Delicious

A guide to dining & drinking in our neighborhood

Café Lago

9219 Garla ND 214.320.0726

Doggie Dining

F O r thr EE y E ars, Gabr IE la K O vac I c battl ED w I th c I ty hall to allow dogs on restaurant patios. Eventually, she won, and Café Lago became Dallas’ first legal dog-friendly establishment. The result? A much better atmosphere. “When a human came in with their dog, immediately people started interacting,” Kovacic says. “It brings everyone down to a friendlier level. They’re willing to converse with others.” She took the idea even further, developing the “puppy menu,” which includes safe canine cuisine such as scrambled eggs, sliced turkey meat, grilled chicken and Nanny’s Homemade Meatloaf — a blend of meats, fat, veggies and oats. But no onions — those are on the “doggie die list,” a collection of foods that make mutts sick. Fifteen percent of puppy menu sales benefits the East Lake Pet Orphanage. Besides the pet-friendly environment, Café Lago has gained popularity for its authentic sangria and tasty tapas, such as the corn pudding topped with an aromatic poblano cream sauce. The menu also includes lots of veggie dishes. Try the purple risotto, which is packed with celery, broccoli and spinach. The herbs are picked from the Promise of Peace organic garden. “To me, healthfulness is really important,” Kovacic says. “If you’re going to eat something, you don’t want to feel miserable afterward.” —Emily Toman

Pictured: doggie meatloaf, corn pudding

Three more dog-friendly patios:

1 Jason’s Deli

The deli-style lunch and dinner staple’s staffers are friendly to leashed and well-behaved dogs, allowed only in the outside dining area.

7412 GrEENvIllE avE 214.739.1800 jasONsDElI.cOm

2 Big s hucks

Known for robust oysters, crave-inducing crab legs and a large outdoor patio (with sun soaked and shaded sections), a w Shucks welcomes pooches and their people — those dining al fresco, that is.

6232 mOcKINGbIrD 214.887.6353 bIGshUcKs.cOm

FOOD aND wINE ONlINE. Visit lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/dining.

3 C Hipotle

The burritos here are bursting at the seams with fresh pico, rice, beans and proteins, and your canine can tag along, provided she stays on a leash and on the outdoor patio, and we don’t recommend sharing the beans.

11613 NOrth cENtral 214.890.0903 chIpOtlE.cOm

The BE ST EAT S in our neighborhood

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Atomic Pie

Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand

Wine is complicated enough, what with all of the kinds of wine and all of the different places in the wine is made. So what does the wine business wine even more complicated? Invent wine terms, language all its own.

This is troublesome for anyone who likes wine, or not. Even today, after two-plus decades of doing a wine description and have no idea what it means. imagine the difficulty wine-speak gives beginners.

How to get around this problem? One way is to Wine Garden at the State Fair of Texas between Sept. Oct. 23, where The Two Wine Guys, John Bratcher myself, will speak again this year. We’ll be at the stage Monday through Thursday at 1, 3 and 5 p.m., and will be happy to answer any questions.

The best way? Taste wine, and learn the differences:

Many California red wines, like Toad Hollow’s Erik The Red ($15) are fruity, which some wine drinkers often confuse with sweetness. Think of a sweet wine, like riesling, as iced tea with lemon and sugar. Think of fruity wine as the tea with just lemon. The latter is fruity (the taste of the lemon) but not sweet. Does the wine pair easily with food? If so, and if it doesn’t overwhelm the taste of the food, then it’s food friendly. Usually, but not always, food friendly wines have more simple, straightforward flavors, such as a New Zealand sauvignon blanc like Nine Walks ($10). Drink this with summer salads, roast chicken or boiled seafood, and the wine complements the food, which is about as friendly as you can get.

Wineries release a new vintage every year, which is the current vintage. But what happens when retailers haven’t been able to sell all of the previous year’s current vintage? It becomes the previous vintage, and retailers cut prices to get rid of those wines to make room for the current vintage. It’s not unlike what car dealers do — cut prices on last year’s models to make room for the new models. The Australian red blendPillarBoxRed 2008 used to be $12 or $13; you can find it these days, since it’s a previous vintage, for as little as $10.

—JEFF SIEGEL

JEFF SIEGEL’SWEEKLYWINE REVIEWS appear every Wednesday on lakehighlands.advocatemag.com