Back Talk Far North Dallas

Chef Vijay Sadhu: new culinary force at Clay Pit

The August edition of Advocate has likely arrived on your doorstep--so you probably already know about all the great Indian food spots we mapped out for you across the neighborhood.
What you probably don't know, however, is the full scoop on chef Vijay Sadhu at Clay Pit, our feature restaurant.
Sadhu came on board a few months ago after India-based Twin Cities Hotels bought the Addison restaurant. The company hired Sadhu to revamp the existing menu---which in my opinion was a very smart move. I say that because he was the mastermind behind Bukhara Grill in Richardson. This has been one of my favorite restaurants for awhile, and in fact, I sang it's praises several months ago on this blog.
During my interview he told me that he sold Bukhara Grill about three months ago, and was getting ready to move to San Francisco when Twin Cities Hotels approached him with the job offer. He also said that since he sold Bukhara Grill, the new owners have turned the restaurant into a Chinese-Indian buffet (I drove by and even the name has been changed to Bukhara Wok now).
I haven't been back since this place went under new ownership, so I can't tell you if it's any good---but I can tell you that chef Sadu is very, very good at what he does: creating innovative Indian dishes. If you were a fan of his work at Bukhara, you'll love what he's doing at Clay Pit. He did his culinary training in France, so he's now using that knowledge to infuse Indian dishes with cream sauces and unexpected cuts of meat and fish. You'll find things like saffron-season rack of lamb with garlic mashed potatoes--or curry Chilean sea bass with mango chutney.
Contemporary dishes like this make it the perfect place for diners who are just warming up to Indian food--but the selection of traditional entrees like chicken masala also make it enjoyable for longtime Indian fare fans. Swing by any day for the $7 lunch buffet if you'd like to sample a little of everything.

J. Crew opens at Galleria

If you're a fan of J.Crew you no longer have to make the trek to NorthPark for your shopping excursions. We just got our very own J.Crew at the Galleria. The store opened yesterday and is located on the first level of the mall, right next to Saks Fifth Avenue. And just a handy little FYI, J.Crew always gives 15% discounts to college students with proof of ID.

Wine review: Times Ten Cellars Carignane 2007

Carignane is an odd little red grape. It’s used mostly for blending -- in California to produce jug and inexpensive red blends, and in the Rhone region of France, where it’s the poor cousin of syrah, grenache and mouvedre.

This single-varietal carignane, from Dallas' Time Ten Cellars ($15), shows the grape off to nice advantage. It has a funky, Rhone-like aroma (wine types call it bacon fat), but plenty of New World style fruitiness, including a big dose of cranberry (something to keep in mind come Thanksgiving). It’s not especially tannic, and the alcohol is a well-done 13.8 percent. This makes it an ideal red wine for hot summer days and good barbecue, be it pork or smoked chicken.

Coit Central Tower posted for foreclosure

Lender Gramercy Warehouse Funding II LLC has posted the Coit Central Tower for next month's foreclosure sale. The 13-story building off Central Expressway is less than 40 percent leased, according to a Dallas Morning News story. Although we've seen plenty of residential foreclosures across the metroplex this year (more than 25,000 so far), there haven't been nearly as many in the commercial market (less than 1,000 so far)--but because the Coit Central Tower (with a tax value of $23 million) is one of the most prominent Dallas-area buildings to be threatened with foreclosure in recent years, this could be an indication that the trend is starting to grow.

More neighbors seeking help from North Dallas Shared Ministries

Call it a sign of the times. The number of neighbors seeking financial help from North Dallas Shared Ministries is on the rise. The Dallas Morning News reports that as many as 50 new people a day are showing up at the neighborhood charity in need of some sort of help. In the story, executive director Judy Rorrie says the charity is "drowning" because the "increased cost of gas and food is affecting everyone."
If you're interested in donating or volunteering, you can find out about some neighborhood opportunities on the charity's website.

Pete Sessions cuts loose

U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions is taking a lot of flack from his conservative brethren for holding a fund-raiser in a Las Vegas nightclub last year. The congressman, whose district includes parts of East Dallas, Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow and North Dallas, used the Forty Deuce at the Mandalay Bay, and it does seem a bit risque for someone who sponsored legislation to require that the Treasury mint commemorative coins to honor the Boy Scouts.

But what struck me -– and I’m really surprised that Sessions’ colleagues at the Texas Eagle Forum didn’t catch this –- is that the 2008 fundraiser was held at a Vegas sports bar owned by rapper Jay Z. I’m assuming that Sessions and his friends don’t know who Jay Z is, because his bar seems an even more unlikely venue for a Sessions event than the Forty Deuce.

Neighborhood deals: Wi-Fi discount at Fish on Fire

Attention techies and bargain-hunters, I just found out about a cool deal at Fish on Fire. If you swing by any day between 2-5 p.m. and use their free Wi Fi, you get $2 off any seafood basket, plus you get half-off desert. I ate dinner there tonight so it was too late for me to cash in on the deal, but I'll certainly keep in mind next time I need a place to get some work done. I've eaten here a few times. The grilled fish tacos, frozen margaritas, and key lime pie are all good. There's also live music here on the weekends from 7:30-10 p.m.

Layoffs at The Morning News, Part II

This morning’s News story details the cuts: 40 of the 390 newsroom staffers will go. All things considered, 40 isn’t too bad when 14 percent are supposed to be cut company-wide. Many people I talked to expected more, which means the cuts at the three other papers will be awful. Quick, The News’ entertainment-oriented sibling, will become a weekly, apparently to compete with the Observer. This raises one of those fine metaphysical newspaper questions. If you can’t sell any ads as a daily, can you sell any ads as a weekly? 

Wall Street has been unimpressed. A.H. Belo stock, The News’ parent, is down 17 percent this morning. Oops – just lost another half percentage point. More ominously, Goldman Sachs cut its rating on Belo from hold to sell, based on the company's "unprecedented revenue declines."

Meanwhile:

Dallas-area home price update

I was in Chicago last week on family business, and spent a lot of time at my mom’s house. She lives in an upscale northern suburb that can best be described as the kind of place where people who work for plastic surgery’s favorite local magazine would live. Everyone is more or less the same, and there are very few people there like me.

 

And the housing market is in a sinkhole. The home across the street from Mom has been for sale for more than a year, while one three blocks away is in foreclosure and the price has been reduced by $120,000. In fact, its price is now more or less at Dallas levels –- a 3-2 for $279,000. Overall, home prices fell three percent in June, and the number of houses and condos sold in the Chicago area registered the biggest year-to-year drop in 2008.

 

All of which means that as bad as some of the home price news is around here, based on the research I did for this post, it’s a lot worse –- a lot, lot worse -- elsewhere.

Campbell Green sprayground shut down after parasite scare

You likely noticed that the Campbell Green sprayground was shut down this weekend. The neighborhood play area was being treated for possible cryptosporidiosis, the same parasite that infected swimmers at Burger's Lake in Fort Worth. The Dallas Morning News reports that city officials decided to treat spraygrounds after there were reports that kids were showing symptoms associated with the parasite (diarrhea, stomachaches or cramps, nausea and fever) but there haven't been any confirmed cases in our neighborhood.