Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

I think I have found my favorite new restaurant of this year. Harvest in downtown McKinney just opened in late September 2014. I was first told by my old boss, who is also a big foodie, of this up and coming place. I checked out the website immediately and was excited to try it. McKinney is pretty damn far... but we were headed there for a group event this past weekend so I knew I wanted to stop in for dinner.

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen
112 E. Louisiana St.
McKinney, TX 75069
(214) 726-0251
http://harvesttx.com/
Price: $$$

My friends and I were scheduled to do a BYOB painting class at Wild Brush Studios at 7PM last Saturday. So I wanted to go get an early dinner before the class. My boss said he's been trying to go for awhile but they are always booked. Luckily it was an earlier dinner for us so we were able to get 4 people in at 5:30PM.

It's located right in downtown McKinney, which is such a cute place btw. You should take an afternoon and go check it out sometime. The place is super cute, large doors at the entrance were all open which leads into a covered "patio" area with chair swings, etc. Then you walk into another door to the main dining area. I loved the decor. Rustic, homey, but sophisticated. Brick walls, wood planks, wood tables, and wild flowers on the tables. The water glasses are like the recycled wine bottles. They had just opened up one of their new rooms the day we went so we got to sit in there. It was nice because it was smaller and less noisy.

While we were waiting on our friends, the waitress came by, brought us some waters. And introduced their cocktail menu. They offer these infused cocktails with flavors like blueberry and basil infused vodka, or charred peach infused bourbon which sounds interesting.

My fiance ordered the Harvest Cocktail (cinnamon and vanilla bean infused vodka, pineapple, lime juice) $11~ 

I thought the combination of flavors was quite unique. I wouldn't really think of putting pineapple and vanilla together. It was too strong for me and not sweet enough but I'm a super lightweight. He liked it. You can actually taste all the elements though, I thought that was cool.

Since we had a limited time to eat, we decided to order the Catfish & Hush Puppies (bacon, cabbage, brussels sprouts, chow chow tartar sauce) $10~ before our friends arrived. 

 

They were running late. I loved the presentation of this on the wood board. It was fantastic. The catfish was fried perfectly, crunchy on the outside and melt in your mouth tender on the inside. My favorite was the hush puppies though, not sure what the used to season it but it had a lot of flavor. And paired really well with the cabbage/brussels sprouts slaw and tartar sauce. Deeeeelicious!

Bread Basket (multigrain, sweet bread, corn bread madeleines). 

 

The waitress brought us some bread, all baked in house I believe. They were all good but the sweet bread was best. Slightly sweet, took me by surprise since I thought it was just regular white bread at first. They also had a corn bread madeleine. I enjoyed it, but it's not as good as the ones they used to have at Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen... (just thinking about them closing make me wanna cry!) :(

Deviled Eggs (Texas pecans, pickled mustard seed, pickled red onions) $5~ 

Our friends ordered this. The presentation was super cute as well. Using the egg cartons as the vessels for the eggs. Good way to reuse materials! I know it's a big bite, but I recommend eating the whole thing in one bite. It was fantastic. So many different flavors and textures. The candied pecan was such an interesting twist! It added sweetness and a crunch factor. The pickled elements had a slight tartness, the egg was savory and the yolk was creamy. I think it hit every flavor profile. I'd eat this again in a heartbeat!

They also shared a Kale Salad (goat cheese, candied pecans, cranberry, oat groats, lemon vinaigrette). The kitchen went ahead and split the plates for them. (Picture shows half size.)

For the entree I got the Farm Egg & Griddled Wheat (fried egg, griddled wheat cake, roasted butternut squash, mushroom) $15~ 

Everything looked good on the menu but the griddled wheat and butternut squash won me over on this. I was curious to see what griddled wheat cake was. The waitress kind of compared it to a polenta cake where it's shaped then cooked on the griddle. But the texture was definitely not like polenta. It was almost a more dense and compact form of savory bread pudding? Cutting into the egg and letting the yolk drip down was awesome. And whatever that gravy/sauce is on the plate with the butternut and mushrooms paired it beautifully. It was bigger than I expected and totally filling. Something I've never had before and I'm glad I got to try something new! Will order again!

Braised Beef Belly (red wine and tomato braise, mashed red skin potatoes, herbs) $25~ 

My fiance ordered this. It was also in my list of options. Anything "braised" or with "belly" is usually a winner in my books. He subbed the mashed potatoes for the Sweet Potato Hash. It was so good. The meat was super tender. A little too fatty for him, but I loved it. The red wine/tomato sauce on top had so much flavor. And I have to say... the sweet potato hash gave the main protein a run for it's money. It was cooked perfectly, had lots of flavor, and there were chunks of beef in there. Really really tasty.

