Afternoon Tea @ Potpourri of Silk

Hi All. Sorry for the hiatus... life has been busy, and well, I just haven't felt like writing! XP But trying to get back into it. I'm gonna start with one of my birthday month celebrations back in April.

I love afternoon tea, high tea, tea and pastries, whatever you want to call it. But I mostly love the ones where the mini foods are served on tiered stands. A friend of mine found this place on Instagram and so I booked it for one of my many birthday celebrations. :)

Potpourri of Silk
317 N Zang Blvd.
Dallas, TX 75208
(214) 941-9941
www.potpourriofsilk.com
Price: $40 a person plus tax

A few things to note about this place... 
- Tea time is available from 10AM-3:30PM. 
- 24 Hour Advance Reservations is required. 
- It is BYOB - $10 corking fee per bottle. 
- A 15% gratuity will be applied. 
- And no children under 13. 
- When we went, they had a maximum party size of 6 people, looks like they've upped it to 8 now! Yay.

We went at the beginning of April. For some reason we had a freak cold front that weekend and it was freezing! Luckily it was nice and warm inside. The place is in an old-style house, the decor inside is more traditional, white linens, doilies, etc. Very cute. They had the classic looking tea pots and tea sets too... and the tiered stands! This is what I wanted!

We got to choose our own teas... the tea pots were huge, and I drank a whole one myself. haha. I liked that. I don't like having to ask for refills all the time.

Teas:
Apricot Rose Hips on Black. The other girls loved this one.
Earl Grey Lavendar on Red Rooibos
Japanese Sencha - this one was basically all me. haha. I'm a tea purist... and quite picky. I like the simple green or black teas. The other girls shared the other 2 teas.

These tiered displays are so cute, y'all. Yay. Happy Birthday to me! :P

Tea Sandwiches:
Chicken (diced roasted chicken, shallots, fine herbs, grapes, toasted almonds, aioli, and spinach)
Beef (roasted rosemary beef, cherry tomato, confit, swiss cheese). One of my friends was still hungry so she ordered a whole beef sandwich. They also do lunch here. So you can order sandwiches, and pastries a la carte.
Cucumber (picked cucumber, cream cheese, aioli, lemon, dill, spinach)
All these sandwiches were super tasty. After our last, disappointing tea outing (surprisingly at the famous French Room), our expectations were a bit low. My favorite was the cucumber!! It looks so simple and plain but it had really good flavor!

Short Breads (served with Strawberry Jam and French Buttercream):
Brioche. (the round breads among the sandwiches) Was a tad dry on its own, but cute, and worked well with the jam and buttercream.
Classic Banana Nut Muffin. Yum, we asked for more of this.

Cranberry and Chocolate Scone. I loved the scones. I think it was my favorite sweet item.

Patisserie:
Earl Grey Chocolate Ganache Tart. A little hard to bite into, but good flavor. Let the chocolate melt in your mouth.
Cream Puffs. It was filled to the brim with the sweet buttercream. Too much, too sweet. So I scooped some cream out and it was all good.

We had a really great time. The service was wonderful... very attentive and courteous. The food surprised us all, especially the savory ones for me. So far this has been one of my favorites in Dallas. It's good and still affordable in terms of High Tea. We will be back!!

And thanks to all the lovely ladies that shared this experience with me! Love y'all! :D

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Lunch @ Sixty Vines

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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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Thai Style High Tea @ Bangkok on Beltline

I love afternoon tea, high tea, any kind of tea + dessert type events where you can relax, eat, and hang out with your friends. :) I went to a few tea places while I was in Vietnam in August, so it was fresh on my mind. So me and another blogger friend of mine decided to take action and actually plan one. We were searching for some options of places to go when I came across someone's Instagram post on the tea at Bangkok on Beltline. Now this was already on my radar, but I had for some reason forgotten about it. They only have high tea on Saturdays from 2-4PM and it's by reservation only because they have to prep all the goodies. The date we had planned was a Saturday so this worked out perfectly. And to our luck, the PR company for Bangkok saw my comment to that post and reached out. Yay!

Bangkok on Beltline - Thai High Tea
100 S Central Expy #108
Richardson, TX 75080
(469) 930-9755
http://www.bangkokatbeltline.com/
Price: $35 per person

Most of the group were already food bloggers so now we are being hosted! Woohoo!! All of us got half off the regular price. It was great, since we were initially planning this as just a casual outing with friends. Yay. Thank you so much for hosting us, Bangkok on Beltline and Red iD Agency!!

