Advocate Magazine

17-year-old RHS alum graduates from UTD

Emily Toman — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:51:25 +0000

Aaron Kotamarti was solving the Rubik’s Cube by age 12 in less than a minute. While attending Westwood Junior High magnet school, he was taking calculus classes at Richardson High. Pretty soon, his parents enrolled him in distance education courses at Texas Tech, which he finished by age 14.

Now, at 17, he has graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in engineering and computer science. He’s already working on his master’s, according to UTD’s press release. He received his associate’s degree from Richland College in May 2010, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. He was 15 when he started attending UTD. He volunteers a a clinical research center at Medical City Hospital.

Many marvel at genius kids like Kotamarti, but math isn’t the only way he passes the time. He plays electric guitar and piano “to relax.” His parents describe him as funny, playful and humble.

Pera Turkish Kitchen opens at Preston, Summerside

Emily Toman — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:26:38 +0000

A new restaurant just opened in the shopping center at the northwest corner of Preston and Summerside.

Pera Turkish Kitchen serves all kinds of Turkish cuisine with cold appetizers such as hummus, eggplant salad and saksuka starting at $5.50. You also can get platters for $12.95. Hot appetizers include zucchini pankaces and feta-spinach wraps.

The restaurant’s signature entree is the “adana” – lamb with eastern Mediterranean spices. There also are kebabs, gyros, shish and several seafood options. The most expensive items are the mixed grill platter and the grilled branzino (Mediterranean seabass) for about $20.

See the full menu here. The place is open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. every day. The owners also operate a Turkish restaurant in Arlington and expanded to North Dallas.

Anyone eaten at Pera yet? Let us know how it is.

Wine review: Meridian Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Jeff Siegel — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Meridian’s wines make are enough to make a wine writer crazy. Sometimes, they’re really, really well done, and do things like make the $10 Hall of Fame. Other times, they taste like the grocery store wines that they are, and their $10 Hall of Fame worthinness seems very hard to believe.

Hence my trepidation with this review. The sauvignon blanc ($6, purchased, widely available) is an exceedingly well-made wine, and sets a high standard not only for Meridian, but for all grocery store wine at this price. It has lots of tropical fruit (pineapple and mango) in a very forward style, which gives the impression of sweetness. But since it’s sauvignon blanc, there is plenty of citrus and California-style grassiness to balance the fruit. And, hard as it may be to believe, I think there is minerality at the back — about as common in a $6 wine as me not being able to come up with a simile here.

Drink this chilled on its own, or with almost any kind of warm weather white wine dish. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 Hall of Fame. Please, Meridian, don’t let me down.

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Post tags: $10 wine, California wine, cheap wine, inexpensive wine, Meridian, sauvignon blanc, white wine, wine of the week, wine reviews

Advocate giveaway: Taste Addison passes

Meghan Riney — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:30:19 +0000

Taste Addison, the three-day food festival, kicks off this Friday, from 6 p.m. to midnight. This year’s event will feature food from more than 60 Addison restaurants, live music, celebrity chef demonstrations and wine tasting seminars, carnival rides, midway games and more.

The 5th person and the 10th person to email “I Love the Advocate” to mriney@advocatemag.com get four passes to the festival and a gift card to either On the Border or Nate’s Seafood and Steak House.

On your mark, get set, GO! …

Become a coffee connoisseur at ‘cupping lab’ this Friday

Emily Toman — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:04:16 +0000

Photo from Texas Coffee School website

Do you every think about the origin of your morning cup of Joe? You can learn how to evaluate coffees from around the world during the Coffee Cupping Lab 4-5:30 p.m. Friday at Coffee House Cafe, presented by the Texas Coffee School.

The class features the newest, seasonal brews from the cafe, which will use the input to better design its coffee program. Most participants are new to this kind of thing, so don’t have to feel uncomfortable, surrounded by pros.

The Texas Coffee School offers barista training programs and workshops for people looking to get into the coffee biz. Coffee House Cafe is at the southwest corner of Preston and Frankford next to Sonic. We featured the new shop last December.

You must register in advance for the cupping lab. The cost is $16.

