Welcome to another episode of About Mansfield, I’m Steve Cosio with Coleen Daniell broadcasting from Podcast Mansfield Recording Studio. Mansfield’s ONLY source for news, talk and information. Coming up on the show: news, weather and sports, and, just in times for Valentine’s Day, I’ll talk in-studio with a local food and beverage expert.
Also coming up we have the Mansfield events calendar, and we will conclude with your chance to win a $25 gift card to Branded Burger Company with the trivia question of the week.
Taking a look at this week’s headlines:
• Cancer has taken the life of a Mansfield coach
• City Council and school board ballots start to take shape
• Max the therapy dog, more than just man’s best friend
• Former Dallas Cowboys defensive back opens a business in Mansfield
• What’s the best way to reheat a pizza? It’s not rocket science…
• And, our unscientific poll question “What’s your favorite Mansfield restaurant for a romantic dinner?” We have the answers along with your weekly weather forecast and local sports. The news starts in 30 seconds. This is About Mansfield.
STEVE: Welcome back to About Mansfield.
COLEEN: Mansfield High School football coach Daniel Maberry died last week at age 47 after a battle with cancer. A letter from Mansfield principal Trent Dowd informed students and parents of Maberry’s death stating, “We have been rallying behind Daniel Maberry as he battled lymphoma for the past two years. It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share with you that Coach Maberry has passed away.” Maberry coached in Mansfield ISD for 22 years, the last 18 at Mansfield High School, took over as Mansfield’s head coach before the 2016 season and had a record of 24-12 in his first three seasons.
He is survived by his wife Cami and two daughters.
STEVE: The Mansfield High School Athletic Booster Club has created a fundraiser, which aims to help pay off the Maberry’s home mortgage and provide some relief for the family during this difficult time. The fundraiser grand prize is a $40,000 voucher toward the purchase of a car from Moritz Chevrolet-Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep or the option to take a $30,000 credit card! The drawing will be on April 25th during a big celebration at The LOT in downtown Mansfield. For more information on the Maberry fundraiser, visit our website and click on LINKS.
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STEVE: There’s been some shifting in the mayoral, council and school board races. Skeeter Pressley originally announced his intentions to run for mayor but has officially filed his paperwork for Council Place 2. Tamera Bounds and Scot Bowman are also on the ballot for Place 2.
Businessman George Fassett added his name to the mayor’s race earlier this week. Fassett is the CEO of an Arlington-based management consulting firm and joins Michael Evans and Brent Newsom on the ballot.
Entrepreneur Philip DeGroat has filed to run for Council Place 6 and will be on the ballot with restauranteur-businessman Todd Tonore. DeGroat graduated from UTA in 2007 with a masters in Information Systems and is a managing member of a boutique liqueur company.
COLEEN: On the other side of town, businessman Chad Lovell added his name to the MISD School Board Place 6 race, going up against incumbent Darrell Sneed. Lovell is a graduate of the LSU School of Banking and works in the lending, financing, and insurance industry.
And finally, nonprofit consultant Corinne Fiagome has filed to run for school board Place 7 against incumbent Courtney Wilson. Fiagome is a former schoolteacher with a masters in Public Policy from Duke University.
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STEVE: The Mansfield City Council is currently accepting applications from residents interested in volunteering their service to fill a vacancy on the Planning & Zoning Commission. The P&Z reviews plats and makes recommendations on site plans and zoning change requests to the City Council. P&Z meets at 6 p.m. the first and third Mondays of each month at City Hall. Anyone interested in serving is encouraged to download and complete an application. You can find a link to the application on our website and click on LINKS.
COLEEN: Thousands of area residents knew that Max the therapy dog and his owner Steve Burn were inseparable. The pair visited area hospitals, universities, senior living homes and D-F-W Airport and allowed people to pet the dog, which has been proven to lower blood pressure and ease stress. Mr. Burn told About Mansfield earlier this week that the 100-pound chow mix, black and fluffy Max was also a major part of easing the pain of regional tragedies.
