BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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Oak

Cliff Soup Co. launches

Neighborhood resident Dina LightMcNeely has launched a soup-delivery service, Oak Cliff Soup Co. It works like this: Every Monday, she publishes a menu on her website, ocsoup.com. Typically, there is one vegetarian, one vegan and one other option. Orders are due by Wednesday, and delivery or pickup is Friday or Saturday, respectively. The soups cost $15 each and come in a 32-ounce mason jar, plus a $1 deposit on the jar. “It’s kind of like the milk man,” Light-McNeely says. “If you send it back to us, we don’t charge you the dollar again.” LightMcNeely says she “cooked her way through undergrad and grad school,” and friends have been urging to sell her delicious homemade soups for years, she says. She finally went for it after she was laid off from her job in marketing, after an 18-year career.

Las Ramblas inspires Jefferson makeover

City Councilwoman Delia Jasso is working with City Design Studio in preliminary plans to create an open-air market and pedestrian thoroughfare on Jefferson Boulevard. The plan is inspired by Las Ramblas in Barcelona. The plan calls for taking Jefferson down to two lanes of car traffic, widening the median, removing curbs and adding concrete pavers. They’re also working on a safer, pedestrian friendly connection from Jefferson to Davis on Bishop. That work would be paid for with $1.47 million in bond borrowing approved in the November election. The Las Ramblas plan could be bolstered by Jim Lake Jr.’s plan to buy the Jefferson Tower office building and connecting retail in the 300 block of West Jefferson with

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plans to renovate it. The city approved a $1.5 million economic development grant for the project, for which it will be eligible once the developer has spent $6 million on renovations.

Safety Glass to move after 72 years in Bishop Arts

Brian Dimock, the third-generation owner of his family’s business, says he is moving Safety Glass Co. out of the Bishop Arts District. Dimock’s grandfather opened the business in 1940, and Dimock says he needs more space. He plans to reopen in a warehouse space at Sylvan and Seale in January or February, once the city issues him a certificate of occupancy. After that, he plans to lease out the 2,600-square-foot space at 316 W. Davis. Next door, Sarah Lombardi plans to open two restaurants. One is Oak Cliff Mercantile, in the building known by the same name. A “coming soon” sign for OC Mercantile describes it as an “eatery, taproom and commons.” In the former El Padrino taco stand, Lombardi is planning Dog House, serving hot dogs and frozen custard.

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Get In Contact

Oak Cliff Soup Co. 214.267.8362

OCSOUP.COM

Safety Glass 316 W. DAVIS 214.941.0321

SAFETYGLASSCO.COM

Oak Cliff Mercantile 330 W. DAVIS

FACEBOOK.COM/ OAKCLIFFMERCANTILE

Lockhart Smokehouse 400 W. DAVIS 214.944.5521

LOCKHARTSMOKEHOUSE.COM

Mighty Fine Arts 409A N. TYLER

214.942.5241

MFAGALLERY.COM

Alta West Davis 1836 W. DAVIS 855.858.6008

ALTAWESTDAVIS.COM

Hattie’s 418 N. BISHOP 214.942.7400

HATTIES.COM

Dude, Sweet Chocolate 408 W. EIGHTH 214.943.5943

DUDESWEETCHOCOLATE.COM

1 Lockhart Smokehouse pit master Will Fleishman last month appeared on the season premiere of “BBQ Pitmasters,” a competitive cooking show on Destination America. 2 Mighty Fine Arts is moving a few doors down, to 409A N. Tyler. The gallery will reopen Jan. 12 with “Doing Wrong Right,” featuring new work by Jennifer and Matthew Guest. 3 Alta West Davis, the 200-unit luxury apartment complex adjacent to Winnetka Heights, opened in December. The Wood Partners property features a workout room with TechnoGym equipment, an in-house bike shop, a lounge-like community room and high-end finish outs. 5 Hattie’s restaurant celebrated 10 years in business in the Bishop Arts District last month. 5 Dude, Sweet Chocolate is expanding. Owner Katherine Clapner has opened a second location in the trendy West Seventh Street area of Fort Worth. She also opened a temporary holiday pop-up shop in Preston Center Plaza, which could become permanent depending on sales, Clapner says.

