The Front Room

After reading some positive reviews on The Front Room, we decided to give it a try. Located in the Hotel Lumen, a very trendy and sleek restaurant greets patrons. A noon lunch found the place mostly vacant (except for a celebrity chef sighting of Tiffany Derry), but that changed as our lunch progressed.When we talked with our waitress about business, she revealed that  lunch was usually touch and go, but dinner service was pretty solid - even moving into wait list territory. 

The menu looked delicious - there were very few things that we didn't want to try. 

We started with the edamame hummus. 

Our waitress murmured a "good choice" before taking our order off to the kitchen. 

When the dish came, we found it a little bitter with a heavy handed use of both garlic and cumin. While we did appreciate the use of steamed and fresh vegetables, particularly the broccolini, I think the dish would've been enhanced with a cracker/lavash option. 

With the other choices on the appetizer menu, we wouldn't order this again.

 

For lunch, we had the macaroni and cheese and the grilled cheese. 

We loved the choices of serving pieces. We did not love the food itself. 

The macaroni and cheese was tepid, temperature wise. When something comes out in a cast iron skillet dish, you have certain expectations about heat. We were misled. As to the food itself, very bland. Even with salt, we weren't impressed. We weren't even sure if there was actually cheese in our mac and cheese.

The grilled cheese didn't offer us much more. Again, the temperature was luke warm, leaving the cheese a little less than desirable. A mix of cheeses, including Boursin, this grilled cheese had such potential. Instead, one side of our sandwich was almost burned and the other side was a nice and toasty golden brown. 

We can do that at home, thank you.

All in all, we wanted so much more from The Front Room. It has a lot of potential, but it did not impress us. 

Monica's Nueva Cocina in Dallas

We decided to try out Monica's newest collaboration for lunch last Wednesday.  Monica's Nueva Cocina is located in the Ilume building on Cedar Springs.  This spot is nice and spacious and is now open for lunch and dinner.

Our waiter seated us, filled us in on some solid appetizer choices and brought us warm chips and salsa. Monica Greene greeted us at our table and welcomed us into her restaurant -which was such a nice touch of hospitality.

There are several lunch categories that you can choose from- sandwiches, tacos, soups/salads, and entree options.  We ordered the Mexican lasagna ( a long time favorite of mine) and a taco plate.  The lasagna was plated in a tomato coulis amd topped with green salsa.  If you haven't had Monica's lasagna yet- you are missing out. This dish consists of layers and layers of corn tortillas, roasted chicken, cheese, black beans and corn all topped off with a dollup of salsa verde.  The lunch portion is perfect and the flavors are amazing.

The tacos section invites you to pick and choose from several choices ranging from $2.5 - $3.5.  We chose the Calabazitas and the Saudero with a side of red rice.  The Calabazitas included summer squash, poblanos, tomatoes all topped in an avocado creme sauce.  The Saudero included brisket, onions, salsa and a sour cream sauce. Overall, the tacos were great and we only had to add a dash of salt to make the dish 100% satisfactory.

We enjoyed our lunch outing at Monica's and appreciate her contribution to the Dallas dining scene.

Woodshed in Fort Worth

We finally made the trek out to Fort Worth so that we could try Tim Love's newest hot spot- Woodshed. This restaurant is located on the Trinity River Trails and is open for lunch and dinner.  We arrived at noon on Saturday.  There was already a short wait so we headed over to bar for an ice cold beer ( they had PLENTY on tap).

The entire restaurant is spacious and all open air.  The patio area is huge and they had great live music to keep us entertained.  We felt like we were back in Austin.

Ten minutes later we were seated and approached by one of the friendliest waitresses we have ever had.  She explained how the menu was laid out and offered up some great suggestions.  We were in no rush, so we started with two appetizers.

We started with the crispy potato skins served with BBQ sauce and a garlic aioli dipping sauce.  The plate was heaping with these little delicious treats.  They had a nice smoked flavor and were crisp on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.  The two sauces really hit the spot.

Next, we wanted to try piquillo pepper small plate.  These peppers were stuffed with brisket and cotija cheese.  Served three to an order, these really packed a punch.  The brisket was tender and juicy and and the cheese offered a nice counter to the slightly spicy peppers.

At this point, we started to fill up so we decided to split the Woodshed burger.  The waitress mentioned that this was a menu favorite. Served with house made potato chips, this burger stands tall.   Smoked brisket layers the bottom, then the beef patty, next comes the sausage, and finally the white cheddar tops it all off! This is something that we would order again and again!

We absolutely loved Woodshed and are keeping our fingers crossed for a location in Dallas.  Until that time, we will be back in the fall!

Liberty Burger in Dallas

We have heard great reviews on Liberty Burger and before summer gets away from us, we wanted to try this place out.  Liberty Burger is located on the corner of Forrest and Inwood in a shopping center.  You might drive right by, but with one glance at the packed parking lot this place grabs your attention.  You are given a number once you enter and you stand in line to order at the counter.  Once your order is up, a server brings you your food. This system seemed to work quite well with the volumes of people they were serving.

We HAD to try the salted caramel custard shake.  The shake was creamy, chalked full of caramel and you could actually taste a hint of the salt.  They nailed the salty/sweet combination with this tasty treat!

Liberty Burger offers several very unique options and we decided to be adventurous.  We ordered the South of the Burger which came topped with re-fried beans, cheddar cheese, avocado slices, tortilla chips and pico de gallo.  For $7.50, this was packed full of flavor and definitely filled us both up!

