Sneak Peek: Standard Service opens Monday, 10/10!

One of the most anticipated restaurant openings in Rockwall... My friend first tipped me off that HG Sply Co was going to open something in our neck of the woods months and months ago. For the longest time I thought it was going to be a second location but never really heard anything about it. Last week, I realized it was going to be a different name, Standard Service. I've actually seen the name on Facebook at some point a while back but the name didn't jump out at me. So the opening kinda snuck up on us! Do you have any idea HOW exciting it is to get a new restaurant in Rockwall? There's not many great places to choose from and something with the caliber of HG Sply Co and Remedy is huge! hehe.

Standard Service
760 W. Ralph Hall Pkwy
Rockwall, TX 75032
(469) 651-1100
www.thestandardservice.com
Price: $$$+

Once I found out Standard Service is the new restaurant name, I followed it's opening closely. Unfortunately they pushed back their opening date a few times since I started checking on it. We (a group of us) had been talking about going yesterday, then we found out the opening day got pushed to Monday, 10/10. Booo... Well, me being me, I decided to do a drive by with a friend Friday afternoon just to see maybeeeee they're doing a soft opening?! It's super close to my house anyways. As I drove by, I saw a lot of people inside. So I decided to park and go inside. They were doing training still so all the staff was there. I confirmed with them the opening date. MONDAY! And then they told me I'm welcome to sit at the bar and get a drink. Ooooo. So I casually asked if they are serving food as well. They said food service started at 6PM and it would be on them since they are still doing training. What?!? They're serving food AND it's free?? I immediately texted my husband and said change of evening plans and we're going to Standard Service! haha. I met back at the restaurant with my friend and her hubby at 6:30PM. The hostesses were super nice and said we can totally sit at the bar to eat and drink. Turns out they were having their friends and family night with mock services to practice. We felt so special that we were still allowed in since we're neither friends nor family. Although after the meal we felt like friends. :P

The space is super cool. High ceilings, lots of wood, the bar has a large window that opens up to their big patio. There's a ping pong table in the patio too. Definitely a cool place to hang out now that the weather is cooler.

We were given a smaller menu for their mock service night but the entire drink menu was available. We were so excited we didn't know whether to order food or drinks or just keep looking around the restaurant. Our bartender (who also took our food orders) was Jessica. She was super friendly and gave a lot of suggestions. You can tell she was very excited about the restaurant opening and their offerings. And... they have Moscow Mule and Old Fashioned cocktails on draft! What what!?! That's pretty freaking awesome. And they were good too. We tried both.

*I'm including the prices of all the menu items but the meal was on the house since it was a mock service. Sooo freaking awesome!!! :D

HG Moscow Mule (42 Below Vodka, Lime, Ginger Holy Kombucha, Agave) $10~ Very refreshing and definitely strong (for a lightweight like me) haha.

Right Grain Old Fashioned (Old Grand-Dad Bonded Bourbon, House-Mashed Barley Syrup, bitters) $10~ My friend really likes Old Fashioned and she said this one was really good.

Bison Chili Frito Pie (South Dakota bison, kidney, pinto, black beans, fritos, shredded cheddar, lime crema, guacamole, green onions) $9~ 

 

This was their only appetizer option of the evening so we go it first while still trying to decide what entrees to get. This was a pretty damn big portion imo. And it was definitely the prettiest frito pie I've ever seen. hahaha. Delicious!!! All the ingredients were super fresh and the flavors all complimented each other well. There wasn't too much of one thing or another. And it had the slightest little spicy kick to it. Yum. This could easily be a meal too.

The B-Webb (The Last Word: High Born Gin, Maraschino, Chartreause, Lime) $12~ 

Partial proceeds go to St. Jude Children's Hospital. They told us that they feature 5 different cocktails (the line up changes every so often) and each one has proceeds that go to a different charity. That's really awesome. Drink for charity, amiright? My friend got this. It was a pretty drink. It has a bitterness to it but is very smooth. Another winner.

Chicken Salad Wrap (chopped chicken breast, celery, green grapes in green goddess dressing, marinated tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, green onion, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, crispy brown rice; with side of potato salad) $13.50~ 

My husband chose this as his entree. I really liked the potato salad. You can also choose potato chips as your side. He liked the wrap... I thought it was ok. The flavor was fine but it was too saucy for me.

The Standard Stack (herbed smashbrowns with caramelized onion and jalapeno, green goddess dressing, marinated tx tomato and arugula; with choice of protein). Kansas City Kobe Beef Burger $15~ My friend's husband got this. He said it was good.

The Standard Stack (herbed smashbrowns with caramelized onion and jalapeno, green goddess dressing, marinated tx tomato and arugula; with choice of protein). Scottish Salmon $18~ 

I got the stack as well but with salmon. I shared it with my friend since we wanted to try everything. She said this was better than her husbands kobe beef burger stack. I ordered the salmon pink in the middle and it came PERFECTLY cooked. I mean.. just on point. And those smashbrowns... so good. Nice and crispy and flavorful. The whole thing was delicious and very well rounded. It didn't feel heavy at all. And at first the portion looked small to me, but its quite filling. Highly recommend this.

