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I'm sooooo very excited that North Italia at Legacy West Plano is officially opening tomorrow!!! Tuesday 6/27. Have you made your reservation yet?!
I went to the Austin location about 2 years ago and absolutely loved it. From the decor to the food. It was very exciting to have North come to Dallas. :) I got a sneak peek last Thursday with a friend of mine. We were both basically squealing with excitement. hehe.
North Italia - Legacy West
7501 Windrose Ave. Suite D190
Plano, TX 75024
(214) 291-6996
www.northitaliarestaurant.com/nso/plano-tx
Price: $$$$
We arrived at 6:15PM for dinner. The place was already packed with people. We were seated immediately. I love the open space... high ceilings and wood decor. I especially love their large glass lamps. We sat in one of the booths. We were given menus and were warmly welcomed for like the third time and ready to enjoy our evening. Our waitress, Kariel, greeted us and asked for our drink orders. We asked her for some suggestions and she was very helpful. This is the first of their friends and family nights so the staff is still in training.
Neither of us really drank so my friend got the Strawberry Spice Mule (dripping springs vodka, clove spiced gran gala, lime, smashed strawberry) $11~
It was recommended as one of the sweeter options. I just took a sip cuz that's enough for me. haha. The drink is very pretty. I loved the actual muddled strawberry throughout the drink. It's very refreshing too. My friend really enjoyed it.
For our appetizer, we chose the Burrata (heirloom tomato, basil, mint, cucumber, crouton, saba) $12~
We had several items that we wanted to try... so I guess we'll be going back. haha. The burrata was gorgeous! I loved the presentation... rustic and colorful. The burrata was to die for. So incredibly creamy yet light. The tomatoes were fresh and paired beautifully. I also loved the freshness of the mint and basil. The saba (I think it's kind of a balsamic reduction/vinaigrette) was delicious. They didn't overdress it. My friend wanted more saba, but I thought it was just right.
During the course of our meal, we were greeted by several people. Bianka from Giant Noise PR came over to say Hi. So did Meredith, the general manager, and England, the manager. They were all SUPER nice and we got to chat with each of them for a while. They really took the time to make sure we were enjoying ourselves throughout the night and made us feel welcomed. :)
For the entrees, they mixed up my order and served me the Red Wine Glazed Short Rib (heirloom carrot, swiss chard, creamy mascarpone polenta) $26~
I had ordered the short rib pasta. So they quickly fixed the issue and gave us the Short Rib entree as well! Well, yes please! I never say no to extra food! :P The short rib doesn't really photograph well but I assure you it smelled divine! That mascarpone polenta was so luscious. I can eat that by itself. The short rib was tender and had great flavor. I also like that there were actual green veggies (swiss chard) in the dish. I always prefer to have some sort of green vegetables at every meal.
Short Rib Radiatori (parmesan cream, fresh horseradish, wilted arugula, herbed breadcrumb) $20~
My actual order. Amazing. It was my favorite entree of the night. I love interesting pasta shapes. The Radiatori was perfect in collecting all the cream sauce in all its nooks and crannies. And the texture on the pasta was perfect. The short rib in the pasta was even more tender than the entree I think. The addition of the horseradish was a nice touch. It brightened up the cream sauce so it wasn't too heavy. Totally recommend this!
My friend chose the Filet of Beef (crispy potato, roasted mushroom, cipollini onion, marsala) $38~
She got it medium well... booo. I think all steaks should be med rare. hehe. But you know what... even at med well, the steak was really tender and the flavor of the meat really shined. The marsala sauce paired beautifully with the beef, mushrooms, and onions. And those crispy smashed potatoes? They almost out shined the steak. Another great choice.
