Spiral Becomes Latest Victim of Spiraling Hipster Famine, Citing Lease By Rob Curran Humans cannot live on woolen cardigans, antique leather boots and owl glasses alone, but the evisceration of Denton’s hipster eateries and drinkeries threatens to bring about that very prospect. The latest uber-cool joint to evacuate is Spiral Diner, a vegan restaurant that opened 2017, and rode
Denton’s 20 Years Quest for the Golden Jesus Chili Cook-off 2024 anniversary celebration honors those here and gone By Dr. Shaun Treat Photography by Nite Davis Some things are so great you wonder, did that really happen? And so it is with the Golden Jesus Chili Cook-off. Part myth and fuzzy memories, this legendary underground showdown began as a booze-fueled
Members only Welcome to my Food Publication…Food is an Alien Concept to me (but I do Own an Instant Pot) By Rob Curran Every nation and culture has its own special food flavors. The peerless juiciness of West African beef prepared in its own gravy; the endless subtleties of Asian noodle soups; the umami intrigue of native American corn soup and buffalo cuts. Every nation has its own flavors, that
essential-leaves by Lasamee Kettavong I’ve loved khao poon for as long as I can remember. Khao poon is the shortened title I’ve given to one of my favorite Lao meals: it’s a red curry and coconut milk based soup that is served with rice vermicelli or somen noodles
Workers Walk Out on Tarnished Remains of Golden Boy By Rob Curran Denton foodworkers continue to take the power back, leaving their customers in equal measures proud and sad. Golden Boy Coffee, the hippest joint in Denton's hipster scene for a half-decade, appears to have imploded as managers and staff walked off the job en masse early
Osteria il Muro: Fancy, but Denton Fancy by Rob Curran My younger daughter went to Cotillion the other day. I still don’t really know what Cotillion is, and I was there with her. Google says it was popular in 18th century England, which suggests to me that things must have been kind of slow in 18th
Banana Bread Oatmeal By Shea Scott First off, I took the photo above in April of 2020, divorced and alone in a dilapidated apartment in Austin about a month after the world shut down. If it bears some resemblance to Tom Hanks' volleyball buddy, Mr. Wilson, I was in a similar state
Tiny Italy, or Life After J&J’s Pizza By Rob Curran Welcome to Tiny Italy…also known as Honey, I Shrunk Little Italy and Slapped it Smack Dab in the Middle of Denton, Texas. Stroll onto the square heading north from Elm Street, where you will have parked in one of the spots outside the burnt-out husk of
Paid-members only Sunday Roast By Rob Curran Mention the Sunday Roast to an American and they will prolly envision a claret-quaffing Downton Abbey type with their thumbs in their smoking jacket and a hunting dog trotting along at their side. It’s a bit more complicated than that. The Sunday roast (classically a chicken
Paid-members only The Nonna Diaries: Pasta Simple By Rob Curran Nonna is one of the finest exponents of Venetian cooking you will ever meet, and Venice, of course, one of the finest exponents of Italian cuisine. When you taste a pasta sauce cooked by Nonna, your palate will cast about in vain for some reference point on
Holiday Gift Guide By Shea Scott All killer, no filler kitchen gifts for the cook in your life (or yourself, we won't report you to Santa). All products guaranteed to have a longer shelf-life than the Bass-O-Matic. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. ie. we earn a small
Keiichi…Probably the Best Restaurant in Texas By Rob Curran There’s an old television commercial from the glory days of London’s advertising agencies. A man walks through an abandoned wing of a large corporate office, his lonesome footfalls echoing through the endless corridor. He’s trying to pinpoint a ringing telephone. Eventually, he lets himself
Pumpkin Guajillo Soup By Shea Scott Pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread aren't the only things you can make from a can of pumpkin puree. This soup is kind of a mash up between West African peanut soup and salsa macha. It's easy enough for a weeknight meal, but wouldn&
Paid-members only The Nonna Diaries: Holiday Special By Rob Curran In a New York Times article a few years ago, a longtime Italian correspondent for the newspaper described their quest for the perfect carbonara recipe. Spaghetti carbonara is a sort of Jerusalem for Italian cooking enthusiasts; everyone has a faith-based claim to authentic ownership of this hallowed
Tandoori Chicken By Rob Curran and Shea Scott My friend Anjali Cordeiro introduced me to Indian home cuisine. Anjali, a colleague of mine at Dow Jones in New Jersey, did not do too much cooking herself. She was more apt to buy meals from the “tiffin lady” who delivered the kind of
Paid-members only Letter to a Young Chef: The Philosophy of Clean-Go By Rob Curran Clean-go – you better believe it! Some people call it “clean-as-you-go,” but for clean-go people that just seems like a lot of wasted words that some poor editor is going to have to work hard to cull. Clean-go. It's the only way to go. I cook
Paid-members only My Beloved Taquerias By Rob Curran To fall in love with Mexican food is to fall in love with the Mexican people, and there’s no better venue for these love affairs than the neighborhood taquerias that have sprung up all over Denton in recent years. Taqueria autenticas, I call them – the ones
