DiTerra's

So, we tried DiTerra’s last night. It is located on lower Greenville avenue surrounded by bars, so it is kind of hard to see. There is parking in the back, but beware that it fills up fast and it’s pretty small.

We immediately ordered the cheese fritters because we were starving! They came with a pesto dipping sauce and a marinara sauce. We preferred the marinara for these delicious bits. Our only complaint was that they were a little cooler on the inside than we would have preferred.

Then, we decided to build our own pizza for our entree. We went with the regular crust ( you could also choose crispy) , with pesto for the sauce ( I think you have a few choices here) and bacon. It was simply delicious. The crust was really good and that combo alone would make me go back.

Finally, we ended the evening with a nutella crepe with strawberries and blueberries. WOW.

I would recommend this place for sure. It was a great, casual neighborhood restaurant.

Restaurant Ava - Restaurant A++

It's been awhile.
Sorry about that.
We've been eating out, but it's been a slew of disappointing showings.

We were very glad, however, to end that run of less than stellar venues last week when we ate at Restaurant Ava in Rockwall. We cannot say enough good things about this little gem. We first read about it in our D Magazine Bible when they called Restaurant Ava's desserts one of the best things in the city. We can't back down from a tasting challenge like that.

Located in the old town square of Rockwall, the restaurant maintained its charm with exposed brick and wood floors. We sat at the chef’s table in the back where you can see the kitchen and cooks preparing all of the food-very cool!

We started off by ordering a bottle of wine- great idea because on Tuesday’s they are half off! Then, we ordered fried okra to start us off. It was beyond delish! This home-grown heirloom okra was sliced super thin, thinner than a pickle slice, and then breaded with an authentic cornmeal coating. The servings were generous, but we still enjoyed two rounds!!

They also bring out mini cornbread muffins which are to die for. Fresh baked, warm, and served with your own container of butter, you can't go wrong here!

Emily and I ordered the sweet corn tortelloni. They split it up on two plates for us –love it when restaurants do that for you. The little pasta shells were stuffed full of a sweet corn mixture and served on a bed of vegetables. Topped with a light cream sauce and served up hot, this dish is worth going back for.

Jason enjoyed the Ava Burger and a Caesar salad and we all enjoyed his french fries. Mom got the lobster salad which looked fresh and delicious with fresh mango slices and almond slivers.

Everything that we had was absolutely wonderful, but the BEST part of the dinner was the dessert. We talked to the owner a bit about the restaurant and his recent debut in D Magazine and following that, he brought us a lovely sampling of his dessert menu!! We cannot say enough about how tasty this was!!

We sampled pineapple sorbet, peach sorbet, peanut butter ice cream. We had a pineapple upside down cake with cream cheese ice cream. We even had a chocolate tart with salted caramel ice cream. I couldn't pick a favorite among all of these treats - each one was spectacular.

We will definitely return here, and recommend this place to anyone. Why not venture out of Dallas every once in a while? It's less congested, more authentic, and the air is cleaner.

Try Restaurant Ava.
And check out their website for offered specials!!

Park II

As Emily guessed, I have a totally different opinion of Park. I LOVED it. The atmosphere was great. The restaurant reminded me a lot of the Porch, with a "beachy" theme. We had no problem with valet, but we did have about a 45 minute wait. For a hot new restaurant, who can complain? We just head to the bar and got a pitcher of the sangria- which was delicious! We were seated and immediately ordered the queso. We loved that, too! It was really thick and creamy. Then, we shared the skillet macaroni and cheese and the skirt steak. Neither disappointed us. I have been back once for drinks and can't wait to return and taste other items on the menu. The prices are reasonable and the people watching is half of the fun:)

Park

Sometimes Katie and I go to the same place at different times and have completely different experiences. Park on Henderson is one of those stories; I will be interested to see what she has to say in rebuttal.

We took our good friends P&K to Park to celebrate K's b-day this week. I called ahead for a rez, but they only take them for parties of six or more. The guy assured me wait time would be minimal at seven on a Wednesday. Turns out he was an un-truther.

To begin, the valet was so full they couldn't manage our car. They asked us to back up into traffic on Henderson and to pull into the lot across the street. Parking my car with the valet across the street was the first item to give me pause.

We entered the restaurant, which is admittedly cute, and the wait list fellow tells us that it will be about 20 minutes. Half of us take a seat at the bar, which is super loud and more than crowded. An hour later we check on our table - we are next. Yeah.
Thirty minutes later....we are still next.
A total of two hours later....at nine o'clock...we are finally seated. I know, I know...why didn't we just leave? We should have. That is ridiculous. But after an hour, we were committed.

When we were finally seated, we ordered cokes and The Meze Platter:
Black bean Hummus, Babaganoush, Tabouleh salad & grilled flatbread. Super disappointed. Even the Greek food eaters at our table made sad faces. No one finished it, despite our starving status.

