Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Wachovia Lakewood is shaping up

I just drove by the Belmont/Abrams intersection that will soon host Dallas' 500th Wachovia bank (just kidding on the number, but it does seem like they're everywhere); the construction trailer is sitting on the site and the bulldozer is pushing dirt around. Looks like they're getting serious about getting going. As Kris Scott pointed out here several months ago, the "historic" gas station that we rallied around to save when Wachovia bought the land looks pretty lame just sitting out there by itself. If Wachovia can build a modern banking facility around that building and still make the station somehow seem even more historic than it actually is, more power to them. I would guess that, with dirt being pushed around now, the bank would probably be opening in 120-150 days. By the way, does anyone know the history of the gas station?

Putting the media to the rack

Let's see -- the city is going to spend $1.2 million to police newspaper racks  downtown. We'll ignore the free speech issues, since there will undoubtedly be a lawsuit that will cost taxpayers another couple of million dollars to defend. So let's look at why else this is such a silly idea (and know that the Advocate has no racks affected by the ordinance, so my analysis is strictly whether it is good policy):

• Cleaning news rack clutter as a panacea. Ah yes, the problems downtown -- struggles to lure retail and residents, all those pot holes, crime -- will be solved by standardizing news racks. Of course they will. Her Mayorness, in one of her last official acts, said so: "It'll make downtown look a lot better. This is a great move."

• We really don't need that money for anything else, do we? Code enforcement, cops, library books? Sigh. I suppose I should just shut up and be grateful we're not giving the money to another developer.

• A patchwork remedy instead of a long-term solution, something our city government does a lot. This is the city plan to revitalize downtown. Compare it to the plan to revitalize New York City. The latter may have a bunch of stuff that sounds odd, but it's aggressive and forward thinking.

The rack ordinance is not about cleaning up downtown. It's about sticking it to the media. This is something politicians like to do, just to show they can do it. And especially if they can spend someone else's money.

Let's keep watering those lawns

One reason why the Legislature barely passed the water bill last month was because many members hate Dallas. And they hate us because we use lots of water -- 30 percent more water per person than any other big city in the state.

I don't want to get into a discussion about whether we need the reservoir that was approved in the water bill. I don't know enough to have an opinion one way or the other. I do know, however, that we don't do enough to conserve water, as witnessed by my travels in and around Lakewood and East Dallas the past couple of weeks. This has been an exceptionally wet spring, with almost six inches so far this month. That's almost three times normal. Plus, we have had almost 27 inches of rain this year, about seven inches less than what we get all year.

So why are people still watering their lawns three and four times a week? Or when it's raining? And saying you're doing it because you want to is not a good reason.

Indian food, even though it's on the wrong side of Central

We have had, off and on over the years, decent Indian food in Dallas. Some of the best we have ever had, though, has turned up at a place called Roti Grill on McKinney just on the other side of Central.

My passion for Indian food  began when I was lucky enough to spend some time in London on writing business in the late 1980s. Most of what I have had at the Roti Grill is as good as what I had in London, where the English take their Indian very seriously (and also incredibly spicy, but that's another story.) It's not perfect -- consistency isn't always what it should be, and it's a little pricey, given the Knox-Henderson location.

What to try? Forget the beef and chicken dishes. The Roti Grill is about vegetables. All are standouts, even something a non-Indian would hesitate to try because it sounds so odd, like vegetable fritters in yogurt sauce. Especially well-done are the black lentils, called daal maharani, and the chickpeas, which comes in a sweet, spicy balti sauce.

Speaking of spicy, take care. Medium is mostly spicy enough -- once past that point, you're in eye-watering, water-guzzling territory.

Is Ed Oakley really gay?

A truly bizarre article in Dallas' Only Daily Newspaper this morning, in which columnist Jacquielynn Floyd -- hardly the paper's heaviest hitter -- defends The News' coverage of Ed Oakley's sexual orientation. I especially loved the headline, which made no sense at all.

The News' coverage of the recently completed mayoral campaign may or may not have been fair (it leaned toward Tom Leppert, but just a bit), but whatever bias it showed had very little to do with Oakley's homosexuality. It had everything to do with what was beneficial for the News. The Construction Magnate was the candidate of the city's Anglo business establishment, so why is it surprising that The News wanted him elected? That Oakley was gay probably wasn't an issue with The News; that he was not a Park Cities, GOP kind of guy certainly was. (Which raises the issue of why so many non-Establishment types like Oakley so desperately want to belong to a club that doesn't want them as a member. If anyone ever figures this out, let me know.)

Oakley lost because he ran a miserable campaign, not because he was gay. He would have lost if he was straight, from Pluto or whatever. In East Dallas, we have elected four gay councilmen -- Craig McDaniel, Craig Holcomb, Chris Luna and John Loza -- yet Oakley lost almost all of East Dallas, often by huge margins. That's because he didn't address the issues that matter to us, like city services. Pave our streets, and we don't care who you sleep with. No doubt some people voted against Oakley because he was gay. This is Dallas, after all, not San Francisco. But that attitude didn't decide the election.

In fact, I'd even argue that it was, in some respects, an advantage. It gave Oakley a committed base, which is crucial in a runoff. In addition, the Dallas gay community is more politically savvy than the black or Hispanic community, another advantage in a runoff. All of which just points out how pathetic Oakley's campaign was.

