Tim Rogers, Editor
This is a fraught exercise, picking my favorite stories from the year. You see why, right? If I pick two stories written by Staffer A but only one story written by Staffer B, or, heaven forfend, no stories written by Staffer B, then Staffer B is likely to slash my tires and/or file an anonymous complaint with HR about the pop-up chinchilla-breeding operation I established in the copier room. So in the interest maintaining goodwill among all my co-workers, I am picking just two stories written by outside freelancers. And one story I wrote.
When I suggested that we publish a story about a plastic surgeon who had written a musical about breast implants, the idea did not receive universal acceptance. So when I say that Alice Laussade’s story about Ron Friedman and his affinity for puns is one of my favorites of the year, in no way should that choice be seen as the equivalent of Allen Iverson stepping over Tyronn Lue. The story is smart and funny and touching. You should read it and then tell two friends to read it and tell two of their friends to read it.
I would be lying if I told you everyone on staff is as enamored as I am with Richard Patterson’s writing. For example, when I asked the Englishman to write about fish and chips, I heard stuff like “These 5,000 words have almost nothing to do with fish and chips. It’s just Richard writing about himself and his Jaguar and being English.” To which I would reply: “Exactly!” And: “Bob’s your uncle!” I really don’t understand why I wasn’t invited to participate in the office white elephant gift exchange.
Finally, when Frisco announced that a theme park was coming to town, I wrote a heartbreakingly brilliant piece of satire inspired by The Giving Tree. I’m certain that future generations, if not our current staff, will agree.
Kathy Wise, Editorial Director
This was a big year for food. Brian Reinhart knocked it out of the park like Juan González. He took a big swing at Deep Ellum’s sprawling Epic development. He did a deep dive into the diminishing heat of jalapeños. He shook up our 50 Best Restaurants list. He told me where to go to lunch. And then, during a monthly brainstorm, he said he wanted to profile the retired couple who fund most of the DSO’s commissions—oh, and sort through the DSO’s private archive in rubber gloves to catalog all of the masterpieces that we can truly claim as our own.
Speaking of quirky, niche undertakings, Alice Laussade wrote that story about a Dallas plastic surgeon who produced his own boob musical. Then she hung out with the Cooper Clinic’s own Dr. Kenneth Cooper and told him how much her kids hate him for inventing the FitnessGram.
That was part of a giant, awesome piece concepted by S. Holland Murphy about “How to Live Forever.” If you missed it in the October issue, you can find all of the fabulous nuggets, such as the only two exercises you really ever need to do, here. Before that was her feature for the July issue, which included this amazing paragraph:
The room goes quiet, and Matthews begins. “Welcome to Cassaro Winery,” he says. “This is the only place in the country—maybe even the world—where you’re going to find an award-winning winemaker that captures serial killers.”
Our national award-winning in-house master profiler, Zac Crain, captured two people who couldn’t be more different in equally poetic ways: musician Abraham Alexander and architect Corky Cunningham. Speaking of profiles, sportswriter Mike Piellucci wrote about baseball pitcher Clayton Kershaw and wrestler Lance Von Erich. But my favorite piece of the Looch’s was actually his story about professional cricket coming to Grand Prairie, in no small part because of creative director Lesley Busby’s incredible layout.
Speaking of Lesley brings me to what was probably my proudest moment of 2023: walking into a Design District studio late on a Wednesday night in early December to find staff photographer Elizabeth Lavin capturing Erykah Badu for our January cover. Lesley had to move mountains to make it happen during a teeny window between when Erykah returned from an event in Berlin (where she was being named Music Icon of the Year by GQ Germany) and when the issue was going to press. Thanks to Elizabeth’s long relationship with Erykah, the two worked wordlessly, producing jaw-dropping photo after jaw-dropping photo. All of which went to illustrate a story by Dallas’ own Casey Gerald thanks to the efforts of editor Tim Rogers. How it all came to be is a story in itself. But you’ll have to subscribe or pick up the January issue to read all about that.
Zac Crain, Senior Editor
I enjoyed Kathy’s look at how Dallas became the epicenter of the pickleball world, even though I’ve never played pickleball before and have no immediate plans to and am at best neutral to slightly negative on the sport as whole. So you know it was a good read.
I also very much appreciated two stories that were wildly different—Eve Hill-Agnus’ profile of force of nature artist Ja’Tovia Gary and Mike’s piece about the tragic tale of the Von Erichs and their fake cousin—but for a similar reason: they finally got published in our magazine. I had planned to take on both subjects at various times, but they eventually found good homes and probably more appropriate authors.
The latter two pieces especially benefitted from creative director Lesley Busby’s vision and design. Please find them in print if you haven’t seen them.
