I feel so special to have been included in LOCAL's media peek for their 15th Anniversary. 15 years, y'all. Just think about that. It's an enormous feat to have lasted so long in the ever changing Dallas food scene. It was my first time there (I dunno why I never went... kicking myself for that). But those who have been dining there for many many years says it's just as good as ever. Apparently LOCAL was among the very few to do locally sourced ingredients back in the day.
LOCAL's 15th Anniversary promotions will kick off February 1st and last the whole month. Perfect for Valentine's Day, y'all! *hint*hint*
"Guests dining at LOCAL in the month of February can toast to the restaurant’s decade and a half of success with a complimentary champagne cocktail, available to anyone who dines at LOCAL between February 1st and February 28th.
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Additionally, Chef Tracy Miller will offer a special anniversary tasting menu all month, featuring remarkable French wine pairings. Adding in a complimentary course to her standard seven-course tasting menu, the eight-course tasting menu will be available for $75, with optional wine pairings for an additional $35."
Scroll to the bottom of the post to see what's in store for the 8 course tasting menu.* :) This is such a steal! Most chef tastings of this caliber generally costs well over $100. Jump on it!
LOCAL - Deep Ellum
2936 Elm Street
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 752-7500
www.localdallas.com
Price: $$$$+
If your interest hasn't been peaked yet, just you wait. There's a feast heading your way! We had an EPIC dinner... we didn't know what or how many courses we were having, the chef just kept bringing stuff out! I kind of overdid it right off the bat... was struggling at the end, but I made sure to taste EVERYTHING!
Champagne Cocktail (with grapefruit rosemary sorbet). Their flavors change from time to time. And as the sorbet melts in the champagne the flavor changes as well. Very cool! I don't really drink so I just tried the sorbet. So refreshing and the rosemary really takes it to another level. Herbacious and fragrant. Yum!
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (with sweet potato crisp). These are the cutest little cups for a soup taster. I'm so glad she did tasting portions cuz I would've had the whole bowl given the opportunity. It was sooooo good. I loved the contrast in texture with the crisp.
Our Fried Green Beans (thyme scented dipping sauce) $14~ I think these are a staple at LOCAL. Those who have dined there were already anticipating it. These are like crack, y'all. So freaking crispy and delicious. I just kept eating... and telling myself they're vegetables.. so... yea. :P
Cheese & Crackers (LOCAL's evolving cheese collection, apple savoy cabbage slaw, fruit conserve, crostini, warm baguette) $22~ If you love cheese boards... theirs is ever changing!
Pan Seared Maine Lobster Cake (crispy baby beet, carrot & frisee slaw, meyer lemon dill cream) $17~ One of the most beautiful dishes of the night, imo. And freaking delicious. The lobster cake was delicate, yet crispy on the outside. I love the brightness from the frisee.
Honey Nut Squash & Chevre Ravioli (delicata broth, young spinach, crispy prosciutto, snowing parm) $17~ I love a good pasta. The ravioli was cooked perfectly, not too soft. It's got goat cheese in it, which I normally cannot stand. But it was mild, and I didn't mind it. Gasp!
Charred Radicchio & Torn Lacinato Kale Caesar (roasted yellow teardrops, pecorino shaved, toasted crumbs, white anchovy dressing) $16~ My new favorite salad! I love a good warm salad cuz it makes you feel less like you're eating rabbit food. haha. The charred radicchio had SO much flavor. It was soft from the cook and paired well with the sturdy kale. I can have this for a meal any day.
Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese. Another mini soup! So cute! The grilled cheese was buttery and rich. It paired so well with the soup by dunking it in there. This is just a tasting version... their normal portion is a bowl of soup with 2 grilled cheeses I think. Great for the winter!
Cornflake Panko Crusted Seabass (creamy parmesan reggiano risotto, herb beurre blanc, haricot vert) $36~ This was one of my favorites. Seabass is one of my favorite fish... next to cod. They're both so flaky! The crust on this was perfect. You can even see it from the photo. It balanced so well with the tender flaky fish. The risotto was the star though... so creamy, but not mushy.
Anson Mills Grit Cakes (fennel tomato relish) $9~ So pretty. I love all the plating she's done with her dishes. All so clean and simple, yet lots of contrasting textures. The fry on this was nice. It's a good side to have with fish or meat.
