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Did y'all know that this is the 10th year of my blog, CHOMP!? Woohoo! But apparently the actual anniversary month was Feb... which I totally missed. *face palm* So I'm going to make April my anniversary post! It's my birth month AND this restaurant feature is a great one!!! LET'S CELEBRATE!!
My choice for April was an easy one. The EPIC 5 course media dinner at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in uptown. Meant for 7 people but due to weather, only 3 of us showed up! Haha. Lucky us! We had undivided attention, so many fantastic dishes, and the bad weather never even happened!
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse
2323 Olive St,
Dallas, TX 75201
(972) 490-9000
delfriscos.com/steakhouse/dallas/
Price: $$$$$+
Dress Code: Business Casual
I had never dined at Del Frisco's before so I was SO psyched when I got invited. The location is quite convenient as they have complimentary valet as well as a parking garage where you can get validation. Upon walking in, the space is sophisticated and upscale. There are large windows in the dining area so lots of natural light. We (the 3 of us) were sat at a big round table... originally meant for 7. When we realized no one else was coming, we got to spread out. Yay! And the table was just the right size for all the food they were bringing out. Our awesome waiter, Jerome, warned us not to fill up on the bread. Which was very good btw. But I just had one bite. He told us that they were just going to bring stuff out, so we can sit back and just enjoy ourselves.
There was a cocktail served with every course. Not specifically a pairing though. I told them no cocktails for me. I would DEFINITELY not be able to drive home if they did! :P So I'm not going to comment on the cocktails very much. Other than the fact that they were all very beautiful and the other 2 people loved almost all of them.
FIRST COURSE:
Double Eagle Margarita (Casa Dragones Blanco, Grand Marnier, Lime, Monin Agave) $18.50~
Charred Octopus (gigante beans, tomatoes, olives, capers, lemon, cold pressed olive oil) $19.50~
When they served these 3 dishes, I think I actually jumped out of my seat with excitement. First of all... I LOVE octopus and this looked divine! The end of the tentacles were perfectly charred and crispy. The rest was just cooked to perfection! One of the best octopus dishes in Dallas for sure.
Seared Rare Wagyu Beef Carpaccio (baby arugula & shaved fennel salad, capers, parmesan, Creole mustard aioli) $18~
Carpaccios are hit or miss for me. This was definitely a hit! The beef quality was amazing and paired so well with all the toppings and flavors. The meat was melt in your mouth tender.
Thick-Cut Nueske's Bacon Au Poivre (bourbon molasses glaze) $16~
I actually clapped when I saw this. I was SO HAPPY! This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! That thick pepper crust with the sweet glaze was heaven. One of the top bites of the night for sure. And only $16?!? I'll just go by myself one day and get this as my entree. Ha!
SECOND COURSE:
The Plum Rose (Wheatley, Amaro Montenegro, Lime, Plum Preserves, Sparkling Rose) $15.50~
Heirloom Tomatoes & Burrata (aged balsamic reduction and pesto) $15~ This is gluten free! I love a good burrata. And this was very good. My favorite out of all the salads.
Blue Cheese Lettuce Wedge (iceberg, cherry tomatoes, crisp bacon, Danish blue cheese dressing) $11.50~ I wasn't a huge fan of this... Blue cheese is very iffy for me and I think this one was just too strong. The iceberg lettuce was crisp and fresh though.
Del's Salad (mixed greens, tomatoes, shaved carrots, croutons, crisp bacon) $11~ Pretty standard salad. Loved whatever that green dressing was on top. Green Goddess dressing, perhaps?
THIRD COURSE:
Pomegranate Martini (Tito's Handmade, Pama Pomegranate, Cranberry) $15.50~
Seared Chilean Sea Bass (crab fried rice, black bean garlic sauce) $47~ Absolutely gorgeous piece of fish. Both of the fish actually. This one was just a tad better cuz of the freaking crab fried rice. I mean... just give me a bowl of that on its own!
