GTB TIPS ~ New Year's Eve in Downtown Dallas

WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR'S EVE?

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

It's party time! Have you made your New Year's plans? If Dallas is your home, consider viewing the city of glass, glitz and glamour from inside its glowing globe--atop the downtown landmark, Reunion Tower.

If you hurry, you still can snag a late-night dinner reservation at Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck. Dallas’ newest, hottest restaurant offers a gorgeous revolving 360º view of the city 560 feet below and Asian-inspired cuisine by the famous celebrity chef. The New Year’s Eve menu features a five-course, fixed-price dinner with several options from which to choose for $145 per person ($185 with wine), plus tax and tip. Five Sixty is Puck’s first fine dining venture in Dallas, and adventurous palates can't help but appreciate this master chef's unique and creative fare. Thursday night's meal begins with Oscetra caviar. Included in the first course is Crispy “General Tso Style” Texas Quail followed by Arctic Char, Suckling Pig or Kobe Beef Carpaccio. Seafood lovers will love trying Puck's “Shanghai Style” Maine Lobster or his pan-seared scallops. The fourth course features a choice of Mongolian Lamb Chops, Petite Beef Filet “Au Poivre”, Honey Ginger Glazed Pork Loin or a Kobe NY Strip Steak. For dessert, how about a spiced banana cake with jivara chocolate mousse, chocolate coconut streusel and carmel gelato, a vanilla brioche bread pudding or finish the meal with a cheese, apple and quince preserve medley. For a more complete description of this and other Wolfgang Puck restaurants and cuisine, go to www.wolfgangpuck.com. You can also make your reservations through Open Table at www.opentable.com.

For fun without the formality, there will be live music and a buffet bar at Reunion Tower on the Event Dining Level from 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. for $95 per person (cash bar) or $150 per person (platinum hosted bar), plus taxes and gratuities.

The Reunion Tower Observation Deck Celebration starts at 9 p.m. and continues past Old Lang Syne until 1 a.m. The package costs $125 per person (plus taxes and tip) and includes appetizers, a platinum-hosted bar and a champagne toast at midnight. For reservations for either the buffet bar or the observation deck celebration, call 214-571-5710 or e-mail reuniontower@wolfgangpuck.com.

You might want to get some last minute culture in before the partying begins. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center on 2301 Flora Street beginning at 7:30 p.m. on New Years Eve. This concert, conducted by British conductor James Judd, will feature light classical music, including waltzes and polkas in the European tradition of New Year’s celebrations. Go to www.dallassysmphony.com or call 214-692-0203 to reserve your tickets. (P.S. Save a little and get great seats by purchasing tickets in the Choral Terrace. These seats are located behind the orchestra, where you get a close-up look at the musicians in action and a frontal view of the conductor leading the band. It’s as close to being in the symphony as you can get without playing a note!)

Another entertainment option on New Year’s Eve is The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical, South Pacific. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. at Dallas’ pride and joy, the brand spankin’ new Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora Street in Dallas. Ticket prices range from $30 to $98. Go to www.dallsperformingarts.org or call 214-880-0202 to purchase tickets.

After the party's over, crash at the Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel, adjacent to Reunion Tower. To make your reservations, go to www.hyattregencydallas.com or call 800-233-1234. The best part? In the morning, you might have a hangover, but you won’t have a DUI.

Now that's the way to ring in 2010. Happy New Year, everyone!

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Five Sixty By Wolfgang Puck
300 Reunion Blvd. Dallas, TX
(214)741-5560
www.wolfgangpuck.com

GTB RECIPES

BUTTER CRUMSHUS CAKE IS SCRUMPTIOUS!

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett

Food and family. They go together inextricably during the holidays. In our family, the meal (and the hours spent in the kitchen preparing for it) is as much an event as the day itself. A single bite can bring back a flood of memories--a sort of real-life time travel--that keeps the past alive, perfectly merging it with the present.

Growing up, every celebration of "The Big Two" (Thanksgiving and Christmas) began first thing in the morning with the clan's unanimous favorite: Butter Crumshus Cake, named as such because of its scrumptious crumb topping. On Thanksgiving, Butter Crumshus Cake tied us over until turkey time, and on Christmas, we children looked forward to our slice just as much as the presents we were about to open.

Mom could have made this recipe anytime of the year, but she didn't. She saved Butter Crumshus Cake for special. This, even more than the recipe itself, is how a tradition was made.

Here's what she wrote about it in her 1992 cookbook called "Kiss the Cook", written with my father, Dick Ritscher: "Sometimes traditions are born inauspiciously. This delightful breakfast cake, introduced to me by New Fairfield, Conecticut, neighbor Delores Rupple, tastes best the day after it's made. The hustle of Christmas dinner preparations make an easy-to-make, do-ahead cake a logical choice for Christmas Day breakfast. I'll serve it again this year." (Betty Ann Ritscher)

BUTTER CRUMSHUS CAKE

Ingredients

Topping:
3/8 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
Cake:
1/2 cup butter
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk

Directions:
1. For the topping, blend butter, flour, and brouwn sugar with a pastry blender in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer or by hand, cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Blend in 2 eggs, one at a time; add vanilla and mix well.
4. In another bowl, folk stir flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
5. Add the dry ingredients alternatively with milk to the butter mixture. Beat until smooth.
6. Pour the batter into a 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan which has been greased and dusted with flour. Top batter with crumb topping.
7. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned and edges pull away from sides of the pan. Cover tightly until time to serve. Freezes well.

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