Salum

Went to Salum for lunch on Friday. I forgot they serve lunch, and I'm so happy that K suggested it.

Salum is one of my favorite restaurants in Dallas. I have eaten there several times for dinner and have always enjoyed it. Never a bad meal and always great service. Chef Abraham's rack of lamb with mushroom bread pudding is one of my favorite dishes. I have the recipe and am dying to try it. Anyone want to volunteer to be my guinea pig?

The lunch menu is diverse and extremely well priced. Salads, sandwiches, entrees. http://salumrestaurant.com/menu.html I had a portobello panini with goat cheese and tomatoes. It came with your choice of fries, vegetable fries or salad. I chose the salad. It was simple but good. And did I mention is was $8.50? K ordered a caesar salad which had white anchovies and a parmesan chip. In addition she had curry shrimp on naan with the vegetable fries. K really enjoyed it.

The service was very nice and attentive. Chef Abraham even served us our lunch. He spent the entire time we were there spending time with his guests. He's one of the nicest chefs in Dallas.

Salum is also one of the prettiest restaurants in Dallas. White tablecloths and muted tones, it's a nice place for a business lunch or a romantic dinner. Definitely go. I know I'll be back.

Cheers!

Hillstone

So I met a friend at Hillstone last night for drinks. If that name doesn't sound familiar, it's the old Houston's off Preston, just South of Northwest Highway. I'm just going to call it Houston's because, well, that's what it's always been to me and and just about everyone else in Dallas.

I've always liked the bar there. It is a big, oblong wooden bar where you can see the people sitting across from you which makes getting your flirt on a whole lot easier. It tends to skew towards a slightly older single crowd (not, like, Eddie V's old. More like mid 30s to mid 50s old), and since I'm currently at the younger end of that spectrum, my chance of getting a drink or two bought for me by a nice man is higher than average. I'm not ashamed to admit that is why I like this place. Let's face it, sometimes all a single girl needs is a little attention from the opposite sex . . . and vino she didn't pay for. ;)

They've kept the menu pretty much the same as Houston's. The prime rib is still there. The spinach dip looks the same. The french dip and chicken sandwich are still on the menu. And they still serve the matchstick fries. All good enough, although I've always thought Houston's was a bit overpriced for what you get.

And that brings me to this:

WHATEVER YOU DO -- DO NOT ORDER CHIPS AND SALSA AT HILLSTONE!!!!

This is why -- you will be charged NINE EFFING DOLLARS for effing chips and salsa. You know, that stuff they give you for FREE with unlimited refills at every single Tex-Mex joint in the country? Hillstone thinks theirs is worth NINE EFFING DOLLARS. Trust me, it's not. No chips and salsa is worth NINE EFFING DOLLARS. I don't care if it's laced with gold and cocaine. I just had lunch at Salum, one of the best restaurants in Dallas in my humble opinion, and my portabello mushroom panini with goat cheese and tomatoes and a small salad was $8.50. NINE EFFING DOLLARS for mediocre chips and salsa. Outrageous.

I feel better now.

Cheers!

Tei-An

Went back to Tei-An in One Arts Plaza last night for dinner. I'd been there with Dr. L once before but just for some tea and ramen noodles so I was looking forward to a full meal there with one of my favorite foodie friends.

We ordered a bottle of wine. The wine list is a bit limited but well priced so we ordered an Erath Pinot Noir which was not good. No problem, what else would we like to try? We switched to the Huntington Cabernet (which used to be the Rattlesnake Bar at the Ritz' house) and it was just fine and at under $40, the price was right.

We ordered a chef's choice menu which has a Japanese word but I don't remember it. They have two levels -- $50 and $80. We chose the $50 and let the food fun begin.

We started with the white seaweed salad. Yum, so good. The white seaweed looks a little bit like mini egg noodles and it has a bit of a crunch to them. The salad itself was very refreshing, just enough acid to really make it a balanced dish. I will definitely order this again.

The next course was a sashimi platter -- 3 different types of fish, uni and octopus (2 pieces per person each). So fresh and delicious. There was a ton of uni which I took one piece of and let L have the rest. It actually was the best tasting uni I've ever had but I just don't like the texture of uni and don't think I ever will. The sashimi platter alone was probably worth the $50 we paid. Simply great.