STEVE BURN: Max was also an American Red Cross therapy dog. I don’t know if you knew that. Max did the fertilizer plant explosion down in West when that happened. Five years ago in April, I think this past holiday season? If you remember two years ago, the tornado that hit Garland and Ovilla down here, Max went with the American Red Cross to give comfort to that. Max did the elementary school shooting in Italy, which was I think, just over over a year ago. This dog could do it all. And it was all in his DNA.
COLEEN: Burn estimates that some 15,000 area people have been affected by Max’s gentleness. Max passed away last week due to cancerous tumors on his stomach.
You can hear the entire 30-minute interview with Steve Burn on our website at AboutMansfield.com. Click on PODCASTS.
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STEVE: After considerable success from their first venture, a former Dallas Cowboys player and his wife have opened a second cafe. Former defensive back Charlie Williams and his wife, Sharonda Williams, are the franchisees of the newest Nestle Toll House Café by Chip location in Mansfield. The new cafe is located in the Shops at Broad.
The husband and wife duo operate another Nestle Toll House Cafe location in the College Park Center at UT-Arlington. The Arlington location opened in November.
Along with a variety of coffee drinks, the cafe also offers cookies, custom cookie cakes, food items like wraps, flatbreads and panini sandwiches, as well as crepes.
Chosen in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Cowboys, Charlie Williams played for the team from 1995-2000, earning a ring for playing in Super Bowl XXX.
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COLEEN: Unless you prefer your leftover pizza like most college students … cold and straight from the refrigerator … most Americans are faced with the chore of reheating their pie while attempting to avoid a rubbery, spongy, crust with piping hot, mouth-burning cheese.
Thanks to the lab workers at Popular Science who were put to the daunting task of figuring out the best way to reheat leftover pizza. First… do not use a microwave oven.
The official reheating method calls for placing your cold pizza on a non-stick pan and cooking it for two minutes over medium-low heat (or until the bottom of the slice is crispy). Then, pour two drops of water (less than a teaspoon) into the pan as far from the pizza as you can get. Cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat to low and cook it for another 60 seconds. Bon appetit and the next time you serve a perfectly reheated slice of pizza to a guest, tell them that you heard it here, on About Mansfield.
Incidentally, Popular Science tested only the thin-crust style of pizza that the Big Apple is famous for. If you’re reheating Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, all bets are off.
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STEVE: In this week’s unscientific poll, Podcast Mansfield Recording Studio once again took to the Internet and asked the question, “What’s your favorite Mansfield restaurant for a romantic dinner?” Coleen has the top three:
COLEEN:
3. Steven’s Garden & Grill
2. Texas Roadhouse
1. La Gondola (overwhelmingly)
We’ll have to the results of another unscientific poll next week.
STEVE: Let’s check the weather forecast for the upcoming week with Alexa.
ALEXA: For the next seven days.
Wednesday: 54º Fahrenheit and showers. Thursday 49º and mostly sunny weather. Friday 54º and lots of sun. Saturday 62º and lots of clouds. Sunday 72º and lots of clouds. Monday 70º and cloudy skies. Tuesday 63º and cloudy skies.
STEVE: In sports, let’s take a look at some local high school home games coming up for the next few days. These are sorted by school
Starting with Friday February 14.
LHS Baseball – 3:00 PM – H-LHS-Baseball Field
LHS Softball – 5:00 PM – H-LHS-Softball Field
LHS Women’s Soccer – 6:00 PM – H-LHS-Football Stadium
LHS Men’s Basketball – 6:30 PM – H-LHS-Varsity Gym
LHS Men’s Soccer – 8:00 PM – H-LHS-Football Stadium
LRHS Soccer vs Mansfield – 4:30 PM – LRHS Football Field
LRHS Softball vs Waco Midway – 5:30 PM – LRHS Softball Field
SHS Men’s Basketball – 4:30 PM – Summit High School
Monday February 17
MHS – Baseball – 12:00 PM – H-Mansfield High School
LRHS Softball vs Eaton – 5:00 PM – LRHS Softball Field
Tuesday February 18
LRHS Basketball vs Summit – 4:30 PM – LRHS Gym
LRHS Lady Eagle Soccer vs So. Grand Prairie – 4:30 PM – LRHS Football Field
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Let’s take a look at the “National Day of” for the upcoming week.
