both are at 7 p.m. The “culinary tour” will take you through the cities on the Mediterranean. I, a broke college student, can’t afford the real deal so the $95 dinner (antipasti, tapas, oysters, angel hair with pesto, gelato, and more) substitute sounds pretty appetizing. Not to mention, it’s to be paired with Mediterranean music, wine, wine, wine, wine, and more wine (it’s a five-course dinner if you didn’t figure that one out).
Saturday
Free event: Band to Beat Hunger. The Rub, Zach Harmon, Mike Morgan and the Crawl, and Texas Slim and Friends are rocking out for a good cause. Yes, I said free, but there will be buckets to give donations to Hunger Busters to combat child hunger. They won’t let you jam out without proper fuel so booze and grub included.
The second summer class at We Over Me farm takes place at Paul Quinn College to teach students about food preservation. Students will learn to harvest, practice canning, pickling, freezing, dehydrating, and fermenting techniques. The classes are $45 and start at 9 a.m. More classes listed if you follow that link.
Cooking classes at the Dallas Farmers Market will be underway this weekend. After talking about it so much in my Farm to Market reports, you’re probably saying, “Yes Marley, we know.” But just to clarify once more: Abraham Salum is teaching a coastal Mexican cuisine class at the market.
Sunday
Can’t make it to see me on Friday at TOD? Here’s your second chance: Bastille on Bishop. Wondering why we host the largest French festival in North Texas? Turns out Dallas has a pretty French-y history. If star chefs will be there, you know it’s got to be good. This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better with more entertainment, food, and bars. Le Tour de Tandemonium, an open street racer for cyclists on tandem bikes, cargo bicycles, and bicycles with trailers, is also a part of the race.
Buttons Restaurant, which I had the opportunity to try out at a media dinner, is incorporating a mystery dinner theater into their live entertainment – a step away from the blues music, but still a fun idea. The first showing of A Scandal In Harlem starts at 5 p.m. and the second is at 7:30 p.m. A murder mystery and soul food for $29.95.
There’s another Twenty at the Tower dinner and come to find out, there are quite a few more to come. Get your tickets.
Marley Dablo is a D Magazine intern and will be an online journalism senior at the University of Oklahoma in the fall. She plans to attend culinary school upon graduation in hopes of combining her writing and culinary skills to ultimately have her own cooking show one day.