We then had some tempura squid, which was really nice. Next course was beef tongue which was just delicious. The chef uses the very back of the tongue and then cooks it so tender it tastes like pot roast. To be honest, I didn't realize it was tongue until after I had eaten it. I'm generally opposed to eating anything that can taste back, but it just goes to show that lots of food issues are more mind over matter. Just try it without thinking. You might like it.

We then decided to have dessert. L isn't a dessert girl but she insisted that I try the desserts at Tei-An. So glad we did. We let the chef choose and got soba ice cream with black honey and tiramisu with caramel sauce. Love, love, lova soba ice cream and I am now obsessed with finding this honey. It had a rich, smoky taste to it that was divine. The tiramisu was good too -- not too sweet and very creamy.

The service was very nice and attentive. Chef Teiichi Sakurai stopped by a couple of times to say hello and make sure we were enjoying the evening. Nice man.

I'm definitely going back soon. I haven't even tried the soba noodles yet which is what Tei-An is known for. Since it's in One Arts Plaza, maybe I'll go before the next show at the Winspear I go to. There's a trolly that will take you from One Arts to the Winspear on theatre days. That sounds like a plan.

Cheers.

Brackets

So I stopped by the new sports bar, Brackets, which has taken over the old Trader Vic space at the Hotel Palomar. I have been excited about this place for awhile now. I pass by it every day on the way to work, and I've been looking for a sports bar that isn't on McKinney to watch some games. Plus, Jay Jerrier, the nicest pizza maker in Dallas, is attached, and I always like to see good people succeed.

They have completely de-tiki-fied the space, with not a tiki torch or pink umbrella in sight (although I understand a few remnants of Trader Vics remain in some storage units around the Palomar). Concrete floors, open ceiling and lots and lots of TVs. There are also a couple of ping pong and pool tables and a Wii dedicated TV area. Would be a fun location, if there were any people there.

Alas, the place was dead. They are still in their "soft opening" phase, with the official opening next Friday, but they seem to have their act together. I asked the bartender how business has been, and he admitted that daytime has been tough but they've been comfortably busy on weekend nights. Must be tough to open up a Dallas sports bar the week after the college games have stopped and during a season where the Cowboys defined suckage in their own special way. It's going to be a great place to watch the NCAA basketball tourney though so I hope business picks up.

I perused the menu. It looks really good. Lots of choices. Salads, sandwiches, sliders, entrees, etc. http://bracketsdallas.com/menus/Lunch-and-Dinner.pdf The beer list is pretty solid but the wine list I found curious because there were so many $99 bottles. This is a sports bar, right? I find it weird enough that some people (ie, my friends) drink wine at a sports bar (I'm a a firm believer you should eat steak at a steakhouse and drink beer at a sports bar) but who on earth would order a $99 bottle of wine at one? Strange.

We started with the tempura asparagus and green beans as an appetizer. A little greasy (and the asparagus a little chewy) but the sriracha mayo dip was super good as was the plum sauce that accompanied them.

But I was there for the Il Cane Rosso Pizza. The pizza oven is open to the dining area so you can see your pizza being fired if you'd like. I was not disappointed. The special of the day sounded great -- spicy pulled pork with peppers and onions -- but it sounded a little to spicy for us. We ordered the Tuscan instead. Tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, hot sopressata (which I was told was a type of cheese), and Jimmy's sausage. It was delicious (although adding Jimmy's to anything makes it taste better). I can't wait to go back to try a few more pies.

The service was good. We sat at the bar and Kevin took care of us well. The manager stopped by to get our impressions and a promise from us to come back again. Don't worry, we will. You should try it too.

Cheers!

Ziziki's

Went to Ziziki’s at Travis Walk last night for A’s birthday. Ziziki’s is one of A’s favorite restaurants so I wasn’t surprised when she picked it for her birthday dinner location. I just have never felt the Ziziki’s love. I don’t know what it is. Maybe just going to Travis Walk makes me miss its glory days. You remember those days, back when you’d partied til the wee hours at Sipango’s or drank mojitos on Wednesday at Samba Room, or had a great meal and some wine at Il Sole (so miss their calamari). Now we are stuck with Trece and Villa-O which are just so, eh.

I don’t know what it is. Or maybe, I do.

