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​Newspapers 'round the country are filled this morning with obituaries, such as this one from The Washington Post, mourning Norman Borlaug, who died Saturday at the age of 95 at his Dallas home. All the obituaries more or less read the same: father of the "Green Revolution," Nobel laureate, the man who saved hundreds of millions from starving to death. The man who fed the world.But in 2002, former Dallas Observer food critic Mark Stuertz profiled Borlaug for this cover story, which chronicled Borlaug's battles with enviroactivists who damned his efforts as "a Western public relations stunt designed to fatten the agro-industrial complex, not feed the hungry." Why? Because he advocated using chemical fertilizers and genetic alterations. Far as they're concerned, it's organic or nothing.What does Borlaug say to those who advocate such agricultural methods? "God bless you," he says. "Use all of the organic matter you want. But don't deceive the world into believing that we can feed 6.2 billion people with organic matter alone. If we tried to do this, we would plow up all of these marginal lands, cut down much of our forests, and much of that would be productive for just a few years. Without chemical fertilizer, forget it."Mark won a James Beard Award for his piece, which is worth a revisit this morning.

​Courthouse News this morning draws our attention to the plight of Brwa Aziz, a dentist in Iraq for whom the mission has not been accomplished. Aziz, you see, enjoys sinking his teeth into North American fast food. He's already serving up smoothies, as a franchisee of Canada-based Juice Zone, and for the past year he's been trying to open up a Wings-Pizza-N-Things outlet in the third-largest city in Iraq. The Wings on Fire? That's the lip-smacking, tounge-scorching taste of freedom.But in a lawsuit filed in Dallas County District Court, Aziz claims the Northwest Dallas-based fast-food chain -- founded by the man behind Pizza Inn way back when -- has taken a small fortune in franchise fees and purchase orders (close to $200,000) and refused to send him the start-up materials. Aziz also says he's spent more than $170,000 to prep the location that's costing him $7,000 in monthly rent (!) while he waits for the stuff to be sent from the warehouse. (Quick, someone get Troy Aikman on the phone! Wingstop to the rescue!) Aziz, incidentally, has a local lawyer: Sheldon Goldstein.

Patrick MichelsFormer Cowboys cheerleader Terra Watson has moved her booming business down to Expo Park​Former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Terra Watson spent the last 12 years designing and manufacturing pro-team dance and cheerleader uniforms -- including her former teammates' Christmas presents to Cowboys fans, which are still on Santa's to-do list. But business isn't boom-boom-booming the way it used to; one client, the Dallas Desperados, took a season-long time-out. Which is one of the reasons why Watson's moving from the sports arena to the ... breastaurant.After all, they're all the rage in this busted economy; back in March, Nightline came to Arlington and found it so hard to choose between Hooters, Bone Daddy's and Twin Peaks. Watson counts the latter among her clients; also on the list is Cadillac Ranch, which doesn't have a local outpost."Why wear a T-shirt when you can wear something that is actually flattering to a woman?" Watson says, citing but one reason why she's designing the eateries' unis. "That's my goal with the breastaurants: I want that niche." So far, so good: This week she moved to a bigger studio space in Exposition Park.

​Seems like forever ago that Plano-based Metromedia Restaurant Group shuttered Bennigan's and Steak & Ale -- but, nope, it was just July of last year. A few Bennigan's locations resurfaced shortly thereafter, when Richardson-based Bennigan's Franchising Company, LLC assumed the position and reopened 100 eateries, half out of the country. But now comes word that both Bennigan's and Steak and Ale (founded by the late, great Norman Brinker) may yet live on ... in your grocery store, per an agreement with Los Angeles-based Global Icons. And what's on the menu? You guessed it: "Among the signature dishes under consideration are Bennigan's Turkey O' Toole and Monte Cristo sandwiches and the Death by Chocolate dessert; or Steak & Ale's Kensington Club sandwich, the herb-roasted prime rib or Hawaiian chicken."

​So, no, Bob's Steak & Chop House on Lemmon Avenue didn't go on the auction block September 30, as we said would happen back in mid-August. Legal whatnot delayed the sale of Bob Sambol's bankrupt eatery. But yesterday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale gave the okee-doke to go ahead with an auction on November 4, with the opening bid starting at the $215,000 now being offered up by BSCH Management, LLC. And, of course, longtime Friends of Unfair Park are well are that BSCH is owned and operated by Bill Lenox (Sambol's partner back when he opened the Lemmon Ave. location in December 1994) and Omni Hotels Corporation, with whom Lenox went 50-50 back in January.After the jump is Hale's order allowing the sale to proceed. He also spells out how the auction will work: Interested parties have till close of business on November 2 to submit bids, and on November 4, interested parties will get together in attorney Robert Milbank's downtown office for The Big Sale. (Milbank, you'll recall, replaced Sambol as the Chapter 11 trustee, per the U.S. Trustee's wishes.) Six days later, all goes according to plan, Hale will make it final. I've left messages for Milbank and Doug Skierski, who's actually Milbank's legal rep during these proceedings. Maybe I should call Mike Modano too. And Norm Hitzges.