Bay of Fundy Salmon. Normally this would be served with crab hash and lobster tomato jus. Perfect crust on top and beautifully pink in the center. Just needed a tad more salt on the whole thing.
FOURTH COURSE:
Blood Orange Manhattan (Redemption Rye, Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth, Solerno Blood Orange, Angostura) $15.50~
14 Day Dry-Aged Colorado Prime Lamb 22oz $58~ I don't like lamb. Can't really stand the smell or taste... but it LOOKED impressive! It makes me wish I liked it. That crust looked delicious.
Wagyu Tasting (Japanese A5, Australian, Rosewood (TX) 3oz each) $160~
OMG! A wagyu flight? Get outta here! This has been such a dream already. So buttery, every slice. Loved the coarse salt to dip in... totally heightened the flavors of the meat. My palate was already in overdrive so I can't be sure, but I think I liked the Japanese and Australian better than the Rosewood. If I had to choose... they're all great.
Tomahawk (long-bone ribeye) 32oz $110~
OH. EM. GEE. I've only had tomahawks a few times in my life. This is the best one ever. THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! Hahaha. Wow, this steak is beyond amazing. I think we all agreed that it just might be better than the wagyu flight! So much flavor on that crust, the meat was SO tender, and you can taste the beef itself. It's wonderful. And you know what? Reheated in the microwave the next day and it's still as tender as ever.
Our last course came with several side dishes. They were served to us by several waiters/waitresses while we took a million pics and videos of the steaks. So I didn't get great pictures of the sides.
Chateau Mashed Potatoes $12~ There were chunks of truffle on the potatoes. CHUNKS, not slices. CHUNKS! Wow!
Creamed Spinach (smoked bacon, egg, mushroom, aged sharp cheddar) $12.50~ I am a huge fan of creamed spinach!
Sauteed Wild Mushrooms & Pearl Onions $14.50~ Loved this. You can really taste mushroom flavor. So rustic!
FIFTH COURSE:
Del's Delight (Nocello Walnut Liqueur, Creme de Cacao Chocolate Liqueur & Vanilla Ice Cream) $11~ Basically like a boozy milkshake. Pretty awesome.
Lemon Cake (6 layers, lemon buttercream icing, lemon glaze) $12.50~ Dense and rich and so lemony. We were so full though! So most of the dessert were taken to go.
Butter Cake (butter pecan ice cream, fresh whipped cream, caramel sauce) $11.50~ Wowow! Fantastic crust on the butter cake. Definitely recommend this!
Thank you SO MUCH to Del Frisco's for having us! This has been one of the best dining experiences I've had in a while! Wonderful service, superb food, and I'm glad I got to enjoy it with 2 of my friends. Will definitely be back for that bacon and tomahawk. And FYI... they have HH on M-F 3-6:30PM!
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I absolutely love Smorgasburg. I went to it 2 years ago and I'm so glad it's a yearly thing! The weather was perfect on Saturday too! It was my 2nd thing to do in NYC (after Shake Shack). hehe. And it was about 20 min walk from our Airbnb apartment. It was such a great location!
Smorgasburg
90 Kent Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11249
Saturdays 11AM-6PM
(Sundays are in a different location)
www.smorgasburg.com
We got there around 11:45 or so. There were already a lot of people walking around and standing in line. There were a few vendors still setting up. This is a lot bigger than Madison Square Eats so it took a lot longer to walk around and scope everything out. We made it thru about 2/3rds and then gave up. Oh... and I thought all the vendors would have Square or something to take credit cards... I was wrong. We were running out of cash, fast! So consider yourself warned! Estimate $8-10 per item per vendor. You do the math.
While we were waiting for my fiance's sister to meet us, we stopped at the first vendor. This was new to me and they had displays set out. All looked yummy!