Here’s the thing about Ziziki’s – I order the exact same thing there each and every time I go – lamb salad. It’s a good greek salad covered in well seasoned and (usually) tender lamb, but that’s my order. When I mentioned that to the folks at my table, I was amazed at how many said the exact same thing – when they come to Ziziki’s they don’t know why they bother to look at the menu because they always order the same thing. Now, not everybody orders the same thing I do. Some people order the Chicken Slouvlaki. Others order the Salmon Salad. But they all have their “dish” and that’s what they order. And maybe that’s what Ziziki’s is – the place where you go when you have that craving for that one thing. And that’s, okay, I guess. I just prefer to be more adventuresome when I dine, that’s all.

We started with some appetizers. Hummus and Dolmades. Ziziki’s has artichoke hummus which is good but I really prefer regular old chickpea hummus, myself. The dolmades were good but, wow, were they garlicky. (More on that in a moment.)

My lamb salad was as it always is and forever shall be. They did go a little lean on the salad toppings. I think I had 2 grape tomatoes, a couple of olives and a smattering of feta. I forgot to tell them no onions (I like cooked onions but not raw ones), but they were cut so thin I hardly noticed them. But I did get a generous helping of well-seasoned and tender lamb which was much appreciated because the last time I ate at Ziziki’s the lamb on my lamb salad (did you think I had ordered something else?) was really tough. 3 others at my table ordered the salmon salad, which is the lamb salad, 86 the lamb, and substitute salmon. (Give you 2 guess what the chicken salad consists of). They all made happy plates but when our server laid their plates down, I thought salmon had a bit of a fishy smell. K had her usual order -- the chicken slouvlaki with salad instead of potatoes -- which is basically the chicken salad but with the chicken in a pita and the salad on the side. Hmmm, maybe that’s why everyone orders the same thing every time they go to Ziziki’s? Their menu is basically different variations of the same thing. Yawn.

So I went home, got ready for bed, brushed my teeth, flossed (see Dr. Cortez, I do floss sometimes) and gargled with some mouthwash. Why is she telling us this, you ask. Well, despite my impeccable dental hygeine, I woke up with the biggest case of garlic breath I think I have ever had in my life. That’s great if you want to keep the vampires away but not so great if you want a good morning kiss from your sweetie. Thank goodness I'm single, right? (see Mom, it does have it's advantages). But this was no ordinary garlic breath. After another round of brushing, flossing and gargling, it was still there and I had a plane to catch. Great, I'm going to be banned from Southwest for stinky breath. Luckily, I found the cure for Ziziki garlic breath at Love Field -- Cinnabon coffee. Just another handy dandy little tip for living from WiDiDallas.

Cheers!

And btw, thanks to all who are now "liking" WiDiDallas on facebook. It's a work in progress but I really appreciate. it.

WiDiDallas is Facebook Official

It's still a work in progress but feel free to "like" WiDiDallas on Facebook. In addition to my blog posts, I'll be trying to give those who "like" me, updates on what food and wine events are happening in the DFW area.

Cheers!

Chefs for Farmers FW

Sorry, my loyal 10 or so WiDiDallas followers. This thing called "earning a living" seems to have put a cramp in my blogging style. But now that I see that light at the end of the tunnel (which may or may not be an oncoming train), I have some time to blog about the fantastic event I went to on Sunday, Chefs For Farmers Fort Worth.

The dinner was held at Times Ten in Fort Worth. No long table in a field this time which I was grateful for since, well, it's December and freaking cold outside. Instead there were 3 long tables in one big room. Although there were only about 25 more people there than the last one, it felt like there were 3 times as many. Guess being indoors instead of a vast field changes the perspective.

L and I were running late and got there just before things started. So, alas we missed the Il Cane Rosso pizza that served as an appetizer. No infamous bacon wrapped dates this time so the toothpick count was zero (sad face). We grabbed a glass of x10 white and sat down in one of the last seats available. Thank you C for saving them for us!

Here's a run down of the courses. Every one of them delicious.

Amuse: Roasted Sunchoke Soup. Matt McCallister. A perfect amuse bouche. So many complex flavors in one little shot. The soup was topped with a parsley foam and the shot glass was rimmed with salt. Delicious. Not embarrassed to say I tilted my head back to make sure I got every bit of what was contained in the shot glass. Not that I have any experience in doing shots, mind you . . .

Course No. 1. Blue crab and white gazpacho cocktail with a hint of white truffle. Jon Bonnell of Bonnell's Restaurant (paired with Dunham Cellars Riesling, Columbia Valley 2008). I wasn't too sure about this dish since I would never think about ordering gazpacho in December but it was a knockout. A ton of crab and not too much white truffle. Would love to have some for lunch today. The pairing was nice as well. It was a bit sweeter than the dry rieslings I have previously tried but the sweetness of the wine contrasted nicely with the acidity of the gazpacho.

