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I had a car appointment in McKinney early last week. So I took the opportunity to go back to Harvest! This time for their lunch service which only started a little over a week ago. I met up with my ex-boss (who was the one that told me about this place from the beginning), and he hasn't been there yet.
I had made a reservation, but the place was only about 30% full when we arrived at 12:30PM. Might've been the terrible rainy weather that slowed business? But I'm not sure if a lunch reservation on the weekdays is necessary.
Harvest Seasonal Kitchen
112 E. Louisiana St.
McKinney, TX 75069
(214) 726-0251
http://harvesttx.com/
Price (for lunch): $$
I still love the decor so much. It was extra smokey inside that day though. The kitchen was in a cloud of smoke... I wonder if something burned?
We started with the Deviled Eggs (Texas pecans, pickled mustard seed, pickled red onions) $5~ I loved it the first time and it's just as good the second. My boss really liked it too. Just hits all the flavors and textures. :)
We both decided on the Fall Duo (choice of two: half sandwich, half salad, cup of soup) $9~
I got the Turkey Sandwich (house smoked turkey breast, jalapeno jelly, avocado, smoked cheddar, whole grain wheat bread). $9~ if you get the full sandwich and it comes potato chips.
I laughed a little when our half sandwiches came. They looks so small! But this was so delicious!! I really wished there was more, but with the soup and the appetizer/dessert we got, I was plenty stuffed. The jalapeno jelly is what sealed the deal for me to order this. The waitress said it was pretty amazing and I took her advice. YUM! The jalapeno jelly was the cherry on top. It was sweet for the most part then I started getting a little bit of that jalapeno kick. It was perfect with the flavors of the smoked cheddar. The avocado added a richness to make the sandwich more substantial. I'd totally get this again. And I need to get my hands on a jar of that jalapeno jelly!
BLT (bacon, watercress, fried green tomatoes, sun-dried tomato aioli, Texas toast). My boss says he loves fried green tomatoes. It looked really good with that thick Texas toast. He said it was really good.
Butternut Squash Soup (cream, pumpkin seeds, paprika).
We both got a cup of the soup. One of my favorite fall vegetable.. or just in general. haha. Doesn't have to be the fall. The soup was silky and luxurious. Creamy soups are my fav! I love the pumpkin seeds in there to add texture. I could've drank a bucket of this.
Grandma's 'Tomato Soup' Spice Cake (pecans, raisins, butter cream icing) $6~
We got this to share. It sounded super interesting. The waitress was explaining to us that the chef got this recipe from the 1930's, when dairy wasn't all that available so they used tomato soup as the wet ingredient in baking. Much like the concept of using apple sauce when baking. It was yummy. And a HUGE slice! Filled with dried fruits and nuts and just enough cream cheese frosting. You can't taste the tomato soup at all. We couldn't finish it between the 2 of us. I took 1/3rd of it home!
Delicious meal once again. And our waitress was fantastic. Still love this place! Can't wait to go back again. :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
So two of my friends coming in town for the holidays wanted to go check out the rodeo in Ft. Worth. The only show time for the rodeo happens to be on Christmas night. Initially I was excited because there were sooo many restaurants I want to try in Ft. Worth, but since it's on Xmas Day...none of them are open. :'( I wanted to cry...
But it all works out because I would've never found this place if we went somewhere else. After much searching online and calls to multiple restaurants, I found Whiskey & Rye at the Omni Hotel in downtown Ft. Worth. Since it's located in a hotel, they are open on Xmas Day. It's a sports bar which I didn't care too much for, but the menu was what interested me. They have one of those large food challenges like you see on tv like "Man vs Food" or something. A giant sandwich with over 2 lbs of chicken fried steak. It's a pretty long drive from Plano to Ft. Worth so I really wanted to see/eat something new and different. I refuse to go all the way there to have Chinese food! haha (which are normally the only locations open on holidays...).