Diver Scallops (sweet corn risotto, asparagus, crispy shallot, pancetta gremolata) $25~
We also really wanted to try the scallops so we talked them into giving us another entree. :P (Although I have to say, we ordered this 3rd dish before we got the short rib... too much food you think? Nahhh. ha.) Beautiful vibrant colors on this dish. And you get FOUR plump scallops instead of the typical 3. We both liked it. The scallops were cooked wonderfully. But I have 2 complaints on this dish. 1) It needed a bit more acid... a squeeze of lemon maybe? or some lemon juice inside the sweet corn sauce. And 2) more sear on the scallops so the tops are crispier. Other than that, it was still a yummy dish.
We each got a box for our leftovers, because we need to save room for dessert! Duh!
Dirty Almond Chai (two shots espresso, almond milk, chai tea; shaken and served cold) $5~ This drink sounded really interesting. I don't really drink coffee but I wanted to give it a try. My friend can't handle the caffeine that late in the day so she just got a "clean" Almond Chai (without the 2 shots of espresso). Hers was delicious. Mine... wasn't sweet enough for me since I'm not a coffee drinker. But I do love that it's served cold. It almost tastes like a cold brew (according to my friend anyways).
We couldn't decide so we got 2 desserts. Cuz why not? :D
Hazelnut Torta (nutella cream, hazelnut toffee, salted caramel gelato) $8~
I can't say I've seen tortas served in this shape... it made me think of a molten chocolate cake. But it wasn't molten inside of course. Torta basically means a dense and chocolatey rich cake made with a few simple ingredients. The torta wasn't super dense which I would've been fine with either way. The salted caramel gelato was great on top. The toffee added a nice crunch. This'll definitely satisfy your sweet tooth.
Strawberry Mascarpone Tart (lemon crema, basil, almond crust) $7~
This could not be more different than the torta. This was light and fresh. The tart itself reminded me of a shortbread and wasn't overly sweet. The mascarpone added the richness but wasn't heavy. And the basil was the most genius touch. We both agreed that without the pop of basil, this dessert would be kind of generic. The brightness of the basil definitely elevated the dish. Yum!
If you can't tell... we loved it. We both had pretty high expectations going in and they definitely didn't disappoint. The food was fantastic, but I really enjoyed meeting all the people in the restaurant. We lingered a little after dinner and chatted with England and Kariel. They're both so great! I hope they'll remember us the next time we go back. :)
They officially open to the public TOMORROW!! Tuesday 6/27!!
Thanks so much to North Italia for having us. Even though I live 50 minutes away, I hope to be back really soon. :)
*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*
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Last month, I had dinner with a friend. He was headed to Asia for several weeks so we met up before he left. We decided to try Dough, on Preston and Forest, since I would be in that area after work. I see this place all the time but had never been. I've heard good things about it though.
Dough Pizzeria Napoletana
11909 Preston Rd, Ste 1444
Dallas, TX 75230
(972) 788-4600
www.doughpizzeria.com
Price: $$-$$$
This place was more casual in decor than I expected. But I'm not sure why I always had the impression that it was fancier? haha. There wasn't too many people there on a Wednesday night, but it wasn't that empty either. They specialize in Neapolitan style pizza which is cooked at a very high temp for a very short period of time. The crust is usually pretty thin.
Sausage & Pistachio Pizza (fresh Panna, house-made sausage, bloomed onion, pistachios, Parmigiano Reggiano) $13~ To get some greens in the meal, we added fresh arugula on top.
Neither of us has had pistachio on a pizza before so it sounded really interesting. OMG. It's like the most awesome topping on pizza ever! (well not really... but it's pretty dang tasty. haha) The pistachios added a nuttiness that perfumed every bite. LOVED IT!! The sausage were in small pieces so they were crisped up like it was bacon. And the arugula on top was a nice touch... added some freshness and just the right amount of bitterness to balance out the cheese and meat. Normally I like thicker crusts on pizza since I like the doughiness. The crust on this was great. It wasn't super thin so it still had that chewiness. But the crust was thin enough so you don't feel as heavy eating all the carbs. We decided to only get 1 pizza and share since we wanted to get dessert. hehe. It was just the right amount. I'd totally get this pizza again. In fact, I wanna add pistachios to all my pizzas from now on. haha.