Duck Season
Crispy Duck Lettuce Wraps (I think it was $8 or $10~)
This was a new item so it wasn't even on their menu. The duck was nice and crispy but the lettuce was too frail to hold everything together. It was a messy item to eat while walking around. haha. Every element was good, just needed a bit more sauce. His sister showed up and was able to get the last bite.
Overall Experience:
So now that we had 3 people, we decided to split up, get different foods, and meet back at a central location. Didn't really work too well.. haha. Since different vendors cook food at different pace. Oh well...
Asia Dog
WangDing Hotdog (chinese bbq pork belly, cucumber, scallions) $5~
Sounded good but quite disappointing. At least it wasn't as expensive as everything else. It was a puny little hotdog with some pork sauce on it. I guess flavors were ok but very unmemorable.
Overall Experience:
Bite Size Kitchen
Braised Pork Belly Bun (cucumber,scallions, hoisin, pickled jalapenos)
Duck Bun (sesame seeds, cilantro, pickled ginger, fried garlic and shallots)
2 for $9~
Both were good. The duck won out over the pork belly. I think it was the sesame seeds and fried garlic/shallots.
Overall Experience:
Bassanova Ramen
Green Curry Ramen $9~ Plus Berkshire Pork (Chashu) +$1~
I had to wait a while for this because they were still setting up. It was cool that they torched the chashu on the spot but certain parts tasted burnt. The meat was tender though. I loved the texture of the noodles. Nice and chewy. And the green curry is more of a sauce, so it's considered a dry ramen. It was good! $10 for the portion tho, I'm not so sure.
Overall Experience:
Vaquero's
Elotes (grilled corn served with mayo or butter, cheese and chilli) $4~ Who doesn't love elotes?? Yummmmm!!
Overall Experience:
Brooklyn Soda Works
Apple Ginger Soda. Quite refreshing on a hot day.
Overall Experience:
BFC
Buttermilk Fried Chicken (with a cheddar waffle and pickle garnish) $12~
This looked so awesome, but I was disappointed. Very expensive for fried chicken btw. I liked the waffle more too. The chicken was fried well but needed way more seasoning. They had hot sauce on the side, so that helped a lot.
Overall Experience:
Dough
Hibiscus Donut.
Freaking love Dough. Their donuts are so big and fluffy! The hibiscus is good but their favorite of mine is still the Cafe au Lait!!
Overall Experience:
Palenque: Homemade Colombian Food
Arepa (arugula, Oaxaca cheese, chipotle mayo, cilantro salsa) Vegetarian toppings: Tipica (mashed red beans and hogao) 4" for $8~ This is his sister's favorite. This time, however, it took forever for her to get her food. I think she waited like 20 minutes or something... It's good though. :)
Overall Experience:
We were pretty full at this point and talking about leaving. So we were trying to think of things that we saw on the website that we wanted to try but haven't yet. The only thing I could think of is this spaghetti burger that sounded really good but I never saw it. Oh well... we started walking out. As we were walking, I saw it! And they had no line! They had some of the spaghetti burgers on display and it looked really good. I was full, but was contemplating getting one.
Antica Pesa
Spaghetti Burger (lamb ragu, parmigiano, fontina) $10~
I was a little weary of the lamb ragu since I don't like lamb. But this is something unique and it WAS something I wanted to try from the start. BIG MISTAKE. I think it was already fried, but they fried it again when you order it so it would be hot. It looked really good, but was sooooo greasy. It also came with a cheese dip on the side. After a few bites, I started feeling queasy. But it was freaking TEN DOLLARS so I felt bad for not eating it. But I couldn't. I soon admitted defeat. And it was the biggest mistake of the trip because it completely ruined my stomach for the rest of the day! Booooo. Serves me right for trying to cram in one last item. :( Next time, stay away from deep fried pasta and cheese!! And lamb. The gaminess made everything worse.