Matt Goodman, Online Editorial Director
About a year ago, the photographer Jeffrey McWhorter pitched us a photo essay. He had spent three years with students at Thomas Jefferson High School, photographing them as they dealt with being displaced by a tornado, then a coronavirus. The photos are intimate: a kid putting feelings to paper after the tornado, a group watching Mexico in the 2022 World Cup on a laptop at their temporary school, a teenager Zooming his classes while his siblings sit in the background. And then, finally, returning to their new school. It was a special piece.
Elsewhere: I loved how my colleague Mike Piellucci brought wrestling to our pages this year, by way of a terrific profile of Sting, an examination of the Von Erich ringer, and a really affecting interview with Kevin Von Erich. Catherine Wendlandt’s history pieces taught me new things about Juanita Craft and downtown’s Cathedral Guadalupe. Kathy Wise told the quiet, clever profiles that I love finding in magazines, like this one on the ceramicist Marcello Andres Ortega and this one on the Soviet disinformation fighter (and Iranian Revolution predictor) Kathleen Bailey.
Bethany Erickson stuck with Valley View until it was torn down. Brian Reinhart figured out who pressed mute on our jalapeños. Zac Crain introduced the city to your favorite local architect’s favorite architect. Tim Rogers discovered that the park between the Trinity River levees would no longer be between the Trinity River levees. And I loved how Nataly Keomoungkhoun explored the potential of urban farms.
We published a lot of great work this year. So, subscribe, will you?
Mike Piellucci, Sports Editor
I’m #blessed to work with the most talented staff in town, which means I could shout out every single one of my coworkers and how great their work is.
So I will. Being a sports guy, I’d be remiss not to start off with Kathy Wise on the rise of pickleball, especially since you only know the half of all the twists her reporting took behind the scene. But the most important sports story we ran this year came from Bethany Erickson, whose reporting on a rhabdo outbreak in Rockwall helped create policy change at the UIL level. And Tim Rogers’ digging to find out the location of the Mavericks’ new casino-resort-arena-Thunderdome is quintessentially Tim: inquisitive, enterprising, resourceful, and funny, too. (Don’t worry, there’s a separate piece coming with all the best work from StrongSide, too.)
Elsewhere, Zac Crain on Corky Cunningham is probably my favorite story we ran this year: a master class in storytelling and a celebration of a true original in an age when architecture and design can become so homogenized. I didn’t know I needed to learn about the intersection of wine and grisly murder until Holland Murphy wrote about it, but I’m damn glad she did. Speaking of grisly, who knew just how dangerous Reunion Tower’s old revolving ball was until Brian Reinhart dove into the details?
Catherine Wendlandt’s Shape Up series made me think about fitness and ableism in ways I never had before. Nataly Keomoungkhoun’s ice cream gauntlet made me worry for her digestive health, but her pain was our collective gain. And finally, for your exit ramp, Matt Goodman taught us all a whole lot about traffic in South Dallas by way of two very smart, very civic minded dudes trying to make a difference.
S. Holland Murphy, Associate Editor
I’ll argue that Brian Reinhart holds one of the most valuable journalistic roles in our city since he takes something we all do (eat) and most of us love to do (eat out) and not only helps us decide which culinary experiences to try, but more importantly puts those experiences in a historical and cultural context. His story “How Do You Solve a Problem Like the French Room?” was such a pure and beautiful fulfillment of his duties. Gems—the dude and the essay.
Kathy Wise’s online intro to her story on Kathleen Bailey was “The Most Interesting Woman in Mesquite.” I’d say that’s a misnomer, because Bailey is actually the most interesting person in all of Texas and Kathy somehow boiled that story into something like 3,000 words.
Speaking of interesting people: I met Domenic Seminara, the proud owner of Specialty Restaurant Equipment, a few months before I left D for (what I’ve been calling) a four-year maternity leave. He was one of those one-of-kind characters who’d pop into my brain every few months and beg to be introduced to the world. I finally had the opportunity to do so for our Collections series. This is a quick read and includes a surprise ending, but better yet, just drive over to Seminara’s wackadoo yellow building off I-30 and treat yourself to a sickeningly sweet cappuccino and one of the most unusual afternoons of your life.
Brian Reinhart, Dining Critic
I’m going to start with all the material from our February pizza issue, a true group effort where just about every writer we have celebrated our favorite pizzas. It’s symbolic of a bigger change in Dallas food culture: our chefs have gotten really into improving the quality of our basic food groups. Ten years ago, we couldn’t possibly have found enough good pizzas to fill a whole magazine. We’ve seen dramatic change for the better. (Shout-out to the pizzerias too new to appear in that feature: South Polk Pizzeria, Wriggly Tin, Pizzeria Carina, Cenzo’s, Soul Circles, and Fond.)
Elsewhere in the food section, Nataly Keomoungkhoun’s report about a fancy new Japanese chocolate shop has changed my life and my gift-giving habits. (I just dropped $67 on Christmas chocolates there.) And she also investigated the delightful mystery of a Denton neighborhood that keeps getting McDonald’s deliveries they didn’t ask for.