RCT announces summer musical line-up

Emily Toman — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:49:00 +0000

"The Drowsy Chaperone" is one of RCT's three summer musicals coming up. (Courtesy pthoto)

Repertory Company Theatre has a diverse selection of productions slated for the summer: An ironic musical about a musical; the classic story of the most famous red-headed orphan; and hillbilly spoof.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” (June 15-25) is a Tony award-winning comedy set in the 192os. Its central character is a musical theater fan whose favorite show comes to life while he offers his own clever commentary.

“Annie” (July 20-29) follows the spunky and optimistic redhead who sings about the “hard-knock life” of a New York City, Depression-era orphan.

“Lil’ Abner” (Aug. 17-26) is, like “Little Orphan Annie”, based on an old-time comic strip about a hillbilly clan making their way a life of poverty.

Each show runs for two weekends. Tickets are $25 for adults, $24 for youth and $20 for seniors. Call the box office at 972.690.5029. RCT is in the Promenade Theatre on Coit just south of Arapaho.

Free tres leches cake at Taco Ocho this Wednesday

Emily Toman — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:00:52 +0000

To celebrate its one-year anniversary, Taco Ocho in Richardson will give away free slices of its tres leches cake all day 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday, May 16.

The taco spot opened last year at Campbell and Greenville just off Central Expressway. It serves eight types of tacos, hence the name, plus tostadas and tortas.

Who doesn’t love free cake?

Advocate video: Unstoppable senior Alesha Cooper

Advocate Staff — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:21:29 +0000

In our May issue, we profiled Richardson High School senior Alesha Cooper, a straight-A, college-bound student who has had to overcome great odds to succeed. Life hasn’t been easy for this optimistic teenager who focused her attention on school while things were falling apart at home.

She recently received the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which covers all four years tuition to the university of her choice. It’s awarded to just 1,000 students in the country each year.

Alesha tells her story in her own words in this Advocate video by Danny Fulgencio.

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Post tags: advocatemag.com, advocate_magazines, danny_fulgencio, far_north_dallas, neighborhood_schools

Restaurant talk: Khao soi at Thai Star

Emily Toman — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:35 +0000

Khao soi at Thai Star

Right now, Thai Star is serving a special off-the-menu dish called khao soi. It’s one of the 20 Taste Addison specials offered at 20 different restaurants throughout May, celebrating the food festival’s 20th anniversary. But if you only try one dish, make it Thai Star’s khao soi. It won Taste: The Competition, and for good reason.

The dish comes from Northern Thailand. It has chicken and noodles in a mixture of red and yellow curry, red onions and other spices, topped with deep-fried egg noodles. It’s smooth and velvety with a nice crunch.

You may have only heard about Thai Star through word of mouth. The small restaurant is hidden from the road in the back of an almost empty shopping center at the southwest corner of Belt Line and Midway. Inside, it has a cozy, intimate and tropical atmosphere. Every Saturday night, they have live acoustic music by local artists and beer tastings – $7 for five samples.

This gem has other off-the-menu favorites, including the avocado roll with fresh lime and pink Himalayan sea salt. For dessert, ask for the coconut and mango Thai kai, a flaky pastry with coconut ice cream and mango sorbet topped with coconut cream.

Thai Star will be at Taste Addison this weekend, along with some 60 other local restaurants. Find all the details here.

Fair Park and Texas-OU

Jeff Siegel — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:28:51 +0000

Here’s a question for Mayor Vision: How did he get to Fair Park for last week’s Texas-OU announcement? He didn’t need to take a signature bridge.

Nothing illustrates the short-sightedness that dominates the thinking of those who run the city better than Fair Park. They whine and bellyache about the need to build things — signature bridges, convention center hotels, toll roads in river levees. That we already have something that exists nowhere else in the world is something they seem to be happy to ignore.

Unless, of course, it’s budget cutting time, when they always notice Fair Park. It has lost 12 percent of its funding since the 2007-08 budget, though we’ve managed to build the bridge and the convention center hotel despite the budget crisis.

I’ve always wondered why the bosses downtown dislike Fair Park so much. Is it because it’s not in a “convenient” part of town? Is it because it’s not new, and the only way to have a world-class city is to have lots of new things? Call me a cynic, but I’ve always suspected that Fair Park gets short shrift because it doesn’t lend itself to the sort of real estate development that motivates the people who run the city. You can’t tear it down to build something new.