Kessler Pie Co.

I'm so behind on my posts... I almost don't want to do them anymore. Too many other things that take priority lately... mostly wedding planning. It's coming up in 3.5 months! Eeeeks!! So much to do still.

I thought I'd post about the really important places that happened in the last few months. :)

We start with the wonderful pies from Kessler Pie Co. They make all their pies and desserts from scratch. It's never frozen. They're currently offering pick up and delivery only. But they've recently announced that they are opening a store front soon!! Congrats to them. :) It'll be in Oak Cliff. Follow their Facebook page to get updates. And check their website for pricing and delivery options.

Kessler Pie Co.
Oak Cliff
(469) 877-6800
www.kesslerpieco.com

I got my lovely delivery in December. They were so sweet to drive all the way out to Rockwall and hand deliver these. I felt so special! I got an assortment of mini pies in jars and one in a standard sized jar. They were super cute!

 

 

All the pies were great. I especially loved that flaky salty sweet pie crust on some of the flavors. Some I did close ups...

The Mellow Yellow (hand spun vanilla custard, banana, vanilla whipped topping, salty-sweet crust). Loved the crust, wished there was more banana. But this was a sample size jar so I assume the normal size will have much more fruit.

 

Apple Cranberry (granny smith apples, cranberries, house herb mix, salty-sweet nutmeg and cinnamon infused crust). Warmed it up in the microwave for a few seconds and it was oozing over!! Yaasss! Sweet and tangy. If you like tart, this is for you.

 

Banana Nut Bread. Nice and moist. Pretty standard banana bread. But that little jar was loaded with nuts!

BP214 (cubes of bread and raisins soaked in coquito cream). I always love bread pudding, but I think I also like the crispy edges when you bake them in a pan better. This was good, and the raisins were super plump, but no crispy texture.

Cherry Cream Cheese (graham cracker crust, sweet cream cheese filling, country red cherries). My fiance loves cherries and absolutely loved this one. I let him have most of it cuz I'm nice. haha. :P

The Coco Loco (hand spun vanilla custard, coconut shavings). I'm not a fan of shredded coconut so this wasn't one of my favorites. But again... awesome crust.

Blue Magic (graham cracker crust, fluffy cream cheese, blueberries) #1 Seller. This was in the regular jar size. I can see why this is their number one. It was my favorite as well. The mixture of the blueberries and cream cheese was fantastic. The cream cheese was super fluffy... like a really light cheese cake. Yum!! Not to mention the gorgeous color.

 

What a nice treat to kick us off into the holiday season. Thanks to Kessler Pie Co. for sharing some of their creations with me. And I'm loving this new dessert in jars trend. Much easier (and cleaner) to eat than a cupcake. hehe.

*Note: I received the pies for free. But these are my honest opinions.

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Gigi's Cupcakes

I bought a coupon for Gigi's Cupcakes wayyy back at the beginning of the year from Yollar. I noticed it was expiring next week...I gotta go use it!! I've been waiting for some event or get together to use it but the timing was never right so I just went last week and brought it back to the office.

Gigi's Cupcakes
5454 W. Lovers Lane, Ste. 130
Dallas, TX 75209
(214) 352-2253
http://www.gigiscupcakesusa.com
Price: $

If you go to their website, you'll see that it's bright and cheerful and full of amazing looking cupcakes. Upon entering the store, the cupcakes were displayed front and center, right when you walk in. And they looked amazing! Just like the pictures on the website. I would have to say that these are one of the cutest/prettiest cupcakes I've seen. Some of the toppings were more elaborate than others, but they all look clean and polished and extremely appetizing. You eat with your eyes first and they've definitely got an A+ there.

They bake their cupcakes daily, so the menu from day to day varies a bit. Make sure you check their daily menu so you can make sure they have the flavor you want.

The girl at the counter was super nice and very accommodating. They had my 6 cupcakes in one big box and I asked if I could change it to 2 small boxes (one for office and one to take home! :P) She was like "oh yea no problem"...all with a smile. :)

I got 2 of each. This way I only need to sample 3 of them. haha....trying to watch the carbs and sugar there... Oh and I also got a mini cupcake sample to go! Each cupcake is $3~ If you buy a dozen it's $33~ (But I got it for half off with the coupon!!) These were hefty cupcakes. They were heavy!! I joked that they weighed 2 pounds each! :p And definitely a fork and knife cupcake... I really can't see anyone just picking these up and taking a bite without getting it all over their face.