COLEEN: Wednesday February 12 – National Lost Penny Day
Thursday February 13 – National Get a Different Name Day
Friday February 14 – National Ferris Wheel Day (and Valentine’s Day)
Saturday February 15 – National Gum Drop Day
STEVE: Sunday February 16 – Do a Grouch a Favor Day
Monday February 17 – National Random Acts of Kindness Day
Tuesday February 18 – National Drink Wine Day
That’s a look at news, weather and sports. If you have a news tip that you would like us to follow up on, send us an email to news@AboutMansfield.com. Again, that’s news@aboutmansfield.com.
COLEEN: When we come back, Steve will talk about food and drink in-and-around Mansfield, with foodie Ted Wood. We’re back in 30 seconds. You’re listening to About Mansfield.
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ABOUT MANSFIELD: Welcome back to about Mansfield. I’m Steve Cosio and in the studio today we’ve got a gentleman who is a self-proclaimed foodie, beer lover and wine lover. His name is Ted Wood and, Ted, welcome to the program.
TED WOOD: Thank you very much, Steve.
AM: We’re going to call this Mansfield’s TED Talk.
TW: Heh, that’s pretty good.
AM: Now you and I, we run in the same social circles, we we have a lot of mutual friends, but we really haven’t had a chance to get to know each other.
TW: Yeah, pretty much. I mean, we seem to run into each other a lot when we’re out and about and, you know, that’s a good thing.
AM: What makes you a qualified foodie?
TW: Well, besides loving food, my early adulthood late teens, I was working in a restaurant for a number of years as a manager and a cook and it was a small mom-and-pop place back in Pennsylvania. It was Italian food. They were from New York City. Everything was made in-house from scratch, and I learned an appreciation of the kitchen and, just to feel comfortable making food coming up with new things and then you know, that’s never left me. Throughout my probably 30 years I’ve been the cook in the family making dinner every night. I enjoy it, it puts me in my moment as in, you know, long day, it’s a great way to wind down, it’s just kind of get into the kitchen and let yourself go. So that being said, I’ve learned to appreciate when I see other people doing the same, exploring different restaurants, different places, finding those holes in the walls, you know, a new ethnic place might open in a shady part of town, I’ll be one of the first in line to check it out. Because, you know, number one, I love sampling it. Number two, I want to support them because I know what it takes to do it. So I feel a sort of an obligation to do it.
AM: So you think visiting a mom-and-pop restaurant is head and shoulders more important than go into a chain?
TW: Absolutely. And I think just from an industry standpoint of the chains they see that as well because more and more of the chain restaurants are going to a from scratch a methodology as far as how they prepare the food.
AM: You mentioned you lived in Pennsylvania. When did you move to Texas?
TW: I arrived here almost exactly 20 years ago in September of 1999.
AM: And what brought you to Texas?
TW: Work. I’m a software engineer. I was working for Johnson & Johnson when they were in Arlington before they got decimated by the tornado that went through up there right at 360 & I-20.
AM: Let’s talk about Mansfield and some of the surrounding areas. What makes this area a destination?
TW: The growth for number one, it’s growing phenomenally. And I think we all who have been here for a while recognize that just from all the shops and the infrastructure improvements that are going on, of course, yeah, the Shops At Broad. You have some larger types of businesses restaurant wise coming in, and more planned from what I’ve seen. It’s going to get quite exciting. We were the first area south of 20 to have a brewery within the past four years, which was Dirty Job Brewing…
AM: On Main Street.
