The Spread.

White Rock Local Market Returns Amid A Flurry of St. Patrick's Day Festivities.

Welcome to The Spread, our weekly feature that aims to share all the area restaurant, food and beverage industry news that's fit to print. Except, this is the Internet, so space isn't a concern. Also: Good thing, because this is Dallas and this town always has breaking restaurant news going down like whoa.

Six weeks after the dreaded groundhog told us that there'd be six more weeks of winter, it seems everything is finally transitioning away from the cold and depressing to the lively and vivacious.

Starting off the introduction into the season? The sixth annual White Rock Local Market, which kicks off this Saturday, March 15, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lakeside Baptist Church in East Dallas. The kickoff event will feature live music from Dave Burris and area Simon & Garfunkel tribute Holt & Stocklager will operate at Lakeside Baptist Church on the first and third Saturdays of each month, and move to The Green Spot on Boulevard on the second and fourth Saturdays. This year's market will run through December 13.

Anyway, a new season is just a good time to change things around a bit, regardless. To that end, Candleroom has introduced a new cocktail menu, with its new drinks all inspired by classic American cocktails.

“The new cocktails were added to revamp the old menu and to step it up with craft cocktails made with quality ingredients,” says Melissa Becker, a spokesperson for Candleroom. “The menu will be available year-round.”

In addition to new drinks, Candleroom will be collaborating with The Dram for a Parking Lot Party in celebration of St. Patty’s Day. Shuttles will run to and from the Greenville parade all day, Becker says.

If partying in parking lots isn't your thing, well, consider yourself lucky that there are plenty of other St. Patty's Day events going down. Social House in Addison invites you to enjoy holiday specials on both Saturday and Sunday on Guinness, corned beef hash and green eggs and ham. They'll also be offering green beer and Irish car bombs.

Meanwhile, Boxwood Tap + Grill is serving up drink specials on Saturday, March 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Specials include an array of Jameson-based drinks such as Irish Julep pitchers made with 2 Gingers, Irish Mules made with the spots in-house ginger beer and, of course, car bombs and straight Jameson shots.

Peticolas Brewing Co., on the other hand, is celebrating the holiday with an Irish Goodbye — a new beer that they're rolling out just in time for this weekend's festivities. The Irish red ale with 6.5 percent ABV will debut today at The Blind Butcher, then hit the rest of the market by the end of the week.

Of course, not all of the drinking celebrations going down this weekend are Jameson- or beer-based. Urban Taco is dishing out $5 frozen margaritas and $3 Dos Equis drafts and tequila muppets at all of their locations on March 15. Parade-goers can stumble over to the Mockingbird Station restaurant to keep their buzz going, or soak up the alcohol with taco goodness.

Also, it turns out that not everything this week is about St. Patty's. Some news is just conveniently good — like Hopdoddy Burger Bar''s boss hog burger special, which runs from March 10 to March 23. The special includes a fresh ground angus beef patty, pulled pork, sweet mustard barbecuesauce, applewood smoked bacon, Tillamook cheddar, chipotle coleslaw and a pickle. Even though the special isn't necessarily a part of the St. Patty's Day festivities, it's aligned perfectly with the holiday in case you want a burger with your beer.

And what would a new season and new week be without some opening news? Chef Danyele McPherson of The Grape is cooking her last meal at the restaurant in exchange for taking charge of the kitchen at new Greenville Avenue spot, The Remedy. So far, there's no news on what the menu will be like at The Remedy — just hints from owner Elias Pope about the restaurant's inspiration being a 1915 book entitled The Dispenser's Formulary: Or, Soda Water Guide. Seems like we can expect a retro theme with classic cocktails and a look into the past. But only time will tell.

On the other hand, we know for sure that we can look forward to enjoying dessert with Fort Worth's new “farm-to-cone” ice cream shop, Melt Ice Creams. No official opening date has been set yet, but owner Kari Crowe Seher says they’re getting close. The ice cream shop will focus on local Texas ingredients, complete with rotating seasonal flavors, in-house-made cones and lactose-free and vegan-friendly options.

Cover photo by Frugal Foodie Dallas, via White Rock Local Market's Facebook page. Got a tip for The Spread? Email us!