Knife @ Hotel Palomar

I'm overdue for another post! I've got several actually. Last weekend was crazy busy and exciting! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. :)

I've been trying to check out Knife for awhile with some foodie friends of mine. We had scheduled it weeks in advance and still had to reschedule another time. Finally it was the day! We were all pretty excited since we've all loved Chef John Tesar's (former Top Chef contestant) Spoon in the past. I think we all had pretty high expectations.

Knife
5680 North Central Expressway
Dallas, Texas 75206
(214) 443-9339
http://www.knifedallas.com/
Price: $$$$+

It is located in Hotel Palomar on Mockingbird Lane. I've always really liked that hotel, it's really nice and modern inside. Although parking is non-existent. They offer free valet to dining guests though.

Some of us arrived a little early so we went to the bar. The drink menu is displayed on an ipad, which is cool. But I didn't care for most of their cocktail options. Nothing really interesting stood out to me. The cocktails range from $10-14~ ish...

My bf ordered a Oaxacan Mule. I guess it's similar to a Moscow Mule? But it had pear liquor or something so maybe that's the difference. It came in a cool copper cup and adorned with sliced pears. He liked it.

My other friend got an Olive Oil Martini. She said it was super strong and did not taste any of the olive oil flavor.

Once everyone arrived we were seated immediately. The restaurant decor was nice. I especially liked the eclectic yet Western style in the bar area. Although there were 2 chairs by the hostess stand that looked like coffins... not sure where they were going with that. haha. Made for a fun photo op though! :P There was an open kitchen/plating area after you walk in. And I saw Chef John Tesar working! It wasn't as big of a space as I expected. We had 6 people and were seated in a giant booth with a giant table, probably could've fit another 4 people pretty comfortably. haha.

Our waiter came by with more drink orders. Then later explained the menu to us with the different cuts of beef, the aging time, etc. It was a little hard to understand him though for several reasons. 1) The table was so damn big, we all had to lean in to listen. 2) Once the dining room started filling up, the noise level was kinda high. 3) He had an accent, and I'm so bad with accents. XP

We started off with a Complimentary Crudite: Cucumber, Radish, Celery, Endive, Carrots, Jerky; with Green Goddess sauce. Cool presentation. The veggies were nicely chilled in the ice and fresh. I liked the Green Goddess sauce a lot.

Bread Basket: Biscuit, Bread. 

We got to choose from 4-5 kinds of bread. The waiter with the basket highly recommended the bread on the right. I think he called it "Lavon??", I can't be sure since I've never heard of it. I actually had to make him repeat it twice. haha. And in the end, I still didn't fully understand... The "lavon" bread was good, could've been warmer though. Fluffy, soft inside, and a harder crust on the outside. The biscuit was quite dense and kinda dry. Would've been better warmer too. And soaked in gravy... I'm just sayin'. hahaha.

It was time to order. Each couple ordered their own thing but we ended up swapping plates around the table.

Couple #1 got Teresa's Watercress, Endive and Walnut Salad (with goat cheese) $16~ 

They went ahead and split the salad for them (so the picture shows half portion). It came in these gigantic bowls. Cool presentation, but unnecessary? I got to try a little of the salad. I was hesitant since I don't like goat cheese at all, but it was good. The goat cheese was very mild. I loved the watercress, it's not everyday you see that in salads.

45 Day Dry Aged Niman Ranch Bone in Ribeye (32oz. for 2) $80~ 

This thing was massive. So impressive looking. And this is the first time I've had steak that was already cut for me. The meat was cooked well. And it had so much marbling, which I love. The flavor was great. They offer these sauces you can order on the side, but I think due to the aging process the meat already has a lot of flavor and the sauces are unnecessary. Plus with the fattiness of the meat, some of the richer sauces might be overkill? I really enjoyed this. Plus ribeye is my second favorite cut of steak only to prime rib. Can't say it was the best ribeye I've had, but it was definitely good.

They also got Johnny's Mac & Cheese $12~ 

There was some green stuff baked into the cheese. I'm guessing green chile? It was yummy. The pasta had good texture and it had a nice crust.

Couple #2 ordered the 45 Day Dry Aged Bone in Niman Ranch Sirloin (24oz.) $60~ 

This was also impressive looking and pre-cut. However, I didn't like this one as much. You can definitely taste the flavor difference between this and the ribeye. The ribeye was just richer and meatier. The sirloin is definitely a much leaner cut if you are into that.

