Asador

Tucked away in the Renaissance Hotel is a lovely spot named Asador. With a farm to table concept, Chef Max brought the freshest ingredients to our dinner on Wednesday night.
We started with cocktails and weren't disappointed. The White Sangria Spritzer was perfect to beat the heat.


The Spicy Elderflower Margarita was tart with the right amount of spark provided by the salted rim. While waiting on drinks, we were served complimentary taquitos, hand rolled and made with the juiciest meats. It was so unique, but one each was a good number to serve because it was also incredibly rich.



For an appetizer, we started with the Rustic Oven Rolls served with the chimichurri glaze on the side. The rolls were hot and had huge and delicious salt flakes on top. The chimichurri glaze was garlicky and would have been delicious poured over the top. We used it as dipping sauce, though, and weren't disappointed.

The Pressed Pork Sandwich interested us for dinner, so we split that along with our side dishes. The sandwich was huge, piled with ham, pork, Manchego cheese, and with a nice amount of arugula to give it a peppery bite. I don't think either of us finished our halves, as it was a pretty generous serving.


The Smashed Potatoes with Olive Tapanade was the only disappointment of the evening. The combo wasn't quite right for us, but sounded out of the ordinary, so it was worth a try.


The belle of the ball was definitely the crispy Brussels sprouts. Bacon, agave nectar, and lemon seal the deal on this being an absolutely fantastic dish. The sprouts were roasted, so they weren't slimy or cafeteria like. Instead, the flavors melded together, salty and sweet, making this dish a definite favorite.


Gluttons that we are, we went ahead and ordered dessert, even though we were already stuffed. The baked peach finished with blue cheese, almonds, and ice cream was amazing. The flavor combination was the perfect finish to our dinner.


While this spot is a little out of the way, and while we've read a few reviews that weren't so kind, we are very glad that we gave it a try. The dishes were definitely salty and had a fair amount of fat to help pave the way to deliciousness, but we enjoyed our dinner a great deal. Folks staying at the Renaissance Hotel are definitely in for a treat with Asador!

The Dish: Crispy Brussels Sprouts are a must!

dCarlo

Did you know that Daniele Osteria recently had a name and a menu change? They are now renamed dCarlo. Of course we had to give it a try! When we first arrived, the dining room seemed quiet with only a couple of occupied tables. By the time we headed out, the place was pretty full.

We were greeted with warm focaccia bread sprinkled with Parmesan cheese served alongside a dipping plate of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Next, our waiter brought us a complimentary aperitivo. It consisted of mini pizzas topped with marinara sauce, artichokes, cheese and sprinkled with Italian parsley! What a perfect start for a true Italian dinner.


We ordered the veal scallopini, sauteed in a creamy mushroom sauce. This was served with grilled squash, carrots and zucchini. The veal was pounded thin and was extremely tender.

We also ordered the cheese tortellini that was tossed with pancetta, peas, mushrooms, shallots and a creamy sauce. This was a home run full of delicious and fresh ingredients.

We liked the newly renovated menu and the turn around of a Dallas classic. We'd like to come back and try it for lunch!

The Dish: The cheese tortellini is something we'd order again and again!

Ruggeri's

Dinner on Monday took us to Preston & Royal for a visit to Ruggeri's Restaurant.

The menu on line is different than in person: in person there are a lot more choices and the price points are different. The way this world works, it seems like you should keep up with that kind of thing...but when we saw the clientele, we totally got it.
The median age of the crowd was probably 67 - and that's with us significantly bringing down the average. That lady at the table next to us brought her date and her oxygen tank. No joke.
But, it looked like these folks were regulars - they were having chummy conversations with the waiters, something we always love to see. Plus, we know how great it is to have a gem right in your own neighborhood.

We kicked off dinner with the chopped salad. Complete with meats, cheeses, and hearts of palm (hearts of palm can just make a salad in our opinion), this salad was pretty hearty. It was slightly over dressed, but decent.


The real star of the show, however, was the Portabello Mushroom Ravioli. This place might have been a little ho-hum for our taste, except the ravioli was amazing. It was so good, that in the middle of the entree, we discussed a revisit. That's pretty high praise. The dish was served with three stuffed ravioli that were finished with a creamy Marsala wine sauce. We even ate the broccoli.

This picture doesn't do the dish justice...but it was darn good!