We ordered, they didn't have the grilled cheese listed on the menu...cool. Then our waiter disappeared. Maybe he was tending to the honeybees that Park sustains on the roof, which is actually kind of cool? Or maybe he was filling up the compost pile that Park also believes in? I don't know. I do know that he was absent so that cokes weren't refilled and waters were left to run dry...diners were left hungry.

I ordered the Park salad, which was delicious when it finally came....during hour 3.5. The chicken breast was impeccably seasoned and the salad was scrumptious. The others in my party, however, were disappointed for cost vs. quality of the meal. Mini-tacos for around $15 didn't make anyone at our table happy. The chicken fried steak - were they making up for using a lesser quality of meat by over spicing? Perhaps.

We left around eleven, completely worn out from our four hour ordeal, walked across the street, waited in the valet line, then watched as the valet whipped my car around the corner entirely too fast and almost crashed it into the restaurant. At that point in the evening...whatever. I just wanted to go home!

My opinion is that this place is too busy to visit right now. You might give it a try in a few months when things have kind of settled in and patio dining is more of an option? Or you might skip it.

Happy dining!!

Mom's Kitchen

One of the best dinners I have had in a while came from mom's kitchen.
It was a combined effort, mom created the main course, which she called taco purses.
It was ground beef combined with sour cream, stuffed inside crescent roll purses.
She placed it all on a mix of lettuce leaves and topped it with tomato and avocado. The taco purse was delicious and filling!!


Mom also created a cole slaw recipe with Texas flare, combining corn and peppers into the normal cole slaw mix.


I made a salad from Gourmet Magazine that combined cantaloupe, celery, radishes. We drizzled a soy sauce lemon juice dressing over the top. The combo of flavors was interesting. I probably wouldn't make this again, but it was something unique - light and summery.

Nothing beats home cooking when someone else does it!
Thanks, mom!

Dish on the Road: Aloha! from Kauai

Jas and I just returned from our island adventure where we tried so many dishes that "broke da mouth", as they say. :)

Our first night in Kauai, we tried out Tidepools at the Grand Hyatt. Every seat was near the koi pond, so all night long you had a glamorous fish show!
Tidepools served a Hawaiian feast of macadamia nut crusted mahimahi. This was definitely a must try item, and Tidepools gets my vote for preparation, presentation, and environment!!



For breakfast we ate at Ono Family Restaurant, located outside of Lihue. I know that macadamia nuts are feature fare in Hawaii, and this place was no different. I tried the coconut, banana, macadamia nut pancakes complete with coconut syrup. It could not have tasted better. This is definitely a combo I plan to try at home!




One rainy night we were looking for something close to home and made the grand choice of Brick Oven Pizza in Kalaheo. This charming little place was filled with license plates from all over the country. Other ambiance was provided by the red and white checkered table cloths and the delicious aroma of garlic. Brick Oven didn't disappoint. We split a whole wheat pepperoni pizza brushed with their signature garlic butter sauce and a pitcher of coke...it definitely hit the spot after a day at the beach.





For another romantic dinner, make sure and visit The Beach House in Koloa. We started out with cocktails at the bar as we waited on our rez. These were the best (read: stoutest) pina coladas I have ever had!!
The scenery was amazing, of course. We were there early enough to watch the sunset, and as the sun sank into the ocean and the waves lapped the shore, we were in Heaven...
Then they brought out the crabcakes...this is all that was left by the time I got around to the photo.

So good!!





My last mention goes to Hanalei Gourmet. After a day of golf, we were ready to sit down and enjoy something to eat.
The crabcake burger with pineapple aioli hit the spot. It was a wonderful combo of sweet and salty. This location up north was darling, as well...tons to see!

Craft - a Revisit

Last summer Katie and I started our restaurant madness venture...trying new things. Craft was on our list last summer and when we tried their potato puree, we were in love - for real.

We decided to give it a little re-visit last week and see if it lived up to the hype in our mind. Let me tell you - it surpassed our previous love affair.
The entrees at Craft aren't my fav...in fact, they are sometimes non-traditional/weird for my taste buds. But if you skirt the perimeter of the menu, you won't be disappointed. (Also, normally I would link to the menu, but the menu on-line didn't have the same items we tried...you can click here to see what they serve, but let it be known that there is much more available!!)


We sat down and were immediately served sourdough bread with unsalted butter.
This is always a crowd pleaser!
We ordered the breaded mozzarella and were off to a fantastic start. This panko crusted cheese was served with a slightly sweet version of marinara....TO DIE FOR!!!


We then ordered the mushroom and cheese sandwich, chased by the Yukon Gold Potato Puree. The sandwich...eh.


The potatoes...pure gold. In retrospect, we probably should have just ordered two pots of potatoes. Next time we will!!!



#1 Potatoes in Dallas: Craft
Go try them!!