We start today of a little story which begins on Valentines' Day several years ago. I (shocker!) was dateless this V-Day and had hoped to escape the evening with an entire bottle of wine at home alone. But I received an email that afternoon from a friend of mine, who also happened to not have a date that evening, suggesting that we do a girls dinner on Valentines' Day at the least romantic restaurant in Dallas - HPV Mi Cocina. Really? Go out in public on Valentines' Day without a date? I just wasn't sure. But the call of queso and mambos were too great to resist, so I went. And had one of the best times of my life.
There were only 3 of at that dinner. L, M, and me. We were seated at the second floor of MiC, far away from all of the couples who for some unknown reason chose MiC for their romantic meal. I hadn't known L & M very long. We were more acquaintances than friends at that point. But that day changed that. We talked, we laughed, we drank, and we created Supper Club.
The idea of Supper Club was quite simple. We were single women who wanted to go to nice restaurants but finding dates who wanted to do the same, not so easy (and P.S., if you know of any such guys, L & WiDi are still single, so hook us up). So we'd go ourselves -- one dinner, once a month, wherever we want to go, price is no object. We invited a few friends to join us. We had a great run. Ate some great meals at some great restaurants. But over the years, people moved, friendships changes, we just really got busy with life. Supper Club went from once a month, to every other month, to whenever someone thought of making a reservation, to gone.
But L, M, and I decided we still wanted to keep our original idea alive. So every few months, we get together and go wherever we want, just the 3 of us. It's our own little Supper Club which we will always cherish and which I hope we never stop.
At CFF, I sat across from Brian and Courtney Luscher of The Grape. They were so much fun and we had a great time. So, the next day, I sent an email to L & M and told them, next Supper Club, we're going to The Grape.
Now The Grape has been around Dallas for 38 years. That's an eternity in the restaurant world. It seems like everyone in Dallas has a Grape story. Since for years it was labeled as the "most romantic restaurant in Dallas", lots of people have had first dates, marriage proposals, anniversaries there. I, however, did not really discover the Grape until this year. I'll be quite honest, the "most romantic" title had kind of steered me away. Being, much to my mother's chagrin, in a state of perpetual singlehood, I'd kind of avoided the place. Single people just don't go there, do they?
I actually went to The Grape this spring for the first time on a first date. Well, at least I later realized that it was a first date. At the time, I called it a "I think I was on a date, but I'm not sure." See guys, women really are quite simple creatures. This is how we think: "kiss goodnight = date". But when you go and do the whole chivalrous "no kiss on the first date" thing, we don't know what to do with that. Sure, we will appreciate it and think it was adorable later, but the next day we will spend analyzing every aspect of the evening to try to figure out was it a date or not. It is not until you actually kiss us goodnight that we actually go, "duh, that was a date." I spoke to a guy friend about this, and he looked at me like I was a moron. He then gave me some very sage advice which I will now share with my 8 readers: "If he picks you up and pays for your meal, you are on a date, dummy." WiDiDallas' dating advice at its finest. Although, since I'm no longer dating the guy that took me to the Grape, maybe you should ignore my advice altogether. ;)
Now back to The Grape.
So I get there a little early and ask for the wine list. When our server hands it to me, she says these amazing words, "By the way, on Thursdays, all bottles are 1/3 off." Wait, wha? I will repeat. ON THURSDAYS, ALL BOTTLES OF WINE AT THE GRAPE ARE 1/3 OFF PEOPLE!!!!!!! How did I not know this?! As I look over the wine list, I am so happy. There are so many good bottles and pretty decent prices without the discount. But 1/3 off? Oh, we'll be drinking nice tonight.
Courtney comes over to say hello and we ask for a wine recommendation. Wow, she knows her stuff. She tells us she's really been into Italian wines lately so we go with her first choice, which, of course, bad blogger, I can't remember. It was Italian, it was delicious, it was 1/3 off, that's all I've got.
L, M, and I look over the menu. Courtney tells us that they've recently redesigned the menu so one side can reflect Brian's most recent creations and the other side will have the bistro favorites which never change. I like it. If you want an old standby, go to the right. If you want to try something a little different, go to the left. It took us a long time to decide what we were going to eat. As M said, "there is nothing on this menu that I will not eat." And she was right. Everything looks so good. What to decide? So . . . we asked.
Taking our server's and Courtney's suggestions, we ordered as follows: L - half orders of both Romaine Salad and Coal Miner's pasta; M - half orders of both Courtney's Salad and the Bistro Steak Frites; Me - half order of the Romaine Salad and the Coq Au Vin "Blanc".
Our salads were good and very fresh, just not that memorable, but it was our entrees which really stood out. First, thank goodness for half orders! If L & M had ordered full orders of their dishes, I might have had to wheel them out of there. The Grape's half orders (available on some dishes) are actually what I would consider a full portion. L's Coal Miner's pasta was delicious. It's Brian's take on the pasta carbonara. Chef Brian explained that since there are so many carbonara purist out there (really? who knew?), he didn't feel right calling it a carbonara since he adds spinach and tomatoes to his. So he calls it Coal Miner's from the English translation of carbonara. M's bistro steak looked very good, although the bitter greens salad was a little extraneous since M had ordered a salad as her starter. My Coq Au Vin was also delicious. A poussin is used instead of chicken in a nice, hearty sauce. The poussin simply fell off the bone. The homemade gnocchi added a nice texture element and the Chef's pancetta added another nice element to the dish. So good.
For dessert, we decided to do cheese rather than sweet. The Grape is known for its Cheese & Charcuterie plates, for good reason. And next time I go for drinks (and there will be a next time), I'm going to check out the charcuterie. We asked Chef Brian to create us a little plate, minus any goat cheese which L believes is what "the Devil tastes like." Yum. Three cheeses (my favorite, the triple cream), some grapes, a fig preserve, and a mix fruit sauce (I know there's a better word I can use but can't think of it now). A perfect way to end our meal. Well, that and our bottle of Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut Rose (good blogger took a picture of that bottle). Hello, do you not remember 1/3 off all bottles?!
What a fun night at The Grape, which, although I'm sure is quite romantic, is actually just a great neighborhood bistro and now officially the single girl's favorite restaurant in the 'hood. And here's an added bonus. We got the check and were shocked to discover that for the three of us, with 2 amazing courses each (our cheese course was compliments of the chef - THANK YOU BRIAN!), and 2 bottles of really nice wine, with tip (our server was great, fyi) and tax was less than $80 each. I love you Thursday nights at the Grape!
Thank you Brian and Courtney for your wonderful hospitality, your wonderful wine and fabulous food. Thanks L & M for the laughs.
Cheers!
PS - The Grape is hosting a great event this Saturday, October 30th, on their patio. It's the Food Truck Reconstructed. Brian will be making his famous "Texas best" burgers, there will be tacos, even snow cones. It's from 11-2. Going to try to make it. You should too!
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