TW: Yeah. I’m thinking about Tarrant County for the most part because a lot of people will say, well, Revolver was down in Granbury but that’s not Tarrant County. I mean that’s out there right? So now we have to we have By The Horns Brewing, which is pretty much across the street next to where Mellow Mushroom was and we’ll be getting a third when Flix Brewhouse opens up. So, right there for at least the beer snobs and the beer lovers out there. You know, a weekend typical for them is to go searching for a brewery to visit and hang out at and to sample than the new beers, the seasonals and the do the events that they do. So that in and of itself should prove to be an attraction for that crowd, which is a great thing.
AM: I would assume you’ve been to both By The Horns and Dirty Job Brewing.
TW: Just a couple times. I used to volunteer on weekends and some evenings down at Dirty Job a lot just pouring beers and I got to know a lot of the people around and I really really enjoyed it.
AM: From a foodie standpoint. Let’s talk about some restaurants. What are your some of your favorite restaurant?
TW: Oh, man. So regularly, my newest favorite is Gyro Stop, or some people say Jyro Stop.
AM: I’m a traditionalist. It’s gyro.
TW: It’s Greek Lebanese type of Mediterranean food. It’s right on Debbie Lane across from the Target complex. There is a FedEx Store right there in the strip mall and a few other things, sort of in the same lot that Lowe’s is. Yeah, these guys are from Chicago. And they brought not just gyros and things like falafel. They’ve also brought the Italian beef sandwiches, which, if you’re not familiar with this, think of an Arby’s roast beef sandwich and a roll that’s stuffed with meat and then they dunk it in au jus. And they also do the Chicago dogs, the hot dogs if you’ve ever seen that is loaded with all sorts of little peppers and pickles and tomatoes and they do a great job of it. I would still love to find a really good authentic cheese steak here. The only one I found is north Fort Worth off of Beach.
AM: Some other favorites here in Mansfield?
TW: I like Li’s Chinese for Chinese food. It is over across from Tom Thumb.
AM: Yeah, right down the street.
TW: A lot of people who’ve been here for a while will recognize her as she was one of the waitresses at Suzushii for a number of years and her husband was one of the cooks and finally broke away from that and started doing their their own thing and they do a really good job. They have a really nice menu, a couple standouts on there. One thing you have to try is called the Smoke Chicken — not smoked — but Smoke Chicken. And they named it that because it gets a really nice hard wok sear on the vegetables and the meat and that just picks up some of that seasoning from the pan and it’s rememberable.
Another one very new, which I was so excited is Casa Jacaranda.
AM: Absolutely.
TW: So let me back up a little bit. I was very involved with Yelp, the review site, and they have an elite program. Basically, if you write a bunch of reviews and take a bunch of pictures and just interact a lot with what they do you get in this program, and the benefits of that is they will have special events, you’ll be invited to Grand openings, soft openings, a lot of parties. They’ll throw promotional parties and things like that. So you’re sort of like an insider. And I did that for eight years now. So I was one of the first to review the original Casa Jacaranda down in Venus, which is a tiny town. If you drive 157 all the way, it’s a great drive, by the way. You’ll run into it. It’s in there square, which is one block. It was one of the few five star Yelp reviewed places that was carrying over 200 reviews, which was blew me away. So we stopped in for food and it was just quite amazing. And the backstory is it was two women who moved up here. They didn’t know each other, but they’re from different parts of Mexico. And they somehow met and talked about food and they have sort of a hybrid type of style cooking their dishes it’s your not your typical Tex-Mex. Know everything is it going to be covered in sauces and crema, it’s not sour cream.
AM: I’m with you on this. I love Casa Jacaranda and it’s amazing. My wife and I ate at the one and Venus. We both walked away going wow. Now, my wife is Mexican and so she knows her food. And it’s funny because my wife will say, the way that you can tell a good Mexican restaurant is by the way they prepared their refried beans. If they’ve got the refried beans down, the rest of it is gravy.
