Wine & Magic with Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery

I recently got invited to check out Wine & Magic with magician Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery. I love magic shows! However, I don't drink wine, so I made sure to bring a friend who did. :P This is my first time at the winery, cuz duh, I don't drink. It's a cute little place in South Side on Lamar. They have a little stage set up in the back for the show.

A little bit about Trigg Watson. I had never heard of him but he's been on several TV shows such as Penn & Teller's Fool Us, and CW's Masters of Illusion. He was also really funny! I liked that. You can find more info on Trigg and the Wine & Magic show here. The shows occur one weekend a month. The next show dates are 9/28, 9/29, and 10/20.

Checkered Past Winery
1409 S. Lamar St. #008
Dallas, TX 75215
(214) 242-0411
www.checkeredpastwinery.com
www.wineandmagicdallas.com
Price: $$+

Since I'm a food blogger... I'll be focusing on the food. I don't want to give away any parts of the show anyways... You'll have to see it to believe it yourselves!

We arrived a little early before seating. So my friend, serious about repping for the wine drinkers, hehe, starts off with a glass of Rose (Ch Vingtineres, Provence, FR) $11~ a glass. She enjoyed it, and later moved on to try several other different wines. The Malbec from Checkered Past (locally Dallas) was highly recommended by 2 other friends of mine who were also in attendance.

 

I was starving! And everything sounded good. So we started with the Walnut & Cheddar Spread (served with seasoned toasted flatbread wedges and pretzel bread) $8~ 

OMG. The breads here are spectacular. I don't know how they make the dough, but everything we had that night with dough was amazing. The texture was perfect! I loved the sliced pretzel bread too. All the slices were toasted, slightly crispy on the edges and warm! The dip was rich and creamy, and paired really well with the breads.

All 3 of my friends raved about this dish. Smoked Salmon & Herb Cream Cheese Bruschetta (smoked salmon served on seasoned toasted focaccia with cheese spread, capers) $13~ 

I'm not a fan of smoked salmon but I said I would try it if they ordered it. It's good! I wouldn't order it for myself just cuz of my preferences but the salmon was tender and overall a very good bite. Plus it looks quite sophisticated doesn't it? If you like smoked salmon, you'll love this.

Cajun Pizza (crawfish, cajun spices, fresh tarragon, fresh mozzarella) $13~ 

Available on Fridays only. I was eyeing this one. Sounded so interesting! And this turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. Again... perfect texture on the flatbread. The crawfish were nice and plump. Loved it all! I highly recommend this if you go on a Friday!

White Pizza (garlic, oregano, fresh mozzarella) $10~ 

We added Duck Salami to it. Guess it's pizza night! Cuz that's what we kept ordering. We added meat to this cuz... why not? Meats are gooood. I wished there was more meat on the pizza. It was good... but I wasn't able to tell that it was specifically duck... Plus I was still on a high with that crawfish pizza. Haha.

Rudi's Double Meat (hot capicola, pork salami, marinated tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, pesto) $13~ 

Now if you like meats, this is for you! I was full by now so I wasn't blown away, but it's a good pizza. Bold flavors and I loved the pops of tomato as you bite into it. And of course... the bread texture was ON POINT! We had SO much carbs that night. Haha.

I was full. But desserts are a must!

It happened to be National S'mores Day when we went, so natually we had to get the S'mores Pizza - $12~ for a whole. 

This thing was GOOEY AF! And SO rich! One slice was plenty for me. So if you have less than 4 people, I'd say the half order is enough. Chocolate sauce, melty sticky marshmallow.. what's not to like?

We also got the NY Style Cheesecake (with choice of topping) $8~ We got the cherry preserves on top. It's a good cheesecake. I normally don't prefer NY style cheesecakes because I find them wayyy too dense, but this one wasn't. It was a good ending to a good meal.

Now a little bit about the show... I won't give any spoilers. But WOW! We were all blown away. It was so so good. I don't think I've ever seen a magic show up close (we were sitting in the 2nd row), plus he had a GoPro and a TV to projecting certain things. I have seen plenty of magic shows on TV though. But still... it was incredible. We could guess and speculate all we want, but NO idea on how the tricks were done. And since I can't give anything away... "OMG, the thing with the thing, and then he did that thing?!?! What?!?!" hahaha. :P And Trigg was hilarious! We laughed a lot! He had a lot of interaction with the audience... asked several people to go on stage to help with certain tricks. We were certain these some of these people were planted, until... MY friend was picked for the last trick! How fun!

It was such a wonderful time. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this show... what a unique thing to do! And I would go again in a heartbeat!

**The show is $20 a person and food/beverage purchases are not included in ticket price. There are only 45 tickets per show.. it's a really intimate setting. Children over 12 years old are permitted but have to have be accompanied by an adult. There are 2 showings each night: 7PM and 9:30PM.**

Thank you SO MUCH to Checkered Past Winery for hosting us. Sandro, the owner, was the nicest man. He checked on us a lot and made sure we were having the greatest time. And shoutout to our waitress, Natalie, you're awesome! Thanks for being patient with me while I sample a bunch of wines to see if I find one I might like. hehe. And thanks to Trigg. It was such a mind blowing experience. I'm not even going to try and figure out how he did those tricks. I'll just enjoy it and marvel at the wonder.

*The whole experience was comped but all opinions are my own. Now go buy a ticket NOW!!*

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~