Asador: Chef's Harvest Dinner Series - November Edition

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 ~~

Ida Claire

I've been anxiously awaiting the opening of Ida Claire. It's the latest addition to Addison by the owners of Whiskey Cake (one of my favs), Mexican Sugar, and The Ranch in Las Colinas (still on my list to visit). It's got a Southern base.. with some other influences. I love me some Southern food!

Ida Claire
5001 Belt Line Rd.
Dallas, TX 75254
(214) 377-8227
http://ida-claire.com/
Price: $$$-$$$$

Before they even opened, I emailed and made a reservation for a party of 10 for mid August. Instead of going to Restaurant Week this year, I decided to try the many new restaurants in DFW that's on my list. Was anyone else bored by the RW list btw?? They need to add some new places to it... I've already been to most of the ones I wanna go. :-/

We arrived 5 minutes past our reservation. The parking lot was packed so we did the complimentary valet. They got a pretty cool system going too. Instead of giving you a ticket you can lose later, they text you with a link. When you are ready for your car, just follow the directions on the link and the car's waiting for you. No more waiting around the valet stand! Most of our group was already at the bar. And we were seated as soon as we walked in.

The place was packed and very energetic. The decor is very eclectic. Reminded me of Whiskey Cake but even more stuff on the walls, etc. The menu cover looked like a old-style story book. That's cute. It's like Sunday supper at your grandma's. hehe. When you see the food, take notes of some of the plates... very homey and old fashioned.

It took us awhile to chit chat and look through the menu until we finally ordered some appetizers. I was starving!!

Crawfish Corn Fritters (smoked mustard remoulade) $8~ These were yum. Stuffed full of corn and crawfish. The outside was fried nicely. It had a kick to it too... not sure what spice the put in it.

 

Sweet Potato Chip Duck Confit (goat cheese fondue, duck fat gravy, sunny side up duck egg) $11~ 

Totally NOT a fondue... I think that word was misleading. And you know me... I don't like goat cheese. Luckily, it was just in large chunks so I can eat around it. The sweet potato chips were good, but I didn't think it was a good base for the duck (which was tender and tasty). It would've been better on a bed of sweet potato hash or something. It was like weird nachos... But I still liked everything except the goat cheese.

Southern Tasting Board (turducken terrine, southern sausage, farm ham, pimento cheese, smoked mustard, jam, crackers) $13~ I didn't get to try everything but the turducken terrine was tasty! I also tried the pickled okra which was good.

Pecan Wood Roasted Oysters (french quarter butter, bacon, buttered breadcrumbs, wilted kale) $10~ 

You get 5 to an order. I liked the presentation. I'm normally not an oyster fan, but I do prefer them cooked vs raw. These were fantastic! I'd say the best apps we got. It had so much flavor, and lots of texture from the breadcrumbs and bacon. The kale was a nice touch too. I'll certainly eat 2 dozens of these!

On to the entrees. Mostly everyone got something different so lots of pictures to see!

Chicken in a Biscuit (crispy chicken, peppered bacon gravy, spinach, roasted tomato, sunny egg) $10~ 

 

This is definitely a "knife & fork biscuit" as stated by the menu. This was mine. Since it's a Southern restaurant I really wanted to try the fried chicken and gravy... and biscuits. hahaha. It was huge!!! The egg on top was nice and runny once I cut into it. It was delicious. 

All the elements were great and the kale salad on the side was a nice refreshing compliment. The biscuit was fluffy (I only made it through the bottom half). The chicken was moist and nicely fried. I wish the gravy had a bit more pepper. But honestly, ever since I had the sausage gravy at Jacob's Pickles in NYC, nothing else has yet to live up to it. XP I got some tabasco and the dish was complete. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

My fiance got the Tea Braised Pork Shank (whipped celery root mash, brussels sprouts, tomato, lardons, spiced tea gravy) $18~ 

Actually, I told him to get this. hahaha. But he loved it. The shank was huge and suuuuper fork tender. It just slid off the bone. Loved the brussels sprouts, of course. We took almost half of this to go!

BBQ Shrimp (gulf shrimp, Orleans BBQ butter, mirliton slaw, spiced mustard remoulade) $13~ Another knife and fork biscuit. Looked great!

Blackened Shrimp Frisee (gulf shrimp, pickled garlic, asiago, white anchovy, bacon vinaigrette) $13~ I got a bite of this... the vinaigrette was really good!

Bird of Paradise (pecan grilled half chicken, wild mushrooms, kale, cipollinis, local peas, hen jus) $14~ The skin on that bird looked amazing! I loved the color contrast on the plate too. Didn't get to try but was told it's good.

Chicken & Waffles (crispy 1/4 chicken, cornmeal waffle, chicory coffee maple syrup, hot sauce butter, chili dusted watermelon) $12~ The 1/4 chicken seemed a bit small after seeing all the other dishes. haha. My friend said it was really good.

Shrimp & Grits (Texas prawns, lardons, gristmill parmesan grits, sauce piquant) $18~ Apparently recommended by the bartender. My friend loved it. Cleaned his plate. It did look mighty tasty.

Wagyu Sirloin Steak (8 oz. A Bar N Wagyu, cast iron ponzu okra salad, wild mushrooms, shallot, ginger pan jus) $26~ I got a bite of the steak. Cooked well, really tender. Yummy mushrooms too.

Pimento Mac N' Cheese $4~ So. Freaking. Good. The pasta was cooked well. It wasn't smothered in cheese. One of my favorites of the night.

Brussels & Blistered Tomatoes $5~ I didn't eat this since my fiance had brussels sprouts in his dish. I'm assuming they're about the same.

Going in, I knew I had to save room for dessert because I already knew which cake I wanted. haha. But my entree was so good I ate all of it... But still, dessert!

Ida's Vice Cake (stout cake, tobacco simple syrup, coffee buttercream, smoked-candied bacon, ganache) $7~ 

 

OMG... just look at this. It's beautiful. And I love sweet and savory so I was very excited. First bite, I went for the back side where the bottom was decorated with bacon bits. The cake was moist, the coffee buttercream was smooth and the ganache was oh so good. The bacon? Super smokey... which is good I guess. But it really wasn't doing the cake any flavors. It can do without the bacon actually. It's plenty good on its own, the bacon flavor actually overwhelms it. But luckily the bacon doesn't cover the entire cake. So not completely what I expected but still very good. I'd eat it again.

Bartender's Cake (butter cake, spiced pecans, brown sugar cream cheese frosting) $7~ Good, but the chocolate cake was better. The cream cheese frosting on this though... on point! I can just eat that on its own. haha.

I wish they had a few more dessert options but I guess 2 is good too, so I wouldn't want to order too much. haha. It was a great meal, and lovely time catching up with friends. I will definitely be back. Yummy food, big portions, cool ambiance and good service. I've heard the cocktails are good too... and strong.

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~