MARCH: La La Land Kind Cafe

So... I was actually a little worried on my pick for March. I have had some good food but nothing came to mind on what to feature. But then my friend told me about this coffee shop called La La Land Kind Cafe that was having their soft opening around the end of March. I was like "huh?" I've never heard of this place, but the day after, I saw an article out on it. Turns out this is the new business venture by Francois Reihani, one of the minds behind Pok the Raw Bar, my FAVORITE poke place. He also went on to open Bar Stellar. This guy just has the talent for business ideas. I DEF gotta check this place out!

Soft opening was on March 23rd. As I drove up this neighborhood road behind Lower Greenville, I see this bright white house. Incredibly cute and cheerful. With a white picket fence and everything! When you walk in, OMG, the cutest. The white and bright yellow accents, it just cheers you up. I remember it was kind of an overcast, meh day, but the colors at La La Land will make you smile. :) Oh.. and they have a doggy friendly area on the side of the house. D'awwww!

La La Land Kind Cafe
5626 Bell Ave.
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 579-9550
https://lalalandkindcafe.com/
Price: $-$$

As soon as you enter, several people greet you. You order at the counter, they give you a number, and they bring the food and drinks out to you. Guess what, they have an entire menu section for MATCHA! Pok gets the best matcha, so they must have high grade matcha powder here as well. They have some very interesting combinations of flavors too. The other half of the menu are different coffee offerings. They also have a really interesting loose leaf tea section (which I discovered 3 visits later. haha.) Plus they have most of the available Alternative Milks (almond, oat, coconut, soy) +$0.75~

On our first visit, it was so hard to pick what to order. We went with what was prettiest. :P
Campfire Latte (toasted marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker, hot) $5.20~ The melted marshmallow over the edge of the cup is such a cute idea. My friend ordered this and I got to try it. It's really good!

French Toast Latte (cinnamon, maple syrup, hot or iced) $5.20~ This is the cutest!! They've really got the presentation down. Flavor wise, you can definitely taste the cinnamon but I'm not sure if I think french toast when I drink it... still tasty tho!

La La Avocado Toast (mashed avocado, lemon, red pepper flakes, cilantro garnish) $6.20~ I think the price has increased on this btw... but I forgot to snap a pic of the menu last time I was there. The bread they use for the toasts is really great with the avocado. I love the crispy edges, and it's a hearty toast. It's one of the only savory options on the menu right now. I'm hoping they'll add more food options soon!

Banana Brulee Toast (hazelnut spread, caramelized bananas) $5.50~ OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. I mean, just look at the picture. It tastes just as decadent as it looks. So simple... nutella and bruleed bananas, but just perfect.

Chocolate Chip Cookie $4~ And then I fell in love even more. This cookie, y'all. It's the best (and worst*) thing to happen to me in the past month. It is my dream cookie. HUGE, for one. Perfectly crispy on the outside with so many nooks and crannies. I have no idea how they make it that perfect on the outside. Inside is still soft, but NOT under baked. It's my idea of a perfectly textured cookie. And of course chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite. When it comes to you warm... ERMUHGUH! I can't contain my drool right now. *The reason I say it's the worst thing to happen to me is because, within 1 week of their opening... ONE... I had about 5 cookies. XD Bye bye, beach bod! Haha.

Thanks for the hat!! :D

At the end of our first visit, we each got a matcha drink to go.

Matcha Latte (iced) $3.50~ I felt like there wasn't enough matcha. But I have been informed that since the soft opening, they have increased the amount of matcha in the lattes. Gotta give it another try!

Strawberry Fields Matcha (matcha latte, strawberry, beetroot, hot or iced) $5.20~ Pretty! And really delicious. I'm kind of a matcha purist so I don't like to mix things with it, but this was a really good combo.