Whiskey & Rye
1300 Houston Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
(817) 535-6664
http://www.whiskeyandryefw.com/Price: $-$$
When we walked in I was impressed with the decor. It didn't look like a normal sports bar. It was more upscale and loungey with big leather chairs...it also felt cozy to me. We asked the waitress if we could put 2 tables together. She was super nice. Said we could do whatever we wanted...just make ourselves comfortable.
After looking through the menu again (even though I was already set on getting the challenge...haha) We were ready to order.
Of course we ordered the Hell's Half Acre Chicken Fried Steak Sandwich (Two pounds of fried Black Angus Prime Rib steak, served on a freshly baked, specialty 10" toasted brioche bun; topped with no less than 1/2 lb of Jack cheeses; a small field of sliced tomatoes; a garden of crisp green lettuce; and red pepper aioli; accompanied by a big basket of fries) $42~ (Take the W&R Challenge... Eat the whole thing on your own in an hour and it's free!) We were splitting it between 6 people...no way any of us could eat all of that ourselves! haha. The waitress was pretty excited when we ordered it. She said she doesn't get to serve this often! hehe. 
However, after she put the order in, she came back and informed us that they did not have the bread for the sandwich. Instead, they could just do a more straight forward Chicken Fried Steak with gravy and the veggies on the side. We were totally ok with that...and it's probably good that we didn't have the additional bread and cheese ON TOP of the fried steaks. haha. So we got 2+ lbs. of chicken fried steak with a mini cast iron pot of gravy, a side of lettuce and tomato slices, and a large basket of fries. The presentation was cool. The steaks were served on a wood pizza paddle and the gravy container was really cute. It looked really good!! The chicken fried steaks had a nice crispy crust on the outside and the steaks were pretty tender. I think it could've been seasoned a little bit more, but with the gravy, it was just right. The gravy was the bomb! I'm really glad we got the gravy instead of the bun and cheese! Everyone loved the gravy. The lettuce, tomato and onions on the side paired well with the steaks. The fresh veggies help cut the heaviness of the steaks. But surprisingly the steaks weren't really greasy! The fries were also pretty good! We killed it! Ate every last bit of everything! We also got a lot of glances and comments from other tables around us...people were impressed! hehe. It was pretty awesome. This is definitely something cool to do with a group of friends, plus it was cooked well and tasty!
We also got the BLT Chop Salad (field greens, applewood smoked bacon, plum tomatoes, hard boiled eggs tossed in wild honey dressing) $8~ 
We thought it would be good to have some more veggies to balance out the meal. The salad was really fresh and the portion was large. There were lots of crumbled bacon on top and the eggs were a good addition. We finished it all as well! :p
My friend also ordered the House Margarita on the Rocks (made with Jose Cuervo Gold) $5~ 
It was in a giant martini shaped glass. The waitress said they served things "Texas" sized! hehe. For $5 that's an awesome deal! My friend says it was really good.
After devouring all the food, can you believe we still had room for dessert? hehe...of course we did!!! :P
The dessert choices all sounded pretty good. We settled on the Burnt Banana Pudding (with homemade vanilla wafers) $6~ 
This came in the same giant glass as the margarita. For $6 that's pretty cheap! And it was so pretty! The caramelized bananas were awesome with the crunchy burnt sugar. The texture of the pudding was almost as fluffy as the whipped cream. I don't think I've had banana pudding with that texture before. It was pretty awesome...I would say maybe one of the best banana puddings I've had... The pudding was thick, but it wasn't too sweet or heavy. YUMMY!
We also got the Cast Iron Bread Pudding (with raw Whiskey sauce) $6~ We ordered vanilla Bean Ice Cream $4~ to go with it. 
Now the ice cream was not worth $4...but I think it definitely made the bread pudding even better! The cold ice cream and the warm bread pudding was a great combination. The bread pudding flavor and texture were both good. The sauce on the side was freaking amazing! We poured every last drop on the bread pudding. Mmmmm Mmmm good!
This place totally exceeded all our expectations. From the ambiance to service to the food. Yay! I'm glad things turned out so well even though our original plans fell through. I definitely recommend you check out Whiskey & Rye if you are in the Ft. Worth area. And if you happen to stay at the Omni...then lucky you! hehe.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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