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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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Recently I got a recommendation for a crepe place in Frisco. I haven't gone to the Frisco area for a while now and I don't really know what new places popped up. I happened to schedule a dinner last Friday night with 2 of my friends so I suggested we go try Chef in Blue.
Chef in Blue
4710 Preston Road, Suite 312
Frisco, TX 75034
(469) 252-0486
http://chefinblue.com/
Price: $
It's located in a strip mall. Just look for Cedars Woodfire Grill when turning in. It's a small cafe type restaurant. Not too fancy on the decor but I did like all the large pictures of their food. Everything looked delicious. I was the first to arrive so I was looking over the menu. The guy at the register was very friendly and made some suggestions and answered my questions. I was told that the had a pumpkin crepe that wasn't on the menu so I asked him about it. It sounds like it's a new addition and they might put it on the menu soon? As you know, I'm obsessed with pumpkin so I already decided that was going to be my dessert. :P
Everything looked good on the menu. It was very hard to make a decision... We all got different things. Yay! More stuff for me to try. haha.
Specialty Crepes:
Latina (baked chicken, ham, spinach, pineapples, mozzarella, honey Dijon dressing) $8.75~ Their crepes are huge!! Completely stuffed with fresh ingredients. My friends really liked this one. It was good, but I didn't care for the honey dijon dressing. I liked the other crepe better.
Savory Crepes:
Spinach, Potatoes, Mushroom, and Cheese Crepe (with choice of cheese) $6.80~ Plus Ham +$1.90~ My other friend ordered this. He ended up liking the Latina better. I liked this one better... especially the cubes of potatoes in there. It's like a breakfast crepe almost. Again, stuffed to the brim. My friend finished it, but he was pretty full after.
Chef Combos:
Sandwich or Panini/Salad Combo (1/2 sandwich or panini with a small garden salad) $5.75~ I got the Roast Beef Chimichurri Panini (choice of white or multigrain ciabata with Swiss cheese, roasted beef, chimichurri sauce, fresh tomato and mayonnaise).
I chose the multigrain and also added spinach in there. I knew I was getting dessert so I wanted to keep it light. It was just the right amount. I loved the panini. The multigrain had extra texture from the grains/seeds in the bread. It was pressed nicely where the outside had a crunch. The ingredients were all fresh. I didn't really taste the chimichurri, which was my main reason for getting this, but it didn't even matter. It was delicious. I was actually getting full after this.
We got 2 Dessert Crepes between the 3 of us:
Pumpkin Pie Crepe (pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon, whipped cream, topped with ice cream) $7.75~
This was yummy. And quite big as well. Not as big as the savory crepes though. The first few bites along the edges I didn't get much of the pumpkin, but the middle was filled with it. The pumpkin had so much flavor. The added cinnamon and ice cream was the perfect pairing. One of my friends didn't care for pumpkin so he didn't really have any of this. My other friend was too full, so I think I ate about 3/4ths of this myself. XP AND I ate part of theirs!
Apple Cinnamon (brown sugar, fresh apples, caramel,topped with whipped cream) $7.75~ Plus ice cream +$1~ This was pretty good. The apples were cooked down a little so they're softer to eat with the crepe which was good. I liked my pumpkin one better but both were good.
We were all so stuffed after. It's a lot of food! And all so yummy. The quality of the ingredients were all nice and fresh. It wasn't really heavy either. We just overstuffed ourselves. haha. The service was really great too. You order at the counter and they bring it out to you, but during the course of our meal, they came out to check on us, ask how the food is, etc. I will definitely be back in the future. Go check them out! Help them stay in business!! And thanks to my friend for the recommendation! :)
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Man... I've been busy lately. It's been a while since I've posted something. But that doesn't mean I haven't been eating! :P A few weeks ago I met up with some friends for dinner. They live in Flower Mound and I'm in Plano so we decided to meet in Lewisville. I came across a little cafe in downtown Lewisville that seemed pretty good.
