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I recently got invited to check out Wine & Magic with magician Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery. I love magic shows! However, I don't drink wine, so I made sure to bring a friend who did. :P This is my first time at the winery, cuz duh, I don't drink. It's a cute little place in South Side on Lamar. They have a little stage set up in the back for the show.
A little bit about Trigg Watson. I had never heard of him but he's been on several TV shows such as Penn & Teller's Fool Us, and CW's Masters of Illusion. He was also really funny! I liked that. You can find more info on Trigg and the Wine & Magic show here. The shows occur one weekend a month. The next show dates are 9/28, 9/29, and 10/20.
Checkered Past Winery
1409 S. Lamar St. #008
Dallas, TX 75215
(214) 242-0411
www.checkeredpastwinery.com
www.wineandmagicdallas.com
Price: $$+
Since I'm a food blogger... I'll be focusing on the food. I don't want to give away any parts of the show anyways... You'll have to see it to believe it yourselves!
We arrived a little early before seating. So my friend, serious about repping for the wine drinkers, hehe, starts off with a glass of Rose (Ch Vingtineres, Provence, FR) $11~ a glass. She enjoyed it, and later moved on to try several other different wines. The Malbec from Checkered Past (locally Dallas) was highly recommended by 2 other friends of mine who were also in attendance.
I was starving! And everything sounded good. So we started with the Walnut & Cheddar Spread (served with seasoned toasted flatbread wedges and pretzel bread) $8~
OMG. The breads here are spectacular. I don't know how they make the dough, but everything we had that night with dough was amazing. The texture was perfect! I loved the sliced pretzel bread too. All the slices were toasted, slightly crispy on the edges and warm! The dip was rich and creamy, and paired really well with the breads.
All 3 of my friends raved about this dish. Smoked Salmon & Herb Cream Cheese Bruschetta (smoked salmon served on seasoned toasted focaccia with cheese spread, capers) $13~
I'm not a fan of smoked salmon but I said I would try it if they ordered it. It's good! I wouldn't order it for myself just cuz of my preferences but the salmon was tender and overall a very good bite. Plus it looks quite sophisticated doesn't it? If you like smoked salmon, you'll love this.
Cajun Pizza (crawfish, cajun spices, fresh tarragon, fresh mozzarella) $13~
Available on Fridays only. I was eyeing this one. Sounded so interesting! And this turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. Again... perfect texture on the flatbread. The crawfish were nice and plump. Loved it all! I highly recommend this if you go on a Friday!
White Pizza (garlic, oregano, fresh mozzarella) $10~
We added Duck Salami to it. Guess it's pizza night! Cuz that's what we kept ordering. We added meat to this cuz... why not? Meats are gooood. I wished there was more meat on the pizza. It was good... but I wasn't able to tell that it was specifically duck... Plus I was still on a high with that crawfish pizza. Haha.
Rudi's Double Meat (hot capicola, pork salami, marinated tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, pesto) $13~
Now if you like meats, this is for you! I was full by now so I wasn't blown away, but it's a good pizza. Bold flavors and I loved the pops of tomato as you bite into it. And of course... the bread texture was ON POINT! We had SO much carbs that night. Haha.
I was full. But desserts are a must!
It happened to be National S'mores Day when we went, so natually we had to get the S'mores Pizza - $12~ for a whole.
This thing was GOOEY AF! And SO rich! One slice was plenty for me. So if you have less than 4 people, I'd say the half order is enough. Chocolate sauce, melty sticky marshmallow.. what's not to like?
We also got the NY Style Cheesecake (with choice of topping) $8~ We got the cherry preserves on top. It's a good cheesecake. I normally don't prefer NY style cheesecakes because I find them wayyy too dense, but this one wasn't. It was a good ending to a good meal.
Now a little bit about the show... I won't give any spoilers. But WOW! We were all blown away. It was so so good. I don't think I've ever seen a magic show up close (we were sitting in the 2nd row), plus he had a GoPro and a TV to projecting certain things. I have seen plenty of magic shows on TV though. But still... it was incredible. We could guess and speculate all we want, but NO idea on how the tricks were done. And since I can't give anything away... "OMG, the thing with the thing, and then he did that thing?!?! What?!?!" hahaha. :P And Trigg was hilarious! We laughed a lot! He had a lot of interaction with the audience... asked several people to go on stage to help with certain tricks. We were certain these some of these people were planted, until... MY friend was picked for the last trick! How fun!
It was such a wonderful time. I HIGHLY recommend checking out this show... what a unique thing to do! And I would go again in a heartbeat!