One friend ordered the Flat Iron (broccolini, horseradish and parsnip cream, balsamic) $25~ 

When the dish came, the food was lukewarm. She mentioned it to the waitress and she immediately apologized and brought her a new one. She ordered it medium well which is too overcooked for me, but the meat was still really tender!

The other friend got the Chicken Fried Buffalo (squash gratin, mashed sweet potato, sage sausage gravy) $18~ 

I was curious about this too. I liked the batter/crust on the buffalo. I ate my bite with some of the mashed sweet potato and actually thought it was too sweet! I felt the sweet potato overpowered the other flavors a little. But I can probably eat the sweet potato on its own and love it. However, the squash gratin, which was served separately on the side in a little mini cast iron pot was the winner of the night. It was so velvety and luxurious. I think the waitress said it was a mix of 2 different types of squash... I forget which. I think I'll just take a bowl of this next time. :P

Since our class was at 7... we were already running late. That means no time for dessert. But I had already planned on picking up Emporium Pies to take into the class with us anyways. So it was dine and dash! Next time I will certainly set aside more time to enjoy the food and ambiance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dinner even though it was rushed. I loved the decor and mood of the place. I also liked that you saw the open kitchen as you walk through the restaurant to the restrooms in the back. The service was fantastic. Smiles and welcomes as soon as we walked in. The food is wonderfully presented and all tasted great. Their concept is creating relationships with the community and environment. The menu is seasonal and feature organic, local and regional ingredients. They listed all the artisans, farmers, ranchers, growers, and fishermen that provided the goods in the back of the menu. I thought that was totally cool. I've heard their style of food being called "modern Texas cuisine"... I'm not sure if this is a fairly new term, but it's new to me. :P

I also wanted to mention The Seed Project. They gave us these little cards with our check. The waitress came by and explained it to us a little bit and told us that if we plant this card, flowers will grow! How cool!

 

The Seed Project is an initiative aimed at highlighting the importance of sustainability. The soon-to-be foundation funds education and agriculture initiatives that support sustainable farming. The project raises funds through the ‘Harvest Collection’ – a series of art celebrating farms, ranches and artisans in the area, the sale of seasonal ‘Harvest’ candles, the sale of our ‘One Heart Texas’ wine and seasonal harvest dinners, the first seasonal dinner will be December 22, 2014.

Harvest dinner dates:

Spring harvest: March 19th
Summer harvest: June 25th
Fall harvest: September 23rd
Winter harvest: December 22nd

I'm definitely going to try and attend some of these dinners! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Chef in Blue

Recently I got a recommendation for a crepe place in Frisco. I haven't gone to the Frisco area for a while now and I don't really know what new places popped up. I happened to schedule a dinner last Friday night with 2 of my friends so I suggested we go try Chef in Blue.

Chef in Blue
4710 Preston Road, Suite 312
Frisco, TX 75034
(469) 252-0486
http://chefinblue.com/
Price: $

It's located in a strip mall. Just look for Cedars Woodfire Grill when turning in. It's a small cafe type restaurant. Not too fancy on the decor but I did like all the large pictures of their food. Everything looked delicious. I was the first to arrive so I was looking over the menu. The guy at the register was very friendly and made some suggestions and answered my questions. I was told that the had a pumpkin crepe that wasn't on the menu so I asked him about it. It sounds like it's a new addition and they might put it on the menu soon? As you know, I'm obsessed with pumpkin so I already decided that was going to be my dessert. :P

Everything looked good on the menu. It was very hard to make a decision... We all got different things. Yay! More stuff for me to try. haha.

Specialty Crepes:
Latina (baked chicken, ham, spinach, pineapples, mozzarella, honey Dijon dressing) $8.75~ Their crepes are huge!! Completely stuffed with fresh ingredients. My friends really liked this one. It was good, but I didn't care for the honey dijon dressing. I liked the other crepe better.

 

Savory Crepes:
Spinach, Potatoes, Mushroom, and Cheese Crepe (with choice of cheese) $6.80~ Plus Ham +$1.90~ My other friend ordered this. He ended up liking the Latina better. I liked this one better... especially the cubes of potatoes in there. It's like a breakfast crepe almost. Again, stuffed to the brim. My friend finished it, but he was pretty full after.

