Kathy Tran Brent and his brother Juan have operated the concession together since their father’s death in 2010. Reaves attributes part of vendors’ success to efficient operations, but being on the map directly boosts the bottom line. “Last year, our Crispy Crazy Corn was a finalist, and we were on the map,” he says. “The response we received was the re- sponse of a winning item. Between the map and the State Fair’s amazing PR and market- ing team, we ended 2021 with, for us, phe- nomenal numbers.” Being on the map, Reaves says, is a “life- changing” difference. But getting there is not easy. Dreaming up a unique dish and then serving it quickly and efficiently is no small task, as illustrated in an A&E series, Deep Fried Dynasty, which fol- lowed several concessionaires at last year’s fair. The show highlighted the mishaps (bro- ken or missing equipment), challenges (em- ployees) and uncontrollable elements (rain). Some concessionaires don’t leave the fair- grounds for the duration of the fair and sleep in trailers at night in an adjacent lot. Fairgoers don’t see that. They just want to know, “What will they fry next?” Easter got his idea for Peanut Butter Par- adise from a former customer and part-time employee who helped with their nonprofit at the restaurant. The man had told Easter that he had been incarcerated for 35 years for a murder he didn’t commit. “He told me the only time he got peace was to go back in his cell and take a Honey Bun and spread peanut butter on it. It would remind him of the free world,” Easter says. Honey buns topped with peanut butter are a popular prison food. They’re often sold in commissaries and have even made the list of final meal requests for those on death row, as in the case of a North Caro- lina man convicted of murdering six peo- ple. Another prisoner, Aaron Hernandez, a former NFL-er who died by suicide in prison, reportedly ate 20 honey buns in one night behind bars. Prison Legal News, a human rights de- fense center, reports that honey buns are sometimes used as currency in prison: “Vir- ginia prisoner George Alec Robinson paid his public defenders in honey buns after they spared him from a death sentence. He said, ‘This is all in the world I can give you guys,’ attorney James C. Clark told the Washington Post.” Easter has his own history with honey buns in South Dallas. Despite growing up in the area, his mother had never been to the fair before last year. On the rare occa- sions Easter was able to go when he was young, he says they couldn’t afford the fried treats. His family never ate out at restaurants. “We’d eat at the corner store, and the cor- ner store only,” he says. honey buns were one of his favorite store-bought splurges. I n August, six judges gathered at the fair- grounds to taste each of the Big Tex Choice Awards finalists in both the sweet and savory categories. Easter paid careful at- tention to timing — even how long the judges were chatting between bites — to en- sure the Honey Bun was still warm when they tried it. While waiting for the judges’ fi- nal decisions, Sternes got nervous. “He called me during the contest and said, ‘Where are you?’ I was in the car be- cause I was trying to pray,” Sternes says. “He came and found me and pulled me out and said, ‘You got this! Now come on and stop making my staff nervous.’” Peanut Butter Paradise went up against a field of nine other desserts by vendors who have been doing this for a long time, for gen- erations in some cases. In their rookie sea- son in the competition, they won the Big Tex Choice Award for Best Taste – Sweet. For months, Easter told Sternes and their son they were going to win. “He spoke it into being,” Sternes says. Since then, people drop by their restau- rant just to say congratulations and, “I see you out there.” “Getting into the fair was a win for our community,” Sternes says. The 277 acres that make up the fair- grounds has a troubled past with South Dal- las. In 1969, homes and businesses of the African-American community were bull- dozed to make way for large parking lots so white fairgoers would feel more at peace rolling into the fair, which is in a predomi- nantly Black neighborhood. Until 1961, the fair had Negro Achieve- ment Day, a disingenuous label for the one day of the year that African Americans could attend the fair. In 1955, NAACP Youth Council Dallas adviser Juanita Craft organized a picket line at the front gates with signs that read, “Today is negro ap- peasement day at the fair, stay out.” The winner, Peanut Butter Paradise, is a honey bun dipped in funnel cake batter, deep fried, injected with caramel, smothered with peanut butter and covered in candy. In more recent decades, the fair, which operates as a nonprofit, has worked to in- vest money into the economically de- pressed area of South Dallas by way of jobs, grants for local initiatives and scholarships to students at nearby high schools. In 2022 alone, 23 organizations in the area received $148,000 in grants. Since 1992, more than 3,000 students attending six high schools surrounding Fair Park have received $16.1 million in scholarships. The fair also created the Juanita Craft Humanitarian Award to honor the leader’s legacy of activism in the community, recog- nizing her “crucial role in integrating the State Fair of Texas among other universities, restaurants and theatres around Dallas.” Still, Sternes and Easter represent the nearest restaurant to ever make it into the fair. And during their rookie season compet- ing in the Bix Tex Choice Awards, they made it to the very top, with a nod to their roots and the help of a person in their neighborhood. “The beauty is that Southside Steaks & Cakes is representing the community,” Reaves says. “I’m proud to see that represen- tation. I’m also happy to see that the fair gave someone in the community an oppor- tunity to show their gifts. This couple with their business is showing the beauty that is within South Dallas. Their excellence will grab the attention of a market that >> p14 13 13 dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER SEPTEMBER 29–OCTOBER 5, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014
