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Last week, my husband and friends and I went to the Asador Chef's Harvest Dinner Series: November Edition. They do these dinners seasonally and is available once a month. We decided to do the one in November thinking it'll get us in the mood for the holidays. Boy were we in for a treat!
Asador
Renaissance Dallas Hotel
2222 Stemmons Fwy.
Dallas, TX 75207
(214) 267-4815
www.asadorrestaurant.com
I had gone to a preview of the upcoming fall harvest dinners at the beginning of September. There we got to taste some of the dishes featured in the September dinner. The food was amazing! I have to say... I've always heard of Asador, but it's never been on my radar. The location is never really in an area where I frequent. But it truly is a hidden gem. I had an amazing time at the preview. (At some point I will finally write up the post for that one. hehe.) They told us that each dinner will feature 3 courses family style. Start off with a welcome drink and some snacks, then move into the actual dinner. Each dinner will have some sort of beverage accompaniment, whether wine, cocktails, or beers. And the whole dinner PLUS drinks PLUS tax PLUS gratuity is only $90! Whoa... That's a game changer. Most dinners like these typically run $80-120 and THEN you have to add on another $30-50 on the drink pairings. And they never include gratuity! This is a steal people... stay tuned for their dinners next season!
We arrived a little late due to terrible traffic. The dinner was on a Wednesday night and we were driving from Rockwall. The group had already started with charcuterie boards and a welcome beer. The dinner this night featured pairings from Real Ale Brewing. One of my friends was super excited because he's a real beer connoisseur. He had a hell of a time talking to Brad, the owner of the brewery, the entire night.
Asador has one of the best charcuterie boards I've ever had. Their smoked duck is my favorite. :) It was a little sparse by the time I got there. haha.
After some introductions and background info from Real Ale, they moved us to the long wood table for our feast. It was a communal style table since the dinner is family style. Looking through the menu, there's gonna be so much food. I'm so excited! The theme was Thanksgiving, since it was so close to the holiday.
First Harvest:
The featured beer is Lost Gold, IPA.
Carrot Cumin Soup (chive cream). The soup was poured tableside by the Chef, Brad Phillips. He's super nice and you can tell he's just so passionate about the food. Ever course he comes out to explain the dishes and ingredients.
OMG... I normally hate carrots, y'all. But this soup was something else. One of my favorite dishes of the night. It was smooth, creamy, and luxurious. Slight sweetness from the carrots and just the most beautiful color. It had none of the flavors that I normally dislike of carrots. It was just magnificent. I'd be happy if we were only served this dish in the entire dinner!
Crispy Pork Tibia (wild boar, jalapeno orange, baby kale).
I love me some pork. This was no exception. That jalapeno orange glaze was a great pairing with the boar meat. Just a hint of citrus sweetness and heat. I really tried hard not to over eat. There was just so much food!
Frisee, BBQ Apple, and Red Plum Salad (chestnut puree, black pepper honey vinaigrette).
Loved pairing this with the Crispy Pork, the flavors all complimented each other so well. This was dressed lightly, which I liked. I did think the apples were cut a little too large but the flavor was great. It was so interesting with the BBQ rub on it. Loved it all!
Oh man... the first course blew our minds already and we've already been stuffing our faces. There's so much more coming!
Second Harvest:
The featured beer for the main course was Brewhouse, Brown Ale.
Turducken Roulade (cranberry tartar).
OMG. My first ever Turducken! It was beautiful. The cranberry tartar was so vibrantly red. It was great but I think the turkey overwhelmed everything else because I couldn't discern the chicken or the duck. haha. But oh well. Yummy!
Roasted Wild Trout (mashed rutabega, artichoke).
I think the fish stole the show for me for the entrees though. It was so freaking fresh and tender. The whole thing just melted in your mouth. And that rutabega mash... oh my. Just gimme a bucket of it. It's not often that I get to try rutabega either. Loved all the interesting ingredients we were tasting that night. Each plate of food they put on the table were just over flowing with food. The fish dish is the only one where we finished every piece of fish. We just can't let that go to waste!
Sides:
The side dishes were a show of their own!
Green Bean Casserole (crispy onions). Fresh green beans, not that mushy stuff from a can. Delish!
Crispy Squash Blossom (ricotta, goat cheese). I love squash blossoms. These were so perfectly fried and the filling was fluffy.
Sourdough Stuffing. We had so much stuffing we didn't know what to do with ourselves! We barely made a dent in this. I hope they let the staff take the leftovers, cuz I hate to think all this food was wasted. Or they should've just given me like 10 to go boxes. hahaha.
