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I recently got invited to a media dinner at Cane Rosso at White Rock. But it wasn't just a regular dinner... it was BRUNCH for dinner. Heck yea!! I'll take brunch all day, every day! They recently rolled out a new brunch menu and I was one of the lucky ones to check it out for free. :D I got to bring a friend, so she was lucky too. hehe.
Cane Rosso - White Rock
7328 Gaston Ave #100
Dallas, TX 75214
(214) 660-3644
www.canerosso.com/white-rock
Price (for brunch): $$
Brunch is every Saturday and Sunday from 11AM - 3PM.
My friend and I arrived super early so we got a head start on the drinks. Or... my friend got started on the drinks. haha. I prefer to eat my calories. :P Plus I don't really drink much alcohol. She started with a Raspberry(?) Hibiscus Moscow Mule. I think it was raspberry... not completely sure. But it was pink! She really liked it. Quite refreshing, and pretty, if we weren't sitting in a dark room. haha.
Then she moved on to the Spiked Sangria $6~ She loved it. Had about 3 glasses throughout the night. Haha. I don't drink, but I sure do bring friend that do! :P
Once everyone arrived, we started the dinner (er... brunch) with the Bomboloni (fluffly italian doughnuts filled with nutella; 3 per order) $8~
It smelled soooo good. Nothing smells better than a warm fried dough with nutella, you agree? I tried to get a good picture but it was quite dark in the dining room and it just kinda looks like a boob. hahaha. But the dough was nice and fluffy. I had to scrape off some of the sugar though, it was too much. And I wish they had actually done a cinnamon sugar instead of just sugar. Nutella is awesome. And they needed more of it. It wasn't completely filled inside the dough. Mostly just the dollop they pumped into the middle. It was yummy, but a few tweaks here and there would make it even better I think.
So we didn't really know what to expect from the dinner. We just knew they were bringing out several of the dishes to share family style. Turns out, they served us the ENTIRE brunch menu. O.M.G. We realized it too late so half way through we were already getting full! And I have a problem with going back for seconds if the food is just there in front of me. I need to get that under control! Ha!
The Hylander (meatballs, marinara, mozzarella on a housemade savory waffle; with fried potatoes) $12~
I was really excited about this dish when I accepted the invite. It just sounded amazing. Not the easiest to photograph though... And half of us ended up taking the dishes outside so we can use natural light. My favorite part of this dish? The savory waffles. They're so thick and had great texture. It's a little denser than a sweet waffle but I liked that. I felt like the meatballs and marinara were a bit one-note though. It needs a little pop of something... maybe some herbs? like basil? Or maybe some sort of freshness to lighten it? The combo of the waffles, meatballs, and fried potatoes was quite heavy. Which I found a lot of the brunch items to be. Not saying it's bad. I think brunch is about indulgence and it's meant to sop up the hangovers from last night's drinking right? hahaha. Oh... and all the dishes are quite big. I think they are definitely shareable, unless you are just famished.
Vegetable Frittata (italian style omelette with seasonal vegetables and cheese, small mista salad, bacon marmalade biscuit) $12~
Between the two frittatas, this was our favorite. It was just a little lighter and I liked all the veggies in there. I loveeeed that bacon marmalade biscuit. I mean... who doesn't like bacon marmalade?!? I liked that this was also served with a side salad. A little lighter and brighter than all the other dishes. Now if I can just add the hot soppressata to this frittata, that would be perfection.
Italian Stallion Frittata (italian style omelette with cheese, sausage, hot soppressata, and prosciutto cotto, fried potatoes, bacon marmalade biscuit) $14~
If you can't tell from my previous comment... the hot sopressata was my favorite part of this frittata. It was yummy! Loved it paired with the biscuit. I wish this was served with side of salad too... the potatoes are getting really heavy. And no one was really eating them. Meaning they just kept taunting me, and I ate too much. haha.
Breakfast Pizza (toppings change weekly) $14~
I'm not sure what all is on here. I couldn't hear the chef when he was introducing it. But there ARE potatoes. haha. There's also bacon and some sort of peppers. The peppers were fantastic... whatever they did with it, it had so much flavor and added a nice heat to the pizza. The potato chunks were too big and kind of clunky to eat. If they can cut that down smaller and crisp them up even more. It would be bomb. Overall, everyone loved the pizza. Great dough, great flavors.