Wedding Cake (White cake topped with a vanilla buttercream frosting and sprinkled with white nonpareils). This was simple but looked elegant with the mini pearls on top. The cake was moist (which normally I find white cakes drier...) and not too sweet. The frosting was quite sweet but paired well with the cake. I normally lean towards chocolate cupcakes but I liked this one a lot. The only thing is the giant amount of frosting...as you can see on all of their cupcakes. I guess it's their "thing". haha. I mean I get it...the frosting is what makes them so pretty! But after a while it's just wayy too much and wayy too sweet. I didn't finish all the icing.

Hunka Chunka Banana Love (Banana nut cake with dark chocolate chips topped with a banana buttercream frosting dipped in ganache and a banana chip). I actually really wanted to try the Banana Cream Pie but it wasn't sold today. This was quite interesting. First bite...the banana flavor in the frosting was a little strange but paired with the ganache it was quite good! The combinations of all the flavors were very intersting. I liked the banana nut cake with the mini chocolate chips inside but it could've been a little more moist. It's a pretty heavy cupcake. I couldn't eat all the frosting on this one either.

S'mores (milk chocolate cake with chocolate chips baked in, topped with vanilla fluff, toasted marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs and a milk chocolate square). This one wasn't supposed to be available today but I saw it in the display case and I was sooo happy! It looked amazing!! I really enjoyed the combination of it all. The fluffy marshmallow with the graham cracker crumbs and the chocolate chips inside the cake. The cake could've been a little more moist too, but with the marshmallow topping it all worked! The marshmallow topping was surprisingly not super super sweet. I ate all the frosting on this one! hehe. Probably my favorite one out of the 3.

The little sample cake was the biggest surprise. The cake was very moist and not too sweet! Typically I find mini cupcakes drier because they are smaller. This one was pretty good!
I was pleasantly surprised that I liked these as much as I did. I was actually expecting them to be like all the other places I've tried in Dallas where they are overpriced and dry... However, I DID get these at a discount. I'm not sure if I would pay full price for them. I find cupcakes in general to be insanely overpriced. But at least you are getting a giant cupcake at Gigi's so it's better bang for your buck. Plus there's more creativity with the decorations that differentiates them from others. The only big negative is the insane amount of frosting. Even my co-worker, who typically enjoys more frosting over cake, said it was a bit much... After eating a slice of each, I'm wishing I had some milk to go with them. haha. You WILL get a sugar high from these!

But definitely go check them out. With the cute decorations and interesting flavors, it's a great thing to bring to a party! :)

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V-Day Brunch @ Hatties

For Valentines Day weekend, my bf and I decided to go have brunch at Hattie's in Bishop Arts District in Oakcliff. There's sooo many places in that area that I want to try... Can you believe that this is the first time I've ever been that far South in Dallas??

I've heard great things about Hattie's and I've looked at their website many times so I thought it would be a good time to venture out and try it.

Hattie's
418 North Bishop Avenue
Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 942-7400
http://www.hatties.net/
Price: $$ (for brunch)

Bishop Arts District is a really cool/cute little area. It was nice to walk around and see all the little shops and restaurants. Parking was a bit limited, we drove around for a few minutes before finding anything.

The decor at Hattie's was bright and open. I really like this kind of setting for brunch. Clean and bright, really helps to wake you up! It actually reminded me of Patois in New Orleans (where we had awesome brunch) so I was getting really excited to finally try their food.

Right when we walked in we were warmly greeted by the host and hostess. They were super nice and we were immediate shown to our table (I did make a reservation). The place was pretty packed, it all looked very promising!