The magazine did publish some articles that were not about food. There’s a beautiful story about Dallas’ most fascinating architect, and a—is beautiful the right word? Kind of?—profile of a guy who wrote a musical about breast implants. You really need to see the December issue of the magazine in print to fully enjoy the story of the fake wrestling Von Erich brother. (But it also looks awesome online.)
Also, I don’t know if you remember this, but the Rangers won the World Series!
Nataly Keomoungkhoun, Online Dining Editor
For weeks I listened to Brian question why jalapeños were not giving off the same heat as they once did. I also wondered the same thing for a while, why eating a jalapeño was like playing roulette. You never knew whether the pepper hid a heat bomb. Brian’s story on why jalapeños are less spicy delivers the best answer we could possibly get. He calls restaurateurs and vegetable specialists. (Who knew the Chile Pepper Institute was a thing?) He gets super scientific. And, most importantly, he finds out who’s to blame for mild jalapeños. Spoiler Alert: it’s Texas A&M University.
Bethany Erickson, Senior Digital Editor
It certainly hasn’t been a slow news year in North Texas. We followed a series of incidents at the Dallas Zoo—a clouded leopard escaped its enclosure, a vulture was killed, and two emperor tamarin monkeys were stolen and recovered. After several fires, Valley View Mall finally came down. Dallas needed months to untangle itself from a ransomware attack. The Texas Department of Transportation and the city finally settled on what to do with I-345. Mayor Eric Johnson ran unopposed (officially), but more than 2,650 voters wrote in candidates that ranged from Tim Rogers to Bruh. He also switched parties and became a Republican.
But we also had fun. For instance, we challenged readers to try their hand at the STAAR test. (Who knew third-grade math was so hard?) We talked about our superstitions as the Rangers made their way to the World Series (which they won, in case you forgot). Mike Piellucci did this stellar profile on hometown hero Clayton Kershaw. Catherine Wendlandt went to the Academy of Country Music Awards, which was held in Frisco this year. Alice Laussade wrote about a musical about breast implants. And we also wrote a lot about pizza, which means 2023 couldn’t possibly be all bad.
Catherine Wendlandt, Online Associate Editor
Late one September afternoon, I took an hour and pretended to work. In reality, I was reading Alice Laussade’s “Inside the Most Exclusive Social Clubs in Dallas.” A pithy, humorous tour of an otherwise stuffy subject, Alice’s article is hilarious, irreverent, and entertaining. I laughed; I jotted down my favorite lines like “Holy shit! Is that a vulture??”; and thought, dang, I want to write like Alice when I grow up. (Ed’s note: Legally speaking, I am technically already grown up.)
Besides Alice’s feature, there were so many stories I enjoyed this year, like Kathy Wise’s sweet piece on iris gardeners and this D Home house feature that has me dreaming of copper range hoods. I always love it when one of my coworkers can draw me into a topic I know little about, like Mike Pielucci’s touching piece on Kevin Von Erich, or make me laugh, like Brian Reinhart’s profile of Leftovers, the unofficial patio king of Eighth Street.
As for myself, I got to spend a lot of time collaborating with my colleagues, like Nataly Keomoungkhoun’s and my dating guide to Dallas, which was fun. I wrote some objectively silly stories, like Dallas M.A.S.H. and a “I try Chuck Norris supplements” piece. I also am incredibly proud of some of my history features, like this one about Juanita Craft and this one about the M Streets. They unexpectedly landed on my desk but were a joy to write.
There’s so many more I could talk about, by both me and the rest of D’s incredible staff. And I’m excited to see what 2024 brings.
Zoe Roberts, Online Managing Editor
This year, when sifting through a mountain of fantastic writing published by the D editorial teams, I found my favorites from the year share a theme: luxury.
If there is one thing I enjoy reading the most, it is Alice Laussade’s voice. It shines through “Inside the Most Exclusive Social Clubs in Dallas,” which gives all of us a look at some of the most hard-to-join institutions in the city and serves some banter on the side. Though joining one of these clubs might be unattainable to most, she was able to work her way onto the scene, meet some of the biggest players, tell us all about it, and give us a good laugh along the way.
Catherine Wendlandt’s “The Smell of Luxury” tells us all about one of the most luxurious shopping experiences I have ever heard of: Krigler’s $60,000 custom perfume-making workshop. When I heard the number on the price tag, I couldn’t believe my ears. I definitely loved finding out more.
Finally, as a sucker for a good trip and a lover of adventure, “Get Sidetracked” in the June issue of D is helping me plan my next vacation, or my next six vacations. The piece dives into interesting experiences all over the place. From mule riding in Baja California Sur, Mexico, to summoning my inner Yellowstone ranch hand in Big Sky, Montana, this piece added a few new destinations to my bucket list.
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