Pumpkin Polenta Cake (with torched marshmallow cream)
I don't remember how much this cake was, but it was totally worth it. Maybe $8? Super interesting and yummy. The texture was fantastic... you get the slight graininess from the polenta but it was still super moist. The outside had a really nice crisp crust. My friend and I both absolutely loved it. The marshmallow cream was not only a visually stunning pairing, but also tasted great. I think they normally offer a polenta cake, but the pumpkin addition might be seasonal. So better go check it out before the holiday season is over! I'll have to go again to try the regular polenta cake.
Really great meal. I'm glad we tried this place. And always a fun time catching up with friends. Dough is close to my work too... so maybe I'll take my co-workers there for lunch some time.
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My fiance and I went to Houston last week to spend Christmas with his family. The first night there we went to a restaurant called Just Dinner on Dunlavy. I found it through Yelp searches. It was a restored old home and the reviews were all very positive.
This house was built in 1928. It was transformed into this cozy restaurant and opened in 2007. They source from their organic garden and shop daily for the freshest ingredients.
Just Dinner on Dunlavy
1915 Dunlavy Street
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 807-0077
www.justdinnerhouston.com
Price: $$$$
It was a small house. Very cozy when we walked in. They had dim lighting, Christmas decorations up and felt like you were going to a friend's home almost. We were seated in the front room. Our table was covered in magazine clippings. I thought that was a unique way to decorate the table, and minimize clean up, AND use up old magazines. haha. Recycle! :)
We brought a bottle of wine with us since it's BYOB. They do charge a corkage fee of $10 for every 750ml. They immediately asked if we wanted an ice bucket for our wine. We asked them if they could put it in the fridge first and it was no problem at all. The waiter brought us some waters and a little bit of their Pesto Hummus (with multigrain chips). The chips were like the store bought multigrain chips. I laughed a little when I saw it, but I actually really like these chips. The pesto hummus was really tasty. I do wish we had pita bread or something instead.
Soup of the Day: Sweet Potato Soup $7~ My fiance ordered this. I wanted to try it. The soup was silky and yummy. There were chunks of sweet potato in the soup as well but I thought they were undercooked. Slightly crunchy still.
He also wanted to try the Foie Gras Creme Caramel (pickled seasonal fruit, warm house-made brioche) $20~
He's never had foie gras. I'm not a huge fan. I mean I'll eat it, but it usually tends to be too heavy. So I was thinking he wouldn't like it. However, this was more of a sweet preparation of foie gras and I've never had it like this before. It was made more like a thick flan and it was more sweet than savory. It was pretty amazing. They served it with thin slices of brioche. Normally I love brioche but this one was basically soaked in butter. Too heavy to eat with the creamy foie gras. I ended up just eating the foie gras on its own. But I did like the pairing with the pickled fruit...although they seemed more like butternut squash or something instead of fruit. The acid from the pickled fruits definitely help cut some of the heaviness of the dish. Not the typical prep of foie gras, but delicious. I guess he'll have to try foie gras again another time to get the savory aspect of it.
Ratatouille (pickled vegetables, Belgium endive spears) $11~
My fiance's sister ordered this as her main meal. It's listed as an appetizer. Again, a very different preparation than we expected. It was served as a mound with endives on the side. And it was served cold. We all expected to be a hot dish, since it is stewed vegetables...
Pasta of the Day: Spaghetti (with meatballs and sausage).
His father got the pasta of the day. It was a huge portion! The spaghetti was cooked well. I thought the marinara was a bit more sour than I would've liked but the meatballs were good. They have pine nuts mixed into them!
Braised Boneless Short Ribs (port wine cherry sauce, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables) $30~ My fiance ordered this. It was massive as well and the meat was very tender. He loved it.
