2011 Taste of the NFL Dallas Event

Posted April 11, 2011

It’s time once again for one of our favorite annual events, Taste of the NFL: The Ultimate Cowboys Tailgate Party.  The Super Bowl is over.  All of our “guests” have gone home.  You can all come out of hiding.  It’s time to get back to doing three of the things Texans do best: Loving Football, Eating Great Food, and Taking Care of One Another.  This is one of the few events that allows us to do all three at once.  Last year, readers of The Dallas Life Newsletter helped support the fight to end childhood hunger in our area by heading out to the Glass Cactus and joining with some of DFW’s best chefs to raise money for the North Texas Food Bank, and it is time to do it again.

In case you missed the event last year, let us tell you what to expect.  Your hosts for the evening will be Chef Kent Rathbun of Abacus, Dallas Cowboy DeMarcus Ware, and Cowboys legend Preston Pearson.  This seventh annual event will take place Sunday, April 17, from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine.  Events of the evening will include:

  • 17 gourmet food stations hosted by chefs representing some of DFW’s hottest restaurants
  • Current and former Dallas Cowboy hosts and special guests, including Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
  • Live music by headline Emerald City
  • Silent and live auction items featuring great escapes, experiences and one-of-a-kind memorabilia such as Tiffany & Co. jewelry, a seven-course dinner for eight with wine at Nana, and an American Airlines Center suite to entertain 18 people at an upcoming Mavs or Stars game
  • High-end raffle by Robbins Brothers, the Engagement Ring Store featuring jewelry from designers Lori Bonn, Triton and Simon G
  • Fund-a-Cause opportunities enabling bidders to sponsor children utilizing NTFB programs at commitment levels of $100, $500, $1,000 and $2,500 emceed in a live auction-style format.

As true Dallas foodies, I know you want to know who will be included among the amazing chefs preparing your food for the evening, so here is a partial list:

  • Kent Rathbun, Annika Sacher & Timo Plaza – Abacus/Jasper’s/Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen
  • Marcos Rodriguez – Bolla, Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa
  • Blythe Beck – Central 214, Hotel Palomar Dallas
  • Tim Bevins – craft|DALLAS, W Dallas
  • Orazio LaManna – Dallas Cowboys
  • David Holben – Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House
  • Domingos Noronha – Fogo de Cao Churrascaria
  • Bronwen Weber – Frosted Art Bakery
  • Anthony Bombaci – Nan, Hilton Anatole
  • Rodman Shields – Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse
  • James Williams – North Texas Food Bank
  • Aaron Valimont - Oceanaire Seafood Room
  • James Johnson – Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
  • Ty Thoren - Riverwalk Cantina, Gaylord Texan Resort
  • Shuji Sugawara – Shinsei
  • Gilbert Garza – Suze Restaurant
  • Jaime Corona – The Place at Perry’s
  • TJ Lengnick – Whiskey Cake
  • Marco Aragon – Zeppole, Gaylord Texan Resort

100 percent of the event proceeds will go towards supporting the NTFB’s children’s programs including: the Food 4 Kids backpack, Kids Cafe and pantry programs, which aim to tackle childhood hunger here in North Texas.  You must be 21 or over to enter the venue.  Tickets are $125 per person or $200 per pair in advance and can be reserved online.  Tickets can be purchased at the door for $150 per guest as long as there is space available.  Guests may also opt to make a night of it and book a special $99 room rate at the Gaylord Texan.  Simply call the reservation line at 817-778-1000 and mention code TNFL11 to receive the offer.

This will be an amazing night for an incredible cause.  Look for your Dallas Life Newsletter editors.  We’ll be there, and we hope you will be, too.

Taste of the NFL 2010: Ultimate Cowboys Tailgate Party

Posted April 21, 2010

Dear Dallas Life Newsletter Readers,

As I've mentioned many times, I am proud to be a Native Texan.  I was born in this great state and have lived most of my life here.  Every time my professional life has taken me away I have somehow found my way back.  As a lifelong Texan, I know there are some things that those of us in Texas just understand better than anyone else.  One of those things is football.  Whether it’s a high school game in front of a packed crowd on a Friday night or next year’s Super Bowl live from Cowboy’s Stadium, Texans as a whole have a firmly held love of football.  Another thing Texans know how to do better than just about anybody is kick up our heels.  Other parts of the country may think they know best how to have a good party, but around here we know that an event doesn’t have to be pretentious to be worth your time.  I could go on and on about all the things that I think are decidedly “Texan.”  However, I want to switch gears and tell you something that shouldn’t be associated with our great state at all, and that is Texans going hungry.