My friend got the Chicken Fried Chicken (sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken gravy) $16~ 

We also shared this one. Jessica (our bartender) recommended this one. They use chicken thighs instead of breast so the meat was extra juicy and tender. The color on the batter looked dark but it wasn't overcooked. I really enjoyed the crunch on the batter. The mashed potatoes were fluffy and the gravy wasn't too heavy. I think the chicken was my favorite thing of the night. Then the salmon and smashbrowns were a close close second.

We were having such a great time and the restaurant had completely filled up. The noise level is a little high but it's energetic not overbearing. We chatted with Jessica a lot throughout the night. It was very cool sitting at the bar watching them make all the drinks too. Since it's still their training, it's like we got a behind the scenes look at the restaurant. For their first night of food service, we thought everything went really well. The service was fast, attentive, and friendly. The food was spot on, no major snafus on anything. I'd say they're ready to open!

Finally we decided to ask if they were serving dessert even though it's not on the limited menu and they said yes. They only have 2 dessert options. One is a coconut blondie, called The Lucy. The other was The Ricky (dark chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and chocolate sauces, chopped peanuts, whipped cream) $11~ 

Such cute names! You can guess which one we got. hehe. It was pretty freaking awesome. I was on a no sugar diet, but I cheated and had 2 bites. The brownie was super fudgy and they gave enough ice cream to brownie ratio (this is important!) We killed it pretty quickly.

What a fabulous night! I saw the executive chef, Danyele McPherson, walking around the dining room later in the night but didn't get to meet her. She seems really nice. I saw her when she competed on Top Chef and have kinda been following her movement since. She used the be the chef de cuisine at The Grape then moved to Remedy and HG Sply Co sometime in 2014. I freaking love Remedy... especially their burger. I'm very pleased to see that the burger is going to be on the menu at Standard Service.

If you haven't noticed my excitement for this new opening... I'm telling you now... They open on MONDAY! Lunch & Dinner - 7 days a week! What a great addition to Rockwall. Go check them out. :) And say hi to Jessica for me!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

NYC: Takashi

Friday night for our 2nd dinner. I had made a reservation at Takashi at 9:30PM. I normally don't eat this late, but to fit all these food places in... I guess that's a sacrifice I have to make. haha. :P 

Takashi 
456 Hudson St. 
New York, NY 10014 
(212) 414-2929 
http://takashinyc.com/ 
Price: $$$$+

This was recommended by a foodie friend. Unfortunately he had to work late and ended up cancelling last minute. We're so glad we still went though, despite being so full already. haha. I made a reservation for 6 people, and was able to fill that last spot before dinner. 

It's a small place. We almost walked past it because the sign outside is so small. But it's cute. Reminds me of the yakiniku places in Asia. Their menu is beef... all beef. Sounds pretty awesome to me! The beef comes from sustainably raised cattle with no antibiotics or hormones. On their website they list the farms where the beef comes from. 

Everything on the menu looked interesting and tasty. Unfortunately due to the uni shortage, they didn't have the one dish I really wanted. :( Oh well... maybe next time. Each of us ordered 1-2 things. 

Stewed Beef Tendon Casserole with White Miso $15~ 

 

This was my choice. As an appetizer for the table. It comes fully cooked. So freaking delicious. It's just just the chewy tendon parts, it was mostly the meat next to the tendons. Stewed to perfection, it was soooooo tender. And tons of flavor. 

Squid Ink Rice, Miso-Marinated Sweetbreads (spicy yuzu saffron aioli, served on a magnolia leaf) $20~ 

This was interesting. I'll eat sweetbreads but I'm not a huge fan. Normally they are just kinda mushy. For those who don't know, sweetbreads are either the thymus glad or pancreas of young animals like calf or lamb. I love offal, but I can live without this. I thought everything in this dish was good though. Really enjoyed the squid ink rice. 

Bakudan (rice bomb with Korean seaweed and pickled sesame leaf) $8~ This was to supplement the meats. It was pretty good, but we probably could've done without it. 

Sukiyaki-Style Round Steak (with tartare rice bomb and egg yolk) $30~ 

This was probably the coolest yakiniku dish of the night. It's like a DIY beef taco thing. You grill the meat, dip it in the egg yolk, put a ball of the tartare and rice and roll it up. The beef was super tender. I loved the tartare rice bomb on it's own too! Fun!! 

 

Kalbi (US Kobe Premium Short Rib) $26~ Really quality meat. 

Beef Belly (US Kobe Beef belly) $20~ Also delicious. 

Tan-saki, Tan-suji & Tan-moto (the tongue experience) $25~ The tongue tasting was interesting. I've had really tender beef tongue before but these were more chewy. But still good. 

Tsurami (beef cheek) $16~ The most bang for your buck. The slices were really thin though. It was like beef bacon. Yummers! 

It was so much fun! At first we thought we weren't going to have enough food since it was pretty expensive and the portions are not very big. But we were all satisfied at the end. The meats and flavors were all amazing, I totally recommend this place. The quality is comparable to the places I've been in Japan/Korea. Also, they have midnight ramen... yes, only starts at midnight. And you have to make reservations. Might be something fun to do next time. 

