District Food & Wine

I got to check out District Food & Wine in the Design District last week. I had heard positive things about the restaurant so I was definitely looking forward to it. They're open for lunch M-F, and dinner service is only Th-S, closed on Sundays. I couldn't make it out for dinner so I invited a friend that works downtown for a long lunch. :)

District Food & Wine
921 N Riverfront Blvd. #300
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 792-9729
https://districtfoodwine.com
Price: $$-$$$

The Design District is a cool place but still has a lot of opportunities for expansion/development. It's quite far out for me from home and work so I rarely go to that area. So I'd consider District Food and Wine to be a hidden gem. I think more people need to know more about this area as well.

Walking in, the restaurant was pretty empty... only a couple tables taken. But the place has floor to ceiling windows on 2 sides of the building so it had a bright and open feeling. And perfect for photos! :) The hostess grabbed the owner for us when we arrived. Jeff is one of the nicest people I've ever met. Just the first handshake and I felt like he was so genuinely happy to have us there. We were seated close to the window for optimal lighting. And Jeff proceeded to take care of us for the entire duration of the lunch.

We started with some Bread (rubbed with garlic; served with butter). It looked simple but it was freshly baked...warm and fluffy on the inside, crispy edges, and the garlic rub perfumed our noses.

Jeff gave us the run down on the menu, as well as their daily specials. 

Then he told us that he is already going to send out some of their Risotto Balls and Meatballs (tomato basil sauce). Normally the Risotto Balls are $7~ 

It was nice to get a little sampler so we're not getting too much food. The risotto balls were super cute and delicate. He explained that they are actually gluten free! They were deliciously airy and light for a fried rice ball. Without the breadcrumbs they were really able to lighten it up. Soooo yummy with the tomato sauce. The meatballs were good too but the risotto balls stole the show.

As we were waiting for our entrees, I saw that more and more people were coming in. And Jeff greeted each table himself. That's really great service and hospitality.

I chose the Grilled Salmon (Scottish salmon, grilled vegetables, jalapeno mustard sauce) $17~ 

I wanted to be a little healthier since 1) I've been eating a whole lotta fried foods last week, and 2) I wanted to get the Mac n Cheese. hahaha. He told me that they typically cook their salmon medium rare, which is perfect. And you know what? They were SPOT on with the cook temp. The fish was beautifully pink on the inside and insanely tender. And that sauce... you can see the whole grain mustard in there and it paired perfectly with the fish. It was a pretty plate. Again, everything's so simple, but extremely well executed. It was refreshing to see a place that just does good food instead of trying to be "epic" or "trendy" or whatever.

My friend got the Rigatoni (with tomato basil vodka sauce; added chicken) $10~ 

He added chicken since the original dish does not have a meat. It was really good. I love vodka sauce. I wish the chicken pieces were a tad bigger, it got lost a little bit in the dish. Other than that, no complaints!

Mac & Cheese (with truffle oil) $7~ 

I HAD to get this. I've been seeing so many posts on social media of this one dish. The truffle was so fragrant and smelled so good. It was still bubbling a little when it was brought to the table. It's not stringy cheesy like a lot of other macs (like the long cheese pull) but it definitely was not lacking any cheese! I freaking loved that crust on top. It was legit, and it definitely lived up to all the hype.

It was a great lunch. And we weren't too stuffed. But then we had to get dessert right? hehe. :P

Jeff highly highly recommended the Lemon Cake (mascarpone frosting, white chocolate curls) $7~ 

And that's the main thing I've been seeing on their Yelp page. I'm not really a huge lemon fan but I was really intrigued. I'm soooooo glad we got it. It is seriously THE BEST lemon cake I've ever had in my life. No joke! It was so light and fluffy. The frosting was made with mascarpone so it was really light as well. But was still somehow luscious. The amount of lemon was spot on. It had just the right amount of tartness... a lot of lemon desserts tend to be too sour for me. Or too sweet because they overuse sugar to cut the citrus. Both my friend and I agreed it was the best lemon dessert either of us have ever had. I wonder if I can order a whole cake for a party or something.... :P

Chocolate Cake (chocolate ganache) $7~ 

We only ordered the lemon cake, but Jeff said he was also sending out the chocolate cake. haha. I love chocolate so I wasn't gonna say no! :P The chocolate cake was also fantastic. The filling was light, and the ganache was rich... the cake was surprisingly not overly sweet. And it was super moist. Normally I would opt for chocolate, but in this case, the lemon cake still won out. Needless to say, we finished the lemon cake. haha. And actually made it through more than half of the chocolate as well.

We had a great time. Jeff was the most wonderful host. And the food was just simply delicious. I want to send everyone I know there... so GO!!! I really hope they stick around for a really long time. Thank you, District Food & Wine, for having us. I hope I will make it back in the near future. :)

*The meal was comped but all opinions are my own.*

Quality of Food: 

Service: 

Ambiance: 

Value: (comped)

Overall Experience: 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Royal Suites Yucatan - Riviera Maya

To celebrate my graduation... I booked a trip for me and my fiance at the end of my final quarter. I actually booked the trip before I even registered for my last class. Hahaha. Hey, the way I looked at it... if I finish, yay we celebrate. If for some reason I failed, at least we're in Mexico. It's a win-win! :P

I found a pretty awesome deal at the Royal Suites Yucatan by Palladium in Riviera Maya/Akumal. It's about an hour and half car ride south from the Cancun airport. The main reason I chose this place? It's adults only! :) Well, our section of the resort is adults only. It's essentially 5 resorts in 1... pretty huge. You have to take carts/shuttles to go to some of the other resorts.