Here are some other menu items I've tried throughout my many visits. I think in the first 2 weeks I was there almost every other or every 2 days. :P

Flat Green $3.50~ This is matcha with milk, but the ratio is less than a latte so you get a stronger matcha flavor. Loved it.

Mighty Mocha (cold brew, espresso, cacao, iced) $5.20~ I wanted to try this since I love mochas. But WHEW! Too much coffee for me. This is definitely not for weak hearted! There's a lotta coffee and caffeine in there, folks. For those of you that get 3+ shots of espresso in your drinks, this may be for you! They were nice and gave me a regular mocha instead.

Breakfast Empanada (baked egg, bacon, potato) $4~ I liked this. It went well with the salsa they gave me on the side. I just wanted more! It's definitely not enough to fill you up if you want it as a meal. Better order like 4+. haha.

Ice Blended Drink (espresso base, thin mint flavor) $5~ It was a warm day, so I wanted something cold. This was yummy! Wished it was a bit creamier though. Definitely tasted the chocolate mint flavors.

So... do you love it as much as I do yet? If not, this will get ya. La La Land Kind Cafe serves a much bigger purpose than just serving us great drinks and foods. It supports Reihani's nonprofit, We Are One Project, which "provides the right tools for businesses to come together and employ foster youth". "La La Land is a training ground for aging out foster youth. At La La Land they will learn the basic the fundamentals of job skills. Timeliness, cleanliness, customer relations, productivity, and teamwork." (from We Are One Project website). SO. FREAKING. GREAT. This is definitely a mission and business I can stand behind. And as long as they keep making those cookies... just TAKE ALL MY MONIES! :P

This place has been packed every single day since it's opened, so I'm sure a lot of you already know about it. But what great concept, purpose, and quality. The menu is 100% organic, btw. No big. Haha. Plus they're open early, and they close late. Perf.

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Berrynaked - New Richardson Location!

Y'all. You have no idea how freaking EXCITED I am that Berrynaked has opened their 2nd location in Richardson! Not only are they just a short drive from my work, it's also so much close from Rockwall! This could be dangerous!! Berrynaked makes high quality products. I've tasted their popsicles over the past 2 years and continue to see them evolve and improve. I think they have pretty much perfected their craft at this point. Everything is spot on... the right textures, consistency, and flavor. And I never feel guilty after eating one of their pops. :D

I got to have a preview on Wednesday before they have their Grand Opening this Saturday. The space is awesome! It's much larger than their Lovers Ln. location... there's chairs and tables and sofas. Definitely a cool place to hang out. And they have new menu items! Specifically their new Puree Bowls. You can choose between "Soulful" or "Sinful", or be like me and have both. haha. The Soulful selections are healthier... lots of fresh fruit base, topped with more fruit toppings. The Sinful is more fun imo... and definitely more decadent. But yet... it's still healthier than eating ice cream because they use all fresh ingredients and still some with a fruit base. I can eat their bowls instead of ice cream and be completely satisfied!

Their Grand Opening is THIS SATURDAY, JUNE 17th. You better make sure you mark it on your calendars! This is the full info on the event. It's gonna be super fun, yummy, and benefits the American Heart Association too! My favorite way to contribute to charity... eat! :P

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Berrynaked | Richardson Grand Opening Block Party

Saturday, June 17, 12pm – 2pm

326 W. Campbell Road | Canyon Creek Shopping Center

#Berrynakednation

Dallas-based Berrynaked is bringing it's organic popsicles and purees northward with the opening of a flagship location in Richardson! Stop by for family fun at the grand opening block party, benefiting the American Heart Association. Enjoy music, face painting, balloon art, and a variety of activities and giveaways from neighbor businesses like Pure Barre Richardson, Sun Lee Taekwondo, Smoothie King and more! Berrynaked will donate 20 percent of Richardson grand opening day sales to the American Heart Association, which will also be on site, along with 20 percent of Vitality Pops Series sales at both stores (Inwood Village and Richardson) for the entire month of June.

