World-famous Italian chef and cookbook author Lidia Bastianich recently visited her good friend and renowned cheesemaker Paula Lambert at the Mozzarella Company in Dallas.  As Paula is wont to do, she got Lidia involved in a delightful hands-on session of Mozzarella making.  You’re an eyewitness to the private demonstration as Jim White’s “Have iPhone Will Travel” series takes you front and center.  Buon appetito!

Parigi is one of our favorite Dallas restaurants.  Enjoy the cool setting for lunch, dinner or brunch.  Our “Have iPhone Will Travel” series takes you for a quick taste of the popular dining establishment.  Make sure to get by during the holidays for the real deal!

You’ve had that feeling that you’re really gonna like a place (or a person) the minute you walk in the door, right?  That’s how I felt about Princi Italia.  Patrick Colombo’s new restaurant at Preston Road and Royal Lane is on hallowed ground for many who live in the upscale Dallas neighborhood.  The very popular PoPoLo’s held sway at the intersection for many years.  Well, there’s a new sheriff in town (or whatever the Italian equivalent would be).  And, Patrick’s brought in the big guns with Executive Chef Kevin Ascolese (Mi Piaci, Salve!, Ferre).  Generally speaking, Kevin would rather be on the slopes in Colorado, but Patrick has encouraged him to take more vacations to get his downhill runs in,  and stick around Dallas to run Princi Italia.  I hope he decides to stay for a long time.  Kevin is one of the really good guys in the chef world.  He also has some great ideas, and recipes, to share with us on the culinary plane.  Judging from initial response to the casual, tasty fare at Princi Italia, and the booming business, Kevin might want to look for an indoor ski slope close to Dallas (if those still exist).  He might be too busy to get back to the Rockies frequently.  Our video blog series “Have iPhone Will Travel” brings you a taste of honest Italian cuisine, Colombo/Ascolese style.

Alberto Lombardi has hit a home run with his sleek, chic, Bistro 31 in Highland Park Village.  Everything about this restaurant speaks to the consummate talent of one of the world’s great restaurateurs.  Great food?  Natch.  Especially when you hire Eric Brandt (formerly Mansion on Turtle Creek) as executive chef.  Great service?  Of course, Lombardi is the master.  While you’re at it if you can get Marcus Cascio (former Mansion Restaurant GM) to head up operations and training, you’re on the right track.  Setting?  Sublime and comfortable.  And, there’s more on the way with renovations to the patio and the addition of a hip upstairs lounge on the way.  Take a look at our latest “have iPhone will travel” video for a taste, and then do yourself a favor and visit Bistro 31 right away.  It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner; whenever you’re hungry!

I love the pizza, the vibes, the setting–everything about il Cane Rosso (the red dog in Italian) in Deep Ellum.  Jay Jerrier also loves his pizza enough to drag a pizza oven all over town, and has worked—well, like a dog, over the last few years to get his restaurant open.  Check out the scene and the great pizza Napoli style on this week’s webisode.

Arcodoro & Pomodoro is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Dallas.  Lori and Efesio Farris have brought their family’s great Sardinian tradition to Uptown with their upscale restaurant in the Crescent Court.  See our latest webisode here on a recent lunch visit.  And, thanks to Liza Minnelli for the headline inspiration from her Academy Award winning performance in “The Sterile Cuckoo”.