We arrived in late afternoon, the sun was already starting to set. The lobby of our section of the resort was really nice. And the people at the front desk were sooooo friendly and accommodating. It was off to a great start!

Since this is an all-inclusive resort (which btw... is THE best way to vacation. Food and drinks all included!!) it means LOTS of food pictures! I'm not going to write much more. This is purely a food porn entry... :) Just a quick tip though, never go to the "Asian" restaurant at these resorts. They are almost always pretty crappy. And it was our only really bad meal on this trip.

First night dinner: El Jardin, restaurant just next to our lobby.

It's a buffet AND a la carte restaurant. Ooooof... wayy too much food.

 

 

 

 

 

It includes lobster. Yes. LOBSTER!

One of the most tender preparations of octopus I have ever had in my life! Amazing!

First breakfast: Room service! Which is 24/7 and again... ALL INCLUDED! :)

Orange Juice, Banana Shake
Assorted Pastries

Florentine Style Eggs (bechamel, spinach, eggs)

Mexican Style Eggs (scrambled eggs with jalapeno, tomato, cheese, onions; with sausage and chorizo)

Salmon Bagel

2nd Night Dinner: Sumptuori - Japanese/Hibachi/Fusion
Cocktail: Cassis & Orange Juice. Pretty!

Appetizer: Eggrolls and Tempura Shrimp

Assorted Sushi. Pretty blech. 

Soups

 

Soba Juma Fillet (beef fillet with Japanese peas, soya and rice)

Shake Shiitake (gilled marinated salmon with fried sweet potato, carrots, and shiitake vinaigrette)

Fried Banana 

Rice Pudding

We left without really touching the dessert... Other than the well cooked steak for the entree, everything else was pretty bad. We hit up the buffet for more dessert. haha.

3rd Night Dinner: Back to El Jardin (since it doesn't require reservations)
House Margarita Welcome drink.

Tricolor Salad (lettuce, beets, avocado, tomato, egg, onion, french dressing)

Duck Salad (lettuce, endive, mango, kiwi, raspberry vinaigrette and raspberry)

Tlalpeno Soup (chicken, carrot, chayote, potato, celery, leek, onion, garlic, and chipotle chili peppers)

 

Ribeye Steak. Soooo freaking delicious. They knew how to cook beef! And again.... ALL INCLUSIVE baby!

New York Strip. Also fantastic. 

Tres Leches

Napoleon

Chocolate Cake

4th Night Dinner: La Adelita. The Mexican restaurant. Best meal of the trip. Fantastic!
Complimentary Starter: Nachos

"Mexican Coffee" (coffee, kahlua, tequila, spices). We need to figure out how to make this because it was so good. Couldn't taste any of the alcohol, didn't need additional cream or sugar. Awesome. 

Soup of the Day: Creamed Corn

Beef Broth "La Adelita" (beef, chicken, pork, epazote, pumpkin, corn)

Beef Alambres Sinaloa Style (with beans, mushrooms, poblano, cheese, onion)

Chef's Special of the Day: Chicken Enchiladas in Mole. This was amazing! I love mole, and this was sooooo good!!!!

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Tres Leches Cake

5th Night Dinner: El Jardin. We initially went to a beach bbq. They had an outdoor buffet all set up with stations that grilled different types of meat. But the food wasn't that great and I was getting attacked by mosquitoes. Plus there was a really annoying drunk guy in the table next to us. It just didn't feel like how we wanted our last night to be. So we went where we KNEW we'd get a good meal. :)
"Stephanie" Salad (lettuce, cucumber, prawns, coriander sauce and beet vinaigrette)

"Sunrise" Salad (spinach, lettuce, surimi, carrots, tomato, lemon vinaigrette)

Chinese Noodle Soup (chicken consomme, pork, noodles, cauliflower, carrots)

Ribeye Steak. 

Rigatoni with Alfredo Sauce (spanish ham, onion, garlic, and cream)

Chocolate Mousse and Mango Ice Cream

Apple Tart and Vanilla Ice Cream

Last Day Breakfast: Room Service. Since it was our last day here, we went all out! :P

Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice
Assorted Pastries
Toast with Butter
Florentine Style Eggs
Motulenos Style Eggs (corn tortilla, beans, cheese, tomato, chili, pork sausage)

Side of Bacon
Pancakes with Maple Syrup and Chocolate Sauce

Last drinks while waiting for our shuttle to the airport: Bananamama and Kahlua & Milk

 

As if that wasn't enough for us. I got some $8 ice cream cone from Haagen Dazs. haha.

It was a great vacation. Very relaxing. Other than eating and drinking... we pretty much did nothing. haha. I did get a lot of reading done! :P I'd recommend this resort, but only the adult only section "Royal Suites Yucatan". You'll be glad you did that. I wanna go back................ 

Cheers! 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~