Advocate Magazine

Buy a plant, support Hillcrest’s class of 2013

Emily Toman — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:06:55 +0000

A 1-gallon dianthus is $8 at the Hillcrest plant sale

If you’re looking to brighten up your home this spring, swing by the plant sale 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Hillcrest High School. Proceeds benefit the class of 2013 for year-round senior activities.

The prices are reasonable, too. There are more than 20 plants priced from $5 to $20.

The sale takes place on the south side of the school off Aberdeen. Bring cash.

Wine review: Meridian Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Jeff Siegel — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Meridian’s wines make are enough to make a wine writer crazy. Sometimes, they’re really, really well done, and do things like make the $10 Hall of Fame. Other times, they taste like the grocery store wines that they are, and their $10 Hall of Fame worthinness seems very hard to believe.

Hence my trepidation with this review. The sauvignon blanc ($6, purchased, widely available) is an exceedingly well-made wine, and sets a high standard not only for Meridian, but for all grocery store wine at this price. It has lots of tropical fruit (pineapple and mango) in a very forward style, which gives the impression of sweetness. But since it’s sauvignon blanc, there is plenty of citrus and California-style grassiness to balance the fruit. And, hard as it may be to believe, I think there is minerality at the back — about as common in a $6 wine as me not being able to come up with a simile here.

Drink this chilled on its own, or with almost any kind of warm weather white wine dish. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 Hall of Fame. Please, Meridian, don’t let me down.

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Post tags: $10 wine, California wine, cheap wine, inexpensive wine, Meridian, sauvignon blanc, white wine, wine of the week, wine reviews

Preston Hollow resident’s new book helps college grads navigate transition to career

Emily Toman — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:36:14 +0000

Right now, eager 20-somethings are graduating college and diving into “the real world,” but not all of them have careers lined up. For many students in these uncertain economic times, graduation leads to an awkward transition period that often involves moving back home with their parents.

That can really take out the glitz and glamor of a promising career for the students, but it also gets parents wondering about ways they can help after investing thousands of dollars into their children’s college education.

Peter Gudmundsson of Preston Hollow has a few tips in his forthcoming book, “Not Done Yet: The College Career Transition Guide for Parents.” He and his wife Kathy started Career Foundations Academy to help young people ages 19-26 navigate the transition from college to career. The program aims to build confidence and connections for recent college grads through special curriculum and coaching.

Peter is also the CEO of the Dropout and Truancy Prevention Network that keeps high school students on track to graduate. He is the former CEO of Jobs.com.

Guys-only salon to open at Preston and Royal

Emily Toman — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:01:39 +0000

Amid a plethora of the typical girly-girl spas in our neighborhood comes a new concept for men only. The Gents Place will open in the Preston Oaks Shopping Center at the southeast corner of Preston and Royal by the end of June.

The upscale men’s grooming and lifestyle club offers high-end haircuts, colors, shaves, facials, waxing, massages and shoe shines. CEO Ben Davis started the company in 2008 when he was 25 years old. He was recently featured in Forbes for using social media to build his business.

This is the third location for The Gents Place – the other two are in Frisco and Leawood, Kansas.

Advocate Giveaway: Taste Addison passes

Meghan Riney — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:30:49 +0000

Taste Addison, the three-day food festival, kicks off this Friday, from 6 p.m. to midnight. This year’s event will feature food from more than 60 Addison restaurants, live music, celebrity chef demonstrations and wine tasting seminars, carnival rides, midway games and more.

The 5th person and the 10th person to email “I Love the Advocate” to mriney@advocatemag.com get four passes to the festival and a gift card to either On the Border or Nate’s Seafood and Steak House.

On your mark, get set, GO! …

Police describe suspects in Katy Trail crimes

Christina Hughes Babb — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:14:59 +0000

The Dallas Police Department today released new details about a string of violent assaults and/or robberies along the Katy Trail as well as other parts of the city. As many as 11 recent incidents — including the mugging of both a jogger and of a woman leaving the Katy Trail Ice House — might be related, according to a press release. The following is a description of the suspects:

First suspect is a black male, approximately 20 to 30 years old. He is 5’8 to 6’2 tall and weighs 150 to160 pounds. He has been armed with a blue steel semi-automatic handgun.

The second suspect is a black male, approximately 20 to 22 years old. He is 5’8 -5’10 tall and weighs approximately 160 pounds. He may have a gold tooth and moles near his eyes. He has been armed with a silver colored semi-automatic handgun.

The suspect vehicle is gray/silver 4-door sedan. The vehicle may be a Chrysler or Chevy Impala.

The DPD has initiated extra patrol along the Katy Trail, which will include additional bicycle officers. Also, members of the Violent Crime Task Force will be deployed in the area.

Police have decided to withhold some details as the investigation progresses.

“This is an active investigation and the detectives have leads,” a report states. “The police department must continually balance the need to inform the public against releasing information that could jeopardize the investigation and potential suspect identification. Future apprehension could be made more difficult and dangerous if suspects are alerted to the details of the police investigation.”