​Dallas-based 7-Eleven's had a few proprietary wines on shelves for some time, among them Sonoma Crest and Thousand Oaks, but today comes word that the convenience store's actually in the private-label business thanks to a partnership with its Japanese sibling, Seven-Eleven Japan. And, whoa, Yosemite Road is quite the bargain: Says the press release, both the Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for $3.99 a bottle. Who needs a Trader Joe's, anyway?"We prefer to think of it as value," says 7-Eleven spokesperson Carole Davidson, when Unfair Park said of the Napa Valley-produced product, "Wow, that sure is cheap." She also laughed. "But, yes, it is inexpensive. ... We do have a couple of proprietary labels, but they're a little higher-priced than this offering."Like, what, $4.99?"$9.99," Davidson says. "What's different this time is we've used our global scale, to the extent we're lauunching this in Japan today -- effectively, last night. We expect this to be in 15,000 outlets under the Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. of Tokyo. We'll have it in 2,000 stores in the U.S.; the rest will be in Japan. They have department stores and supermarket chains where we expect the wine to be sold." She adds that the move into a private-label wine jibes with "aggressive" efforts over the last year to brand most everything edible in the joint with the 7-Eleven name.The wine won't be available in the U.S. till next week. But expect a taste test on City of Ate sooner than that. Got that, FTC?

​I've had today's date circled on my calendar since October 7: This was to be the day Bob's Steak & Chop House went on the auction block. And ever since this morning, when we got word that there was at least one heretofore unmentioned notable interested in taking Bob Sambol's Lemmon Avenue eatery at a deep discount, I've been trying to reach both Sambol and Robert Milbank, the Dallas attorney who took over as trustee after the U.S. Trustee deemed Sambol too conflicted to best represent the interest of his creditors. Several messages later, and no luck.Finally, moments ago, I got hold of Sambol at the restaurant, and he says today's auction "was abruptly ended because of a lot of misunderstanding or clarification of terms." There are presently two bids on the table: one from BSCH Management, which is owned and operated by Bill Lenox (Sambol's partner back when he opened the Lemmon Ave. location in December 1994) and Omni Hotels Corporation; and one from Del Frisco's. The Del Frisco's bid of around $240,000 is slightly higher than BSCH's, but, according to Sambol, Milbank ended today's proceedings because of myriad questions over the bidding process. It's scheduled to resume on November 23.Till then, Sambol says, "It's business as usual, and I am still at my restaurant, and I am looking forward to sticking around." Which may not be as simple as it sounds, because while Lenox's bid includes a caveat that will allow Sambol to remain at his namesake eatery, Del Frisco's does not."I am hoping that no matter what happens," Sambol says, "I get to keep running this restaurant."

Kimberly ThorpeIf you haven't been to the Spaghetti Warehouse in a while, it looks exactly as it did the last time you were there.​The Spaghetti Warehouse celebrated its 37th birthday on Wednesday with an all-day draft special and a Beatles cover band -- and, if you were born in 1972, a slice of cake was on the house. Granted, 37 isn't exactly a round number. And Wednesday isn't exactly the most happening of nights in the West End (where, come to think of it, 2009 isn't exactly the most happening of years). Still, the restaurant made the effort: balloons out front, special events on the menu. Come one, come all."I'm here for the anniversary party," we said at the door last night."You're looking at it," said a waitress. Behind her, a few families ate peacefully, while waitresses moved calmly between the tables refilling glasses of soda from a pitcher. Upstairs, Glass Apple, a Beatles cover band, played to a small audience of diners; most had no idea it was the restaurant's anniversary. But rest assured: The restaurant has maintained its campy flavor -- though now it's almost like Disney World's Haunted House, as though the dark corners and old casino-style carpeting possess an anachronistic, stylistic flair. The general manager, 49-year-old Kevin Walker, a lifelong local, was on hand, moving from table to table. He's been working for Spaghetti Warehouse for 10 years, but at the West End location for two. "The biggest thing that hurt us was when the West End Marketplace closed down," Walker said during a break as he shared a booth with Unfair Park. "People thought the West End closed too. But obviously we're all alive and well down here."

​May I suggest, at this late date, a sure-fire brussels sprouts recipe for those in need of a last-minute green thing on the table tomorrow? You will not regret it. Also: Balcones Baby Blue, which, far as I know, is the only made-in-Texas bourbon commercially available; guaranteed to get you through any family gathering. And, for those who'll spend the better part of tonight cooking and/or driving and/or drinking, a few musical selections: unreleased Band rehearsals (with horns!), the best Stones cover you've never heard, Centro-matic redoing something from Redo the Stacks, my favorite Michael McDonald song ever, some Bobby Patterson just because, a most delightful collection of punk classics all folked up (includes Lisa Loeb and the Bad Livers), the four-track master of Edie and the New Bos performing on Fry Street in 1987 and ... what's that, Greggo? Yes, Fry Street.To all the Friends of Unfair Park, we hope yours is a most happy Thanksgiving. We love you all. Yes, even you. Back on Friday.

​There's a little more life in Dallas Farmers Market's Shed No. 2 these days; it's no longer just Mawker Coffee, the Kurry King, meat and cheese outta Greenville, soaps and jewelry and some "imported" tchotchkes. $3.2 million later, it's still a long way from being the "foodie's delight" promised by the city, but it's "trying its best despite the city," says one vendor while pointing out Rosey Ridge Farm's Mennonite-made breads and jams (praise the Lord, indeed) and the Texoma Winery product available for $1 per sampling.But those and others are transient tenants selling product off folding tables; the city still has to figure out how to get vendors to sign agreements without locking them into choke-hold contracts. That said, you can't help but notice the latest vendor moving into the front of the shed -- the "Chicago style deli" at top, whose counter is under construction. (Dallas, apparently, has given up trying to do a decent New York-style deli and headed instead for Chicago.) This is as "permanent" as it gets, but we're short on details till Monday morning.