I had seen pictures, but it was even prettier in person. We arrived on Saturday and the table was decked out with three 3 tiered tea trays FILLED with beautiful and colorful creations. I think it took us a full 30 minutes to get all of our photos taken... haha. Food bloggers, amiright? :P

We then met the owner of the restaurant and he proceeded to explain all the different items and the progression of the tea service.

We started with the Bottom Tier and work our way up. It has all the savory items. It is also paired with a Chinese Green Tea. With unlimited refills. I think I had 4 cups of this. I drink a lot of tea.. haha. Especially when I'm eating sweets too. The tea is light and unsweetened. There are sugar cubes for those who wanted sweetness.

Pad Thai Croissant. What a creative combination! East meets West. I wished the pad thai was warm, but I think that's kind of hard to do since the tea trays have to be prepared before the party arrives. Also... we took forever taking pictures. haha. The pad thai had a sweetness to it which I wouldn't have liked if I was eating it for dinner, but since this is mainly pastries and desserts, it worked well with the buttery croissant.

Chicken Satay Sandwich. This was my favorite. It had really great flavor. Almost a curry flavor in there.
Yellow Curry Puffs (filled with potato). This was also really good. The crust was flaky, not dry. The potato had good flavor. I'm assuming this is a vegetarian friendly item.

Middle Tier:
This one is paired with Chrysanthemums Tea, one of my favorite teas of all time. When I go to dim sum, I ALWAYS have to order this. It's a flower, and you can definitely get the florally fragrance when you sip it. I lost count on how many cups I had of this one. haha.
This tier had most of the Asian influenced desserts.

Black Rice Pudding (with coconut milk, palm seed jelly on top). Reminded me of all those Asian desserts I grew up eating. I enjoyed the rice pudding texture and I love coconut milk. Can't say I've had palm seed jelly before though. Yay for trying new things!
Rice Crackers with Caramel Coconut Sauce. The rice crackers were Asian style... so there's basically no sweetness to it. Just the slight nuttiness from the rice. If you are expecting a rice crispies treat, this ain't it. You can spread some of the caramel sauce over the rice crackers. The sauce itself was quite interesting. It was almost more savory than sweet... reminded me a bit like peanut sauce in Vietnamese/Thai cuisine.
Sticky Rice (with Thai Coconut Custard). I still don't fully know what all is in this. But the sticky rice was inside a layer of pastry or something. I liked this a lot, especially the coconut custard.

Top Tier:
Unsweet Thai Tea was served with this tier. I was curious to try it because I've never had Thai tea without the condensed milk or sugar... I really liked it. It almost tasted sweet on its own without adding sugar. It went really well with this tier. Actually all of the teas were paired really well with their respective tiers. I was quite impressed!

Pistachio and Raspberry Macarons. Beautifully made macarons. The colors were so pretty with the Matcha Tiramisu. The textures of both macarons were both really good. I especially loved the pistachio's flavor.

Green Tea Tiramisu (with red bean). This was the favorite of the group. Not only was it beautiful, it was delicious. The matcha cream had a rich matcha taste. I was surprised to find a layer of red bean in there, which added an interesting texture. Again, this is where the Asian influences play into a typical dessert. Definitely one of the best desserts in the display. I wished I could've taken some home... but it was in a glass so I couldn't.

We also got some of their signature Flower Sesame Cookies. These are light and crispy and really cool looking!

We were all stuffed! Some people couldn't even finish all of the different items. A few of the girls came in and scoffed at the amount of food saying they were still gonna be hungry after. They ate their words. It was a lot. I would recommend eating a very light lunch or none at all before you go to high tea in general. You'd be surprised how much little sandwiches and cakes can fill you up! Plus you're drinking a ton of tea. Well, at least I was. I had to go to the bathroom twice!! haha. I think I drank well over 10 cups total.

We had SO MUCH FUN! It was a super unique experience with the Thai inspired flavors. I've definitely never had a tea experience like this before. For the price point, this is a great value in Dallas for high tea. Most other places I know are at least $50+ a person. I highly recommend you try this. Great for a girls' day out, or a bridal shower. I'd even do this for a birthday party! :)

Thanks again for hosting us!! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Chelsea Corner - Media Dinner

Two weeks ago I got invited to a media dinner at Chelsea Corner. It was my first time there. This place has so much history and it was pretty interesting learning about it all. The original Chelsea Corner opened in 1974. Since then, the space has changed hands and renamed several times. But earlier this year, the space was restored, renovated and re-opened with the original Chelsea Corner name. The owners want this place to be the neighborhood spot, where people of all kinds and ages can come hang out. The restaurant/bar's decor is very eclectic. They have different rooms where you can hold private parties and events. I especially loved the back corner where it looks like outdoor patio seating, but it's inside! 

