Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Tolbert's chili resurfaces at Whole Foods and in Grapevine

I'm showing my age here, but a brief in the DMN about X2 Chili being sold at Whole Foods Market made me recall the one-and-only, original Dallas chili-man: Frank X. Tolbert. Tolbert (who died in 1984) was a true bear of a man, tall and lanky and loud and funny and everything I imagined a Texan would be when I was growing up in Minnesota. And in case you didn't know, X2 is Frank's son, as well as an accomplished but eclectic artist, and X2 Chili is a frozen version of what the son cooked up for the father at the downtown Tolbert's Chili Parlor on Main across from El Centro, where those of us who worked at the Morning News back then spent many a lunch and, sometimes, dinner hour.

In fact, the first restaurant I remember eating at when I arrived in Dallas in 1978 was the Tolbert's across from the Melrose Hotel on Cedar Springs at Oak Lawn (there's a Walgreen's there now, and it was a Luby's before). Tolbert's super-serious chili was way too hot for my Yankee tastebuds back then, and that was before I met Frank X. his-own-self at the Morning News, where the guy pretty much had the run of the place. He occasionally wrote a history column, but he seemed to spend most of his time telling stories to youngsters like me when he wasn't holed up with Blackie Sherrod and/or John Anders (also rather elusive but personality-laden columnists at the News back then). Tolbert had a hand in starting up the Original Terlingua International Frank X. Tolbert - Wick Fowler Championship Chili Cookoff, and if you don't want to try the frozen variety, you can get a fresh batch of Tolbert's chili at the remaining Tolbert's in Grapevine, operated by Frank's daughter (and X2's sister) Kathleen.

And I guarantee you that if you click on all of the links in this blog post, you'll have added a mini-history of Dallas and Texas to your party repertoire.

When a Whole Foods isn't a good idea

Or at least that’s what some customers in Chicago’s tony Lincoln Park neighborhood might be wondering.

Chicago health department authorities closed the store twice last week for a mouse infestation. The equivalent action here? Closing the company’s Lomo Alto store if it had mice. Said one city official after the second inspection didn’t resolve the problem: "Their failure surprised and disappointed us."

 

Technorati Tags: Whole Foods,Lakewood,grocery stores

Whole Foods update: Some thoughts on Tuesday’s meeting

As several people noted here and elsewhere, that was a big crowd just to find out when a grocery store was opening. Lakewood Neighborhood Association Henda Salmeron said Tuesday night that the 100 or so people who attended was easily the largest turnout at a meeting during her tenure on the board.

I was especially struck by Whole Foods’ sunny disposition as its executives discussed the new store. I think that was as close as an apology as we’re going to get from the chain for the way it handled the situation. I’m guessing Whole Foods took a PR hit, and not just for blaming the neighborhood and the city for not allowing it build a new store the way it wanted.

The last thing you want to do is tick off your customers. I think someone at the Austin headquarters said: “Hey, we originally told them the store was going to open at the end of 2007, and it didn’t. Whose fault is that?”

Whole Foods update: A green store that might open in February -- or May

Two things came out of last night’s meeting between Whole Foods officials and the Lakewood Neighborhood Association. First, the company still isn’t sure when the store will open, but when it does, it will be spiffy -– a LEED-certified building that will include a barbecue stand, an expanded produce section, on-premise bread baking, and cheese made in-house.

And the second? The recent unpleasantness, when Whole Foods decided not tear down the Minyard’s and build a new store because of what it called onerous zoning restrictions and neighborhood objections, has been mostly forgotten. No one brought it up, and Seth Stutzman, Whole Foods’ southwest regional vice president, went out of his way to reassure everyone that the company loves the neighborhood. "We had great communications with the city and our neighbors, and we decided to take our core values into account," he told a standing room only audience of more than 100 people at the Times Ten Cellars annex on Kidwell.

Whole Foods update: Demolition continues

If you haven't driven by the soon-to-be Lakewood Whole Foods lately, you haven't missed much — at least from street level. However, our eye high in the sky has been keeping tabs on the progress so far, and we've watched most of the innards of the old Minyard's hauled out of the building by Bobcat, loaded into dump trucks and hauled away. The old HVAC units on the roof are gone, too, so it's safe to say things are on the move with the reconstruction. No front facade changes yet other than punching out the original doors and windows. And no word from Whole Foods on any update to the construction plans, which were scheduled to be completed in January/February 2009.