 

Chef Combos:
Sandwich or Panini/Salad Combo (1/2 sandwich or panini with a small garden salad) $5.75~ I got the Roast Beef Chimichurri Panini (choice of white or multigrain ciabata with Swiss cheese, roasted beef, chimichurri sauce, fresh tomato and mayonnaise). 

 

I chose the multigrain and also added spinach in there. I knew I was getting dessert so I wanted to keep it light. It was just the right amount. I loved the panini. The multigrain had extra texture from the grains/seeds in the bread. It was pressed nicely where the outside had a crunch. The ingredients were all fresh. I didn't really taste the chimichurri, which was my main reason for getting this, but it didn't even matter. It was delicious. I was actually getting full after this.

We got 2 Dessert Crepes between the 3 of us:
Pumpkin Pie Crepe (pumpkin pie filling, cinnamon, whipped cream, topped with ice cream) $7.75~ 

This was yummy. And quite big as well. Not as big as the savory crepes though. The first few bites along the edges I didn't get much of the pumpkin, but the middle was filled with it. The pumpkin had so much flavor. The added cinnamon and ice cream was the perfect pairing. One of my friends didn't care for pumpkin so he didn't really have any of this. My other friend was too full, so I think I ate about 3/4ths of this myself. XP AND I ate part of theirs!

Apple Cinnamon (brown sugar, fresh apples, caramel,topped with whipped cream) $7.75~ Plus ice cream +$1~ This was pretty good. The apples were cooked down a little so they're softer to eat with the crepe which was good. I liked my pumpkin one better but both were good.

We were all so stuffed after. It's a lot of food! And all so yummy. The quality of the ingredients were all nice and fresh. It wasn't really heavy either. We just overstuffed ourselves. haha. The service was really great too. You order at the counter and they bring it out to you, but during the course of our meal, they came out to check on us, ask how the food is, etc. I will definitely be back in the future. Go check them out! Help them stay in business!! And thanks to my friend for the recommendation! :)

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

First Ever Chipotle Cultivate Festival

Last last weekend was the first ever Chipotle Cultivate Festival. It was held at Lake Carolyn in Irving on Saturday, October 18. And the best part? Admission is free!

I first found out about this festival when I went to pick up some dinner at Chipotle. They had a poster up. Food festival? Free? And FOOD?!? I'm soooo there! I immediate looked it up online and sent the info to all my friends to let them know about it. I also told my fiance we were not to schedule anything else for that day! haha.

Other than the reasons I've already presented... I was super excited because there were also chef cooking demos and the line-up was fantastic.

First up was Chef Paul Qui from Austin. I love this guy. I first cheered for him on Top Chef Texas, which he won. Woot! Then I was lucky enough to dine at his restaurant (Qui) over Christmas last year and got to meet him!! Can you tell I'm a fan?? haha. And he is just the nicest guy ever. He made Filipino Squid Adobo. 

I haven't had much Filipino food in my lifetime but I'd really love to try. But I do love baby squid, my mom used to cook it a lot when I was young. It looked so good. I wish it was one of those demos where the audience could sample the finished product... Oh well. After the demo, people lined up to take pictures with him. Of course I was there! I got my picture. And better yet, he signed my CHOMP! shirt. *Squeal* Oh and did I mention that my fiance was actually wearing the shirt? hehehe. I know I got a good one when he lets other dudes sign his chest. :P So the day started off really well. I was super psyched to check out the rest of the festival.

After the demo, we walked around for a bit. They had several areas set up with different exhibits and demos. You can learn about fresh vs. processed foods, GMO (genetically modified organisms), how livestock is raised in factories vs. those that are responsibly raised and more. The festival was created by Chipotle to celebrate food that is "responsibly raised, skillfully prepared and delightfully enjoyed." It's such an awesome way to spread awareness for better processes and ingredients for food.

I was hungry so we went to find some lunch. There wasn't that many options for food, but they all sounded really yummy.

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen (a new concept of Chipotle) 
Meatball Bowl (Jasmine rice, green curry, green papaya slaw, herb salad, charred green beans with chili jam & crispy garlic) $6~ 

My fiance got this. I wanted to try it too. I absolutely loved it. The meatballs were super tender, and that green curry was delicious. It had a spicy kick to it too. The papaya slaw on top added a crunch and freshness to it. It was the best dish of the day, in my opinion. It was a little too spicy for him though, he ended up liking my kale salad more. Seriously though, we totally need a ShopHouse in Dallas (currently there's only 2 or 3 states in the US that has it)!!