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Here's a peek at some of the menu items!

Soulful:
- The Runner: Pitaya (dragon fruit) base, pineapple, banana, coconut water, organic coconut butter, organic blue agave. This seemed to have been the crowd favorite of the night. I think it was the vibrant color of the dragon fruit!

- The Yogi: Acai base, strawberries, banana, coconut water, organic coconut butter, organic blue agave. My personal favorite. I've had several acai bowls in Dallas now and I thought this was by far the best. From the flavor to texture of the puree... it's on point!

- The Swimmer: Mango base, strawberries, coconut water, organic blue agave. I'm allergic to mango so I didn't try this. But it was my friend's favorite.

Sinful:
- Da Beach Bum: Strawberry base, cream, sour cream, condensed milk. It's served in a waffle bowl, topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, crushed chocolate cookies, and 2 chocolate pirouette rolled wafers. This was freaking amazing. It's like fresh strawberry ice cream, with actual chunks of strawberries in the cream, and all that chocolately goodness.

We also had some Poptails!! Cuz it's not a party without some champagne! And how cute are the mini pops in each glass. All sorts of different fruity flavors... Great idea for your next party?? :)

Definitely go check them out, and bring your friends. I'm certainly going back soon!

Quality of Food: 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

True Food Kitchen

Last Friday was Good Friday and it was a work holiday! Holla! So I planned to go check out True Food Kitchen with 2 of my friends for lunch. Due to some last minute schedule conflicts/cancellations, I was all of a sudden on my own. Booo. I've never really dined out by myself, so I was a bit nervous.

Walking to the restaurant, I saw there were groups waiting outside. AND people waiting inside. It's already 1:30PM! I told the hostess it was for 1 and she said there's open seating at the bar, whereas a table was a 30 minute wait. So I guess being by myself worked out! The place was very bright and energetic. The bar area was nice and open and you can see into the kitchen. I sat down and was immediately greeted and brought a water. So far I'm liking it.

True Food Kitchen
The Plaza at Preston Center
8383 Preston Center Plaza Drive
Dallas, Texas 75225
(214) 377-3333
http://www.truefoodkitchen.com/
Price: $$-$$$

*FYI, the location on Yelp is wrong. It's in the same shopping center as Sprinkles Cupcakes on Preston and NW HWY. I almost drove to the wrong place!*

I've been wanting to try this place for awhile. It was my initial choice for my birthday dinner but it didn't work out. Looking at the layout, it probably wouldn't have worked with a group of 30 people anyways. It's quite loud in there since it's just one open space.

They got some interesting drinks so I wanted to try some.

Hangover Rx (coconut water, pineapple, vanilla, orange juice) $5~ I was able to get a sample of this since they pre-made it. It was delicious. I don't really like coconut water, so the first sip I was a little weary, but the more I drank the more I liked it. Very refreshing!

Green Arnie (matcha green tea, honey lemonade) $5~ 

I ended up ordering this since I love matcha. It was so green! I liked it, but not as much as the Hangover Rx actually. I felt like the honey lemonade overpowered the matcha. I really didn't get much of the tea flavor. And the honey was too strong. I'm not a huge fan of honey.. I'm slowly trying to get more used to it. But if you love honey and lemonade, this is a good choice for you.

I already knew what I wanted to order. The "Inside Out" Quinoa Burger (hummus, tzatziki, tomato, cucumber, red onion, avocado, feta) $12~ With side of kale salad and sweet potato hash. 

The food came out really fast. I was soon stuffing my face with yummy quinoa. I guess it's good I got to sit at the bar, and get my food so quickly. I was starving! I pretty much loved everything about this dish. The quinoa patties were crispy on the outside. Loved it! I've never had crispy quinoa before, it adds amazing texture. The hummus with the veggies was fantastic and the kale salad added more texture. My favorite though, was the hash. The sweet potato pieces were still slightly crunchy, which I normally don't like sweet potato to be, but it had so much flavor. And the way it was diced made it ok that it still had a crunch. I think I can eat a large bowl just of this. But everything worked well together. It was gluten free AND vegetarian! It filled me up without pushing me over the edge. Although I think a fried egg on top of the burger might just be even more awesome. haha. Again, loved it, will totally order it again.