Oh yea... on the way back to the subway, we stopped at Big Gay Ice Cream, and several people got desserts. Wow. haha. I wish I had room! So I just watched them eat it. :P 

 

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Las Vegas - Holsteins

Last (half) day in Vegas. Long enough to get in some lunch before heading to the airport. I HAD to go to Holsteins, my absolute favorite place to eat in Vegas. And I wanted to take my friends too because none of them have been!! Gasp! :P

Holsteins Shakes and Buns
(in The Cosmopolitan)
3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 698-7940
http://www.holsteinslv.com/
Price: $$$

I come here every time in Vegas.. The food is slightly pricey but it's Vegas... when is the food not expensive? haha. And it's soooo good. I've never had anything I didn't like.

We started with some Bam-Boozled Shakes. Alcoholic shakes where you can't taste the alcohol. And the combinations are unique and over the top.

One friend and I shared the Banana Cream Pie (bananas, vanilla custard, nilla wafers, caramel, creme de banane, licor 43, white chocolate covered nutty banana) $13~ 

They gave us the excess milkshake in the metal cup too which was pretty much a whole 'nother glass! This was the first time I tried this flavor and it was amazing! You get chunks of banana and nilla wafers in every sip. I love the added texture and it was soooo banana-y! I think one of my new favorites here. Although after a while it got a little too sweet, I think next time I'd get it without the caramel sauce.

One friend got the Red Velvet Cake Shake (zing red velvet vodka, red velvet cake, cream cheese mousse, mini whoopie pie) $13~ 

This was also really good. Never tried this one either. I liked the crumbled cake bits throughout the shake. This also came with the excess, and another friend got it mixed up with her strawberry shake and downed the whole thing before we all realized she drank the red velvet one. She doesn't drink alcohol at all, so that's really proof you can't taste it! haha. :P

Strawberry Shake $9~ Non-alcoholic. I think they use fresh strawberries because it tasted that way. Legit.

We all ordered burgers (Big Buns):
The Classic (lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, ketchup, pickles) $15~ All the burgers come with regular fries unless you want to pay extra to sub.

"Meat Ball" Burger (beef, pork, veal, pecorino, provolone cheese, basil walnut pesto, arugula, herb foccacia roll) $15~ Sub Onion Rings +$2~ 

 

I wanted to try something new. And it was a great choice. Very impressive looking with the biggest meatball ever! I loved the different layers of colors between the meatball, cheese and pesto. Quite Italian! hehe. The meatball was tender and juicy and full of flavor. The pesto was great too. I love basil. And the slight bitterness from the arugula complimented everything well. I also liked the baked cheese on the bun. Now to the onion rings. One of the best onion rings ever. I usually pay the extra to get it. So crispy on the outside... just awesome.

Gold Standard (dry aged beef sirloin burger with smoked bacon, aged goat cheddar cheese, tomato confit, baby arugula, garlic-chive aioli) $18.50~ Sub Sweet Potato Fries +$2~ 

I've had this before, aside from the goat cheddar, it's really really good. I just don't like goat cheese. My friend really liked it. The sweet potato fries were good too.

Nom Nom Burger (kobe beef, cheddar cheese, potato chips, 1000 Island dressing) $17.50~ Two friends shared this. I tried a bite but wasn't memorable. One friend said it was a little bland... she would've liked more sauce.

I saw a picture of this displayed on our table. At first I showed it to my friend and said "hey, here's your Gold Standard burger", but then we both thought the picture looked kind of odd. After a double take, we realized it was "cold" standard and it was a dessert!! We had to get it. Cold Standard (vanilla ice cream patty with a chocolate wafer glaze, cronut bun, lemon shortbread fries, berry ketchup) $15~ 

 

 

Not only does it look like burger and fries but it comes on a cronut bun? Cronut?! I HAD to get it now! haha. I have to say it looked pretty dang realistic. From the presentation (like the checkered paper wrapping) to the "cheese" and green "lettuce". So cool. I was taking a bunch of pictures when my friend decided to try a bit of the cheese. Then she said it tasted like a mango gelatin or something. Mango? That wasn't listed on the description.. and I'm allergic. :( So I had to send it back. They gave us a new one without the cheese. I felt bad because my other friends never got to try it with the mango.. It was still good though. I really liked the ice cream patty with chocolate glaze. The "lettuce" tasted like green tea white chocolate shavings. However, the bun was totally NOT a cronut. More like a sweet biscuit/roll. It still paired with the patty well but they really shouldn't call it a cronut. And no one really liked the shortbread fries. The flavor and texture was a bit off. But it really did look like fries. The ketchup was strawberry sauce which went really well with the "burger".

It was an expensive lunch. But hey, it's our last day, and we're at my favorite restaurant so I'm going all out! Again, it did not disappoint. The service was a little slow at the end, but they did replace our dessert with no complaint. I very much appreciate that. They should list the mango on the description though... Anywhoo, a success as always. Until next time!!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~