Pan Seared Chicken Breast (wild mushroom pan sauce, blue cheese polenta, mixed vegetables) $24~
His mom wanted to try the blue cheese polenta so she order the chicken. Again, a sizable portion. She had some leftover chicken to take home. I tried a bite of the polenta. The blue cheese flavor was very mild, which is good. Sometimes blue cheese is quite overwhelming.
Stuffed Collard Rolls (quinoa, black rice, amaranth, roasted red pepper sauce) $20~
This sounded totally interesting so I ordered it. I like everything listed here. Two large rolls, it was very filling. I loved all the texture inside the collards. There was also hazelnuts (I'm pretty sure) inside... maybe a little too much. It added a nice crunch but a few bites had so many that's all I could taste. But overall, very good, and healthy! Did you know that amaranth is full of protein, iron, calcium, and triple the fiber of wheat? And it's gluten free. :) I need to find more of this.
At some point, we also got rolls. I don't think I noticed when it was served. haha. Too busy taking pictures of everything else!
Crispy Bacon Lardons Brussels Sprouts $7~ I also ordered the Brussels sprouts. Duh! If it's on the menu, I'm ordering it! It was yummy. Plus bacon, always a classic combination.
Everyone had a great time. His parents said they'd go back for sure. Really quaint setting. The service was warm and friendly and the food was good. Plus everything's seasonal so the menu changes every few months. :)
Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Week 1 of Dallas Restaurant Week is over... I went to Nonna last Friday with some friends for their last day of participation. I had never been there before, but it came highly recommended so I added it to my list of RW restaurants this year.
**Just some brief info on Restaurant Week for those who don't know.. Restaurants across Dallas participate every August and this spans from 1 week to some places that do it for 3 weeks. It is $35 a person for a 3 course meal. Although this year a lot of the restaurants upped their prices to $45 a person (not including tax and tip). And 20% of each check goes to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas and Lena Pope Home in Ft. Worth. It's my favorite "charity" event!! :D
Nonna
4115 Lomo Alto Dr.
Dallas, TX 75219
(214) 521-1800
http://www.nonnadallas.com/
Price (for RW): $35 a person
The restaurant is pretty small. It's quite unassuming on the outside. Inside was rustic with a hint of modern. Dark mood lighting, seems like a good romantic spot. A little too dark for my preference though.
Most of us arrived on time for our 8:30PM reservation. There were people at our table so we had to stand around and wait for a little bit. The bar area was pretty small so we couldn't really all fit. We had a party of 8, and they only had 1 large table to accommodate. The table was located by the bar and right by the front door. Luckily the weather was really nice Friday night so the opening and closing of the door didn't bother us at all. I'm thinking in the winter, it'll be freezing to sit in that area...
The hostess was pretty friendly. We were seated immediately after the other party had left. We also got menus and waters very quickly.We were all chattering about what we're going to get so I didn't really pay attention to what's going on around me. But so far, I'm excited about the dinner and things are going well!
We were given some Olives for the table.
And after our orders were taken we also got some Bread.
The bread was yummy. It was like warm fluffy pita bread. Slightly brushed with oil (I think) and topped with some (sea?) salt. I loveeed the texture of the bread. But we all wanted something to spread or dip it into. Like hummus or tapenade or something would be cool. They kept refilling the bread btw.. we didn't really even have to ask! It might get deadly! hahaha :P
I believe the entire restaurant had the RW menu. The regular menu wasn't available for this week.
First Course
Sformatino (of Italian creamed corn with smoked prosciutto and frico).