Pinot Noir Glazed King Salmon (parsnip whip, flash fried spinach, green apple pinot finish) $31~ I love salmon, but I underestimated this. I thought... oh salmon is salmon. But nooo... one of the most tender salmon I've ever had. The cook was spot on and that glaze made it slightly sweet. It was a lot of people's favorite. The parsnip whip was also really great. The only thing I would change is to cook the spinach a bit more. I know it was flash fried but I think I would've preferred mine sauteed.
Panko Crusted Tator Tots (house ketchup) $9~ Really fancy fries basically. I thought they were mozzarella sticks at first because they were the size of them! Perfectly crispy.
Are you keeping count btw?? Cuz at this point most of us were about to tap out. So full! But we can't stop!
Roasted Root Vegetables. I only had a small bite, but it was so good. Super tender. And whatever glaze was on those things... yum!
Herb Marinated Seared Scallops (yukon gold acorn squash risotto, citrus glaze) $32~ Oh man... I can't pass up a good scallop. These were seared well and so big and plump! I loved the potato and squash risotto underneath. So delicate against the buttery scallops. Another one of my favorites of the night.
Grilled All Natural Tenderloin (grilled stone ground polenta, brussels sprouts, roasted garlic butter). This is only on their normal tasting menu. They really did save the best for last. Not only was it plated beautifully. I love it when foods are stacked. The beef was super tender. I freaking LOVED the polenta cakes. And you KNOW Brussels Sprouts are my jam! It's a pretty perfect dish. I just wished I had more stomach room to eat more!
And of course there's dessert! Everyone got their own sampler plate... I have to say, I didn't finish. I'm so sad.
Deep Ellum Honey Cake
Cardamom Scented Donut Holes
Fresh Fig & Port Ice Cream
Chocolate Milkshakes. I found out that they make their ice cream in house too. Wow!
*Special 15th Anniversary 8 Course Tasting Menu*
"Also, throughout the month of February, LOCAL will collect socks as part of the Socks For Sandwich initiative, a non-profit that collects socks for those in need. Additionally, for every bottle of Lord Sandwich Red Table Wine sold, a new pair of socks is given to someone in need. Keep an eye on LOCAL’s social media pages for more details on this initiative."
Thank you, LOCAL, for having me. It was such a phenomenal dinner and I'm so grateful to have been a part of your 15th Anniversary celebration. Here's to 15 more! :)
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: (comped)
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Starting the year out with a BANG! Get ready for some SERIOUS foodporn, y'all! :)
**PSA**
If you follow me on Instagram, you're in luck! From now until Feb 13th, if you show them a pictures I posted from the media dinner, you can get a FREE appetizer up to $15 value! If you don't follow me, you better get on it! :P @chompdallas! I highly suggest the Crab Fried Rice btw... one of my favorite things!
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If y'all haven't heard of The Keeper... you are definitely missing out! It has been on my list to try for a while and I guess it's good that I waited because I was about to have my mind blown! I was approached by them to collaborate and host my very first media/blogger dinner. What an honor! And to plan out the event, they invited me out first to check out the space and menu. SO MUCH AWESOME!! This post will include both my preview meal AND the actual media dinner.
The Keeper - Shops at Legacy
5840 Legacy Cir. Ste D100
Plano, TX 75024
(469) 210-5337
http://thekeeperplano.com/
Price: $$$$+
The Keeper is part of Front Burner Restaurants who oversees heavy hitters such as Sixty Vines, Whiskey Cake, The Ranch, and most recently, Haywire.... and many others. All of their restaurants are fantastic and you'll also notice that their decor/interior design is also spot on. The Keeper is so cute.
Spacious and decked out, there are interesting decor details everywhere, including a really nice cocktail area to the left of the bar, and a "Captain's Room" which can be used for private events. That's where we dined for the media dinner. It's super cool... lined on the walls are the Captains and they all have really fun stories behind them. The room can be closed off with curtains to keep your party exclusive. There's also audio/visual equipment if needed. AND this was the best part for us bloggers.. the lights can be dimmed or turned up as requested. Since our food photos are everything, the lighting is always very important.
We had a nice big group for the media dinner. 19 people! The Captain's Room was perfect with extra room to spare. Once mostly everyone arrived, they started dinner service. The service was on point, y'all. The flow of course to course was fluid, we never had to ask for our water glasses to be filled. And new/clean silverware just come out of nowhere course after course. They were definitely on their game! Special shout-out to Nicole and Joy for being the best waitresses.