They also recently opened up an actual outdoor patio in the back. This is also a sports lovers dream, as the entire place is equipped with 16 large HD screens.

Chelsea Corner
4830 McKinney Avenue
Dallas, TX 75205
(469) 726-2211
www.chelseacornerdallas.com
Price: $$-$$$

As soon as I arrived, the bartender presented me with a Margarita. What service! 

I don't really drink but the other bloggers told me it was good. Before dinner, we got a tour of the whole space and hear the owners' ideas and inspirations behind the business. They told us everything is made from scratch in house. I love that! You definitely wouldn't expect that in a bar setting... We were seated in the front of their open patio area. It was a beautiful day too, wasn't too hot or cold.

While we waited for everyone to be seated, they had a large platter of cheeses and meats. There was one cheese, the Red Dragon (whole grain mustard, sharp cheddar), so good. I love whole grain mustard. The other was a Havarti with dill.

We started with Deviled Eggs (Southern style with crispy pancetta and house pickled red onions) $3~ per piece. 

The chef explained this was like grandma's recipe. It was absolutely delicious. I love deviled eggs and the filling in this one had a nice velvety texture. Loved the crisp texture of the bacon. After everyone had photographed the plate, I casually asked if we can eat those too. Score! :P I can probably eat a dozen of these.

Fish Tacos (blackened Mahi Mahi with Asian slaw) Normally comes with 3 to an order. $15~ You can also choose fried fish as well. 

This was served on corn tortillas which I've never been a fan so it was just ok for me. The overall taco was a little dry. However, we all loved the sauces that came with the tacos. The green one was my personal favorite. I just slathered that taco with it.

The Barnyard (pepperoni, canadian bacon, ricotta, mozzarella, spicy italian sausage). $15~ The crust is made with yeast dough with honey and from scratch. It had a really good texture and added a hint of sweetness to all the pizzas. I thought all the meats made it a little too salty, but I also try to eat less sodium these days so my standard is probably different than most. Everyone loved the pizzas.

Big Daddy White with Chicken (fresh ricotta, oven dried roman tomatoes) $14~ +$2 for chicken. This was my favorite out of the two. I generally like white sauce vs the tomato based sauces. It was lighter in flavor but you can appreciate all the ingredients more, I think. Really yum!

Steak Sandwich (grilled beef tenderloin, brandy butter, caramelized onion, manchego cheese) $22~ 

You get 2 sandwiches with fries per order. This was literally a tender steak between 2 pieces of super soft bread. It was amazing. I'm glad you get TWO because one surely isn't enough!!

Image provided by Chelsea Corner

3 type of Fries: Original, Parmesan Truffle, Texas Ranch Dusted. Sorry no picture because it was really dark by then. But all the fries were well fried. I loved all the different flavors. I basically just mixed them all together.

House Made Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies. $4~ 3 to an order and you can add a glass of Ice Cold Milk for +$1~. 

I was so full but these cookies are BOMB!!! Warm and thick and full of melty chocolate chips. A really really solid cookie... Dang, I want some right now! :P They also brought me a glass of milk. It's perfect, makes me feel like a kid again! I was able to get a 2nd cookie to go, so I totally scarfed down the rest of my first cookie. :P

It was a good dinner. I can see every one of these dishes pair well with a beer, cocktail, or wine. It's great hang out and drinking food. If I lived closer, I'd be there all the time for those cookies. haha. I have to give a shout out to the wait staff that served us. They were great with our large party. I mentioned to one of the waiters of my mango allergy and he specifically went to the kitchen to reconfirm that mango wasn't in any of the dishes. Our water glasses were consistently refilled. And they had a positive attitude the entire night. Thank you, Chelsea Corner, for having me!

Here are some info of the space and weekly events from their press releases:

"The 4,500 square foot space can host 180 people for seated dinners, with plenty more room at the bar. There’s a game room, just like at the original, and large garage doors that open to the climate-controlled patio. Wednesday through Saturday nights, rotating DJs will take over at 10PM with a sound system that rivals New York City night clubs. And if there’s a game on, just look toward one of the 16 HDTVs that pepper the interior.
The large venue includes multiple spaces that can be reserved for private events, making Chelsea Corner an ideal spot for Super Bowl parties, showers, corporate functions, birthdays and dinner parties. And the TVs and sound system are at guests’ disposal to ensure their audio/visual needs are covered."

"Chelsea Corner has live Jazz every Tuesday from 8PM - 11PM, live music every Thursday 8PM - 11PM, Live Video DJ’s every Friday and Saturday 10PM - 2AM"

"Brunch will be served Saturdays and Sundays from 10AM to 4PM"

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

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Value: (comped)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~