Mother Clucker (crispy fried chicken on a housemade bacon marmalade biscuit, drizzled with habanero maple syrup, with fried potatoes) $12~ Make it a Mother Cluckin' Bastard (+hot soppressata and bacon marmalade) +$3~
So they served both version at the tables but didn't explain the differences. So my part of the table had the plain Mother Clucker. So I was confused as to why we were missing the bacon marmalade and other yummy meats on top. So we had to waive a waiter over to explain. Then we had to track down a Mother Cluckin' Bastard down the table so we can try some of that. The difference is night and day. I don't really know why they even offer the Mother Clucker. The Mother Cluckin' Bastard was so freaking amazing. The fried chicken was moist, the bacon marmalade and hot soppressata on top was an explosion of flavor. And the sweetness from the habanero maple syrup just rounded out everything. The Mother Clucker was as plain as can be... Just do everyone a service and remove that option so they will always be eating the better one. haha. Oh man... I'm seriously drooling right now. Lesson of the day: ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS opt for the Mother Cluckin' Bastard.
Biscuits and Gravy (housemade bacon marmalade biscuits topped with calabrian chile sausage gravy) $8~
OMG... by now we were all very full. And this is another heavy dish. While I've been loving their bacon marmalade biscuits, it gets lost under this pile of gravy. And I love sausage gravy... usually. But didn't like this one. The flavor was very muddled. It was bland but wasn't? I don't know how to explain. But just having had the Mother Cluckin' Bastard with the explosion of flavors, this one just totally fell short. :(
Breakfast Panini (flavors change weekly; served with small mista salad) $11~
This is a behemoth of a sandwich. And it was my favorite of the night. Except I was too full to eat more than two bites of it. It was huge! And stuffed full of delicious things... the best part being this chili pepper spread. I think it was the same chili pepper as the ones on the pizzas. Soooo much flavor with a hint of heat. It elevated the sandwich. And the "bread" is actually pizza dough. Which is genius, because their pizza dough has great texture. Absolutely loved it. I just wish they wouldn't change the flavors weekly because the one we had was perfect.
Cane Rosso Hash (bacon, sausage, onions, potatoes, calabrian chiles, sausage gravy, and two fried eggs, small mista salad, bacon marmalade biscuit) $14~
The hash looked really good but there were a few elements I just didn't like. 1) The potatoes... oh the potatoes that we had with every other dish... they were too big. I prefer hashes to have smaller chunks of potato. Easier to eat imo. 2) The gravy is back as well. Still muddled and it just dulls the whole dish. I'd say remove the gravy and just load up the hash with the bacon marmalade/hot soppressata mixture. Yes? Yes? :P
Wafflebird (housemade sweet waffle topped with vanilla mascarpone, nutella, cookie butter, crushed speculoos cookies, toasted marshmallows, powdered sugar; with side of fruit) $9~
I thought I couldn't eat another bite... until the sweet dish came. It was b.e.a.uuuutiful! I mean.. just everything I love piled on a super fluffy (and surprisingly light) waffle. The waffle itself was perfection. I dunno how they get it so light and fluffy. The toppings were no joke... nutella, cookie butter, speculoos cookies? AND marshmallow? I'm glad there was a side a fruit so I felt a little "healthier". hahaha. But seriously, one of the best dessert waffles I've ever had. Easily one of my favorite dishes of the night. Get it. You know you want to.
It was a pretty epic meal. Mainly in the sheer amount of food I just consumed. haha. There were definitely some fantastic dishes, and some fell short. But I wouldn't be eating the entire menu next time I go so I know exactly what I will order again. Basically... bacon marmalade ALL THE THINGS! It is a great value for the money. All the dishes are very filling and the price point is all under $14 a dish. Thanks to Cane Rosso for having me. :)
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Our 2nd dessert stop was Hypnotic Emporium. I've been dying to go here forever! I'm finally close enough to stop by. It's a cute shop right next to their donut shop by White Rock Lake. The front of the store is a old school candy shop with all different types of treats you may not find in a typical store. I went straight to the back tho, to where the ice cream/soda shop is. They don't have much seating, just FYI.
Hypnotic Emporium
9005 Garland Rd #150
Dallas, TX 75218
(214) 354-3414
www.hypnoticemporium.com
Price: $
They use ice creams from Beth Marie's which is a shop in Denton that makes some amazing flavors. Their ice cream is classified as "premium quality" which means more butterfat (14% to be exact), which makes it more rich and creamy. They have some interesting flavors such as Jack & Coke, and Bee's Knees which is honey lavender.
I'm here for only one reason. Well... two. 1) to treat the birthday boy to a dessert of his choice, 2) to try their donut ice cream sandwiches. No one wanted to share, so I had to get my own. I was pretty full already but since I'm here, I gotta get it.
Dream (Donut Ice Cream Sandwich) $6~
After sampling a ton of flavors, I decided on half Lemon Drop, half Banana Cream Pie.