I got a drink to go for my bf. Cucumber Refresher (cucumber, honey lemonade) $5~ He totally loved it. Super refreshing. Again, heavy on the honey for me, but still pretty good.

I enjoyed lunch very much, even if it was by myself. My waiter at the bar was super nice and didn't make me feel self-conscious about sitting by myself for the first time. I know it's no big deal, but just something different for me. I can't wait to go back in the near future. But I'll make sure to make a reservation!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Ambiance:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Dallas by Chocolate Tour

I came across a link in one of my food emails a while back and it totally captured my attention. Apparently Dallas has a business called Dallas by Chocolate and they do food tours around town mostly involving chocolate, pastries and desserts. This sounds awesome so I looked it up. To my surprise, the price for one of these tours is extremely affordable. $25 for a ~3 hour tour and they provide transporation, beverages on the bus and it's also BYOB! PLUS You get to sample yummy food at every stop!! YUM! I must do this!! :)

Dallas by Chocolate
(972) 442-6963
http://www.dallasbychocolate.com/

I thought it would be awesome to get a group together and do it for my birthday. We decided on the April 7th tour from 1-4:15PM. The tickets sold out super fast so only 6 of us were able to purchase them.

Two days before the tour, they sent us the itinerary and other useful information. I was super excited! And to our luck, the day was beautiful, perfect for walking around.

Our first stop was at Great One Cookie Company.
3111-B Monticello Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75205
(214) 219-3111
http://www.greatonecookies.com/

We met Pam, the founder of the shop, and she gave us a brief history and inspiration behind her cookie business. We found out they actually catered one of the Academy Awards party just earlier this year! How cool! Then for the best part! Samples!!! :D We got to try all of their different flavors. They had traditional flavors such as chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin and also unique ones like White Chocolate Macadamia Cranberry (their most popular) and Chocolate Chip and Cherry (which was my favorite).

The cookies were fantastic. I really liked the texture. It was nice and thick but not too hard or doughy and there's plenty of stuff inside each cookie.

Each cookie is $2.25 a piece or a dozen for $25. But for the tour we were able to get buy 1 get 1 free! Woot! I got a chocolate chip and chocolate cherry cookie. They also deliver so you don't have to be in Dallas to get them!

I had to keep telling me to pace myself. haha. I'm a sucker for free food! :P

Stop #2 was Zen Baking Company in Deep Ellum.
2805 Main Street
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 390-3269
http://zenbakingcompany.com/

I had actually tried their desserts before at the Iron Fork event last year. I remember they were really delicious and their stand was the first to run out of food!

It's owned by 2 sisters and they sell Filipino inspired food along with the desserts. Their food menu sounds interesting as well (such as Filipino beef oxtail soup) so I might be back in the future to try that. But they have brownies, cupcakes, and cakeballs which are their signature item. And they have bubble tea! For our samples we got to try: Brownie (with caramel and topped with sea salt) $2.25~, Cassava (a Filipino cake made with rice flour and topped with coconut) $3.25~, and Red Velvet cakeballs (each cakeball is $2.75~).

The brownie had a nice crunchy shell on top and the salt really brings out the chocolate flavor. It was incredibly rich!

I liked the Cassava a lot (minus the coconut since I don't like shredded coconut). It was light and not too sweet. The flavor reminded me of a Chinese egg tart.

The cakeball was super dense. The flavor was good but I think I prefer it to be a little fluffier. I still prefer the cakeball I had at Sugarbox in Plano.

We walked to our next locations which was just down the street. It was such a beautiful day! Plus we were in luck and the Deep Ellum Arts Festival was going on at the same time.

