Sorry about the unexplained absence. I’ve been having some health issues. So, please excuse me for a little longer. I’m sure I’ll be back to my old self soon. Meanwhile, happy eating!
Hub’s Birthday Dinner at Nonna
February 6, 2010 · 9 Comments
It was Hubbard’s birthday. He took the day off. I went to work. I looked up from a report I was reviewing to see an email from Hub. It said, “We have reservations for 7:30 in the bar at Nonna tonight.” You know, there is little better than a husband who makes dinner reservations at one of your favorite restaurants for his birthday. He was craving that littleneck clam pizza.
When we arrived, we were greated by an old friend, George, that I haven’t seen in years. That was a nice surprise. We ordered a bottle of wine and Hubbard said, “Guess who’s sitting behind you?” I turned around and there sat Jerry Jones. My, my. Small world. Small restaurant, too. Nonna is always packed because it really doesn’t seat many people and the food is fantastic.
The pizza was just as wonderful as I remebered it. The crust is so thin you almost can’t tell you’re biting through it. Yet, it holds up the toppings without even bending. No cheese, just chopped clams, a creamy sauce, sweet onions and fresh herbs. Their menu changes daily. But, that pizza always seems to be there. I’ve never heard anyone say they didn’t enjoy it.
Because Nonna is so traditionally Italian, the idea of sharing dishes doesn’t seem out of place. We did it all the time in Italy. I had to have the Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana with roasted mushrooms in a cream sauce and smashed Yukon potatoes. At $28, it was one of the most expensive plates on the menu and worth every penny. The veal was fantastic. Hub and I shared the pizza and the veal which arrived at our table simultaneously, as we requested.
Since it was a birthday celebration, Hubbard definitely needed a dessert. The Praline Nougatine Semifreddo with Pistachios and Acacia Honey with a pretty silver birthday candle was unbelievably good. I’m not a dessert person, but I couldn’t quit digging into this frozen goodness. Creamy and luscious, perfectly complimented by the honey.
We did pretty good that night, getting out of there for just under a hundred dollars before tip. I think they may have comped the dessert. That may seem like a lot of money. But, it’s really not. We’ve spent three times that much at Nonna and never regretted it for a second. It truly is the only place I’ve had Italian that takes me back to Rome. Chef Julian Barsotti’s food is nothing less than stunningly delicious.
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Kirin Court for (you guessed it) Brunch!
February 2, 2010 · 3 Comments
I didn’t bother taking pictures because I’d never be able to tell you what everything was. We went for Dim Sum at Kirin Court last weekend and loved it! It’s just off Central Expressway in Richardson. I believe we took the Main Street exit. At 12:30 the place was packed and so was the waiting area. No bar to park yourself at, unfortunately. When we walked in, we were handed the number 93 and they were currently calling the 70’s to be seated. It only took about 15 or 20 minutes, though.
The food was fantastic. All kind of dumplings and so forth. If you aren’t familiar with Dim Sum. You sit at your table and the servers come by with carts filled with food. Each cart has two or three different items to choose from. Each serving is usually enough for three or four people to have a dumpling each or a few bites of other offerings, like BBQ pork or vegetables. As they come by your table you are free to take any or all of the available dishes. Your menu card is marked with your choices. The longer you sit there, the more you get to see and eat.
It may have been because this was considered the brunch hour, but there was also a buffet type of situation up front. There was something resembling a sweet waffle being served. Shark fin soup. I don’t know what all because I didn’t have a chance to really check it out. Next time, though…
We had a great time. Not a hurried atmosphere or anything. Full of Asian people. I thought that was a good sign when we first arrived. Turns out I was right. Every dish we had was good and some were really good.
Three of us ate until we were stuffed. I had glass of wine. Hub, a beer and our friend had a pot of hot tea. $58 before gratuity. Not bad for a nice long relaxing lunch. The best thing about Dim Sum? You know how you get that urge to have everything on the menu sometimes? Nine or ten different courses sure comes close!
I’ll try and make myself take pictures next time.
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Tagged: dim sum, dumplings, eating, Kirin Court, richardson
Potato and Cabbage Soup with Ham
January 30, 2010 · 3 Comments
I saw a recipe for “Colcannon Soup” in a recent Cook’s Illustrated issue covering soups and stews. Since I had half a head of cabbage in the fridge and no real plan, I decided to take the idea of potato and cabbage soup and go with it.
