One of the most challenging aspects of being an artists is getting your work to the public and finding a place in your local art community. While internet promotion has helped artists tremendously in these efforts events such as RAW are still some of the best ways for an artist share their work with their community.

What is RAW? RAW is an internationally held art focused event in which the directors hand pick local artists to showcase from all across the genre board. This week RAW showcase Dallas will be bringing out some of our best creators of film, fashion design, music, visual artist, hair & makeup artistry, and performance art to The Door for what the organizers of RAW like to call “an amazing one-night circus of creativity.”

What’s cool about RAW is that not only does it give over 30 local artists a platform to promote their work to the general public, but with a broad range of artistic genres being represented RAW gives artists a chance to discover and inspire each other. Case in point;  this Thursday you’ll see works from The Curiositeer, a designer who specializes in making art and jewelry  from creatures long since deceased, along side The Renegades, an ultra talented hip-hop dance crew. Now I’m not saying The Renegades are going to start incorporating formaldehyde jars into their performances or that Curiositeer is going to start adorning baseball caps with cat skulls, but it’s just great that those two different energies will be sharing a space and potentially inspiring someone else if not each other. RAW is going to be a good time filled with creative vibes and awesome people so take a look at who’s work your going to get to see, hear and smell and come ready be excited and inspired.

When: Thursday, May 23 from 8pm to 12am 

Where: The Door,  2513 Main St, Dallas

Price: 15$ pre-sale 20$ at the door, 21 and up only 

 Competition Categories: 

Full Beard Natural

Partial Beard

Womans Fake Beard and Mustache

Styled Mustache

Natural Mustache

Groomed

Freestyle

Full Beard With Styled Mustache

Bands:

Urizen

Jonny Pecker And The Beaver Bustin’ Pickle Weasels

Southern Train Gypsy

Fish Fry Bingo

doors open at 6:00 registration is from 6:00 to 7:00 

5$ to get in and 5$ to enter the competition,all ages

Chef Holly Muller and Le Cordon Bleu Students

Deep Ellum’s My Private Chef, the personalized cooking service with an evolving menu of globally inspired, home-grown meals by Chef Holly Muller, is opening its kitchen and showroom to three Le Cordon Bleu culinary students this Saturday for a special fundraising dinner supervised by Certified Executive Chef and Art Institute educator Robbie Hooker to further their education and delight joining guests.

“The Taste of Italy” will feature a five-course menu with farm fresh ingredients from the Coppell Farmers Market. My Private Chef has history of holding phenomenal dinners, including the 2013 James Beard Foundation Dinner this February. “Taste of Italy” looks no less promising with its heirloom tomato bruschetta, limoncello sorbet, Braciole Calabresi, and tiramisu trifle, but what makes this dinner all the more wonderful are the students behind it.

Chef Muller recognized Le Cordon Bleu students Connor FitzGerald, Brittany Paul and Ashley Pellegrino’s talent when they volunteered to help recreate a James Beard House dinner by and with acclaimed Chef Lorenzo Polegri. Following the event, the three qualified to serve an externship in Orvieto, Italy and study under Polegri at his restaurant Zeppelin. The dinner is both an opportunity for these students to continue their education, while raising fund for a once in a lifetime experience to study under the award-winning chef.

The dinner alone would be worth the $65 price tag, but helping these young chefs on their way to culinary accomplishment makes the experience as fulfilling as it will be filling.

BYOB and RSVP to connor_fitzgerald@aol.com or 601.955.4239 with number of guests and credit card number.

The Taste of Italy

Saturday, April 20^th

8:30 pm

My Private Chef

Deep Ellum

$65/Person – BYOB

Trio of Italy

Heirloom Bruschetta

Marinated Tuscan White Beans, Olives and warm Almonds

Red Onion Marmalade

Served with fresh Baguette

Orechietti Con Carciofi

Artichokes, Smoked Pancetta

Limoncello Sorbet

Limoncello, Candied Lemon Zest

Braciole Calabresi with Wilted Spinach and Risotto

Stuffed Loins of Pork, Prosciutto, Italian Romano Cheese and Sauce Tomate

Spinach with Umbrian, Wine Soaked golden Raisins and Pine Nuts

Creamy Risotto, White Truffle Oil

Tiramisu Trifle

Espresso soaked Ladyfingers and Mascarpone

A silent auction and raffle will include a week’s worth of My Private Chef’s healthy pre-prepared meals and an in house dinner for 2 and 4.

The event is free with most galleries in walking distance of each other, but for those that aren’t, the DART green line will be available to take patrons from the Deep Ellum and Baylor stations to the Fair Park station in Expositoin Park.

If you’re wondering whose doors will be open, here’s a list of the studios and galleries you’ll get to check out on Saturday.

3WP Studios

Continental Gin Artist Studios

Galleries

500x Gallery

Central Trak

Continental Lofts Gallery

Kettle Art Gallery

Kirk Hopper Fine Art

Liliana Bloch Gllery

Mokah Art Gallery

The Public Trust

RGB Gallery

Barry Whistler Gallery

Do you like the barbecue goodness of Smoke or the tender magic of Chicken Scratch? Do you like craft beer from Deep Ellum Brewing Company, mussels from Lucia, or brunch from The Grape? Do you go to Central Market solely for the samples? You get around, Dallas food lover you, and you’re going to want in on this dinner.