Of course people got some cocktails! Their cocktails are extremely festive and fun. Some are served in different Tiki glasses.
Singapore Sling $12~
I'm not quite sure what this is, but it's fun to look at!
The General Manager, Ryan, checked on the group throughout the night. He also offered a lot of interesting information on the restaurant, their inspirations, missions, etc. The Executive Chef, Ty, introduced every course as it came out. The man behind all the wonderful and tasty dishes. They use a lot of locally sources ingredients as well as the freshest seafood they can get. They have several items on the menu that's based on availability. Like the different types of oysters. I was able to get one during my preview, but it wasn't available for the media dinner. So you can go back frequently and potentially try something new each time.
Ok... I've talked enough. TO THE FOOD!!! They pulled out all the stops for this dinner. I didn't know what the menu was going to be. Holy moly... TEN courses! Plus 3 desserts. WOW! Also, several of the items were not even on the menu yet (I'll label "NEW~"). I believe it is being launched TODAY, Wednesday 1/23. So aside from the restaurant execs themselves, we were the first to try them!!!!!
NEW~ Tuna Tiradito (fresh big-eye tuna, citrus, pickled onion, aji rocoto). Not only was this beautiful with all the pops of color, it was so good. Especially that aji rocoto sauce. The tuna was super fresh and the citrus was bright.
NEW~ Texas Gulf Shrimp & Grits (stone ground grits, wild mushrooms and peppers, creole sauce) This was most people's favorite of the night, me included. Nice, big, plump shrimp rubbed with bold spices. The grits were creamy and amazing. This is a quick trend we noticed that all their dishes are packed with flavor. A MUST order!
Crab Fried Rice (crispy spam, crab, carrots, scallions, egg) $18~ Another MUST order. I know it's under the apps section but you can totally get this as your entree. It is a big portion size, definitely good for sharing. Tons of crab throughout, it's just so good. I hate carrots and I don't even mind it in here. I also love that they incorporate a lot of veggies in their dishes.
Scallops (udon noodles, bok choy, fresnos, carrots, micro ocean mix, hoisin-sesame sauce) $24~ Another favorite... maybe I should just stop trying to pick a favorite, eh? :P hahaha. Buttery scallops over noodles. Again, lots of veggies so it feels rich yet light.
Seafood Campechana (gulf shrimp and lump crab, avocado) $14~ This is a good starter to share, especially if you like ceviche and shrimp cocktail type stuff. Plump shrimp and crab!
Raw Oysters (chili sauce, horseradish and yuzu mignonettes) $3 each~
So... I've never been a fan of oysters in general, raw the least of all. I mean, I'll eat them, but I don't crave them or care to use up stomach space for them. HOWEVER, since I've had the oysters in the preview dinner. I've been waiting to get my hands on more! OMG! The freshest I've ever had, and served super cold. I think what made me really love these were the sauces... the yuzu one especially (the one in the middle). I don't like cocktail sauce really. The yuzu is a lovely brightness on the oyster. It's also more fragrant than lemon or lime. Loved it! I had 2! And if you get luckily, you might get to try some different kinds, if they have it in stock.
NEW~ Blackened Red Fish (rainbow chard, sweet peppers, decadent crab sauce). That crab sauce tho.... Drooling. Whoever says fish is bland needs to try this. The blackened rub on this was a punch in the face. Loved that they paired it with veggies on the bottom to offset the rich crab sauce.
Whole Red Snapper (fried, roasted brussels sprout, scallions, baby bells, micro herbs) $38~ Usually comes grilled, but you can request fried. What a show stopper. People could not stop taking pictures and videos when these came out. A whole fried fish definitely makes for interesting conversation! And their Brussels Sprouts are amazing. I can eat a whole bowl of those on their own.
King Crab Legs (steamed with drawn butter or spicy chili glaze, local corn, grilled potato salad) $48~ Everyone was stuffed at this point but all still holding out for the crab legs. All I can say is wow.... I took a leg and held it up, it's long! And packed full of tender crab meat. I normally don't care for crab, but this is some of the most tender I've had... especially dipped in that melted butter. The meat literally just slid out of the shell when you scooped it with the fork. O.M.G.