TW: Even though rice has flavor.
AM: I took her there. I think it was just last week. And that brought her home. Any recommendations for Italian?
TW: It’s called Roma Tratorria. And it’s right next to if you know where Istanbul Grill is. It used to be Laura’s Beer Garden and before that it was something else on the corner of that strip. Hands down the best tiramisu you will ever have melts in your mouth, but they are their standout dishes probably their lobster ravioli.
AM: Let’s talk about some hidden gems restaurants entertainment nightlife attractions, what’s off the beaten path?
TW: My go to, if I’m just looking for a night out or you know to hang out with some friends or even a date will go to Poured, which is a wine bar on Debbie Lane. Absolutely. I know the owner Carroll very well. She’s been there for five years now I believe. And it’s very cozy, comfortable. quiet place. Not loud music blaring, really nice clientele, you meet a lot of interesting people. They have a great selection of beers and wines and as well as small bites and sort of shareable plates like charcuterie and things like that. They also do a brunch once a month, which is on the last Sunday of every month, which you will not find better brunch food anywhere in Mansfield. Carroll, the owner and her best friend Jessica, are both trained chefs. And the things they come up with are just outstanding.
AM: What else, hidden gems?
TW:Oh, the biggest secret I think, that most people don’t know about is actually in Arlington. If that’s not too far away, it’s called A Fork In The Road. And this is a small restaurant that is was opened by a gentleman who was an executive chef at a higher end place in Dallas, North Dallas, and I guess he just got sick of that whole lifestyle. So he left and they open his own place. It is off of Fielder between Pioneer and Park Row. Well, it’s kind of hidden. It’s in a little strip next to a corner gas station and convenience mart, but they do have a little sign up front. It’s very small.
AM: And what kind of food?
Americana. Definitely Americana. Everything scratch made, huge portions. They’re known for their macaroni and cheese, which is called Crack-A-Roni believe it or not, and it is that the name serves it well because you will get addicted to it. It’s a truffle finished mac and cheese with I do not know how many types of cheeses are in it but it’s more of the creamy variety of mac and cheese. But you can get it a little extra called Crack With A B.J. so it has a bacon and roasted a jalapeño and it is phenomenal.
AM: In the couple of minutes that we have left in this segment. Ted, what are some of the things that you would like to see around town?
TW: I would like to see more places dedicated to live music and more different types of music. Any given night almost in Mansfield, you can find an artist playing somewhere, which is great. Something a little more what I’m used to where you have bands set up with usually a consistent type of music being played, whether it’s rock or or whatever, I don’t see too much of that here. Fat Daddy’s actually does have a pretty good lineup from time to time. They get a lot of the cover bands there. Because I grew up going out every weekend and seeing a lot of local bands and the social aspect. That is unmatched. You’ll see the same people weekend and weekend out. You get to know a lot of people and it music brings people together like nothing else. It would be nice to have some more of that.
AM: So you’re around town in Mansfield, and you don’t know what to do on any given night. Where would where would you, Ted, go to find what’s going on around town?
TW: I think the the most reliable source of information recently is there’s a Historic Mansfield app you can download for your smart phone. It has push notifications so it’ll tell you when something is added or coming up. And they do a really good job of keeping it updated with all the events that are occurring.
AM: And where can I get this app?
TW: So if you go on the Google Play Store or the iTunes Store and search for Downtown Mansfield, you will find it and it’s free.
AM: And free just happens to be my favorite four letter F word. Any closing thoughts, Ted?
TW: Just a final thought, which people may not realize but, it came from my exposure to being involved in Yelp and of course, going out to eat all the time is things like Casa Jacaranda and Istanbul Grill and even the Roma Tratorria place. These are some of the top 10 of their styles in the whole Metroplex. You won’t find better in a lot of the larger areas or cities. So we’re very, very lucky. And I think people should, if you haven’t tried them, check them out before you start thinking about going to Dallas or Fort Worth, you know, start local and go from there.