Fettuccine Bolognese $19~ 

We also ordered this. They split the plates for all of us (half portion shown here too). I wanted to try their pasta because I know they make it in-house. I read online that the bolognese sometimes was too spicy so I asked beforehand if they can remove or reduce the spice. (I love spicy but my bf can't take much.) The waiter didn't seem to know and was hesitant to accommodate but he said he would write it down. I dunno how they prep the pasta, but I would think they could accommodate to people who can't handle spicy?? Wasn't too happy about that.... But I really liked the pasta dish. The fettuccine was cooked well. I loved the texture. The bolognese was good too. Not spicy enough for me, but still too much for my bf, so I ate his half too. I win! :P And we realized that the table was not so big after all. With all our large slabs of meat and split plates, the entire table was covered! hahaha. It was a feast!

They also got Roasted Okra, Tomato, and Bacon $9~ This was really good. Nice smoky flavor. The okra was cooked well. (sorry, forgot a picture)

Finally, the two of us opted for no steak because there were other dishes I wanted to try more.

Sous Vide Beef Cheek Open Faced Sandwich (morel mushroom gravy) $17~ 

I love beef cheeks. I've realized that the best part of any meat is the cheek. And fish too! The most juicy and tender. This was amazing. Sous vide is basically sealing the meat in an airtight bag and then cooked in a temperature controlled water bath for a long time. It makes the meat super tender. The meat was fork tender and had so much flavor. The combo of textures from the morel mushrooms and bread contrasted the soft meat. It was our favorite dish of the night.

Crispy Pork Belly (collard greens, pan juices) $18~ 

It also had pickles and mustard seeds. You know me and my pork belly! Gotta try it. They actually had 2 pork belly dishes and we chose this one. The pork belly was thick cut and had a really nice crust on the outside. The best part? The combination of the pickles, pork and mustard seeds. The slight acidity from the pickles made the dish. The collard greens lightened up the dish next to the fatty meat. Tasty. But not as good as the beef cheeks. :P

And of course we got the Fettuccine Bolognese $19~ as I mentioned earlier.

Vegetarian Collard Greens $7~ I wanted some veggies so we ordered this. Basically same as what was underneath the pork belly. Cooked well, nothing spectacular though. (sorry, forgot a picture, but it's just collard greens)

That was a lot of food. We were given dessert menus but seeing the price and how full we were already, none of us opted to get anything. I wanted to try one of them, but I think it was a good decision I didn't. Because... we were given Complimentary Mini Desserts (from left to right): Moscato Jelly, Shortbread Cookie, Banana Macaron, Brownie (with sea salt). 

 

The macaron was by far the best. And it was so cute! They did this too at Spoon, where you get a complimentary beginning and end. Which I like, and not many nice restaurants in Dallas does this. We also got some parting gifts. Madeleines, which are French butter cakes shaped like shells. I ate mine the next day. It was moist and buttery and you can see the vanilla bean specks in it.

Overall the food was delicious. Everything else just mediocre. The waiter was nice, but not as informative or accommodating as I would've expected. It was a bit loud in there and conversations were kinda hard because the table was so large. And honestly I was comparing it to Spoon, which was phenomenal, so Knife had a tough act to follow...

I probably won't return. But don't mark it off your list if you haven't tried it yet.

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Mi Piaci

I had a big holiday get together with a group of friends before the new year. We try to get together once a quarter, but with jobs and babies and life, it's longgg over due! I chose Mi Piaci because one of my friends mentioned to me a few months ago that they had squid ink pasta. Sold! I had to go try it. hehe. 

Mi Piaci 
14854 Montfort Drive 
Dallas, TX 75254 
(972) 934-8424 
http://www.mipiaci-dallas.com 
Price: $$$-$$$$

We had a party of 10 for Saturday night around 7PM. We were immediately seated and they put us in the private room with a giant round table. Felt so grand... definitely like a family holiday dinner or something. hehe. At one point we even closed the curtains so it was completely closed off to the main dining area. 

I was pretty hungry, so I attacked the bread plate when they served it. I think it was herbed Foccacia, garlic Foccacia and bread sticks. The bread was awesome. I loved the pillowy texture and lots of flavor. I had to refrain myself from eating it all. haha. 

We got started with some appetizers and salads. 

One couple got the Calamari Fritti (pan-fried with red chili sauce & cilantro oil) $9~ (in the background...)

I got to try one. It was awesome. The calamari was cooked beautifully and each piece was huge. It was like calamari steak fries. haha. The sauce complimented it well. 