NEW~ Pork Chops (apple fennel slaw, bbq vinaigrette). They're a seafood place but they can do land too! The pork chops are a great addition to the menu. Bone in, cooked to perfection, served with slaw to balance the meat. I took most of it home and had it for lunch the next day. Still so good!
I don't know how any of us were still eating at this point. Some people had to leave and tapped out early. The rest of us got to stuff our faces some more with their yummy desserts!
Oh Chocolate, My Chocolate (chocolate ganache truffle, chocolate crumble, chocolate pamplemousse sauce, strawberries) $8~ Chocolate lovers, this is for you. The truffle itself is luscious and rich and dark. Drizzle that chocolate sauce all over everything!! A little goes a long way, it's a very satisfying dessert.
The "Key"per (angel food cake, key lime mousse, raspberries, pistachios) $7~ Surpringly this was my favorite. For one, it's so pretty! I normally don't favor lemon/lime desserts but this is so light, not too tart. And I especially love the textures from the fluffy angel food cake to the mousse, to the crunchy pistachios. If you are full from dinner, this is a good choice to get.
Bubble Waffle Sundae (sweethouse ice cream, marshmallow fluff, butter rum sauce, caramelized pineapple) $8~ What a fun dessert. The waffle is served warm. It pairs extremely well with the ice cream and marshmallow fluff. Definitely one for sharing!
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Here are the other dishes from my preview dinner that we didn't see at the media dinner. Lots of winners here as well.
Singapore Sling $12~
Painkiller $14~
Don't remember what this one is either... but it had mango in it.
Hamachi Crudo (apple, avocado, chilies, toasted garlic, yuzu sauce, micro greens) $14~ One of my favorites from The Keeper still. It was such beautiful plating. The hamachi (yellowtail) were so tender it melted in your mouth. I want this whole plate to myself!
Belon Oysters $MKT~ (limited availability) We were lucky enough to get 2 of these that night. (The 2 in front... see how they're bigger than the regular oysters?) These are wild caught and they are very limited. It is the "oyster lover's" oyster. Extra minerality, extra oyster flavor. My husband LOVED it.
Artichoke and Spinach Dip (parmesan, swiss, jack, tortilla chips) $11~ A good choice to share for people who don't want seafood everything. But guess what, you can get crab added to it for an upcharge. :P
Seafood Linguine (jumbo gulf shrimp, mussels, tomatoes, herbs, white wine parmesan butter) $16~ Really good pasta. The sauce was rich but the pasta wasn't drowning in them. Tons of seafood on top. Just look at that shrimp!
Icelandic Cod (chowder, crisp bacon, carrots) $28~ I've had Icelandic cod when we were in Iceland last year, so freaking good. So I was excited to see it on the menu. Of course, the fish was super tender and flaky. And it's served over their Clam Chowder, one of their big sellers. So you technically get to try 2 different dishes in one. The chowder is really good.
Akaushi Burger (white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, red onion, special sauce, grilled potato salad) $17~ Subbed side for Lobster Mac n Cheese. One of my friends wasn't that into seafood so he opted for the burger. Tbh, with so much fabulous seafood dishes around, the burger kind of got lost.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts (spicy lime glaze) $5~ This also came with my whole fried red snapper, but it was THAT good.
Roasted Root Vegetables (baby carrots, turnips, rutabaga, citrus glaze) $5~ My husband ordered this... he loved it. I don't like carrots so I just kinda left this up to him. haha.
Lobster Mac 'N' Cheese (buttery old bay bread crumbs) $11~ One of the richest mac n cheeses I've ever had. So good, but eat sparingly. haha.
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I want to give a HUGE THANKS to The Keeper for hosting us. It was SPECTACULAR!! From the service to the ambiance and of course the amazing food, we were thoroughly blown away. Let's not keep this place a secret! I want to tell everyone about it. The food is legit and I love that they locally source as much as possible. And the seafood are sustainable. You can tell all the people that worked there were proud and passionate of the restaurant, from the wait staff to management. One of the most wonderful media experience to date, I hope all of you will go check them out and love it as much as we did.
And again... don't forget! Show them a post from my Instagram from this event and get a FREE appetizer! ($15 value, one table only.)
Quality of Food:
Service:
Ambiance:
Value: (comped)
Overall Experience:
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