#3. We stopped by Rudolph's Market & Sausage Factory.
2924 Elm Street
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 741-1874
http://rudolphsmarket.com/

It was really cool to see an old style meat shop. The guys behind the counter were really nice and gave us a run down of the different types of meats and sausages available. We sampled a couple different types of sausages.

The jalapeno cheese sausage was delicious. We also tried the bologna. Interesting fact: if you go in there, look at their chopping blocks and see how it's rounded/concave. It's from all the pounding and cutting that eroded the wood away. Sooo cool!

For stop #4 we walked a few steps next door to the Mozzarella Company.
2944 Elm Street
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 741-4072
http://www.mozzco.com/
 We met Paula Lambert, the founder of the Mozzarella Company. She was really nice and informative. Their cheeses are hand-crafted and have won numerous awards. And she was friends with Julia Childs!!! We sampled 4 different types of cheeses and paired with chocolates. (from bottom left, clockwise) Grassias (goat cheese with lemongrass), Deep Ellum Blue, Caciotta (slightly spicy), and Mascarpone Torta with Pecans.

The Grassias had a hint of citrus to it. On it's own it was ok but I didn't like it paired with the chocolate. The chocolate seemed to have amplified the "funk" of the cheese. haha. I'm not at all an expert on cheeses and I'm not too keen on the super stinky ones. I like blue cheese but a little at a time...they can get overwhelming really easily. However, the Deep Ellum Blue was quite nice. It was milder than other blue cheeses and I enjoyed it. The Caciotta was really good. We sampled it without crackers or chocolate. It reminded me of Pepperjack which I really like.

Finally the Mascarpone Torta was the best of the bunch. It was creamy and sweet and I think I can eat just a spoonful by itself! These are the types of cheeses I like! hehe. It's more like a dessert!

The bus came and picked us up to take us to our final destination. They provided wine for the car ride along with some chocolates and water. It's definitely a party bus now! :)

For our final stop we went to Bolsa Mercado by the Bishop Arts District in Oakcliff. It's only been open a few months next to Bolsa the restaurant. http://bolsadallas.com/

I've been wanting to go to both for a while now. The market is really cute. They feature foods and merchandise from local farms and businesses. They also have desserts and sandwiches.

For our tour, we had wine and beer tasting and chocolate samples from Dr. Sue. http://www.drsueschocolate.com/ Dr. Sue is an actual doctor and she uses all natural ingredients to make a better, healthier chocolate. The dark chocolates which are full of cacao flavanols (good for health) are filled with other superfoods such as organic blueberries and ginger. We sampled (from bottom right, clockwise) Blueberry and Ancho Chile, Ginger Fig (with organic cinnamon and sea salt), Hazelnut Coconut, and Hazelnut Toffee.

They were all fantastic. Surprisingly the coconut was my favorite and the toffee was a close 2nd. But they were all good. I had more than my fair share of samples. Serious chocolate overload!!! I would say these are one of the best chocolate confections I've had in a while. My bf's favorite was the Blueberry/Ancho. We each bought a box of our favorite flavor ($6.50~ each).

I was definitely full after this wonderful tour. It was such an educational and fun experience. Our tour was led by Steven Doyle, the founding partner of CraveDFW. http://cravedfw.com/ He was very laid back and friendly and made the tour really relaxed but informative as well. He's also very experienced and knowledgeable about the Dallas food scene so I had a great time chatting with him. :)

This is a great activity to do with friends or significant other. If you are adventurous and love to explore Dallas and try new foods, definitely book a tour (or two or three) hehe. If you get a group of 16+ people, you can actually book your own private tour! I think I will be looking into that. And I also look forward to their future tours (they also have non-chocolate tours such as pizza and beer tours). The pizza tour sounds awesome!

I give the tour an overall 
It was a fun and different way to spend an afternoon and I enjoyed every bit of it!

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~