Suds and Smoke will be a celebration of smoked food and craft beer, locally raised ingredients, locally raised music by Jes Spires, and some seriously awesome Dallas chefs including Tim Byres of Smoke and Chicken Scratch, Terry Chandler of Fred’s Texas Café, and Brian Luscher of the Grape among others. The special dinner will be held Monday, February 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Deep Ellum Brewing Company.

The multi-chef event will benefit Foodways Texas’ oral history projects in North Texas. Tickets are $50 for Foodways Texas members and $65 for non-members. As if this high quality union between such high quality suds and smokes couldn’t get any better, Foodways Texas will be giving away tickets to their upcoming symposium, Our Barbecue, Ourselves, on April 4-6, 2013 and their third annual Barbecue Summer Camp on June 7-9, 2013.

{for more event info}

Until Saturday, my only brewery tour experience was the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, Ireland. It’s a bit like a museum: very organized, very educational, and a little bit of beer.

When we pulled up to Deep Ellum Brewing Company this weekend, my thoughts were echoed exactly by one of our friends: “I don’t really know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.”

Deep Ellum Brewing Company is tiny, with a Katy Trail Ice House-esque patio, a food truck, and a room with big, bold brewing machines (I’m sure there’s a proper name for that). The $10 tour consists of a quick stroll around those machines, a free (awesome) glass, and a lot more beer than you get at Guinness.

It certainly wasn’t overwhelming, but it had something. I’m guessing that something was the pure passion these guys had for quality, craft beer. It’s that passion that has inspired the more recent brewery openings like Peticolas Brewing Co., Four Corners, and Community Brewing Co.

It’s an idea that Dallas has rallied behind as more and more people drink local beer. The tours, held every Thursday and Saturday, are largely run by volunteers.

It’s no Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but it’s a local business that Dallas should be very proud of, and a pretty great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

There are so many good things happening here. This massive toy drive for the DFW Chapter of Toys for Tots combines the DFW Food Truck Group with the U.S. Marine Corp for a special event at the Union Bankers building in Deep Ellum during the annual Toys for Tots Christmas toy drive.

Over 20 United States Marines will be on hand to take toy donations from guests who are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy for a needy child. Pictures with Santa will be available in addition to live music, bounce houses, and local vendors for holiday shopping.

Where else can you enjoy great food, music, and the joy of giving?  For more updates and information, check out their event page on Facebook.

Confirmed Food Trucks

• Rock & Roll Tacos
• Rockstar Bakeshop
• Easy Slider Truck
• Ssahm BBQ
• Gepetto’s Pizza
• Three Lions
• The Gastro Bomber and more!

It’s a sad day! After a long 3 year journey, we are closing our Deep Ellum doors. We can’t thank everyone enough for your support over the last few years. To our wonderful staff, the amazing musicians who came through the door, and all the fans, we thank you! All shows are being relocated if possible to our favorite venues, so please be on the lookout for updates on the page to find out where to see all your favorite bands. Many thanks to Kim Finch and the Doublewide for hosting our shows last night and this evening.

For anyone who was a fan of the elegantly down home venue, this will be a sad farewell. Maybe this video will inspire someone to buy the great little music venue that was designed to be “not uber cool, but cool enough.”

Held at Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and presented by the Taco Trail and Entrée Dallas, the North Texas Taco Festival will host more than 10 taquerias, restaurants, and food trucks serving up some of DFW’s favorite tacos both classic and unique. Venders will include Rock and Roll Tacos, So-Cal Tacos, Cafeteria y Loncheria El Padrino, and The Rusty Taco. For the taco connoisseurs of the world, wander into Zen Bistro & Dessert Bar for a Filipino taco.

The festival also features an Iron Chef-style competition where Dallas Chefs will go tortilla to tortilla for the honor of ‘Best Taco.’ I would like to judge that… please?

As the event is epically far away, there are sure to be many more exciting announcements. So keep an eye out!

In the meantime, here’s all the info you need:

The North Texas Taco Festival will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013, 11 a.m.–5 p.m., on the 2800 block of Main Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Crowdus Street, alongside the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and its 40 vendors.

For questions and sponsorship or vendor inquiries, please contact José Ralat-Maldonado at 917-854-2917 or ralatmaldonado@gmail.com or Brandon Castillo at 972-898-9227 or brandon@deepellumaket.com. Follow the festival on Twitter @NTXTacoFest. Visit www.northtexastacofestival.com soon for up-to-date details.

(photos via) 

Last October, the Deep Ellum Community Association began their search for a logo that would represent their neighborhood by reaching out to members of the community and asking them to submit their suggestions. That search ended yesterday when the DECA revealed their chosen logo at the 3^rd Annual Deep Ellum BBQ and Cakewalk.

The logo was designed by the Deep Ellum-based creative advertising agency, Belmont Icehouse, and is part of a family of logos that will help promote the Deep Ellum brand in all cultural facets of the neighborhood. The logos were chosen by a panel of judges with advertising backgrounds as well as members of the community at large.

What do you think of the logos? Do you think they accurately represent the culture and diversity of Deep Ellum? Post your comments below and let your opinion be heard!