Carrot Souffle (pecans). My favorite side dish. Again, CARROTS! Wow... they're really making me rethink my preferences. haha. This tasted more like a sweet potato souffle. It was cinnamon-y, nutmeg-y, and fluffy. The crushed pecans on top were a great additional texture.
Potato Puree (garlic confit, truffle). Silky and smooth. Really great mashed potatoes.(And apparently I didn't get a picture of this...)
Third Harvest:
For dessert, our pairing was Coffee Porter, Brewed with Katz Coffee. Really quite interesting, to have beer paired with coffee. I managed to take a couple sips since usually I don't drink any beer.
Vanilla Panna Cotta (persimmon chutney).
Persimmons seem to be the fruit of this year. I've been seeing it everywhere! And it's not that popular of a fruit! The panna cotta was creamy, yet light. The persimmon chutney on top was the perfect flavor pairing with the vanilla panna cotta.
Dark Rum Sticky Buns (apples, caramel).
This was a show stopper dessert. I mean, serious mike drop. They placed about 3 of these mega sticky buns on the long table. Topped with that shiny pool of caramel sauce. Ahhhhh. If only I can just stick my whole face on it! Use it as a pillow. haha. They did give us some small to go boxes for these cuz there was no way we could've finished any of that.
What a phenomenal dinner. Chef Brad and the team at Asador outdid themselves. It was literally a Thanksgiving feast! I'm so glad we were able to be a part of this dinner and I will definitely be on the lookout for their future special dinners. Asador is worthy of a visit, add it to the top of your list, you won't be disappointed! The food was fantastic, and so was the company. We sat by Brad, the owner of Real Ale Brewing, and learned a lot of things on his business and beers in general. If you are ever in Blanco, TX, they do tours of their facilities.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Last week my awesome boss took our team to our holiday lunch. He chose The Mercury (used to be known as Mercury Grill)... which is a fantastic place. I've been once before for dinner. So I was super psyched!
The Mercury
11909 Preston Road
Dallas, TX 75230
(972) 960-7774
http://www.themercurydallas.com/
Price (for lunch): $$-$$$
The Mercury has been in Dallas for a long time and has consistently done well. For lunch, business was booming and most of the customers were well dressed.
I knew the food here was good so the hard part is just picking what I want!
After asking our waiter like a million questions about different menu items I settled on the Pearl Couscous Carbonara (with soft poached egg and black truffle sauce) $13~
It was an appetizer but just sounded awesome. And it was! Really pretty presentation. All the different colors in the white couscous contrasted by the black truffle sauce around the edges. The taste was fantastic. The creaminess you want from a carbonara and then topped of with a beautifully poached egg. There was a slight tang from the black truffle sauce which helped contrast the richness of the couscous. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And it was rich enough as a lunch portion.
I also got a side of Butter Braised Brussels Sprouts $7~
You know me... love them brussels sprouts. haha. So cute in the little cast iron pot. They were cooked nicely. Still had great texture. And soaked in butter?? YES please!
My boss got the New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp (with soft cheese grits) $17~ Delicious. The sauce on the shrimp and grits was the highlight. Very bold and complex. The grits had good texture. He really liked it. And it quite a big portion for lunch!
My co-worker got the Pecan Crusted Idaho Trout (with asparagus and pepper salad) $18~ It was large piece of fish. I liked the sauce on it and the crust was nice. I felt like it should've came with some sort of side though.
We all shared a Bread Pudding (with cherry sauce, pecans and cinnamon ice cream) $8~
Different than what I expected. It was a large slice of super moist bread instead of your typical chunks of bread. It was yummy. I especially loved the pairing with the cinnamon ice cream. The cherries were a bit too sour for me, but my boss and co-worker loved it. It was just enough to round out the meal because I was so full already.
It was a delicious lunch. Which is expected since my boss is also a huge foodie. :) Kind of a pricey lunch, but with the caliber of food, it's pretty standard. The one complaint is that our waiter wasn't the friendliest and didn't really give us the time of day. No real greeting when we were given the menus or anything. I know they were super busy, but I felt like he had no time for us. But the food was fantastic so I'm willing to overlook that a bit. haha.
And just a side note... I have the best boss ever! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Hi Boys and Girls. It's that time again! One of my favorite times in Dallas. The Dallas Restaurant Week has officially begun!!!! For those of you new to RW... restaurants all over Dallas/Ft Worth participate every year for a week (and some extend a 2nd or 3rd week). They offer a 3 course meal for $35 per person. And $7 of that goes to the North Texas Food Bank in Dallas or Lena Pope Home in Ft. Worth. It's a great opportunity to try great restaurants around town for a good cause!