No. 2. Assiette of smoked fish, turnips, pickled radish, smoked roe and melba. Blaine Staniford of Grace (paired with Distefano Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, 2009). I heard later that this was either people's favorite or least favorite dish. For me, it was my favorite dish of the night. I think the naysayers were probably turned off by the smoked fish aspect, since it is such a strong flavor. But I love smoked fish so I reveled in this dish's beauty and taste. Yum. The Sauvignon Blanc was a nice complement as well.

No. 3. Rocky's Micro Beet Salad with Baby Fennel and Watercress Goat Cheese, Baby Leek Ranch and Sunflower Sprouts. Dan Landsberg (paired with Dunham Cellars Chardonnay, Shirley Mays, Columbia Valley 2009). I was happy to receive a second helping of the goat cheese because my dining companion L has her evil goat cheese aversion but this salad didn't wow me. The micro greens were difficult to eat. For some reason my knife refused to do its job and cut the stupid stems. It was probably user error I'm sure. Plus, I love beets and it just didn't feel like there was enough of them or enough flavor from them. Maybe I was expecting something macro out of micro beets. Who knows.


The wine, although not a standout, did have a great story. Shirley Mays is actually the wine makers grandmother who died of breast cancer. A portion of the proceeds from this wine's sale goes to support breast cancer charities. I, for one, am always willing to drink for a good cause.

No. 4. Braised pork shank with cheddar apple dumpling. Dena Peterson Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (paired with Dunham Cellars Syrah, Columbia Valley, 2006). First, Chef Peterson managed to sneak some bacon in the braised pork shank and, as you know, I'm a big fan of bacon. But it wasn't the pork that stood out for me in this dish. It was the cheddar apple dumpling. It was not so much a dumpling but a really compact cheddar apple pie. Simply perfect on a cold December night. Sorry, don't remember much about the wine. Too dazzled by that dumpling, I guess. (um, that's what she said?)

No. 5 (dear waist line, I'm sorry). Stracotta of burgundy pasture beef on chickpea panissa, shiitake and bright lights chard. Michael Morabito of Colonial Country Club (paired with Dunham Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate XII, Columbia Valley, 2006). When we were served our dish, L looked down and said "wait, I need a new knife." Never fear, L, there was no need for a knife. The beef was that tender. While this dish was good, it wasn't a stand out for me. The dish was cooked well and the flavors were well-balanced but I honestly think that I was so full at this point I was kind of done. Of course, we still had dessert . . .


No. 6. Pave with homemade creme fraiche, and crystallized organic lavender. Zach Townsend of Pure Chocolate Desserts (paired with Dunham Cellars, Late Harvest Riesling, Columbia Valley, 2008). I'm not sure what a pave exactly is, but it sure tasted like a chocolate cake to me. I liked the touch of crystallized lavender. Just enough so it didn't taste like you were eating soap (which is a bad thing. Trust me. My mom is old school and I had my mouth washed out with soap on more than one occasion growing up.). This final course tasted fine but was a bit too heavy for me after all that food I just had consumed. Would have preferred something more mousse like perhaps.



After dinner we then drove out to the country (like FW isn't country enough) and had a bonfire. So glad I went. There was a guy with a guitar singing Cowboy songs. There was a little 4 year old cowboy who decided he was going to the be the host with the most in his 10 gallon hat. There was hot chocolate. There was a Rahr beer keg. Did I mention there was a bonfire which Matt McCallister wanted to make as high as possible?

As we were lounging by the fire, out of the blue a horse with an Indian in full war paint comes charging at us. Eeek. Indian was not so terrifying when my little 4 year old cowboy friend walked up to him and said, "hi Kevin." Adorbs.

Dan Landsberg then showed up with some homemade marshmallows for roasting. I haven't roasted marshmallows by the campfire since my Girl Scout days. Oh, so good. This experience really kind of put the Tillman's smores to shame. Just can't duplicate a real live bonfire in a restaurant. Fire marshall would probably frown upon that. Though it would be totally cool.




Yet another fantastic CFF event. Can't wait until the next one in March. WiDiDallas knows the scoop but can't share it quite yet. Trust me. It's going to be amazing. You should go!

Cheers!