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This week, I want to share some of the work that has been published in the last month and take you behind the curtain on a few pieces.
This monster piece, which comes in at over 6K words, took days just to transcribe. My full interview with the Duro team was about an hour and 40 minutes long and ran 47 pages. That was cut to 17 pages and then reduced to what you see. There was a lot of trimming the fat, and, shockingly, I am happy with what ended up in the final version. Before the interview even happened, there was a Friday night phone call with their PR to talk about a big conversation like this, and demands were made for a “no bullshit” conversation. They agreed to speak with me, and I agreed to share the subject matter, but not the exact questions, with them in advance so they could be prepared. It’s hard to ask people about finances and deals, or to do industry analysis, unless they’re a little bit prepared. Many times, as you can see in the text, the guys offered up specifics without being pinned down about it.
It is one of the most in-depth looks at how this hospitality group operates to date. I hope it’s interesting to the general public, and I know it will be of interest to owners and operators. I think it will also raise the eyebrows of hospitality industry workers to see what kind of perks this group offers.
One of those fancy desserts J talked about at the Charles // Courtney E. Smith
It’s always exciting to break into a new publication, and I was very excited for my first piece with Texas Highways. I went to visit Heritage East back in October — that is how long the pipeline for finding a home for and publishing freelance stories can be. It is such an interesting place in the middle of this unsettled time, all of which was more complex and required a higher word count than the publication commissioned from me. Downtown Tyler is currently under construction, and the restaurant’s front door isn’t accessible by car. Customers have to park a block away on the back side of the place. It’s a massive revitalization project planned to continue until at least early 2027, but it’s wreaking havoc on businesses in the area.
Also not explored as much as I would have liked is “Seeds,” the academic essay chef/owner Lance McWhorter wrote. Having done the research on where the East Texas food he serves comes from, and found that much of it dates back to enslaved people who traveled across the South to Texas, and from Africa to get to the South, he’s now grappling with how to better incorporate the modern-day people whose culture this food comes from in his restaurant and community. We talked about bringing guest chefs in for dinners, offering lectures, doing speaking engagements with Black chefs, working with Black-owned vineyards for wine dinners, Black-owned farms and ranches for food — all the obvious stuff. It’s an ongoing process.
The hella fancy chicken-fried steak at Heritage East in Tyler // Courntey E. Smith
I landed my first cover story on the Dallas Observer, which wasn’t a goal but was exciting. The request for this story came to me at the very last minute, thanks to a corporate mandate from the media company behind the Observer. It was Friday afternoon, around 3:30, when the food editor there texted me to ask whether I had anything I was already working on or any ideas for a story that would have to be filed by the end of the day on Monday. I ran through different iterations of what this story might look like and, within a few hours, landed on the three sources it would focus on. Fine dining remains left out of this story, and I am curious about whether that sector of dining in Dallas will ever feel the need to weigh in on how ICE has run amok over diners, cafes, and coffee houses. Perhaps if the folks working in the back of house in fine dining establishments become targets, but otherwise, it’s hard to see a path.
Don’t call it a comeback… I got to have dinner with chef Shirley before Night Rooster opened, and I can confirm she is extremely fun and even more charming. That turned into a profile for D, and one of the best things about her is that this woman talks about food using the most romantic and tempting turns of phrase that I’ve ever heard. If you get the chance to eat her food or have five to ten drinks with her, don’t pass it up. I especially liked the honey walnut prawns, which are gluten-free because they are fried in rice flour.
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This is another story that was a long time in the making — I’ve been trying to write about Crowson wines since I had them at Fond’s dinner in October. When I found out they were creating a proprietary blend of Fond X Crowson, I knew it was my shot (and thanks to D for accepting the pitch). It’s such a cool wine, but the best thing I learned was that the Fond team picked some grapes that are profoundly underselling in Texas. I popped in to have the Fond lunch burger (finally - and it more than lives up to the hype) after this story was published, and Jennie Kelley told me that their investors were so stoked to hear that this was helping the sluggish Texas grape sales that they pledged even more money to keep doing collaborations with Crowson. A win!
Crowson wine and soft serve at Fond // Courtney E. Smith
I love Bushi Bushi, and I’ve been wanting to write something about it since I went with my best friend from college to check it out on a whim about a year ago. I can’t tell you how great the soup dumplings are. Just be aware that a robot will come near your table with the order, but not touch it. A human still drops them off. This is one of the food reviews I mentioned doing for the Observer earlier, and they’re more like snapshots in time from a single visit.
Okay, we probably all know that I love the Saint. It’s the decor, it just speaks to me, and I felt instantly at home from the first time I went in. The restaurant changed locations, moving into a building in the Design District over the holidays. It also got a new chef who has a really interesting resume. He started there as the exec sous chef to the previous chef, and then bounced to Nuri Steakhouse and spent a minute as the Jones family's private chef in Jerryworld. I have to say, I was really impressed by a few of his dishes. The changes he made to the Texas quail picatta are incredible — now it eats like a tempura-fried chicken — and the pulled duck and ricotta gnudi are remarkable.
I’m stoked to have a new concert venue in Dallas, and thrilled that it’s serious about attracting soccer fans. But most of all, I’m happy to eat some comfort food from chef AQ. I’m not sure I’ve ever had anything from her that wasn’t fine dining, but it is so cool to me that she got involved in this project. I saw a preview of a jalapeño popper-stuffed meatloaf sandwich with my name on it.
Finally, the weirdness of having a place that serves killer sushi and also killer burgers. It’s so weird. The cognitive dissonance goes on for miles. And somehow, it works. You should eat here. Just skip the Chinese food. Stick with the buttered bun burgers and top-notch sushi.
Don’t fight it // Courtney E. Smith
Next week is going to be a big food week for me. I’m going to try chef Bruno Davaillon’s new menu at Georgie, and I’m so excited about it. It may well be the subject of the next newsletter.