Nonna for Lunch

House made Cherry Coke

served warm & piping hot, this bread is worth the visit

We have long been fans of Nonna. We adore the ravioli of Maine lobster. While pregnant, husband had to deal with that craving - which ended up costing a bit more than your typical pickles & ice cream.
For dessert, you would be remiss if you passed up the Praline Nougatine Semifreddo
with Pistachios and Acacia Honey. There is nothing to compare it to - it is THAT good.

So we were very pleased to see that they recently opened for lunch - Fridays only.
The soup sounded like the perfect dish for a cold and rainy day: Fall vegetable minestra with braised lentils and sausage. It was rich, so pleasing, and a good sized portion. It warmed us up immediately and made us wish that we could cook that well!


We then tried the lobster roll, something that is entirely new to the menu and can only be found Friday afternoons. This - this didn't go over so well. It was overly fishy and had some chewy pieces that made eating the sandwich very unladylike. The house made chips were delicious, and ended up saving our lunch, but...this lobster roll was not one of our favorite things.


Our take on the situation: go in and enjoy the soup - or any of their other wonderful entrees. Just pass on the sandwich.

Artin's Grill

Date night had us up in Plano last week to try Artin's Grill.
Upon walking in, I was a little disappointed. The atmosphere didn't seem cozy at all. The soaring ceilings and rows of booths, initially, made me feel like this place was going to be a jazzed up Chili's. I could not have been further from the truth.

Seated in a booth, I was surprised at how easy it was to have a conversation. I expected everything to be a cacophony of dinner plates, voices, and clinking glasses, but it was very comfortable.

We started out with the wedge salad and enjoyed the traditional presentation with nice sized pieces of bacon, blue cheese, and tomatoes. Wonderful!


From there, we went with the waiter's recommendation: Braised Beef Short Ribs. These little gems were boneless, juicy, and tender as heck! The short ribs were served on top of the mushroom mac and cheese and finished with onion strings This is one of the best things I have ever ordered, and that's saying a lot!


J and I split the dish, and the waiter was kind enough to bring it already divided. I love it when restaurants offer this, even for a fee, because it prevents messes! It was a generous portion, and I would recommend splitting this particular entree since the meal is so rich.

Post-dinner, we moved on to the flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Rich and chocolaty, it was a delicious match to my glass of cabernet.


This made for a lovely date night that I look forward to replicating in the near future.

El Padrino #2

I have no idea what happened to El Padrino #1 - or if there even is one. Though slightly puzzling to me, it's of no real consequence since El Padrino #2 is a fine establishment and I'm so glad to have found it!
Located in Bishop's Art, this little stand shop completed my lifelong quest for breakfast tacos.
To begin, it's cheap. Four tacos and two Mexican cokes ran us about $10 - most of that cost was the coke.
You can choose if you want corn or flour tortillas. I had the corn - they were unmatched - but I did covet the flour, as they looked thick and perfect in the way that only hand made tortillas can.

You can do breakfast, which is served all day, or you can opt for lunch/dinner. After you order up at the window, you can either eat in your car, or choose one of the two cement tables outside the taco stand. You definitely don't want to be driving when you first experience El Padrino #2, as you may wreck your car with sheer happiness.

We tried the egg, cheese, and potato taco - tears of joy.
We also tried the egg, chorizo, and cheese - there is no finer combination.

Two sauces are offered: a green chile sauce (pass), and a red sauce (lit my mouth on fire).

All in all, this was so very much worth the drive.

chorizo, egg, & cheese tacos on flour tortillas
potato, egg, & cheese taco - corn tortilla

*a nod to BEL for recommending this joint. Thank you~

Perry's

This week's dining event: Perry's.
If you've been following our blog for any amount of time, you know that we like to order whatever moves us...and that mostly we are moved by side dishes: potatoes and mac and cheese. Perry's was definitely a crowd pleaser.

To start, our waiter, Maurice, was top notch. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and enhanced our dining experience. We loved his service and really appreciated his attention to detail. Cheers to Maurice. If you find yourself at Perry's, please ask to be seated with him. I'm not kidding when I saw that he made dinner pleasant!


We began with Perry's Signature Fried Asparagus. You can see that it is topped with crab meat and Parmesan. I don't even really know how to describe this culinary treasure. The asparagus was tender, and paired with the crab meat, it was bliss. We highly recommend trying this appetizer.

From there, we moved on to the lobster bisque. This bisque had real lobster meat - always a plus, and was so rich it tasted buttery. Four stars!