Overall Experience:
It was a fun afternoon but I wasn't as satisfied this time around. The price to food quantity/flavor ratio just wasn't there. I wish I hadn't eaten certain things so I could have another dough donut. haha. And after the fried grease of a "burger" I was out for the count for the rest of the day. Probably good for me in the long run but still wasn't fun to feel nauseous all the time.
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Last weekend my fiance and I went down to Austin to attend our first ever Austin Food + Wine Festival held at Auditorium Shores! I've always wanted to do a FW Festival and I've heard great things about this one. It's close to us and his sister lives there! We got to crash with them so we saved some money there. Thanks!! The festival isn't cheap you know... We got the Weekender Pass ($250 a person) which allows you admission into the day festival on Saturday and Sunday. There you can sample as much food and alcohol as you want for the duration of the event. There are also chef demos you can sit in on as well as music and various vendors.
Saturday (4/24).
We arrived as soon as the gates opened at 11AM. There was a pretty long line but it moved quickly. While standing in line, we saw a food truck for Thomas' English Muffins. They were passing out Thomas' English Muffin Sandwiches. Recipe created by Tim Love. Bacon, fried egg, American cheese, citrus aioli, butter lettuce, tomato, on a Thomas' English Muffin. You can find this recipe at thomasbreads.com. This was nice starter before we event went through the front gate. I was able to get one straight off the griddle. Nice and hot, soooo yummy!
Upon entering, they handed everyone a bag with some goodies, including a Food + Wine Festival cup that you can use to get drinks. :)
Michelle - Rosecato. I don't particularly like wine. The only ones I drink are Moscatos... they're like juice! :)
We wasted no time at all and started going around the Grand Tasting Tents. Rows and rows of food/wine/liquor stands and crowds of people trying to get some samples. I tried my best to take note of the name of the vendor as well as what they were serving, but sometimes it was difficult not eating it immediately because they all looked so yummy! I've included as much info as I know. :)
Paul Qui & Jorge Hernandez - Filipino Fruit Stand (grilled and glazed tropical fruit, fermented shrimp toffee, shaved ice, shiso) It had mango so I couldn't try it. Fiance said it was aight.
Farmhouse Delivery - Watermelon Radishes (topped with feta, yogurt, pickled shallots, mint). Very refreshing. And the watermelon radish is so beautiful
Finn & Porter - Braised Lamb Shank (breaded and fried, served on a spring pea puree). I don't like lamb but I tried it anyways. There was no gamey-ness! It was a nice little bite, and I loved the presentation!
Celtic Seafare - Smoked Salmon (on rye with dill, and chive butter). Usually not a fan of smoked salmon. This was buttery and delicious.
Walton's Fancy & Staple - Strawberry Goat Cheese Macarons. Chocolate Cream Puffs. The macarons surprisingly did not taste like goat cheese, which was a relief. haha. Usually not a fan. The cream puffs suffered from the heat and were too dry.
Daily Greens - I've realized I do not like to drink my veggies. haha. Guess I can't jump on that juicing bandwagon... Haven't had a "green" drink that I've liked yet. My fiance, on the other hand, loves them.
Fork & Vine - Scallop Ceviche (with fire roasted scallops, elote-style corn, tortilla chip, and cilantro). One of the best bites by far on Saturday. Full of plump scallops and the flavors and textures were amazing. We kept going back for more. And towards the end of the day, they kept filling those cups fuller and fuller. haha. I think we got 5-6 samples there. That alone maybe covered part of the cost of our tickets. :P
Jacoby's Mercantile - House Pork Sausage (topped with celery marmalade and cornbread crumble). This was my favorite of the day. The pork was so tender and balanced so well by the mini salad on top. The addition of the cornbread crumble was pretty genius. They ran out before the day was over.
Olive & June - White Chocolate Gazpacho (with almond milk and almond crumbles). Some sort of sausage...