We ordered a side of onion rings and french fries, too! The onion rings were huge and battered up in a buttermilk mixture.  They were crispy, crunchy and heavily breaded. These alone were worth going back for.  The french fries were shoe string style, but nothing extraordinary to report on there.

Liberty Burger is definitely worth a visit if you are in the neighborhood.  We enjoyed their creative twist on classic American favorites.

Stackhouse Burger in Dallas

Stackhouse Burgers is located down by Baylor Hospital in Dallas and has a few things going for it: Number one, parking was decent. Number two, they do offer outdoor and rooftop dining. Can you take advantage of that right now? Not unless you plan on checking in to Baylor for heat stroke. But....come November/December, when the weather cools to less than 80, it'll definitely come in handy. Number three, it's so good you will want to make a return visit to eat up whatever you missed the first time.

We started with a vanilla milk shake, which tasted like pure delicious Bluebell topped with whipped cream and a cherry. A little on the thick side, this shake had staying power.

If you're into something a little more serious, Stackhouse also has a bar complete with a sports centered tv. 

Vanilla Milkshake at Stackhouse Burgers

Next up, the burger. We ordered the single patty 6oz burger. You can tailor it to your specifics, including cheese and other toppings. We went with cheddar, lettuce, and avocado. This burger was one of the better burgers we've had recently; the cheese was melty, the avocado was smooth. We could not have been happier with our burger choice. Plus, while 6oz isn't skimpy, it also isn't overwhelming. We found it to be of good heft. 

Single Patty Burger with Avocado, Cheddar, and Lettuce

The french fries were decent. The show stealer, however, was definitely the mac and cheese. This little ditty came out in a foil dish - was bubbly and hot with a toasted crumb top. It looked good, but we've recently been burned by mac and cheese that came out grainy or bland. This was neither. It was smooth perfection with a nice sharp bite to it. This dish gets a blue ribbon. 

The French Fries - Decent, but overshadowed by the mac and cheese experience

Our Pick for Best Dish!

Our experience with the wait staff was a little stuffy, but we won't let that deter us from visiting again. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the food exceeded our expectations. Oh, and if burgers aren't your thing, the menu does hold other options - the griddled cheese caught our eye, made with gouda, cheddar, and bacon. Can you beat that?

The dish: Try that mac and cheese!

Pecan Lodge

Pecan Lodge at the Dallas Farmer's Market keeps some limited hours (Thursday-Sunday 11-3), but the crowd outside lets you know that things inside are worth finagling your schedule. 

We arrived on the Thursday after July 4th at noon. The line was wrapped around the side of the building and down the hall. Luckily, it is located inside the air conditioned shed #2 AND our spot in line put us right across from a fudge shop. Jackpot. 

The line.

 

The line moved quickly, and we soon found ourselves ordering up The Hot Mess. The Hot Mess is something you may have seen on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives? Or something you might have seen in Southern Living, The Dallas Morning News or even The Observer? It even has it's own hashtag. It is darn good. This salted sweet potato is topped with barbacoa, chopped bacon, chives, butter, and chipotlecream. The picture doesn't really do justice to how good this potato is, but it is unparalleled - and it's a ton to eat.  

The "Hot Mess" with all of the delicious trappings

Wanting to try a sampling of sides, we also ordered up the fried okra and the mac and cheese. 

The mac and cheese had a whole litany of praise mounted on the wall as part of their advertising. However, we found the dish to be a little grainy and not quite up to snuff. The cheese was mild and it was topped with bacon - but the grainy texture to the roux really put us off.

The mac and cheese.

 

The fried okra was delicious and couldn't have been done better. Crisp applied to both the breading and the okra itself. Every single piece was a success. It was an A+ side dish. 

Okra done right!

The Dish: We would revisit for The Hot Mess. Fortunately, today is Sunday. 

We may just revisit once we hit publish!

Kenny's Italian Kitchen

We usually don't venture outside of our loop ( north of 635), but we have heard too many great things about Kenny's Italian Kitchen to miss out.  This spot is located in Addison right off the tollway on Beltline.  We arrived about 6:45 on a Tuesday night and the place was absolutely packed.  Luckily we made a reservation on opentable.com prior to arrival.  Our waiter was very friendly and suggested their happy hour house wine.  At $4.00 a glass with a nice big pour, this was an excellent start.

We started with the "Midnight Meatballs".  These were served three to a dish, covered in marinara, mozzarella cheese and Italian parsley.  They tasted authentic and were filling. 

For the entree portion, we ordered the veal piccata and asked for Fontina cheese on top.  This was served with a lemon caper sauce and a side of spaghetti noodles tossed with garlic and olive oil.  The veal was pounded thin and the sauce was flavorful: the lemon had a great punch to it.

We also went tried the gnocchi. At Kenny's you can choose a white cream sauce or the vodka sauce.  The vodka sauce seemed more appealing.  These medium sized potato pockets were fluffy  and the sauce was a great balance with the starch.

Even though we were stuffed, we had to order the light and dark chocolate bread pudding.  This generous portion could easily have been split by four people, but we made a pretty good attempt at finishing it.  The pudding was dense and the chocolate sauces were creamy. This dessert is a show stealer. 

We were glad that we ventured out of the loop for this spot.  Kenny's has Italian comfort food down.