Salads were next on the agenda. The Wedge and the Chopped Salad with Applewood Smoked Bacon were our choices. The Chopped salad may have had too much cheese - not even sure if that is a complaint. They were both good.

The Butternut Squash Puree was a pleasant surprise. The squash was sweet, but the crumb and bacon topping added savory to the mix. It was an accident that we even ended up with this dish, as we meant to try the potato puree. However, this side made my day. This dish is a must!


The mac and cheese is comprised of penne pasta in a Bechamel sauce, so it has a little bit of an eggy taste to it. The cheese is all on top, and they make sure it's browned and bubbling before they serve it up. This unique take on mac and cheese wasn't as heavy as some dishes can be. The nutmeg also offered a nice finish.


A cup of coffee and the praline cheesecake did us in. We were so full, I'm sure we didn't give the cheesecake proper attention. We were also distracted by the neighboring table's banana's foster light show. Wow!

All in all, we found Perry's to be an absolutely perfect dining experience.
A re-visit will definitely be in order.

Sweet Revolution Caramels

Ordered up some maple honey caramels from Sweet Revolution last week and they arrived on Friday. Wow!
The packaging alone is worth the price tag. These would make a precious gift for any candy connoisseurs in your circle.

They are packaged twelve to a box.
The box comes wrapped in red twine, covered with a wax seal.
Inside, each of the twelve caramels are wrapped in oversized white waxy paper. It's throwback candy and it's absolutely darling.

These caramels are easy on the taste buds, too.
They're definitely a mouthful and could cause some dental work damage. However, by savoring the taste (and not chewing), I found a lot of flavors emerging from these little squares of goodness. There is a nice balance of salty and sweet - a combo I can't resist.

These would make a great Christmas present, so make sure and keep them in mind!

Exposition Park Pizza Lounge

We tried Exposition Park Pizza Lounge for lunch today. It is located directly in front of the State Fair on the corner of Exposition.

This place is eclectic and prides itself on great late night pizzas. They recently opened up for lunch, so we decided to check it out.
At 11:45 a.m. we were definitely the only customers in the joint but towards the middle of our meal, one other patron ventured in. Exposition Park has a unique offering of pizzas with names such as Spicy Muchacho, Sufrin’ Hog, Nickel Bag, and Sofa King. They also cook up salads, soups and sandwiches. We started with the wedge salad to spilt. Lucky for us, the waitress served up the salad on two plates. The wedge came with grape tomatoes, banana peppers and homemade croutons. We weren’t feeling very adventurous or starving, so we ordered by the slice – one cheese and one pepperoni. Neither of us were blown away by the pizza. Maybe our mistake was not trying one of their specialty pizzas. Or maybe this place is best saved for a late night bite.

Lawry's

At Lawry's Restaurant, the ambiance was warm and toasty with dark woods, and we settled into our comfortable chairs and perused the menu immediately. They had wine by the glass, so we made sure to order a fancy $7.50 chardonnay and a $15 Cabernet; neither let us down. The wait staff was superb: friendly without being overbearing. We really liked our server and appreciated her guidance while making choices.


First up: lobster bisque. This was a pretty staunch serving soup, so we went ahead and shared it. The only thing that could have made this soup better, would be the addition of lobster meat to the bowl. However, we would order it again. Can you really beat a cream soup?


Next: The Premiere Salad
With crunchy bacon and pecans, Gruyere cheese, and an Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette, this salad had a nice light taste to it that helped to off set the steak and sides that were coming soon.


The main course: there was a lot going on here, so we're just going to do a quick discussion of sides and steak.
The mac and cheese is made with pepper jack. It definitely has a kick to it, which is good because that really set it apart from other blah mac-and-cheese steak house offerings. Worth a try!


The creamed spinach and creamed corn were non-descript. Would definitely pass next time.

And finally, the filet mingon with fried onion strings and potatoes au gratin. This whole plate is a must have. Lawry's is known for it's prime rib, but this was a pretty good filet and the accouterments were a plus. The potatoes au gratin rivaled the mac and cheese for our "Favorite Dish" at the table.

I'd say the theme of the night: heavy cream.


For the finale, we wrapped up with the banana-coconut cream pie. We're sad to say we couldn't finish the dish, but it did make a mighty fine breakfast the next day. I think that counts as two servings of fruit, so...

I'm going to go ahead and note that there are some superior steak restaurants in Big D, Nick and Sam's is one of my all time favs. They set the bar high. Lawry's has some good things going for it, but I'm not sure it can compete. That being said, we had a very pleasant dinner, the bill wasn't awful, and we enjoyed our dinner. Give Lawry's a try and see for yourself!