It’s great to be actively engaged in producing our 8th Annual Savor Dallas, returning March 30-31.  We are expanding the event to give it more of a regional scope.  So, in addition to our great events in Dallas on Friday March 30th–The Arts District Wine Stroll in downtown Dallas and others (to be announced soon)–we are pleased to welcome our food and wine loving guests to enjoy our Reserve Tasting and the International Grand Tasting on Saturday March 31, at the beautiful, new Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas.  It’s an awesome place.  Just 10 minutes north of Downtown Dallas, and conveniently located on Highway 114 on Las Colinas Boulevard, between O’Conner and MacArthur.  The design is very cool and so is the space we will have for our Savor Dallas events.  Parking will also be easier for our guests than our previous venues offered.  I predict you will be hearing some murmurings over the new few days from people who don’t like this.  I am sorry.  I  also understand that people don’t like change.  Moving our largest event of the weekend away from downtown Dallas will be seen as a radical change by some.  There are two kinds of people in the world:  (1) Those who see the glass as half-empty, and (2) Those who see the glass as half-full.  I fall into the latter category.  I’ll spare you a litany of what it takes to produce an event the size of Savor Dallas, but suffice to say, choosing the location and the date is the most important thing about it.  (the former usually drives the latter).   We looked at dates from February through March.   The best fit for us, our partners and our attendees is March 30-31.  The weather is warmer, and it’s after Spring break (a point of contention for many in the last few years with our previous, earlier dates).  Also, there is no Mavericks home game that weekend.  In choosing our date AND location for 2012, we had to work around Valentine’s, Easter, Passover, and some big social events, which fall into the first quarter.  Also, there are very few places big enough to host our International Grand Tasting with 60 chefs, hundreds of premium wines, spirits and beer, plus the silent auction to raise money for the North Texas Food Bank, AND music, art, and, oh, about 2500 of our good friends who join us for “The Most Delicious Wine and Food Festival in Texas”.  So, to those who may complain about either the expansion to Las Colinas or the date, I say:

• I understand, it will be a change for us, too (albeit positive)
• It’s a very convenient location for Dallas, Tarrant County, Denton County and Collin County
• We’ll be able to stage events both indoors and outdoors, on covered terraces with spectacular views
• How many years did we drive to Irving to see the Cowboys?  The Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas is only a punt and pass north of the old Texas Stadium site
• It’s your chance to get familiar with a great location (if you’re not already) that is poised to become a center of entertainment over the new few years with major expansions planned including an entertainment complex, a convention center hotel, the new DART Orange Rail Line (with a stop directly behind the Convention Center in Las Colinas), and more
• There are great hotels very close to the Center, including the Marriott, The Omni Mandalay, and the Four Seasons, plus others with which we will be working to offer some great Savor Dallas hotel rates and packages (stay tuned)

Oh, we’ve also gotten a complaint that March 30-31 is the Final Four Weekend.  Well, it’s in New Orleans.  So, this is just what DVR was invented for.  And, if you’re going to the games live, I can’t do anything about that except say, “Go team!” and Laissez le Bon temp rouler (let the good times roll) in Nawlins, and hopefully we’ll see you next year. Besides, we felt like staging Savor Dallas during a Mavericks home game weekend WOULD be a much bigger issue.

I’d be happy to visit with you about Savor Dallas, or answer any questions about the date or venues.  It will be another great year of wining and dining, or as we say:  “Big fun.  Big flavor.  Bring your friends”, to Big D and Big LC (Las Colinas).  And, by the way, tickets are on sale now at a special advance purchase price through December 31st, go to www.SavorDallasTickets.com.

At Savor Dallas, the glass is always “full” (to the legal limit), but we invite you to drink responsibly and join us March 30-31 for some swirling, smelling, sipping, savoring (and spitting).  And, thanks for your support.  I’d love to get your comments on our new Saturday location in Las Colinas.

An air of sophistication and always flown-in-fresh seafood are hallmarks of The Oceanaire Seafood room, located in the Westin Hotel Galleria Dallas.  Long one of our favorite places for lunch or dinner, Oceanaire continues to please.  Haven’t been?  Jim White takes  you there in his latest “Have iPhone will travel” dining webisode.  Cheers!  And, let us know what you think of The Oceanaire, or make other good seafood recommendations.

“Savor Wine and Food with Jim White” has the perfect blend from Mendoza’s storied Don Miguel Gascon winery.  Meet winemaker Ernesto Bajda who explains the difference high-altitude vineyards makes in crafting his delicious wines from Argentina.

Tillman’s Roadhouse, the popular hangout in Bishop Arts,  has an outpost in Fort Worth at the hip, new West 7th Street Development.  “Wining and Dining with Jim White” takes you on a lunch visit and brings you a celebrity chef sighting.  We ran into Chef George Brown, who is consulting the restaurant on its menu.  Are there some additions on the way?  Check it out.