Now I’m not talking about getting busy and working through lunch so you’re “starving” when you sit down at a nice restaurant for dinner.  I’m talking about the fact that one out of every five Texas Children lives in a household classified as “food insecure.”  In fact, Texas has the highest rate of hungry children in the United States.  I don’t know about you, but that’s one place I do not want to be in the lead.

Every year I encourage our readers to take part in events to fight hunger in our area.  As a matter of fact, The Dallas Life Newsletter was started originally in support of KRLD Restaurant Week, an incredible effort that supports the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home.  In August you will be hearing about Restaurant Week from us again.  However, there are Texans who need your help right now.

The current economic environment has caused more and more people to need the services offered by the North Texas Food Bank Member Agencies.  To give you a visual of how big the need is right now, let me paint a picture for you.  In just one month the food pantries supplied through the North Texas Food Bank in its 1,100 programs are currently handing out enough food to completely fill the American Airlines Center to capacity six times.  It’s hard to even imagine just how much food that truly is.  What makes it even worse is that even though that’s a lot of food, it is not enough.  That’s what the North Texas Food Bank is managing to provide each month, but the need is much greater.

Each year the North Texas Food Bank depends on a huge rush of donations during the holiday season to help sustain the rest of the year.  This past year they set a goal of raising $5 million during the holidays.  What is truly amazing is that they can make each dollar donated provide four complete meals, so that $5 million would provide 20 million meals to those in need.  Unfortunately, for the first time ever, the North Texas Food Bank did not receive enough donations to meet their holiday goal.  They are still $900,000 short.  There are a lot of ways each one of us can help with this.  If you find yourself financially capable of doing so, I would certainly encourage you to make a donation to help close this gap. 

Aside from direct donations, the North Texas Food Bank gets a lot of funding through large community events, and one way we can help feed the hungry in our community is by dramatically increasing the support given to each of these.  I specifically chose to write to you today because one such event is just around the corner.

Taste of the NFL: The Ultimate Cowboys Tailgate Party is an annual event in which you have the opportunity to partner with Dallas Cowboys Players and Top Restaurant Chefs to help the North Texas Food Bank Tackle Childhood Hunger.  This is your chance to combine things we’re good at supporting, like football and having a good time with something we’re apparently not so good at: feeding hungry children.  The hosts of the event are current Dallas Cowboys Players DeMarcus Ware #94 and Marcus Spears #96, legendary Cowboy Preston Pearson, and Chef/Proprietor of multiple top D/FW restaurants Kent Rathbun.

This is the sixth year for this event, and it has never been needed more.  If you’ve been thinking about a great night out, here is your opportunity to make your evening mean something to your neighbors all around North Texas.
There’s no need to pick a restaurant.  Food will be provided at 22 different stations by chefs whose names you’ve seen in The Dallas Life Newsletter many times.  There will be chefs participating from not only Kent Rathbun’s restaurants such as Abacus, Jasper’s, and Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, but also Bolla, Central 214, Charlie Palmer, Craft Dallas, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, Fogo de Chão, Nick & Sam’s, and Morton’s.  Anthony Bombaci will be there representing Nana at the Hilton Anatole, and if you haven’t had a chance yet to try Tommy Simpson’s newest endeavor, AMPM, you’ll have your chance.  Fans of Food Network Challenge will certainly recognize Bronwen Weber, the Executive Chef and General Manager of Frosted Art Bakery who has won multiple national cake competitions.  There are still several more I could list, but I think you get the idea.

Emerald City will be providing the music.  There will be a silent auction, great raffles, and appearances by Dallas Cowboys Players and Cheerleaders.  All this will be taking place Sunday, April 25, 2010 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM at the Glass Cactus in Grapevine at the Gaylord Texan Resort.  Garage parking is free, or you can valet for $10.  The Gaylord Texan will even let you have a room for the night for only $99 if you mention rate code “TNFL10”.

If there is still space available that night, they will sell tickets at the door for $125 per person of $225 per couple.  However, if you are “in the know”, which of course you are, you can get tickets now at an Early Bird Rate of $99 per person or $175 per couple.  This rate was only supposed to be valid through March 25th, but the deadline has been extended to March 31st.  You can reserve your tickets now online.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.  I hope you will be able to take advantage of this opportunity to have a great night on the town while helping to feed the hungry children of our community.

Sincerely
Steven C. Newcomb, Editor-in-Chief

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Taste of the NFL

2011 Event

Sunday, April 17, 2010
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Glass Cactus at the Gaylor Texan Resort

1501 Gaylord Trail
Grapevine, TX 76051

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