AM: Ted Wood, foodie, beer lover, wine lover. Thanks for being on About Mansfield.
TW: I appreciate the time. Thank you so much.
AM: Keep eating and we’ll have you back on the show.
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Welcome back to about Mansfield. I’m Steve Cosio. With Coleen Daniell. It’s time now for the Mansfield events calendar.
COLEEN:
Wednesday FEB12
• David Tribble – 6 PM · El Primo’s
• Valentine Wine Glass Painting – 7 PM · Dirty Job Brewing
Thursday FEB13
• Tamera Bounds Campaign Kick- Off – 6 PM · El Primo’s
• Steve Cosio – 6:30 PM · Market Street’s Taphouse 16
• Brad Russell – 6:30 PM · Dirty Job Brewing
• Valentine Wine Glass Painting ROUND TWO – 6:30 PM · Poured
• Breaking Bad Co. – 8 PM · Fat Daddy’s
STEVE:
Friday FEB14 – Valentine’s Day!
• Jimmy Martin – Fat Fridays Happy Hour – 5 PM · Fat Daddy’s
• “Love Letters” presented by Magnificent Theater Co. – 7:30 PM – begins a two-night run at the Farr Best Theater
• Big Daddy Band – 9:30 PM · Fat Daddy’s
Saturday FEB15
• Great Backyard Bird Count – 9 AM · Oliver Nature Park
• Pickleball Clinic (8-14Y) – 10 AM · Mansfield Activities Center
• Group Obedience Class – 10:30 AM · Community of Hope United Methodist Church
• Scouts and Stouts! – 12 PM · Dirty Job Brewing
• Back in Black w/ Kill ‘Em All – 9 PM · Fat Daddy’s
COLEEN:
Sunday FEB16
• Intro to Archery – 4:30 PM · McCLENDON PARK WEST
• Sully’s Concert Series with Squeezebox Bandits – 5 PM · Steven’s Garden & Grill
Monday FEB17
• Reminder: MISD school are closed for Presidents’ Day!
STEVE: If you missed any of the events that were mentioned, the list can be seen in written form on our website and click on BLOG.
LISTENER COMMENTS
We enjoy receiving your listener comments from previous episodes. And in this case, Micki writes: “Welcome and great job, Coleen! About Mansfield has two of the finest folks keeping us all informed.”
Thank you, Micki, for listening and your comments.
We welcome all feedback about the program, whether it’s about a specific news story or feature that you heard. Feel free to chime-in by email at comments@aboutmansfield.com or by voicemail at 817-435-2938. That’s 817-435-2938. We’ll read or play back some of the comments next week.
COLEEN: Congratulations to Corinne Fiagome who was the first person to email the correct answer to last week’s trivia question? What is the theme of this year’s Pickle Parade? And the answer is: a salute to the military. Corinne receives a $25 gift card to Branded Burger Company.
After the break. We have this week’s trivia question of the week. I’m Steve Cosio. With Coleen Daniell and this is About Mansfield.
TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK
STEVE: Welcome back to about Mansfield. It is time for this week’s trivia question of the week and the first person to email the correct answer to trivia@aboutmansfield.com will receive a $25 gift card to Branded Burger Company, a funky burger & sandwich joint with signature branded buns, a full bar plus sports on a massive TV. Located in the Ray’s Pharmacy building at 1831 East Broad Street in Mansfield, you can find them on the Internet at BrandedBurgerCompany.com.
This week’s question is: [YOU MUST LISTEN TO THE SHOW TO HEAR THE QUESTION]
Email your answer to trivia@aboutmansfield.com.
Good luck and thanks to Lonnie and the great folks at Branded Burger for the gift card.
CLOSING
Coming up next week on About Mansfield, we’ll talk with a local entrepreneur whose relaxing, adult getaway place is known for their wine. The show will be released on Wednesday February 19. Until then, thanks for listening. For Coleen Daniell, I’m Steve Cosio and this is About Mansfield.