I chopped up three slices of bacon and cooked that in a 5 1/2 quart Dutch oven. Scooped out the crispy bacon and threw into the bacon fat two medium onions, diced. Saute’d that a bit. Then added a half a head of cabbage, sliced thin. While the vegetables softened, I seared a ham steak and then diced it up. Ham steaks tend to give off a lot of water. That ham flavored water went into the pot with the cabbage.
When the vegetables were soft, I added a few cloves of garlic. I like my garlic press a lot. So, that’s how I added it. You could mince it instead. Once the garlic became fragrant, I tossed in a couple of tablespoons of flour and cooked that for about a minute or two. Then added 1/2 cup of dry white wine. Cooked that into the mixture until it was kind of thick. Just a few minutes. Then came the chicken broth. I used about 6 cups. I let the whole mixture simmer for ten or fifteen minutes, until the veggies were really soft.
The potatoes came next. About 4 smallish russets. I let the soup simmer until the potatoes were soft enough to start to dissolve into the broth. Then, I added 1/2 heavy cream and about that much sour cream. A few sprinkles of cayenne, black pepper, adjust the salt and we’re ready for the ham. I always add a meat like ham or sausage at the very end because the longer you cook it, the more your soup will taste like ham and the ham will taste like nothing.
Another dollop of sour cream on top might be good. Some chives… Yum!
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Tagged: cabbage and potatoes, colcannon, Cook's Illustrated, soup
Thoughts on Temperature
January 27, 2010 · 2 Comments
After visiting Smoke for brunch the other day, we returned with friends for dinner. I had the big beef rib. Hub had the scallops. Chris & Mindy had a burger and the beans with corn. The food was good. But, it wasn’t really piping hot. Oh, except the gumbo that Hubbard ordered. It was so steamy he couldn’t eat it until after the entree had arrived. That’s a problem. My rib was served on a bed of gorgonzola grits. The grits weren’t hot enough to melt the cheese. Hubbard’s scallops were on the coolish side, too.
Now, I can see a pot of gumbo going on a higher heat than necessary and no one really noticing. But, what about the coolness of the food? Is that the cooks fault or the server? Was it just sitting around on the plate too long before they served us? I found the food to be on the cool side at brunch, too. Brunch food generally loses it’s heat a little faster than dinner, so I really didn’t think about it much that day. It really kind of bothered me at dinner, though. It still tasted good. But, you know… I guess there’s something less charming about a plate of food that’s already cooled off when you get it.
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Toulouse for Brunch
January 23, 2010 · 7 Comments
For a chain of restaurants, I think Lombardi’s places are pretty good. Now that we’ve been to Toulouse, I think Cibus in the only one left that we haven’t visited. Hubbard started with a screwdriver, but didn’t like it. The juice didn’t taste good to him. So, he switched to the house Chardonnay. It was fine.
For appetizers, I had mussels and he had the frog legs. I was hesitant about the frog legs, but they were delicious. Very juicy and fresh tasting, not the least bit overcooked. The mussels were clearly large and perfectly prepared. They have several styles of mussels to choose from. I had the Mariniere, a traditional preparation that I make at home. Wine, garlic, butter and shallots.
We both had the Croque Madame. This was nothing to write home about. The sandwich is basically a grilled cheese with ham and Swiss. This one was pretty greasy and didn’t have enough ham or cheese. The egg is supposed to be over easy. It wasn’t. And there was supposed to be Mornay sauce involved in some way. I never could find it. What was really good were the pomme frites. Those were delicious. The texture was perfect. Nice and crispy. I love a skinny fry.
The appetizers were very good. Maybe next time I’ll get the entree portion of mussels.
Now, if they just had a brunch drink special, I might be more excited about going back.
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Something to Cheer About
January 20, 2010 · 2 Comments
Since the Cowboys left us a little numb, it was nice to have something to keep our spirits up this past Sunday. It’s a well known fact that a yummy plate of food, a glass of wine and a some stimulating conversation are what I consider to be a celebration. Sorry we couldn’t have celebrated the Cowboys, too.
Our good friends, Chris and Mindy, joined us for the game. Mindy has just recently developed a baking addiction and has started a website. What do you think it’s called? Baking In Dallas! We’re the “In Dallas” girls.
So, they sent us an email saying, “We’ll bring ribs”. I sent back, saying I’d make a Mexican shrimp cocktail and some kind of corn. Mindy replied with Chris’ request that she make baked sweet potatoes. (fabulous, I might add) I came up with a salad and Mindy came in with a terrific lemon pound cake topped with strawberries and fresh whipped cream. (I got an end piece, yum!) Add a few snacks and you’ve got a football-watching-grazing-buffet and sit down dinner. We couldn’t have had more fun!