Our waiter came and he kind of had an "I don't give a F" air about him... :/ He wasn't rude, but it felt like he didn't care to be there. Anyways, we made our order after looking over the menu. And another waiter came over with a bread basket. You get a choice of either sourdough or banana bread. I don't like sourdough and I love banana bread, so that was an easy choice. It was FANTABULOUS!! The slice was thick and super moist. Sweet and you can definitely taste the bananas. I tried to eat it slowly to savor it. haha. My bf loved it as well. They should've just left the basket at our table!

While we were waiting for our food, the waiter came and tried to take our bread plates. He was picking up my bf's stuff when my bf asked if we could get more bread. He was like "oh yea...sure" and proceeds to drop his knife onto his plate. Big CLANK! and just walked away. My bf and I looked at each other and went "WTH?!?!" That was really careless and rude of him...

However, the waiter with the bread basket was super nice. I think our waiter just needs to go home or take some happy pills or something.

Then the food came. I got the Low Country Shrimp & Cheddar Grits (in Tabasco pan sauce) $16.95~ I love grits. And this is one of the dishes that EVERYONE raves about on reviews and stuff. I thought it was a little pricey but I just had to see it for myself. It was a pretty big plate, but only 5 pieces of shrimp. At least the shrimp was nice and plump. It was yummy...but in no way spectacular. First of all, 80% of the dish was grits...the ratio of grits to shrimp was wayy off. Grits are cheap and easy to make, if that's the majority of the dish, it shouldn't be $17. I think I would've been ok with $12 max. The grits were soft and creamy and paired really well with the sauce. The flavors were pretty good, but I felt like it needed a little more acid (the tabasco sauce didn't really taste of tabasco!). I got some MORE tabasco and that totally fixed the problem! haha. Tabasco makes everything better! :P Also, the dish needed some crunch and freshness. There wasn't enough contrasting textures. I wish they would've taken some super crispy bacon and sprinkled it on top or maybe a little garnish of frisee/arugula or something. All in all I enjoyed it, but definitely did not get what the hype is all about. I certainly wouldn't drive 40 minutes to Oakcliff to eat it again.

My bf decided on the Breaded Pork Cutlet & Fried Eggs (with sweet potato hash browns) $13.75~ It came with an spiced apple gravy? on the side. The pork was fried nicely, crispy crust, tender meat and topped with 2 eggs. However, the cutlet had no seasoning...it was very bland. Tabasco to the rescue again! haha. I really liked the sweet potato hash...there really isn't any type of preparation for sweet potato I don't like... I liked how they sauteed it with bell peppers and stuff. But since the pork and eggs were bland, the whole dish was just sweet. Sweet from the hash and also the apple gravy/sauce. Luckily tabasco added some saltiness and tangyness to it all.

**Side story: There was a large table of women dining there the same time we were. It was some sort of party or something...they had gifts and stuff. I noticed our waiter (bald man with glasses) bring out a tray of food and set it on the stand next to the table. And guess what he did next? He walked away...just left the food there.... didn't serve it to the women, didn't say anything to them, and didn't really say anything to other waiters to dish them out. So the food was just there...on the side. I was like... "uh..." After a few minutes some of the women looked over and were confused why their food was just there. Finally another waitress came and passed out the food. That was a little ridiculous. And the whole time he was bringing the food out, it just felt like he was thinking "it's not my job to pass it out, so I'm just gonna leave it here..." Damn!**

Anyways, we mostly enjoyed our meal, but it definitely fell short to my expectations. I think I will still go back to try some of their sandwiches and stuff...maybe for lunch one day. But definitely not going to go out of my way to eat there. Sigh... makes me a little sad. Plus the waiter was just not pleasant. Although all the other people seemed friendly. We opted for no dessert because we saw a bakery across the street we wanted to check out. :P

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Brunch @ The Grape

The Grape
2808 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75206
(214) 828-1981
http://www.thegraperestaurant.com/
Price: $$ (for brunch)

For Christmas my cousin gave me a $25 gift certificate to The Grape! Thanks!!! :D I've been wanting to go there forever!

I keep hearing great things about this place, especially the brunch and of course their burger. Texas Monthly gave them the title of "Best Burger in Texas" in 2009. They were also awarded "Best Brunch, Best Fries, and Best Calamari" by Dallas Observer; "Best Neighborhood Bistro" by Modern Luxury Magazine; and "Top 8 Best Brunches in Dallas" by Dallas Morning News. That's quite a list of accolades!