Square One Cafe
136 W. Main St
Lewisville, Texas 75057
(972) 221-8200
http://squareonecafe.com/
Price: $
I've never been to downtown Lewisville. I might wanna check it out when it's bright out. By the time I arrived it was already dark. The cafe was pretty much empty when we got there. There was only 1 other table and they left soon after I got there. We ordered at the counter and they brought the food to our table.
The lady at the register turned out to be one of the owners. She was very nice. I took a look at the menu and wanted to try many things...
I ended up choosing a bunch of sides to make a meal since I had been doing a low gluten/sugar thing that week.
Dill Bacon Potato Salad $1.85~ (bottom) This was pretty good. A bit too much sauce though and the potato chunks should be bigger. Other than that I enjoyed it.
Squash Medley with Mushrooms $1.85~
(top left) My friend and I really liked this. It was just sauteed on the flat top
with herbs and stuff. But it had lots of flavor and the veggies were
cooked well.
Tarragon Chicken Salad
$2.31~ (top right) I asked to try a sample before getting this. They make all their
food in house. The chicken was very moist and tender and I love it when
people put tarragon in chicken salad. It had large chunks of grapes,
chicken, celery and cucumber I believe. I don't like celery but I was
able to pick most of that out. I liked the addition of cucumber. I
usually sub the celery for cucumber when making chicken salad at home.
:) The sides were a good size for the price and filled me up.
One friend ordered the Sriracha Honey Chicken (grilled chicken, sriracha honey mayo, smoked Gouda, Applewood smoked bacon, spinach, avocado) $7.16~ The
panini was really good. I had a small bite. It had lots of flavor and I
definitely got the hint of sriracha. The bread was pressed and crisped
nicely. Oh man... it was good to eat some bread after a week of not
having any. hahaha.
She also got a Tomato Basil Soup (bowl) $4.75~ The soup was not bad. It reminded me a bit like spaghetti sauce though. haha. I tend to prefer chowders personally.
My other friend got the Square One Burger (1/2 pound all natural Kobe burger, Vermont cheddar, romaine, tomatoes, red onions, spiced mustard) $8.31~ The burger was pretty hefty. The beef patty had tons of flavor and was really juicy. I also really liked the bread. It held up the patty juices well.
They also got a side of the Hand Tossed Mac and Cheese $1.85~ Pretty simple with penne pasta in melted cheese but it was good. A good little side.
It's a pretty chill cafe with some yummy food. Good for a lazy afternoon with friends or families. They closed by 8pm but the owner told us we can take all the time we needed since she was in no hurry to leave. That was nice of her. She later came over to pick up the dishes and chatted with us for a bit. Apparently they are going to open a small market across the street in the coming months. They'll offer different craft beers as well as a kitchen set up where they'll do cooking demos and classes. That sounds so much fun! And they hope to have locally sourced eggs and milk and other stuff too. I look forward to that. Definitely need to go check it out once that opens. :)
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I went back to Battuto last weekend with
another friend. She said it was on her list to
try so I said I'd totally join her!
We went on a Friday night and this time the
place was packed! It's good to see that
business is going well. :) We were seated
immediately and our waiter was very welcoming
when he greeted us.
Battuto Italian Kitchen
18101 Preston Rd
Dallas, TX 75252
(972) 930-0558
http://www.battuto.com
Price: $$
I already knew what I wanted going in. I
wanted to try their Chilled Pea Soup. Now, I'm
normally not a cold soup person, but it's hot
and I recently watched an episode of Master
Chef where Graham Elliot made the most
beautiful pea soup. haha. So it's been on my
mind ever since. :P
I chose the pea soup and also the Caesar Salad
$6~ I was then informed by our waiter that the
pea soup was not available that night.
Boooo... I'm so sad. :( So I asked him if I
could do the Half Sandwich and Soup $13~ but
sub the soup for the Caesar. He had to check
with the kitchen and they said yes. I chose
half of the Veggie Panini (roasted zucchini,
squash and red peppers with fontina and pesto
on grilled Tuscan bread).