DISD to hold community meeting for next bond program

DISD Superintendent, Dr. Michael Hinojosa, has taken an aggressive stance on improving our school facilities by pushing to have another major bond program on the ballot this November. This new one follows very closely on the heels of the largest school bond program in DISD history. Largest by a huge margin, I might add, with some aspects of it  still in progress.

The DISD has been holding a series of community input meetings to gather information in preparation for this effort. The one for the northeast quadrant of the DISD, which will include all of the East Dallas and Lakewood area, is scheduled for this Wednesday, June 20 at 6:30 pm at McShan Elementary, 8307 Meadow Road, Dallas, TX 75231. A lot remains to be done in our part of town so I hope for a good turnout.

Three lessons from the mayoral election

What did we learn from Tom Leppert's victory on Saturday?

1. This is still a Republican city. All of this analysis about some huge wave of liberal, Manhattan-style voters washing over Dallas is nothing more than pundits looking at statistics and seeing what they want to see and not what's actually there. Yes, many voters are unhappy about the war in Iraq, but what we want from the mayor is the garbage picked up. Note to pundits: The three mayors before Leppert were all Democrats in their other lives, and no one said this was a Democratic city then, did they?

2. Ed Oakley ran perhaps the worst city campaign in the 23 years I have been paying attention to these things. It was worse than Kathryn Cain's mayoral effort in 1991, and that was pretty bad. (Does anyone remember: "Raise Cain to fight Crime?") Oakley somehow managed to alienate voters who figured Leppert was the spawn of the devil. Way to go, Ed.

3. Carol Reed, who ran Leppert's campaign, is pretty darn good at what she does. She might even have been able to get Oakley elected.

The Cat takes over

Just got back in town, after three weeks away from email and phones, in time to cast my vote for mayor. And waiting for me this morning was a personal email from the winner, Tom "The Cat" Leppert (apparently that was his nickname in school because Leppert sounds like leopard), promising to be an even-handed and inclusive mayor who will address crime, economic development, education and city services — all in a positive manner. I hope he's right, because with all of the new council members (half of the council turned over, I think), one of two things is going to be happening: either everyone is going to be working hard to stay in line, or everyone is going to be working hard to position themselves for the next mayoral race. I have to admit I was looking forward to setting up a chart starting at 3,000 and counting down with Ed Oakley as he knocked down apartment complexes unit by unit, but that dream will have to wait. With Leppert as the winner, there's not really anything to keep track of because he didn't promise to do anything specific. But that may be OK — he's going to have his hands full learning how things work and don't work at City Hall. I was surprised at how easily he won, though — pretty much across the board north of I-30.

Kitchen 1924. Where do I start?

It's about the food. It really is. But there's alot more than that going on here. The owner is a self-described Foo Fighter. You can look it up on the web site if you don't believe me, or if you want to know what that is. The private dining room is known as the "Elvis Room" because everyone dines beneath a large painting of the King, painted by Shawn, the Foo Fighter owner. Then there is the "Feed Me" series; those days when the chef gets to make all the decisions about what you eat. Really. Just sit back and enjoy. (The "Feed Me" and "Feed Me/Wine Me" options were very popular at the dearly departed Green Room). There is also Community Dining (pictured at left) where very long tables are set and you get to sit and eat with strangers, just like at John's Cafe.

Like I said, however, it's about the food.  The concept is comfort food, but it's probably not like what Mom used to make. One of our side dishes was Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits. I'll let that sink in a minute........Smoked Gouda Cheese Grits. My wife was humiliated when I licked the bowl. There's deviled eggs on the appetizer menu, except these are made with smoked salmon and Tasso Ham. Maybe they should be on the desert menu instead. I had a perfect beef tenderloin (it's hard to be adventurous when faced with a tenderloin option. I was weak)  but  some in our party had the Grilled Pimenton Pork Chop with Fig Jus. A table of six and wild enthusiasm for the food all around.

Yet another example of why I do all my restaurant dining east of Central and South of Northwest Highway. Locally owned (does a foo fighter qualify as a local?), fresh food well prepared in a creative environment. If you haven't found it yet, it's in the old Dolce Vita space in the Lakewood Shopping center, next to Dixie House, 1924 Abrams Parkway.

Turn on the Casa Linda Theater lights

Just got off the phone with Clay Evans, whose SC Companies owns the theater at Casa Linda, and he said the theater renovation is 90 percent complete. The company's goal: To lease the 12,500 square feet to a retailer or restaurant -- either one tenant or three -- and to have someone in there this fall. Plus, he said, the tower lights will go back on next week.

Who does SC Companies want to lease to? Evans declined to discuss specific companies, but he said he would love to get a tenant similar to those found at Mockingbird Station, Highland Park Village or Old Town.

Can he get someone like that? It will be difficult. Typically, upscale fast casual restaurants like Cafe Express or La Madeleine need that much space, as do hardware stores, drug stores and boutique-style furniture stores. But many usually want better demographics than Casa Linda offers. Best guess, after talking to some real estate types? Three smaller franchise-type operations like Super Suppers or Mail Boxes, Etc., similar to what's in the Lakewood Shopping Center.