Kale Salad (Baby kale, roasted corn-escabeche, crumbled cotija, crispy tortillas, and chipotle-honey vinaigrette; Choice to add grilled steak) $7~ 

I'm loving the whole kale craze because I think it's a great vegetable and so good for you too. It was a little salty... I think they were a little heavy handed with the cotija. I do like the steak addition, it had a lot of flavor. Overall it was good, lots of textures and flavors. But the meatball bowl was better.

Sofritas® Tacos (Sofritas® organic tofu, in soft corn tortillas with fresh tomato salsa, Romaine lettuce and shredded cheese) 2 for $6~ 

A friend of mine got this. I have to say, it looked a bit sad. Other than the lettuce and hot sauce, I didn't see anything else. I tried a bite. The tofu was cut into little teeny tiny pieces and I really couldn't get much of it at all. I wonder if their chicken taco was better...

Next, we moved on to the Artisan's Hall. There were many local vendors showcasing and selling their products. More food! Yay! hehe. A lot of the products looked yummy, but I had to choose one... I was already a little full.

Texas Honeybee Guild
Whipped Honey (cinnamon) $9~ I've never even heard of whipped honey but it sounds cool! My fiance said he's had them before and it's awesome. So he got a jar of the cinnamon one. I tried it when we got home and it's pretty tasty. And I'm not even a huge fan of honey!

Pop Star Handcrafted Popsicles
Cucumber Lemon Mint $3~ He also got a popsicle. Personally I would've opted for the strawberry lemonade flavor but I had my eyes set on a different vendor. The cucumber popsicle definitely tasted like its listed ingredients. It wasn't too sweet and was very refreshing. He really liked it. That combo isn't for me...

Butterfield Gourmet
Chocolate Pie Slice (topped with whipped cream) $5~ I got a slice of pie. It looks so ooey gooey, I just had to try it. Yummers! The filling was dense and gooey. A bit too sweet for my friends but I liked it. I wish I had some ice cream or milk though. The bottom of the pie had kind of caramelized so it was even sweeter during a few bites. It's definitely very decadent. Thumbs up.

 

They also featured several other businesses that have partnered up with Chipotle for the event. One of them was Tabasco! Holla. Shout out to one of my favorite hot sauces. And I'm traditional, just the original flavor for me thanks. All the mini sample bottles were so cute!

Then it was time for the next chef demo I was waiting for... Matt McCallister of FT33. The hottest restaurant in Dallas right now I'd say. And I agree, I think it's probably the best restaurant in town. 

I was lucky enough to go to a special event there with my friend and got to eat a 3 course meal prepared by the chef. I ate lamb! I never eat lamb because I don't like the flavor, but his dish, I cleaned it. That's a VERY big deal. We got to the tent after it had already started so I wasn't sure what he was preparing. It was a porridge of some sort? But using different grains/oats that I wasn't as familiar with. He showcased his knowledge on a variety of ingredients. And the final product looked delicious. I also got a picture with him and he also signed the CHOMP! shirt! :) Wheeeeee!

After the demo, we hit up Ben & Jerry's. Another partner business and one of my all time favorite ice cream brands. They were giving out free samples! Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

It was soooo chocolatey and decadent. I pretty much love all their flavors and their creative names. I would LOVEEEE to work for Ben & Jerry's some day. :P
The next chef demo we watched was Chef Kent Rathbun, a big name in the culinary world (especially Dallas). Most of you have probably heard of his restaurants Abacus and/or Jasper's. 

He also owned Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen which was my favorite restaurant in Dallas for the past many years. I found out this year that it closed down. :( I was devastated... He was demoing chili, but not your typical ground beef stuff, this was giant chunks of choice steak. When the breeze came through, you can smell the aroma. OMG! Salivating! We can definitely tell that he's more seasoned in doing demos because he seemed very comfortable on the stage and talking to the audience. Afterwards, I got to ask him about Blue Plate Kitchen and he told me to "stay tuned", things are in the works. That cheered me up some. I can't wait to see what he's going to do next.

It was a great day. The festival was going on til 7PM but we left around 3:45PM. Amanda Freitag was going on next, but we missed her... She's frequently featured on Food Network's Chopped as a judge and also competed on the Next Iron Chef. I wish I could've met her. I love all those shows.

I would say the festival went very well. It was well organized, all the people/volunteers were very friendly. They featured great food, information, demos, and oh yea, live music! There were multiple bands playing on the stage throughout the day. So a little bit of everything for everyone. :) I definitely look forward to next year's event. I would love to see them add more to the chef's demo list and also more vendors in the Artisan's Hall!

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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~