For a half sandwich
I thought the portion size was very good. It
was nicely pressed with the ridges on top and
golden. I loved it. The flavors of all the
veggies with the fontina were surprisingly
bold. I did not miss not having meat! The
bread was great too. I believe they salted the bread which made a huge
difference. Very tasty. I'd order it again.
The waiter told me that the Caesar dressing
was made from scratch, with the egg yolk and
anchovies and all that. Awesome. Fresh Caesar
dressing is nothing like the stuff from the
bottle. Even though I like both. hehe. I asked
for it to be lightly dressed but it was still
a bit too much for me. I found it too salty.
But other than that the veggies were fresh. It
was a big portion too.
My friend got the Spaghetti and Meatballs
(house blend of beef and veal meatballs on
spaghetti) $12~
The spaghetti came with 4
pretty large meatballs. The meatball flavors
were good, not too many fillers so they were
very hearty. The pasta was cooked great. Al
dente! Had great texture. And the marinara
wasn't too sour, which I hate in some place.
Oh.. and it wasn't too saucy, which I like. I
prefer less sauce because I like the flavors
of the pasta. :)
It was a good meal. My friend seemed to enjoy
it. Our waiter was nice but had to check on
everything when I'd ask him a question...
Maybe he's fairly new? Dunno. At least he was
friendly and pretty attentive. Also, I saw
Gene Gates, the owner, and he remembered me!
:) We chatted for a little bit. Super nice
guy! I hope business continues to grow for
them. And I still need to go back and try the
pea soup! hahaha.
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My friend that lives in NYC was the one that told me about Eataly. We went there twice during the course of our trip. First time was just to check it out and walk around and we went back on our last day for some lunch and souvenirs! I don't know HOW I didn't know about this place!!
Eataly
200 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10010
(212) 229-2560
http://eatalyny.com/
(Iron) Chef Mario Batali is the partner and co-owner. It's basically an Italian marketplace with restaurants all around. Like a mini-indoor Little Italy! They've brought together some of the best Italian producers from every region and some of the best chefs. Not only do they import great products but also have local ingredients, such as using New York flour for the breads, local dairy for the gelato and American beef and seafood.
It's such a fabulous place! Super packed with people so it was a little hard to navigate. But on Sunday when we went back, there were lots of samples! I had some of the best butter and ricotta I've tasted!
There are also several "restaurants" where you can sit and dine (with waiter service) or community seating where you can find your own seats. They have a pasta area, seafood, meat, deli, gelato, coffee... you name it. In the center is La Piazza where you see people standing around with meat and cheese plates while drinking wine. Very cool!!
There was a wait at the pasta restaurant so we decided to just pick up some sandwiches and find our own seats.
I Panini - Price: $
I got a Speck & Taleggio (smoked prosciutto with a tangy cow's milk cheese, served hot) $8.80~
It was pressed and warm and the cheese was nice and melty. The panini was super simple. Just meat and cheese and bread. But that's how they do it in Europe right? Simple ingredients that speak for themselves. I wished there was some arugula or greens in there though. Just personal preference.
My friend got the Porschetta (boneless whole roasted pork seasoned with garlic and rosemary, topped with giadiniera - spicy pickled vegetables; served cold) $6.20~
It reminded me of an Italian Banh Mi. haha. The ingredients were all really fresh. But I couldn't really taste much of the giadiniera...I wish they had put more of it. It was a good and fairly light lunch and just to be in that environment was very cool. I wonder if Italy is like this?
I love gelato. So while my friends got some coffee, I got me some gelato! :)
Gelateria - Price: $
Waffle Cone with Pistachio Gelato and Stracciatella & Banana Sorbetto $4.90~
The pistachio was their best seller and I know why! It was amazing. The best pistachio gelato I've ever had. Normally I don't get pistachio because I find the flavors very bland but this was not the case. It was bold and slightly smokey and FULL of pistachio flavor. The banana sorbet with chocolate chips was awesome as well. Both had great texture and full flavors. And for a giant 2 scoops and waffle cone it was only $4.90? It's cheaper than Paciugo back home!!
My bf said the Cappuccino he got was really delicious. And the foam art was perfect even the Barista took a picture of it before he served it to us! haha.
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