As an added bonus, Monday is half price wine night - glass or bottle (who would pick a glass?), so we definitely enjoyed that boon.
There were cute tables outside that looked like they could be fun if it wasn't a million humid degrees outside. Keep this place in mind for a laid back patio dinner come November.

The Dish: Portabello Mushroom Ravioli are a must!

Cafe on the Green - Four Seasons

We headed out of town Tuesday night to try a place that has been on our "list" for quite a while- Cafe on the Green at the Four Seasons. From the moment we arrived, we felt like we were on vacation. The restaurant is spacious, grand and overlooks the welcoming property pool and the green gardens. It was airy and light, a very nice spot for dining.

We were greeted with excellent service and seated in the atrium space. Over a glass of white wine, we decided to try something outside our normal appetizer comfort zone: we ordered the cheese plate with the caveat that we were allergic to goat cheese. It couldn't even touch the cheeses we were being served or we would die.

You have the option of choosing 2/3/5 cheeses. We went with a blue cheese, smokey cheddar and a brie. This plate beautiful plate came complete with blanched almonds, grapes, sweet raisin bread, honey and balsamic figs. It is a lingering appetizer that you can snack on for an hour while talking. We can't recommend it enough. It was a wonderful experience.

Next, we ordered the special salad of the eventing. This salad was plated with endive, blueberries, green apples, blue cheese and drizzled with a citrus vinaigrette.

The roasted poblano soup sounded intriguing, so we selected that for dinner as well. This was poured table side over a rice cake and queso fresco. The flavors in this soup were outstanding: a little sweet, a little firey, but very mild overall.

Of course, being huge fans of the carbohydrate, we couldn't pass up a couple of the sides! We opted for the "baked pasta monsieur" (macaroni and cheese) and the chile lime roasted corn. The corn was lite and fresh and truly tasted as if it had just been cut off of the cob. That kind of crispness, paired with the lime juice made it feel like summer. The cavatelli pasta was tossed in a Bechamel sauce and then dotted with bits of ham and finished off with an amazing Parmesan crust. Wow!

We really wanted to try some of their dessert options, but were too full to indulge! However, they brought us out this beautiful complimentary dessert plate. It had 6 different bite size delicacies from truffles to macaroons. We each tried a little bit of all of the choices. They were all wonderful!


Our service here was cheery and helpful! We encountered 4 different servers during the course of our evening and they were all delightful.

On the way out, we were each given these little boxes with cranberry walnut mini muffins for the morning.

Cafe on the Green at the Four Seasons was an "out of town" treat. We'll be back to try out brunch.

The Dish: The cheese plate was the highlight of our evening for sure!

Marquee Grill & Bar

Saturday evening we decided to try Marquee Grill & Bar in Highland Park Village. We arrived and checked in with the hostess who let us know that they were running behind and that we would be seated as soon as possible. We were encouraged to head upstairs and have a drink while we waited. We took that advice and ordered a round of cocktails.

Emily and I both tried the Scarf Dancer. This fancy drink was made with vodka, St. Germain, lemon juice and black currents. Garnished with lemon peel and mint, this is a tasty drink that is perfect for the summer! After waiting a full hour upstairs we decided to check in with the hostess again. A few minutes later we were finally seated.

We were immediately served warm french bread with a side of whipped butter topped with pink sea salt. Since we had quite a wait, the waiter comped us two appetizer's. It was a nice gesture, ad we certainly appreciated it!

Our first appetizer was the tuna tartar plated in the center of an avocado puree. The tuna was lightly sprinkled with toasted sesame panko and radish. The freshness of the dish made us feel like we were sitting at an exotic coastal spot.

Next, we tried the duck spring rolls. These were plated beautifully and paired with a chili dipping sauce. The sauce was the perfect compliment to the duck. At this point, we were glad we had waited.

#1 Salmon served on a bed of truffle potatoes, baby artichokes and tomatoes topped with a citrus sauce.

#2 Halibut served with gnocchi and spinach

#4 Petite filet in a rosemary wine sauce

Truffle Mashed Potatoes

Pepper Jack Grits

#4 Bone in pork chop served over mushroom risotto

We definitely cleared our plates Saturday night. This is our tribute to Chef Tre Wilcox - well done, sir!

We were beyond satisfied with our meals, and truly enjoyed our dining experience. This is a Dallas must- just make sure you have plenty of time. We promise it's worth the wait!

The Dish: too many to mention. This place is a culinary powerhouse.