Meanwhile, nearby at Belmont and Abrams, no action on the piece of land next to Wachovia, either. The sign is gone, and in talking with a neighborhood guy who was interested in leasing the land for a restaurant but couldn't even get a return phone call from the land owners, it appears they've simply tired of talking with small-timers and have tucked tail until the Whole Foods opens in hopes of attracting a national-scale franchise at that point, once traffic and visibility have increased at the corner.

Find neighbor Philomena Aceto's stuffed breads at Whole Foods

I've tried two of the stuffed bread flavors from East Dallas' chef Philomena Aceto — the fig, prosciutto and gorgonzola; and the artichoke, sundried tomato and smoked provolone. Both were yummy. And both, plus her other four flavors, will be sold at Whole Foods stores in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma starting in July 2008.

They're easy — freeze, thaw and stick in the oven — and they're great for h'ors d'oeuvres. If you need a few loaves before July, e-mail her to make an order.

Whole Foods update: Construction begins after Memorial Day

Good news on the Whole Foods front: The grocer just released three watercolor renderings (click here to see them) showing what the rehabbed Minyard's store will look like when it opens in January 2009, according to WF spokesman Scott Simon. Interior demolition is scheduled to begin shortly after Memorial Day weekend later this month, he says, so we'll be seeing construction work there for most of the rest of year.

Even though it's possible that some "extremely minor adjustments may be made, these images are final," Simon says. "Keep in mind they are hand watercolor renderings, so the colors show as a bit washed-out."

Whole Foods update: Remodeling begins in May, store to open January 2009

Been wondering about what's happening — or not happening — at the new Whole Foods site in Lakewood?

WF's Scott Simon says not to worry: Planning is on track for interior remodeling of the old Minyard's store to begin around the second week of May ("depending on permitting and few other variables," Simon says).

"We are still on target right now for a January opening of the new store, and barring any weather delays or other glitches, we will remain headstrong on hitting this target opening time. We're as ready as anyone to get this store open after so many little delays," Simon says.

Organic food consumers: Are you a 'devoted' or a 'reluctant'?

So are you a "devoted" or a "reluctant" when it comes to buying organic food products? That's the question both traditional and organic grocers are asking, particularly as the economy slows down a bit, according to a story in the DMN a few days ago.

A "natural marketing" company came up with monikers for households in terms of their likelihood of buying organic products. The categories are "devoteds" (18 percent), "temperates" (22 percent), "dabblers" (41 percent) and "reluctants (19 percent). The categories are pretty self-explanatory, but according to the institute, the number of "devoteds" has nearly doubled during the past three years, while the number of "reluctants" has dropped by more than two-thirds.

Perhaps not surprisingly, even as Whole Foods and Sprouts seem to be turning up everywhere, the traditional grocers are also boosting the number and types of organic products they're carrying. Still, for all of the publicity associated with organics, they still make up only about 2-3 percent of U.S. grocery purchases.

And, for those wondering about progress on remodeling the Minyard's building into the new Lakewood Whole Foods, we left a message the other day with Scott Simon, WF's marketing guy in Austin, but haven't heard anything back yet.

Develop or die seems to be the new city mantra, but whose death are they planning?

Jim Schutze has an excellent piece in the Observer about what he describes as the growing pressure developers are exerting on the planning staff at City Hall. He's keying off a DMN editorial a few weeks ago, which followed an attempted smack-down of Angela Hunt over what should have been a benign request on her part for a developer to do a little more homework prior to having his deal for a Lovers Lane and Skillman development approved by the council. We've already talked a bit about that issue in a couple of cage-match posts here and here.

Anyway, Schutze's point is well-taken: When real estate money is flowing, developers always want to develop, and given that as a general rule a new project always is better than an old rundown one, city council reps and city planning people work hard to make sure Dallas gets its fair share of development money. And to ensure that each neighborhood in the city is protected, we rely on our council rep and his/her appointed plan commissioner to review proposed projects, sort through neighborhood opinion and then do the right thing.