out&about in september

09.24.11 DADA GALLERY WALK FREE-$10

This year’s DADA Gallery Walk takes a closer look at the visual art history of Oak Cliff, featuring a tour of the Texas Theatre, an artist gathering and panel discussions. The first is “Oak Cliff Art Then” 10:30 a.m.-noon, and the second is “Oak Cliff Art Now” 1-2:30 p.m. The free gallery walk takes art lovers to exhibits at 40 of the Dallas Art Dealers Association’s member galleries located throughout the city. Admission to the panel discussions is $10, and proceeds benefit the Edith Baker Art Scholarship and Artists Development Fund. For details, call 214.914.1099 or visit dallasartdealers.org. —Emily TOm AN

THROUGH 09.28 ARGENTINE TANGO CLASSES $10$15 Tango Canyengue Dallas continues offering classes at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Admission is $10 each or $15 for a couple. 223 W. Jefferson, 214.670.3777, dallasculture.org

09.07-10.19 ART WITH A VIEW FREE

Oak Cliff painter Christopher Bingham presents his work at BarBelmont with an opening reception 7-9 p.m. Sept. 7. He has previously shown at the Norwood Flynn Gallery and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. The exhibit runs through Oct. 19. 901 Fort Worth Avenue, 214.351.3318, belmontdallas.com

09.24 WINE & ART $50-$75 The Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts hosts its annual Wine & Art fundraiser at 7 p.m. at Turner House with the theme Women Artists of the Texas Centennial. The event includes live music, heavy hors d’oeuvres and fine wines. Admission is $50 and $75 for the 6 p.m. gallery talk. 401 N. Rosemont, 214.946.1670, turnerhouse.org

09.30 ROKY ERICKSON $30-$35 The Kessler Theater presents Dallas-born musician Roky Erickson, described as one of the unknown heroes of rock and roll. He led the famed Austin band 13th Floor Elevators and most recently collaborated with Okkervil River on “True Love Casts Out All Evil.” Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 8. 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org

Dining On Jefferson Boulevard

N ES t LED Am ONG th E th RIF t St ORES and taquerias, Mesa brings an unexpected upscale feel to its spot on Jefferson Boulevard. This is not just another Mexican restaurant. It’s authentic coastal cuisine from the state of Veracruz, specializing in dishes with eclectic and powerful flavors. Chef and owner Raul Reyes reincarnated his previous venture, La Palapa Veracruzana, which operated in the same space. “The food is about the same, but with a more upscale feel,” he says. Reyes spent a year and a half remodeling the restaurant. He built the concrete bar by hand and fashioned tables and chairs out of scrap metal, creating a rustic yet elegant ambiance. Reyes and his wife, Olga, are the masterminds behind the food, engineering dishes like ceviche — an appetizer of snook and shrimp cured in lime juice and topped with tomato, onion, micro cilantro and avocado, served with chips. For something on the wild side, try the Rabo de Res en Acuyo: braised oxtail with hoja santa sauce served with dumplings, yucca and corn on the cob. That’s Reyes’s favorite dish on the menu. After each meal, guests receive a small, complimentary tortito, a cocktail made with peanut butter, Brazilian rum and condensed milk. —Emily

Toman

Three more spots to dine on Jefferson Boulevard

1 Char Co Broiler Steak h ou Se

There’s no better place to satisfy a craving for meat and potatoes than this neighborhood institution, which has adorned Jefferson Boulevard for 40 years. Plus, kids eat free on Wednesday nights. Jefferson & Bishop 214.942.6806 charcodallas.com

2 el r an C hito

You can’t go wrong with this family-owned establishment, which is more than just another Oak Cliff TexMex joint. El Ranchito brings the taste of Monterrey with dishes from northern Mexico like cabritos and mollejas. Jefferson & llewellyn 214.946.4238 elranchito-dallas.com

3 Gonzalez reS taurant

Another Tex-Mex favorite, Gonzalez is known for its fluffy homemade tortillas. Stop by on Saturday mornings for a free breakfast burrito when you purchase any regular menu item.

Jefferson & Bishop 214.946.5333 gonzalezrestaurant.com

$3.00 frozen $3.50 rocks

11am-7pm/7 days

Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc New Zealand

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

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

How to get around this problem? One way is to stop by the Wine Garden at the State Fair of Texas between Sept. 30 and Oct. 23, where The Two Wine Guys, John Bratcher and myself, will speak again this year. We’ll be at the wine stageMonday 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 TheRed ($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 oakcliff.advocatemag.com