Whether you are on the Katy Trail, White Rock Trail, walking to your neighborhood grocery store or home from a night out at the bar, stay alert, police warn.

Anyone out walking should be always practice the following common safety tips, police say:

Always be aware of your surroundings and people who may be approaching you.

Listen to your instincts. If you feel something is not right, make your way to a safe location and call the police.

Travel with friends.

Avoid becoming so distracted that you are unaware of what is happening around you (in other words, lose the headphones).

Don’t display valuables in a manner that make you an appealing target for a would-be criminal (hide your iPhone).

Finally, people traveling along the Katy Trail should always be aware of the call boxes locations along the trail.

Elizabeth Jones is the new District 1 trustee

Emily Toman — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:51:38 +0000

After winning 52 percent of the vote on Saturday, Elizabeth Jones became the new Dallas ISD District 1 trustee, replacing veteran board member Edwin Flores.

Throughout the campaign, Jones has addressed the need for a more results-minded board with people who know the exact steps to take on any initiative – someone who can navigate financial reports and provide better accountability for the district.

“There is too much time spent on things that don’t have anything to do with educating children,” she said during an earlier debate.

Jones has extensive experience in the corporate and financial business and budget analysis as well as community service locally.

Restaurant talk: Grimaldi’s at Park Lane

Christina Hughes Babb — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:29:24 +0000

The waitress speaks in a melodic accent — I’m no dialectologist, but something European — and tells us why Grimaldi’s offers the best New York City style pizza in these parts. It’s the coal-fired brick ovens set to the precisely perfect temperature … she says (what that is, exactly, I can’t recall).

The aroma, the flavor, the crisp crust cannot exist in a gas or even a wood-burning oven, she says.

This might be true. The pizza is quite flavorful, exceedingly aromatic and crispy indeed. At Grimaldi’s, you sort of build your own pizza. Select pizza or make it a calzone, which is like a pizza sandwich. Choose your sauce: red or white. I tried both and prefer my pizza with plenty of the red, but the white with garlic or pesto is a delightful twist on tradition (when I’m in that kind of mood). Then, you add your toppings. I stuck with artichoke on one side, because I am barely a carnivore, and the kids had pepperoni and pineapple, a longtime family fave, on their side. The salads are nice and big enough for two.

The menu is simple. Hey, it’s pizza. Good. Simple. Pizza. And don’t get out of their with out trying the creamy, chocolate-smattered cannoli or the tiramisu for dessert. Pizza start at $10-$18, and most toppings are $2. The ambiance is all dark woods, Frank Sinatra wafting through the air (though, if the Rangers are playing, there’s a screen for that) and jumbo posters of old movie stars and Brooklyn New York skyline (from where the original Grimaldi’s hails).

Located at Shops at Park Lane, 8060 Park Lane, Grimaldi’s is open from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.

Fair Park and Texas-OU

Jeff Siegel — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:28:49 +0000

Here’s a question for Mayor Vision: How did he get to Fair Park for last week’s Texas-OU announcement? He didn’t need to take a signature bridge.

Nothing illustrates the short-sightedness that dominates the thinking of those who run the city better than Fair Park. They whine and bellyache about the need to build things — signature bridges, convention center hotels, toll roads in river levees. That we already have something that exists nowhere else in the world is something they seem to be happy to ignore.

Unless, of course, it’s budget cutting time, when they always notice Fair Park. It has lost 12 percent of its funding since the 2007-08 budget, though we’ve managed to build the bridge and the convention center hotel despite the budget crisis.

I’ve always wondered why the bosses downtown dislike Fair Park so much. Is it because it’s not in a “convenient” part of town? Is it because it’s not new, and the only way to have a world-class city is to have lots of new things? Call me a cynic, but I’ve always suspected that Fair Park gets short shrift because it doesn’t lend itself to the sort of real estate development that motivates the people who run the city. You can’t tear it down to build something new.

Vote this Saturday for DISD District 1 trustee

Emily Toman — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:54:03 +0000

If you didn’t do it early, tomorrow’s the day to cast your vote for the Dallas ISD District 1 trustee who will replace long-time board member Edwin Flores. Read our exit interview with him in the May issue.

It’s been a hotly contested race particularly between DeGoyler dad Michael Greenberg and businesswoman Elizabeth Jones. Greenberg made a final pitch to voters via YouTube. He has a lot of support in the neighborhood for his personal investment in DISD and hands-on involvement in the community. Jones released an open letterthis week to voters, touting her unmatched financial expertise and knowledge of public education; she also has some key endorsements from Flores, the Dallas Morning News, Educate Dallas PAC, council members Ann Margolin and Linda Koop, and “citizen” Mike Rawlings.

There’s been a fair amount of support for the underdog, too – Jennifer Levy, a stay-at-home mom with a special needs child. She recently questioned Mayor Mike Rawlings’ ethics when he, as a citizen, endorsed Jones.

As for Roland Love – he’s still on the ballot but hasn’t really campaigned much.

See what our readers had to say about the candidates after one of the first debates.

Here’s a list of polling locations open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday. Stay tuned for the results.