I had the Insalata di Cesare (heart of romaine salad with classic Caesar dressing, garlic croutons, spiced pumpkin seeds) $8~ My favorite part was the pumpkin seeds, gave it that crunch it needed. It was a good salad, nothing fancy. 

A few people got the House Salad. They said it was really good. 

Zuppa Aragosta (Adriatic style lobster bisque topped with house made lobster fritter) $9~ This looked really good. I didn't get to taste it though. But those who ordered it cleaned their bowls. 

On to the entrees... They hand make all their pastas and even have a window into the kitchen where you can see the guy making it. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Spaghettini Neri (house made black spaghetti with butter poached blue crab and chili butter) $24~ 

All the pastas sounded great but I was here for this. You can definitely tell the pasta was handmade and had good texture. The chunks of crab were big and cooked well. I felt there was a bit too much pasta vs sauce though, but wasn't a big deal since I don't like too much sauce anyways. I liked the sprinkle of bread crumbs on top to add some texture. I liked it but I still like the one at Spoon better... It was a pretty big portion too. I took half of it to go. 

I also got a side of Broccolini Fritti di Peperoncino (flash fried fresh broccolini with red chili flake) $7~ I think they prepared it another way because it didn't seem flash fried nor did it have chili flakes on it. Oh well...still good veggies. 

 
Fettuccine al Prosciutto (wide, flat noodles in a light parmesan cream sauce with prosciutto and peas) $18~ 

I was able to have some of this. It's like a alfredo/carbonara... super creamy and decadent. I really liked it. The peas were cooked perfectly and the sweetness paired well with the salty prosciutto. Not for those watching their waistlines that's for sure. haha. 

I didn't get to try anything else, but it all looked yummy. 
Penne All' Arrabiata (hand rolled quill shaped pasta with spicy tomato sauce, pancetta, vodka, basil and pecorino cheese) $18~ 

Pesce Branzino (tamarind glazed Chilean sea bass with lemon basil risotto, radish sprout, with spicy sweet portabella mushroom sauce) $30~ 

Maiale al Forno (spice-rubbed pork tenderloin with parmesan polenta and blackberry demi glace) $25~ 

Osso Bucco alla Milanese (braised veal shank with traditional sweet pea and saffron risotto) $38~ 

Funghi al Forno (oven roasted wild Italian mushrooms) $9~ 

So our main waiter wasn't that great. But the waiter that served our entrees was super cool. haha. I mean the main guy wasn't rude or anything but after they cleared the entrees, the waiter came with the check. We were all chatting so no one realized that we weren't asked if we wanted any dessert or coffee, etc... at first. We thought it was weird so we called him back and said we at least wanted to see the dessert menu. I think he knew he made a mistake so when he brought the dessert menus he gave us some excuse saying he overheard some people talking about cake earlier and thought we had dessert already... Whatever. Even if we had cake earlier, that doesn't mean we don't want the option of getting more dessert!! Right?! There can never be too much dessert! 

And we DID get dessert. I love how all my friends love to eat. hehehe. 

Gelati o Sorbetti (assortment of gelato and sorbet made fresh daily) $6~ 

Torta di Limone (pistachio encrusted lemon tart with fresh berries) $6~ 

Crema Italiana (maple-flavored custard with fresh berries) $7~ 

I got Tiramisu (the Italian classic with espresso and mascarpone) $7~ It was pretty good. Nice and light since I was already pretty full. But pretty standard, not the best I've had. 

Also, just FYI, they don't do split checks but they can take multiple credit cards so I took it upon myself to list out all the totals for each card. Took a while, but I'm used to it. But it would be nice for restaurants to be able to do split checks. Just my thought. Thanks. :P 

It was a good time. The food was yummy and portions were pretty big. I probably wouldn't request the private table again though unless the group is bigger. It was hard to shout across the table. haha. I'd recommend this place for a special occasion. 

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LA Trip June2011 - Fritto Misto

The last night in LA we went to dinner with some friends. I looked up a few different options and decided on Fritto Misto in Hermosa Beach. I had actually looked at going to the Santa Monica location last time we were in LA. They sell wine yet they are also BYOB. You just pay $2 per person for corking fee. That's a pretty good deal! Plus the reviews online were great so I was sold!

FRITTO MISTO
316 Pier Ave.
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
(310) 318-6098
http://www.usmenuguide.com/frittomisto.html
Price: $$

Just FYI...they only take reservations for parties 8 or more. It's not a very big place either. Also, parking can be a pain so I would get there ahead of time.