I had only made 2 reservations this year for later weeks. III Forks was a last minute add. Actually my bf had a giftcard and wanted to wait until his parents were in town to treat them to a nice dinner. We just lucked out that today is the first day of RW! Woot!
III Forks
17776 Dallas Parkway
Dallas, TX 75287
(972) 267-1776
http://www.3forks.com/
Price: $$$$+
We had a super early reservation at 5:30PM since his mom doesn't like to eat late. I arrived on time but they were stuck in traffic. The host was super nice and said they could seat us at any time. It was still pretty empty at this time. Once they arrived, my bf asked if we could go to the bar for a drink before seating and they happily said yes. We can be seated at any time. How nice! The restaurant is massive btw. I had never been there and it was quite a surprise... Although from the outside it looks pretty grand, I guess I just never expected the inside to be that big for some reason.
We went to the bar. They have happy hour from 4-7PM Daily by the way. There are some food specials and $5.50 III Forks martini and $5 Sommelier's Pick of the Cellar. They ordered some drinks and then we were seated.
So far it's going pretty good. But then our waiter showed up... and it just got better from there! Our waiter was Pete. (I normally don't mention people by name as some of you have noticed but this is an exception.) He gave us a warm and friendly welcome. He found out this was our first time dining there and gave us some background info on the restaurant. Always interesting to me. :)
I was immediately impressed by Pete. He quickly gauged our group and was able to make us feel at ease. He was professional yet joked with us. My bf's mom is gluten intolerant so he joked around with her with the bread and dessert items (kinda rubbing it in but also accommodating to her dietary restrictions at the same time). It was all good fun. :)
As he brought the bread, he explained that it's baked in house. I particularly loved the presentation of it. It comes wrapped in a cloth napkin and he crushes it as he places it on the table. You can hear the crunch of the bread. What a great sound! It's always nice when we can dine with all our senses!
The bread was great. The shell was nice and crunchy and the inside was soft, slightly chewy, and fluffy.
I signed up for the restaurant's newsletter when I found out we were going and received an email for a free app. Yay! :) I showed the email to him and he immediately put the order in while giving us more time to look over the menus. Beef Croustades (Filet Mignon sliced and topped with blue cheese and red wine demi) normally $12.95~
So delicious! The beef was super tender and the bread was just the right thickness and not too hard like crostinis can sometimes get. I loved the blue cheese sauce on top as well. It was a good indicator of the food we were getting next!
The other 3 people decided to order from the RW menu and I opted to order from the regular dinner menu (I didn't feel like I could eat 3 courses!). **And I apologize for my pictures. The restaurant was quite dim and my flash isn't doing the food justice!**
First Course --
III Forks Salad (award-winning signature salad prepared with crispy green apple slices, Wisconsin blue cheese, toasted pecans and field greens laced with housemade vinaigrette). This was really good. It was fresh and had just the right amount of vinaigrette. The addition of apple gave a nice crunch and sweetness.
Steakhouse Wedge (classic crisp iceberg with spring onions, bacon, and tomatoes topped with blue cheese). My bf ordered this. It was drowning in dressing. Wayyyy too much. But other than that, it was really tasty. I loved the bacon and the flavors were great. If you order this make sure you ask them to ease up on the dressing (unless you like that of course).
Asparagus Soup (fresh tender stalks simmered with thyme in rich chicken broth, pureed and finished with a dollop of cream, Asiago cheese and pecan smoked bacon). This was my fav out of the 3. The soup was pretty massive. It was warm, creamy and so comforting. It was super smooth and had lots of flavor. Dip bread in there and sop up everything! I would order this again in a heart beat! But unfortunately they don't offer it on their regular menu...
The service was very attentive. The water glasses were always refilled without asking and Pete came by to check on us a lot. You can tell he enjoys the food at the restaurant and is proud to promote it and serve it. Always makes a better dining experience. :) Also, the manager, John, came by and checked on us a few times. He was constantly making rounds in the dining room and making sure everyone was having a good time. I also saw him help serve when the restaurant filled up. The place was packed by the time our entrees came around.
When the entrees were served, Pete asked the guys to cut into their meats to see if it was cooked to their liking. I think this is the first time I've seen a restaurant do that. But before they cut into it, I had to take my pictures! hehe. So he asked if I was blogging and I said yes! I also added that so far it's been fantastic and that he was an A+! He was very happy to hear that.
