Wine & Magic with Trigg Watson at Checkered Past Winery

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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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

I'm loving all these Asian restaurants, dessert shops, and bakeries popping up all over DFW. To think, just last year, we didn't have any Japanese BBQ places and now we have TWO! Two really great ones too, each with their own large selection of food items.

I was invited to check out Gyu-Kaku in Addison recently. I've only been there once, in NYC, and I only had their amazing Matcha Mille Crepe cake. So I had to make sure they had them for the media dinner that night! I was so psyched! :D

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
5290 Belt Line Rd. #115
Dallas, TX 75254
(469) 567-3237
www.gyu-kaku.com/dallas
Price: $$$

It was a small group of food bloggers that night (and our +1's) so it was a more intimate event. We had a lot of fun including some sake bombs! (Well, they did, since I don't drink. hehe). Japanese BBQ is a great thing to do with a group of people. You an grill, and chat, and eat, and drink. There's no time limit (I don't think), like at Korean AYCE BBQ places, and you don't smell afterwards because all the grills have these vents on the side that sucks out the smoke. So feel free to take a date there too!

We had a set menu for the night but were told we could order anything else we wanted. I love that they customized each blogger's menu according to the IG account they represented! I'm representing @bestfooddallas! Woot!

Some of the girls got Sake. And you get your own individual ice bucket for the sake bottle. How cool!

Starters: These are all the actual portion size for each order.
Gyu-Kaku Salad $6~ Loved the dressing. And the thin slices of daikon radish on top.

Spicy Tuna Volcano $7~ Crispy, and slightly sticky rice, topped with spicy tuna. They're good! And quite filling.

Miso Chili Wings $7~ I freaking loved these wings. So much flavor!! I can just eat a couple plates of these and be happy. But I only had one that night because I knew how much more food we were getting.

Mains:
Beef Sukiyaki Bibimbap $7~ 

That stone bowl was seriously sizzling when it was served. It smelled so good! The waitress mixed it all up tableside, and then you let it sit in the bowl to crisp up on the bottom. I love normal Korean Bibimbaps, but the flavor profile for this one is totally different, since they needed to make it Japanese. It was delicious. The thin slices of beef with the caramelized onions perfumed the dish. The rice was plump and had great texture. This is a must!

Garlic Noodles $8~ 

On the menu it said it included chicken. I didn't see any chicken in ours, so maybe they did it differently for us. It was very garlicky which I liked. Probably not the best thing when you're on a date though. hehe. And the noodles were quite overcooked since they were in a stone bowl, so I didn't eat too much of it. I'm a texture person, so I'm pretty picky when it comes to noodles... they need to be al dente!

Mushroom Medley $4~

Garlic Spinach $4~

These veggies come in a foil pack. You put them on the grill and it basically steams them inside. We were told 3-5 minutes each side I think? But the first time we opened them it was still raw veggies. So just keep it on a grill and chat with your friends. hehe. It won't melt or anything.

Prime Kalbi Short Rib $9~ Love me some kalbi. The color on these were so vibrant. The meat was really great. Didn't even need to dip in any of their sauces. Highly recommend.

Toro Beef $5~ This was my favorite meat of the night. Toro beef is beef belly, which basically equals beef bacon. And who doesn't love bacon!! Just look at that fat to meat ratio. It had so much flavor. And it's one of the cheaper cuts of meat, win for me! :P

Harami Miso Skirt Steak $9~
Bistro Hanger Steak $8~

These 2 meats were served together so I forget which is which. They were both good, but one particularly was super tender. I want to say it's the skirt steak? Both had a marinade on it so had lots of flavor. Can't go wrong with either.

So... this was a lot of food so most of us didn't request anything else. But then I asked if they had beef tongue. If it's good, it's really tasty. And it has a unique texture.
Extra: Beef Tongue $9~ (+$1 for Scallion Sauce). 

Most of the girls on my side of the table had never had beef tongue, so I was happy to share this experience with them. And I think they all liked it! The tongue was sliced super thin and it only needs a few seconds on each side. It was really good. Some even had a 2nd piece!

And a tip... everything here is good with BEER! :P

Oh man... we were so stuffed! But it's not over yet cuz we still need to have cake!!

Dessert:
Lady M's Green Tea Mille Crepe Cake (usually served with ice cream) $10~ 

They gave us smaller portions, I think about a third of the normal slice. While my mouth wanted a whole piece, I appreciated them controlling my portions. haha. I freaking love this cake. I'm so happy we have it in Dallas now. It's limited quantity since they need to fly it in, so you just have to take your chances that they have it when you go.

S'mores (2 portions) $2.50~ This was a fun way to end the dinner. We had a blast cooking and eating with everyone!

It was one of the most fun media dinners I've been too. I like the interactive-ness and it was nice that it was a smaller group so we can talk to almost everyone. They have several package specials for 2 people. You can find the menu on their website here. It's a great deal considering all the different dishes you're getting! AND they have Early Happy Hour every day from 11AM-6PM, and Late HH from 9PM-10PM Sun-Thu or 10PM-11PM on Fri and Sat.

Thanks to Gyu-Kaku for having me. They took really great care of us. The wait staff was very attentive... water glasses always refilled! I will definitely be back. I need to bring my husband next time!! :D

CURRENT PROMOTION:
Their "Summer BBGYU Festival" just kicked off and goes until 9/4/17. With food and beer discounts, a new kids' menu, and a sweepstakes to win a trip for 2! See their website for more details. 

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

Quality of Food: 

Service: 

Ambiance: 

Value: (comped)

Overall Experience: 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~