We were immediately seated when we got there. And our waitress was super friendly. Shoutout to Holly! (I normally don't mention any names...but she was great!) She took our drink orders and went to go get an ice bucket for one of our wines.

We chatted and browsed the menu. There were so many choices that looked good. Then the Holly returned to present the specials of the day. They all sounded soo good.

After we made our orders, we got some bread and butter. The bread was pretty good. Nice crispy crust and soft center. It was warm too!

I got the Caesar Salad (Individual Sized) $4.50~ Even though it was individual sized, it was pretty massive! Definitely enough for 2 people to share as a starter. It was really fresh with just a hint of dressing which I like. I hate it when salad is drowning in dressing.

I finally decided on the Special: Pumpkin Ravioli (in Sage cream sauce with sundried tomatoes and caramelized onions) $14~ It was originally with another type of sauce but since I had asked Holly about the Sweet Potato Ravioli with Sage cream sauce earlier, she recommended that I take the Sage cream sauce from that dish and put it on the Pumpkin Ravioli. What a great suggestion! It was amazing! Probably the best ravioli I've had in a longgg time. Usually I don't order ravioli because the portions are small and the filling is nonexistent. This was a hefty dish and tons of pumpkin puree in the raviolis. The pasta was cooked al dente with the soft and sweet pumpkin in the middle. The cream sauce was awesome and the caramelized onions and sundried tomatoes just elevated all the flavors. DELICIOUS!! I was also super impressed that Holly was able to take my questions and understand what I liked and made the proper suggestions. :)

One friend ordered Cajun Seared Chicken Pasta (spicy chicken tenders, garlic cream, tossed with red bell pepper fettuccini, garnished with green onions) $10.50~ She also added Artichoke Hearts, mushrooms, and something else for $4.25~ It was also a massive plate of food. The pastas were all made in house and were cooked perfectly. Tons of different ingredients in there and everything worked together well. The cream sauce was tasty!

Another friend got the Pasta Pancetta (Italian bacon, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, garlic cream, tossed with tomato fettucini) $12~ Added mushrooms for $2.25~ I was also looking at this one. I love pancetta and it was great in this dish. It was quite similar to the Cajun Chicken pasta since it had the same garlic cream sauce, but the pancetta really made it that much better.

My bf ordered Artichoke Shrimp and Mascarpone Cheese Gnocchi (gnocchi stuffed with an artichoke/macarpone pate tossed with shrimp in chardonnay lemon sage cream) $14.50~ This was the smallest portion of the bunch. But gnocchi is usually kinda heavy so it was definitely enough. The gnocchi was a little soft for my preference but the shrimp was cooked perfectly and the flavors were all great.

Lastly, another guy ordered the Special: Short Rib Ravioli $16~ It was also tons of ravioli. I really liked the sauce...it had a hint of spicy in it. And the raviolis were filled with plenty of short ribs. YUM. I still liked my Pumpkin Raviolis better tho. hehe.

We sat around and chatted after dinner and they never came to rush us. At one point they asked if they could move us to another table because they needed our table for a large party. We would've done it anyways, but they offered to throw in a free dessert. Sweeet!! :)

We ordered a few things to share...

Flourless Chocolate Cake (rich, dark and dense with whipped cream) $4.50~ This was dense and rich and chocolatey. Warm and gooey, I wished it came with a scoop of ice cream. hehe. YUM.

Creme Brulee (silky custard with caramelized sugar topping) $4.50~ I usually don't order creme brulee because I find it kind of generic... but this was really good. It was my favorite dessert of the night and it doesn't even have any chocolate!!! hehe. Creamy with a great sugar crust on top and it wasn't overly sweet.

Baby Misu (lady fingers soaked in espresso, layered with cocoa and mascarpone cheese) $4~ They have 2 different sizes of Tiramisu so we got the smaller one. It was pretty good, light and fluffy.

They ended up giving us 2 desserts for free. YAY! :) And before Holly left for the night she came over to chat with us. She actually said the Hermosa Beach location is much more relaxed than the Santa Monica location. I think the Santa Monica location is smaller and always packed so they have to keep turning over the tables. I'm glad I picked the right location too! hehe.

It was a fantastic dinner. I'm really glad I found this place. I would really like to go back and visit Fritto Misto as well as the Hermosa Beach area next time I'm in LA. It's a really cool area with a nice vibe. Plus there are lots more on the menu for me to taste!! hehe.

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