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Tim Love wanted to open his Woodshed Smokehouse by Christmas.
Now we know why.
And it didn't involve Santa.
More like Guy Fieri.
Had the Woodshed been open last week, it would have been featured on Fieri's Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Love said this week.
That didn't happen, in part because of mistakes on the city building permit application and in part because the Woodshed is a complicated public-private partnership on government property along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River at Rogers Road.
The restaurant-deck will be open by Stock Show time in mid-January, Love said.
He promises a wide variety of meats smoked over different kinds of wood, some braised with added flavors from wine- or vinegar-soaked cheesecloth wrapping the wood.
"It's intricate, but it's giving us some great flavors," he said.
The menu is finished. It offers barbecue, "simple 'Q," and "new 'Q."
Appetizers include brisket-stuffed piquillos. The "new 'Q" menu includes inventions such as fresh ramen in bone broth with pickled chiles. There's also a chicken-calamari-sausage paella and other family-style platters.
He has been testing the dishes and will be able to tell more during a Saturday run. Participants will start at the Woodshed, run to his Love Shack So7 at Trinity Park restaurant for a beer, then head back.
Instead of showing off the Woodshed, Love joined Fieri at a couple of Diners shoots in Dallas.
The network says Love can't say where, but Love is a big fan of the Maple and Motor burger stand, 4810 Maple Ave. in Dallas.
In Tarrant County, Diners shot scenes at both Taste of Europe and Chop House Burgers in Arlington.
Also: Love has expanded the menu at his Love Shack Denton and plans to expand Love Shack So7 at Trinity Park.
Originally a burger grill, the Love Shack Denton now offers two basic steaks, fried oysters, short ribs and fried pies.
"People want more than burgers," Love said.
He already had expanded the Love Shack menus to include several salads with organic chicken, stews, soups and tenderloin nachos.
The menu features an 8-ounce filet with fries for $18.
The new items are already cooking daily at lunch and dinner at the Love Shack Denton, 115 E. Hickory St. (near the square), 940-442-6834. Watch for them by spring at the Love Shack So7 at Trinity Park (near the duck pond), 817 Matisse St., 817-348-9655.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Wednesdays in Life & Arts and Fridays in DFW.com Weekend. 817-390-7538
Twitter: @eatsbeat