Entree Course --
Aged Midwestern Beef Filet Mignon (topped with a fresh herb pink peppercorn butter; served with side of mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas, off-the-cob cream corn, ripe tomatoes and spring onions). The filet was cooked perfectly medium rare and extremely tender. The peppercorn butter added great flavor.
Pan Seared Idaho Brook Trout (crusted with toasted almonds in a champagne buerre blanc; served with wild rice, sugar snap peas, off-the-cob cream corn, ripe tomatoes and spring onions). The trout was huge! OMG!! I liked the crust on it. I think it had nutmeg in it or something... tasted a hint of that. The texture of the fish was also very good. It also had some fruit on top... I think they were grapes. My bf's mom loved that. She liked the hints of sweetness from the grapes with the fish.
Pipestone Farms Prime Pork Chop (over sweet potato-spinach hash in a Dr Pepper Serrano BBQ Sauce; served with sugar snap peas, off-the-cob cream corn, ripe tomatoes and spring onions). My bf ordered this. It was the best out of the 3 RW choices, we all agreed. But all 3 were really delicious. He ordered the chop medium and it was cooked to perfection. It was a pretty thick cut and was still super tender and juicy. Hard to come by with a pork chop. My favorite part of it all was the sauce. It had a hint of sweet and spicy and the flavors were just bold and fantastic. I also liked the sweet potato and spinach hash that came with it.
Before I made my order I asked Pete if he would recommend the prime rib over the fish dishes. He said "absolutely not!" Really? Since I thought it was more of a steakhouse. He explains they have an excellent fishmonger and all the fish is fantastic...the seabass being one of his favorites. I was already considering the seabass so I was sold!
Chilean Seabass (in beurre blanc; served with wild rice, sugar snap peas, off-the- cob cream corn, ripe tomatoes and spring onions) $37.95~
I asked if I could substitute the rice for another veg. He said normally they can only substitute a starch for another starch but he wrote it down and said it doesn't hurt to ask. hehe. Of course they made it happen. I was able to get broccolini instead of rice. He didn't steer me wrong. The fish was amazing. AH-MAZING! I've never seen such a thick piece of sea bass in my life!
And it was like butter. I didn't use a knife at all. It just melts in your mouth and I loved the sauce (which is basically a white wine butter sauce). And there were so many sides that came with every dish. When Pete was explaining the dishes to us, I was shocked that we got ALL the side dishes instead of just one or the other. He also said that the cream corn will be our favorite. I think he was right. The cream corn was the bomb! But everything else was yummy too. All cooked perfectly and seasoned well. They also come by with a tray of sliced tomatoes and spring onions. It was a cool way to present a side dish I think. It's like a bread tray but for veggies!
So yum...everything! I was truly impressed. And of course the service just elevates the experience to another level.
But it's not finished... there's dessert! It says it's "chef's selection" so I wonder if they change it from day to day? And everything is made in-house. I didn't get a dessert since I didn't do the RW menu, but Pete brought me a spoon and fork "to share". hehe. It's little things like that that makes the dining experience better.
There were 2 choices for RW. But because my bf's mom cannot eat gluten, Pete let her choose from their selection of ice creams. She chose cinnamon which was super tasty.
The others got the 2 cake options. The cakes were surprisingly small compared to the other parts of the meal, but it's probably a good thing. We were stuffed already!
3 Layer Chocolate Cake. The cake was pretty moist and the frosting was yummy but it was pretty standard.
Pecan Cake (3 layer yellow cake with crushed pecans and topped with candied pecans). This was also really moist and really light. I also liked the candied pecans on top. I normally go for anything chocolate but I actually liked this one better. I think because it was a little moister and lighter than the chocolate cake.
It was an amazing meal. I was impressed from beginning to end. The food was perfectly delicious and unpretentious and the service was A+ through and through. The best service I've ever had in my life was during RW last year at Charlie Palmer (which was leaps and bounds above any other service I've had) and Pete was giving that a run for it's money. I've already written a lot and I can go on and on but I think you get the idea. :)
The only complaint (other than the overdressing of the wedge salad) was that the restaurant was too loud. I guess it was the acoustics or something but it's hard to hear others talk even when we were in a small table for 4.
I'm glad we lucked out and got to do RW at III Forks. It was more than anything I expected. I would highly recommend this for your RW experience (or just regular dinner and special occasions). And if you are lucky, you'll get Pete as your waiter! Tell him CHOMP! says Hi! hehe.
I'd love to hear about everyone's RW experiences too! Where did you go? What did you order? The good, bad and delicious~ Feel free to leave me some comments!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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