OAKCLIFF.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/BIZ

Our friends from across the river love driving to Oak Cliff for the delights of our culinary renaissance. But locals know the favorite breakfast spot in Bishop Arts is this no-frills Mexican diner. Juan and Reina Gonzalez opened El Jordan 17 years ago, and while Bishop Arts changes constantly, little has changed inside this breakfast-and-lunch café next door to Hattie’s. Few menu items are priced over $8. Breakfast plates such as migas and huevos rancheros are served with refried beans and fried potatoes. Posole and caldo de res make warm and flavorful lunches on cold January days. —rachel stone

El Jordan Café

416 N. Bishop 214.941.4451

AmbiAnce: cAfe

Price rAnge: $1.50-$9 did you know?

Hours: mondAy-fridAy, 8 A.m.-3 P.m.

JuAn gonzAlez nAmed His restAurAnt After tHe biblicAl river As An excuse to sHAre tHe gosPel wHen diners Ask About tHe nAme.

Three More Spots For Locals Only

Restaurant El Padrino

We miss the old taco stand on West Davis at Bishop, but there is another El Padrino. The original opened 20 years ago on Jefferson, and the tiny café still offers all your old El Padrino favorites, plus coffee.

408 W. Jefferson

214.943.3993

Taquería El Si Hay

This taco spot received a recent mention in Texas Monthly, but we’re still claiming it for the ’hood. The tacos are worth waiting in line for, but remember, it’s cash only.

601 W. Davis

214.941.4042

El Tizoncito

Since it opened in our neighborhood in 2009, this Mexico City-style taquería has expanded to Far North Dallas and LemmonAvenue, but we still don’t understand how it hasn’t taken over the world yet.

3404 W. Illinois

214.330.6153 eltizoncitous.com

Château Font-Mars Picpoul ($10) France

In 2004, shortly after the Advocate’s annual Cheap Wine extravaganza and $10 Wine Hall of Fame made its first appearance, I wondered about the future of cheap wine: “The news for those of us who worry about inexpensive wine has not been good. ...”

Turns out I worried way too much.

This year, for the 11th annual Hall of Fame, I added eight wines, and could have put in twice that many. Wine producers, for whatever reason, seem to have decided that the future of the business rests with well-made, affordable wine. Who can argue with that?

The new wines: the Ipsum and Zestos Spanish whites, brought into the United States by Patrick Mata’s Ole Imports, perhaps the best Spanish wine importer in the world; Australia’s Yalumba Y Series, and especially the shiraz/ viogner, riesling and rosé, which may be the beginning of a revolution in Aussie wine; a French pinot noir, Luc Pirlet Pinot Noir les Barriques Reserve; a California syrah from Mandolin; and Château Font-Mars Picpoul, a French white wine. Five wines dropped out from last year, most because they’re no longer available in the Dallas area.

The holdovers in the Hall of Fame include Notorius, a white wine from Sicily, which represents the couple of dozen Sicilian wines that I have enjoyed over the past four years; the $10 wines from California’s Bogle Vineyards, and especially the old vine zinfandel and petite sirah; and the Yellow+Blue 1-liter boxed wines, and especially the torrontes from Argentina.

Also, Dry Creek Fume Blanc, a stellar sauvignon blanc from California; La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a classic Italian red made with the montepulciano grape; and the Santa Julia+ Argentine torrontes and malbec.

Finally, two Spanish sparkling wines, or cavas Cristalino and Segura Viudas; and the countless Gascon wines, white blends from southwestern France, that have become available in the United States over the past year, such as Domaine Tariquet, Domaine Artigaux, Domaine de Pouy, Domaine D’Arton, and Domaine Duffour.—Jeff Siegel

With Your Wine

Sloppy Joes

This old standby was made for a cold January evening and some great $10 wine, like the La Fiera.

GROCERY LIST

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 bell pepper, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 celery rib, finely diced

1/3 tsp dried thyme

Directions

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 1/4 pounds ground beef chuck or sirloin

1/2 c ketchup

1/2 c beer

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Hot pepper sauce to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add vegetables and seasoning, and sauté 10 minutes, until onions are clear but not browned.

2. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up any lumps, just until browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add liquids, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 or 20 minutes until thickened.

Serves 6, takes 30-40 minutes (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Ask the wine guy

How many calories in a glass of wine?

About 100 in a five-ounce glass, which is the same as an eight-ounce light beer or a flour tortilla.

—Jeff Siegel