Well, the Cowboys could have won. That would have been more fun.
The men are all over their new site called “Biking In Dallas“. Chris posted some wonderful pictures of our whole afternoon. Their site is about lifestyle, as well as biking. You should go see. The food looks almost as good as it was!
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Smoke for Brunch
January 18, 2010 · 6 Comments
We’ve been on a brunch kick recently. I love to try a new restaurant at brunch because it’s usually reasonably priced. So, you don’t have to invest a whole lot on what could be something you don’t like. We didn’t have any trouble liking what we ate at Smoke. Smoke is located just down the hill from the Belmont Hotel. We love the Belmont for drinks. This was our first time at Smoke.
The service got off to a slow start. But, once we finally had someone assigned to our table everything went smoothly. The Bloody Marys were excellent. A nice size and very flavorful, yet not too spicy.
Hubbard chose the Smoked Brisket Cornbread Hash with poached egg, green chili rajas and pearl onions. Did you notice the word spicy in that description that I took straight from their menu? No, it’s not there. It should be.
This dish was so spicy that Hubbard was sweating while he ate it. He likes really spicy food. A guy at the table sent his back because it was too spicy for him to eat. It tasted great. But, I really think a restaurant owes it to their customers to prepare them for the experience they are about to have. The waiter didn’t even mention that it was a spicy dish when we asked about it. So, if you like spicy, go for it. It’s really good.
I got the Pulled Whole Hog BBQ Eggs Benedict. This was surprisingly good. The pulled pork was very tender and tossed with BBQ sauce before they throw it on top of the English muffins and top the whole thing with Hollandaise. I wouldn’t have thought BBQ and Hollandaise would have made a good match. It was delicious.
The real star of the show as the Thick and Smokey Country Bacon. It’s housemade. Cured and smoked on the property. Look at how thick it is. It was extremely good. I believe Hubbard said, “I can’t believe how good this bacon is” three different times during the meal. It was fantastic. We both had a big strip of bacon as a side for $3.50 a pop. Well worth it. The breakfast dishes were $12 & $13, though they have lower priced items.
I forgot what this pie was called. Their entire dessert menu is pie. But, this stuff was the closest I’ve ever seen a piece of pie come to being a brownie. Chocolatey. For sure. Hubbard gobbled it up.
Overall we enjoyed our experience at Smoke. It’s a nice casual atmosphere. I’m curious about dinner and lunch now.
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Tagged: BBQ, brunch, dallas, eating, SMOKE, smoke restaurant, smoked bacon
Dish for Brunch
January 12, 2010 · 4 Comments
It was Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Hub was reading Leslie Brenner’s review of Dish on Cedar Springs and he said, “They serve brunch. You ought to look it up.” Pulled up the website and I said, “They serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday”. Guess what Hub said next…
He was a little annoyed that the valet didn’t open my car door. But, we decided that wasn’t worth caring about. Hubbard ordered ”The Texan”; Absolut mandrin vodka, Triple Sec, fresh lime juice and cranberry juice. I went for the “Prairie Pomegranate Mojito”.
It’s a fun place. The waitstaff all have T-shirts that say “HUNGRY” on the back. The barstaff’s shirts say “THIRSTY”. I thought that was cute. It wasn’t very busy when we were there. So, we got a lot of attention from our server Mark.
Starving, I chose the breakfast tacos. Eggs, chorizo and cojito cheese with an avocado salsa. Fantastic. Pretty spicy, but I love spicy. If you don’t, I would probably order the sauce on the side. Oh, and I have to have some applewood smoked bacon at breakfast if I can get it.
I could only eat two of the tacos.
Hubbard has talked forever about wanting fried chicken and waffles for brunch. We just haven’t run into it when we’ve been out. This was his lucky day. This dish was served with a maple butter sauce that was to die for. The meat was boneless breast meat with a “handle” of wing. Hubbard is usually a dark meat guy. But, he loved this. I had to have a bite and it really was excellent.
We ended our feast with a Mimosa. Very pleasant.
I’ve got to say it. Check out the restroom in this place. Yes, that would be restroom as opposed to the plural of that word. Oh, go for it! It’s fun and extremely tasteful. The only area you actually share is the sinks. Plus, there is video and lots of mirrors and music. It’s a hoot!
Excellent food and the service is great. Mark was a sweetie.
→ 4 CommentsCategories: Restaurant Review
Tagged: dallas, dish, eating, fried chicken and waffles