**The show is $20 a person and food/beverage purchases are not included in ticket price. There are only 45 tickets per show.. it's a really intimate setting. Children over 12 years old are permitted but have to have be accompanied by an adult. There are 2 showings each night: 7PM and 9:30PM.**
Thank you SO MUCH to Checkered Past Winery for hosting us. Sandro, the owner, was the nicest man. He checked on us a lot and made sure we were having the greatest time. And shoutout to our waitress, Natalie, you're awesome! Thanks for being patient with me while I sample a bunch of wines to see if I find one I might like. hehe. And thanks to Trigg. It was such a mind blowing experience. I'm not even going to try and figure out how he did those tricks. I'll just enjoy it and marvel at the wonder.
*The whole experience was comped but all opinions are my own. Now go buy a ticket NOW!!*
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Sixty Vines... quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Plano. It's just such a beautiful space, and of course the food is fantastic. I was invited to come check them out for lunch and I was ecstatic! Luckily I had a doctor's appointment in Plano in the morning so I took half a day off work and had a long lunch with a friend.
Sixty Vines
3701 Dallas Pkwy.
Plano, TX 75093
(469) 620-8463
https://sixtyvines.com
Price (for lunch): $$
Did I mention I love the decor and space? We were initially seated by the kitchen which was an open space so you can see them work. While I love that, it was a little dim. So we moved to their covered patio seating. The weather was cool and kind of overcast, perfect for taking photos!
Our waitress was Kirsten. She had only been working there for a few months but was extremely knowlegeable of the menu and their VERY extensive wine menu. The name IS Sixty Vines... meaning they have 60 wines on tap. Yes. ON TAP. And tons more by the bottle. So naturally they feature a lot of drink specials. :)
Bubble Monday - Half Off all bubbly
Rose All Day Tuesday - Half off all sparkling and still Rose
Wino Wednesday - Half off all premium and super premium wines
They also have an ipad for all the wine options which is really helpful if you want more information on certain wines, which dishes on their menu pairs best with which wine, and flights for those who want to try multiple types. You can probably spend a whole day going through and reading their selections.
Kirsten told us they also have a Frose (frozen rose with a splash of Rosa Regale). I don't really drink, but I do love sweet wines like moscato... and Rosa Regale is one of my favs. So I got the frose to try, plus it's really pretty.
My friend ordered the Rosa Regale per Kirsten's recommendations (and mine. hehe). She loved it. Had a 2nd one! :P
We started with the Garden Vegetables (fresh chilled vegetables, pears, lettuces, green goddess dressing) $11~
The veggies change depending on the season. I knew we were going to order a bunch of carbs for the main dishes so this is my attempt to be a little healthier. ha! It IS super healthy. The bowl was so colorful and pretty. You can just FEEL the freshness by looking at it. Other than the celery, I loved all the different veggie selections. My favorites if I had to choose... the tomatoes and asparagus. But they were all good. And that green goddess dressing was absolutely necessary!
For the entrees we got several different things to share. And I wanted to get things that I haven't tried before.
Tonnarelli (coconut and cilantro infused noodle, jumbo gulf shrimp, spinach, basil, cracked black pepper, pecorino romano) Full Order $15~ You can also get half order for $8.
I freaking love pasta... I will always choose pasta over pizza. The coconut and cilantro infused noodle sounds so interesting. However, neither of us could taste those flavors. The shrimp, while super plump, overpowered the entire dish imo. I did like the hints of basil throughout. Their pastas are made fresh daily, so our pasta was literally made like 2 hours before we got there. So fresh!
Weekly Pizza: Autumn Flatbread (acorn squash and sage infused white sauce, provolone, halloumi cheese, butternut squash, herb roasted turkey, cranberry, arugula, freshly grated Pecorino Romano)
When Kirsten started describing this to us... we kept nodding our heads cuz we knew we had to get this. I love anything with butternut squash. This is fall in pizza form. The acorn squash and butternut squash made it sweet and savory. The dough had a nice chewy texture. I loved the arugula on top to add a little peppery-ness. Our only complaint was it was a little dry. A drizzle or dipping of sauce of some kind would be perfect.
Short Rib Sourdough Melt (red wine braised short rib, basil pesto aioli, tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic, sourdough, duck fat lemon potatoes) $15~
Y'all. This dish stole the show! Not only did it look and smell amazing. It tasted even better. I'm not even a sourdough fan. But the bread was nice and crispy. The short rib was tender. The aioli and cheese and balsamic added so much flavor. And my friend extra loved it cuz it was saucy. Definitely an extra napkin sandwich if you are going to pick it up. hehe. Huge portion too. We each ate half and it filled us up! The duck fat potatoes were great too.. but we had too much food to pay that much attention. haha. Highly recommend this!!
Deviled Affogato (devil's food cake, salted caramel ice cream, coffee caramel, nitro cold brew coffee shot) $7~
We got a dessert to share. I haven't had their desserts yet and this sounded so good. I recently started loving affogato. I don't really like coffee so it wasn't something I normally order, but since Starbucks Reserve in Legacy West, I've discovered that I LOVE affogatos. Mixing ice cream sure makes the coffee better! haha. This also is on a chocolate cake. It was wonderful. The coffee, caramel and ice cream gets soaked up into the cake. YUM!