A few of us got this, including me. The creamed corn sold me on it. I wasn't super sure what a Sformatino was but oh well. Always up for trying something new. It was very interesting! In a good way. hehe. The best way I can describe it is like a corn mousse. And trust me, it tastes better than it sounds. haha. The corn mousse patty thing was seared on top (you can't see it under the frico), which I really liked. The frico was a tad salty but was nice against the light/fluffy and slightly sweet corn. The prosciutto added a level of smokiness to the dish. And then a genius idea!! I spread everything on the bread they gave us. Perfect!!! :P
Prosciutto Tasting (Americano and Italian speck with Texas fruits). A meat and fruit plate. I tried a piece of the speck by itself... very salty... My friend said the dish was good enough. haha.
Grilled Heart of Romaine (with roasted pancetta, avocado and parmigiano). Everyone else got this. The romaine had a nice char and smokiness to it. It's always good to have pancetta! Pretty good dish.
Second Course
Lasagnette (with ricotta stuffed squash blossoms and tomato sauce).
This was my choice... mostly because of the squash blossoms. You don't see that on the menus very often. It was a very flat lasagna, hence the "nette" in the name I guess. haha. But I liked the charred/crisp edges on the pasta. The squash blossoms were stuffed full with ricotta and I really liked that. But it's definitely missing meat. If they had put some meat sauce in there, it would've been a great entree. I liked it enough though.
Pappardelle (al ragu Bolognese). This was the better pasta and my friends agreed. The pasta was freshly made, and quite delicate. The bolognese had the right amount of meat and flavor. It was delicious.
Wood Oven Roasted Halibut (with tomato, olives, capers and heirloom sweet peppers).
This was supposed to be a red snapper but they ran out or something and switched to halibut. It was a very small dish to be an entree... There was the fish and then nothing else really. The fish had a nice sear and was very tender. I thought it was pretty good. My friend thought it was just alright.
Porchetta (with Anson Mills polenta and cannellini beans).
Porchetta is like boneless roast pork. It reminds me of pork belly with the layers of fat in it. It looked awesome. The meat was tender and, yes, fatty!!! The best kind! haha. The meat itself was a little salty, but I liked it paired with the polenta and beans a lot.
White Pizza (of littlneck clams, sweet onion, panna and fresh herbs).
This sounded totally interesting. Clams on pizza? I haven't had that before... It was a pretty big pizza too. The crust was awesome... very similar to the bread we got. It had a hint of sweetness, not sure if it's from the onions or clams. But I didn't get any clams on the bite I got. I actually didn't really see any clams on the pizza either.. I guess it was all under the cheese. My friend said it was ok.
Dessert
Praline Nougatine Semifreddo (with pistachios and Acacia honey).
This was one of my choices but I ended up not getting it since I could try other people's. hehe. It was the biggest dessert out of the bunch. But it was super light. Semifreddo basically means half frozen. It reminded me of frozen whipped cream. So it was super light but still creamy. I loved the pistacios inside it. And normally not a fan of honey... this honey was a perfect pairing on top. Best dessert of the night.
Sticky Toffee Pudding.
This is what I got. I thought it was very cute. The cake reminded me of the whiskey cake at Whiskey Cake in Plano. But it wasn't as good as WC. The parts with the caramel drizzle on top was yummy but the parts that didn't seemed less moist. I liked the whipped cream pairing.
Carrot Cake. Basically a carrot cake cupcake. Not bad. I liked the frosting a lot. Not as heavy as normal cream cheese frostings on cupcakes.
Fig and Raspberry Crostata. They messed up my friend's order and had to make him a new crostata. So he sat around watching us eat our dessert and then we watched him eat his. hahaha. I didn't get to try it. Looked like a pretty basic free form tart/pie.
It was a pretty good dinner. I enjoyed everything I tried but I wasn't blown away or anything... Everything seemed good quality and fresh overall. But would I go back and pay full price? For the portion... I doubt it. Our waiter was good. He was very efficient. He didn't interrupt us at all but got everything out quickly and had no issues with anything (including splitting the check). The water glasses were always refilled without asking.
Good start to my RW this year. I'm looking forward to my next location this coming Saturday!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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