The Banana Cream Pie was everyone's favorite flavor. One friend got 2 scoops of it in a waffle cone. And the bday boy got it too. It was so good I got a pint to go before we left to take home to my husband. The donut sandwich was yummy. Too bad I was so full, I couldn't finish. :( I can't eat like I used to. Damn you, low metabolism!! The donut is unglazed and warmed when served. I really liked it. The donut was fluffy and I liked it unglazed. Glazed would've been too sweet and just a mess to eat. This way I could pick it up with my hands and not be too sticky. I was a little confused when they gave me the sandwich tho, they never asked me if I wanted toppings. So I assumed they were extra... but when I got one for the bday boy, they asked him what he wanted. Oh well, this time around, I probably couldn't have taken any additional food anyways. haha.
The bday boy got the same thing. Dream $6~ (All Banana Cream Pie ice cream and loaded with all the toppings: whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, peanuts, pecans, sprinkles, waffle cone crumble topped with a marachino cherry).
Damns! You couldn't even tell what was under there after they put all the toppings on. You definitely can't pick that up with your hands! haha. It was a big ol' mess to eat, but he ate it all. He also ate the 2nd scoop and waffle cone from my other friend. This boy can put down the sugar for sure.
A little pricey but it is more of a novelty and they use really good quality ice cream. And I think I like donut ice cream sandwiches better than cookie ice cream sandwiches. It's a little less sweet and much easier to eat! I'll go back next time when I have someone to share with!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Ahhhhh! I've waited so long to try Hypnotic Donuts.. I've been following them even before they opened up shop at Pizza Guy on Preston Rd. I finally got to go this past Saturday after my 5k (the Undy5000...hehe) at White Rock. It was just down the street from Hypnotic's permanent location.
Hypnotic Donuts
9007 Garland Rd.
Dallas, TX 75218
(214) 668-6999
http://www.hypnoticdonuts.com
Price: $
We arrived around 10AM and the line was already to the front door. But we were lucky because after we ordered the line was OUT the door! haha. It's a pretty small place too. A few tables, 2 small sofas in the corner, and a small countertop. We lucked out and got a table, but my friend and I had to share a chair. hehe.
I was super excited. There were 5 of us so we wanted to get a bunch of different things to try. We studied the menu very hard. haha. Everything sounded amazing. We KNEW we wanted to try the chicken biscuits because I've heard everyone rave about them and that they are HUGE! I also really wanted their seasonal pumpkin donut. :)
Maribeth's Chicken Biscuit (white peppered gravy & tator tots) $6~
Pretty hefty indeed! Probably the shape and weight of a brick. hahaha. The chicken was fried nicely, super juicy and the gravy was great. I wish there was more tator tots though. I only got 1 piece in my quarter of the share. haha. Everyone loved it.
Wavy Gravy Gone Crazy Biscuit (covered in peanut butter & white peppered gravy) $4~ Plus Fried Chicken +$3~
I can eat anything with pb on it so I challenged my friends to be a little daring and try with me. haha. Of course we added chicken! We opened it up and the pb was super ooey gooey. NOM! I loved the pb combo with the chicken. My friends were a bit put off by it. haha. But the overall combination, with the doughy biscuit and sticky pb, it kind of coats the inside of your mouth and takes a while to eat. haha. I don't think I can eat more than 1/3 of this without getting sick though. It's a bit much. Oh... and a tad less pb, and more gravy!
Jenny's Evil Elvis (peanut butter, bacon, banana, honey) $4~
LOVE the sweet and savory combo as you all know and this includes my two loves...pb and BACON! I liked it a lot. Could've done without the honey since it was already plenty sweet. The bacon with banana combo was nice. Donut was moist and dense. Yummy.
Smores (chocolate sprinkles, marshmallows, graham cracker) $3~
This was good but surprisingly not my favorite. I wish there was more chocolate sauce or ganache or something on it. The cake felt a little drier than the other donuts we got. But still tasty, don't get me wrong. Just didn't compare to the others.
Pumpkin (with cream cheese frosting) $2~
This was the main reason I was here. The cake was super moist, not too sweet. The thin layer of frosting on top was just enough. Not overwhelming. YAY! :)
The donuts were pretty dense, but wasn't as large as I had expected. But that's probably a good thing. hahaha. And oh yea, one guy out of our group decided not to eat. So this was all consumed by just 4 of us...mostly me hahaha... :P My body totally hated me after that tho.
Here are some other delicious pictures for your viewing pleasure (I tried to include descriptions for the ones I know):
(From Left to Right) Hypnotic (chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, topped with pb Cap'n Crunch and pretzel); Almond to the World (chocolate sprinkles, sliced almonds, coconut); Smores; Blueberry?
(From Top to Botton) Poppin Berries (strawberry frosting and crushed mixed berry Pop Tarts); Boo!Bee! (vanilla frosting and donut hole in the middle with strawberry frosting); Zoo Ropa (vanilla frosting, sprinkles, iced animal cookies)
Definitely a tasty experience in Dallas. I don't think I know any other place in the city that does funky donuts like this. Go check them out! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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