It was a fabulous lunch. I got to catch up with my friend, have delicious food, and enjoy the nice fall weather. The food was great, just as I expected. And Kirsten was a fantastic waitress. We were given plenty of attention, she was extremely knowlegeable, and super nice. Also, at some point during the meal, everyone came to greet us, the manager, the chef, etc. We definitely felt very special. So get over there if you haven't yet. And keep in mind that Monday - Wednesday are great for drink specials! Ohhhh... and they told us that they are getting ready to roll out some new lunch menu items too. So keep an eye out for that!
Thank you so much, Sixty Vines, for having us. We will definitely be back soon! :)
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
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There's only one location of Your Pie in DFW right now and it's located in Frisco. It's a really long way from Rockwall but I'm so glad I decided to go to their media dinner a couple weeks ago. The concept is like a Chipotle but for pizza... you basically build your own. They also have Signature pizzas if you don't want to byo. We were there celebrating the first day of summer as well as the limited release of their Peach Prosciutto Pie.
Your Pie - Frisco
5110 Eldorado Pkwy.
Frisco, TX 75033
(469) 664-0768
https://yourpie.com/stores/el-dorado/
Price: $
Your Pie first started in Georgia in 2008. In 2016, they started expanding out of the Southeast. They have over 50+ locations across the US now. Quite impressive! I didn't have much expectations going in, to be honest. We have plenty of build-your-own pizza concepts in Dallas already and they're all pretty decent. But I was in for a very pleasant surprise!
When we arrived, we were warmly greeted. The PR ladies did a fabulous job at this event. They socialized, helped serve when needed, and came by to check on us frequently. :) Since it was a media event, we asked what we were supposed to do. They said just find a seat and they'll be bringing out some of the featured pizza.
Their pizzas are 10 inches... perfectly individual sized. And all $7.99~
Peach Prosciutto Pie (olive oil, mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan, fresh peaches, prosciutto, chopped basil, honey balsamic glaze) Seasonal. Back for a LIMITED TIME.
I really didn't know what to expect from this pizza. It's definitely the first time I'm going to try a pizza with peaches on it. Y'all... it rocked my world. First of all, the pizza dough/crust is one of the best I've ever had. Ever. I was told that it's the owner's recipe. Well done, sir, cuz it's fantastic! The crust is just the right thickness and the texture was perfection. It had just the right amount of chewiness and the edges were crisped just enough. They cook all their pizzas in a brick oven, like they do in Italy. Plus the peach and prosciutto combo is kind of a popular pairing now. The peaches were juicy and not overly sweet. But the sweetness paired with the light ricotta cheese and salty prosciutto was just the perfect flavor. It was extremely popular with the media crowd that night. I ate a whole one by myself. And even when cold... it's still good! I never really eat cold pizza. So you better get your butt over there soon since this is limited time!!!
The Nat (basil pesto, mozzarella, feta, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, chicken).
We wanted to try another pizza so we ordered this... also one of their signature pizzas. It was good, but after the Peach Prosciutto, it wasn't as interesting. haha. I think the main issue is that this pizza didn't have ricotta. The ricotta in the pizza really adds a light creaminess to everything. I think that should be a standard now. haha. But the chicken was super tender. And honestly, it was a great pizza, just overshadowed by the peach prosciutto perfection.
Southern Heat (buffalo sauce, mozzarella, red onions, jalapenos, chicken; served with ranch or blue cheese dressing).
I got to try a slice of this. It was good that they didn't bring me a whole pie because I would've devoured it and hated myself. haha. This was sooooo good! It really does have some heat to it, so only get it if you can stand spicy. There's actual heaps of chopped jalapenos throughout the top. A friend ordered one and added bacon on top. Genius!!! I highly recommend this one as well.
Well... I pretty much ate TWO whole pizzas by myself that night. Great self control, amiright? :P But serious, that dough... it's just that good. I couldn't stop.
But then... we had to have dessert!! They offer several flavors of gelato. The flavors change often and they also feature seasonal flavors from time to time.
Gelato:
1 scoop $1.99~
2 scoops $2.99~
3 scoops $3.99~
After trying EVERY SINGLE flavor. I settled on the Strawberry Balsamic which is limited edition too. It was so good. You can see there are actual chunks of strawberries throughout. It wasn't overly sweet or heavy, so I didn't feel more guilty about more eating. haha.
What a fantastic dinner. I was beyond impressed with the quality of food. That dough.... OMG. I can still remember the texture of it while chewing. Droolingggggg! I really hope business continues to boom for them. And pretty please open up a few more locations in Dallas (ahem*Rockwall*ahem). That would be great, thanks. :P
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
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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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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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