Member Since: 6/11/2007
Band Website: tinspirits.com
Band Members: Jeremy J. J. Allen
Debra K. Allen
Robert D. Allen
Jennifer A. Allen
Influences: Anything good
Sounds Like:
ENVY MAGAZINE : DEC 07 : Making a Scene
ENVY Magazine/ Dallas Life
December 2007 issue
MAKING A SCENE
The goal of a good bar-resto, more often than not, is to offer something that separates the venue from its seething mass of competitors. Not necessarily a gimmick (kitchy décor or servers who surround some poor unsuspecting schlub to sing happy birthday), but something that’s a personalized trademark. This is the difference between blending into the “where shall we go tonight?†smorgasbord and springing to mind above the rest. Tin Spirts has a couple of these trademarks: 200 spirits to choose from and lip-smacking New American cuisine with a hint of Southern flare.
Executive chef Daphne Quinn and sous chef Matthew Harris create interesting and delicious treats for the tongue. For starters, $25 buys the Tin Trey Appetizer. It’s a mammoth platter filled with fried alligator tail, crawfish-stuffed mushroom caps, warm bruschetta and flash- fried calamari paired with Creole remoulade and house made marinara. A mere $16 is the cost of ordering the shrimp and grits entrée. You get a huge portion of sautéed shrimp on a bed of cream goat cheese and corn grits accompanied by a Tabasco Andouille sausage pan sauce with micro-diced red bell peppers and scallions.
From the grill comes a full rack of pork ribs, dry-rubbed and slow roasted in peach molasses barbecue. The taste is better than any country truck stop café off I-45. Who wants to dine with cowboy versions of characters from the movie Deliverance, anyway? If you’re in the mood for something warm and sticky with nuts, skip dinner and jump straight to the white chocolate banana bread pudding. Tin Spirit’s signature drink, the Annie Sundaetini, is a sweet combination of Van Gogh Vodka Double Espresso, Frangelico and Baileys Irish Cream.
Owner, Jeremy Allen & Debra Allen (mother & son) has created a bar-resto with lots of atmosphere and character, reminiscent of Deep Ellum hot spots in the early ‘90s. The lighting is low without causing missed-mouth fumblings, and the music is loud enough to cultivate a rowdy dinner-party atmosphere – but never so much that all you can do is drink to the beat. He says he wants to create his own scene that “invites the competition.†With food this good and the fantastic party potential of the place, we predict it won’t be long before others follow his lead.
--- Annie Potasznik
Record Label: Tin Spirits
Type of Label: Indie