Barritt's Ginger Beer. This was a savior during the 90+ degrees that day. Ginger beer on ice, so refreshing. We definitely were not drinking enough liquids. Not as good as Maine Root, but was just what we needed that day.
St. Philip - Carrots (glazed with miso, beef fat, and topped with spices). Carrots... my most hated vegetable.. this was not appealing to me whatsoever, but my fiance loves them. He said it was amazing! Didn't taste like carrots at all. I do have to say it was one of the more interesting looking dishes of the day.
Cafe Mueller - Pork Ribs with Purple Cabbage Slaw. Ribs were good, slaw was too vinegary.
Stiles Switch BBQ - prime rib, brisket, turkey, jalapeno cheddar sausage, corn pudding. They gave so much food. Every tray they passed out had a piece of everything. The winners... the brisket which is literally fork tender and the corn pudding. Everything else was good too. The sausage was actually spicy! A little salty though.
Frank Hot Dogs - Kangaroo and Pork Sausage (topped with goat Gouda and jalapeno-peach chutney). Spicy!! Yum! Creole Gator (alligator sausage topped with slaw and creole remoulade)
Lonesome Dove - Chef Tim Love. Lamb Lollipops. One of the most popular dishes of the day. The line was always super long. I heard it's pretty amazing.
Hernan - Mole Poblano (with pineapple and jicama). I love mole. I've had better.
Barilla - Mac n Cheese. I love Barilla... I buy them from the store all the time. It was cooked perfectly al dente. And the spoon/fork/knife tool was so cool!
There were definitely no shortage of Desserts! Quite a few ice cream/gelato vendors which is perfect for the hot day.
Lick Ice Cream - Lemon Lavender Ice cream (with strawberry sauce). My fiance loved this... kept going back for more. Unfortunately I'm allergic to lavender so I have to take his word. I have been to Lick though. Pretty yummy!
Dolce Neve - Organic Pistachio Gelato. And Chamomile Infusion with Pistachio Crumble Gelato. Never heard of this place, but it's totally on my radar now. The pistachio gelato is one of the best I've ever had. Their other flavors were also delicious.
Baked by Amy's - Macarons (Mexican Vanilla (pink), Lemon Basil (blue), Salted Caramel (brown). Another highlight of the day. Freaking best macarons I've ever had. No joke. And I've been to Paris. They are bigger and totally comparable in texture to LaDuree. My fiance was addicted. I think he went back to them the most. I think about 7 or 8 times... hahaha. I told them they were the best and they gave me 2 coupons for free pastries! I will post those pictures later! :)
SocialIce - Wine Infused Ice Pops - Strawberry Daiquiri, Mimosa Orange. Refreshing but tasted watered down.
Here are some other items where I either don't know the description of the dish and/or the vendor:
Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce. It was super hot that day and I don't think the spring rolls held up well. It was quite mushy. But I did like the peanut sauce.
Noble Sandwich Co.
Hendricks - Cocktails. This is my favorite gin of all time. Their setup was really cool too.
Pig Ear Slider. My fiance grabbed this while I was talking to some friends, then we kind of lost each other for a sec and he ate it before I could try. He said the pig ear was too chewy.
Shrimp & Guac on a Cracker
Black Rice Risotto (with shrimp and jalapeno)
Pure Leaf - cocktail. Their teas are awesome. And they had the best tent/display at the festival.
The most exciting part of Saturday was the showdown between Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods) and Graham Elliot (Master Chef) for their "Mystery Challenge". They showed up as a WWE Wrestler (Elliot - Hulk Hogan) and a Lucha Libre Wrestler (Zimmern) and had a cook off.
It was mostly a show but they still each produced a dish at the end of the short 30 minutes. There was a lot of heckling, food throwing, singing, and dancing. haha. At one point, they even flung a whole eel over the shoulder of an audience member. :P Ew. hahaha.
The entire thing was nothing short of EPIC! Check out my CHOMP! Facebook page to see some video clips.
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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