My bf and I decided to go there this past Sunday for their brunch. Parking kinda sucks in Lower Greenville, luckily they had complimentary valet. :) We arrived at 1PM and the place was pretty packed. I had already made a reservation and we were seated immediately. The place was bigger than I thought...there were many different rooms, but each room was small, and I kinda felt crammed...

We took a look at the menus...I had no idea what I was going to order. I've been eating out wayyy too much lately and gained a bunch of weight. :( So I was hesitant on ordering a lot of the items. Sooo sucky...to go for brunch and trying not to get any pancakes, biscuits, or waffles. haha.

Before the meal they gave us each a little banana bread muffin-let (cuz they mini) haha. They were ok...Bread Winners has wayyy better banana bread.
Finally, I gave in a little and decided to try the Cinnamon Pull-a-Parts (warm from the oven with pecans & caramel) $7~ I've read great reviews on this item so I thought I'd give it a try. And I knew I can take the rest to go! haha. This was HUGE! At least 8" wide... It was gooey and sticky and sweet. A little too sweet actually. Not only was it covered in caramel, pecans and powdered sugar, there was also a ton of honey...which wasn't in the description. The texture of the actual cinnamon bun was good but I felt the honey and just intense sweetness killed everything else. We could only eat a quarter of it. We took the rest to go. I wouldn't recommend this if you don't like too sweet...or honey...

To be a little "healthier" I decided on the Pan-Fried Rainbow Trout (stone ground cornmeal dusted, fried eggs, frisee salad, apple smoked bacon, and candied roasted yams) (small portion) $14~ I thought the presentation was so cute with the little pieces of yams. The portion was just right for brunch in my opinion. Not too much or heavy. The fish was cooked nicely, tender and flakey with a good crust. The waitress never asked me how I wanted my egg cooked but they cooked it over easy which I like. The bacon was awesome! Great flavor and texture. I really like the frisee on top. It was fresh and added a nice crispness to the dish. The yams were also cooked perfectly, but along with the syrup it was too sweet. The yams were already sweet on their own. One complaint is that it was hard to get all the elements on the fork together for that perfect bite. Doesn't mean I didn't try though! Overall I really enjoyed this dish. It was pretty delicious! :)

My bf already knew what he wanted before we got there...the Classic Cheeseburger "Best Burger in Texas by TX Monthly" (grilled 10oz. fresh ground patty, homemade peppered bacon, vermont white cheddar, nathan's horseradish half-sour pickles & dijonaise on a toasted pain au lait bun, with homemade frites on the side) $13~ The burger was MASSIVE! Holy Crap! The meat was cooked at a nice medium with really fresh veggies, awesome bacon (again) and the bread was very good. The bottom bun held up nicely with such a big burger, didn't get too soggy. The cheese however was quite potent. It overwhelmed the other flavors in the burger a little bit. I think a different (less heavy) cheese could've paired better. The biggest complaint was the size. It was wayy too hard to eat! Overall a pretty dang good burger...I can see how they earned the award. Definitely up there as far as flavors and quality goes, but we both agreed that our favorite burgers were still from Village Burger Bar. I guess we're just more gourmet burger people, VBB burgers are just a little bit cleaner and sophisticated in my opinion. But if you want a "man's" burger (that's how I described it at the restaurant...haha) this is definitely a good one. On the side, the fries were delicious. I can see that award given to them as well. They were crispy, great texture, and great flavors...very addicting! :)

On the whole, it was a great meal. My fish dish was amazing (aside from the syrup being too sweet). The burger was pretty tasty and the fries were awesome. I felt like we could've definitely done without the Cinnamon Pull-a-Parts though. Oh well, at least I can say I got to try it... And thanks to my cousin for the awesome Xmas gift! :) Oh yea, service was ok. Not as good as I'd expect in a place like this. She was fine, I just feel she could've been a little more enthusiastic or something.

Anyways, I totally recommend brunch at The Grape. Just make sure you make a reservation though, they fill up pretty quickly!

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