Dallas Dining: Dough

This post is very much over-due, but I couldn't let it go any longer! The opening of Dough has been all over Twitter, and I was going to try to make it. I had to attend a City Council meeting that night, but luckily, we were out of there quickly!

We waited at the bar after making a reservation, but only briefly. (I would have made one in advance had I known I would definitely be going.) We ordered two glasses of wine on a seemingly random wine list, then were seated shortly after. We were fortunately enough to be seated next to the prep area, and as we sat down, noticed the oven!

Evidently, both the San Antonio and Dallas locations ordered their ovens from Napoli, in order to have TRUE napoleon pizza. Great idea, guys!

We ordered a small salad, which was nothing to write home to mom about. The pizzas we ordered, however, were incredible!

We ordered a fontina and mushroom pizza, and a regular margarita. You HAVE to try a place's margarita pizza - it's the standard. Both were excellent, down to the yeasty, soft crust. Good, quality ingredients.

Then...was dessert. As we had been sitting behind the small wall of glass, we noticed a few tables had ordered a particular dessert. Come to find out it was a nutella panino.

Holy crap, it was incredible! They sandwiched nutella and marshmallows between house-made bread, then grilled it and served it with whipped cream and homemade caramel. TO DIE FOR.

I would go back for the dessert alone.

Food Trucking: Enticed

In the heat of summer, sometimes the only remedy is more... No, not cowbell.

Snow cones!

Dallas is not blessed to have a ton of good snow cone places, which gives the Enticed truck a good amount of market share. This 'food' truck does many private parties, but we happened to catch them on a extremely hot night. (I apologize for the terrible android photos in the twilight!)

I enjoyed the HUGE snow cone we ordered, but would have enjoyed it more if I didn't have to throw away a portion of it because I couldn't finish it all. See, they had run out of small or regular cups, so therefore you weren't going to get a snow cone if you didn't order a large, which could have been renamed as MANSIZE.
That aside, our sugar free Tiger's Blood snow cone was decent. The ice was a good texture, but it didn't hold the liquid as well as a 'gourmet' snow cone would be expected to. I was appreciative of the sugar free flavor selection, though, so there are bonus points to be had.

Result:Customer Service: 8
Taste of snow cone: 7
Price: 4

Thursday Wear

Another 'outfit' post, this time with eye makeup! I wore this on Thursday, when I thought I was going to get my haircut after work. My hair stylist was sick, so it was all for naught.

Jacket: H&M | Shirt: August Silk via Nordstrom Rack | Trousers: Banana Republic
Earrings: The Limited | Bracelet: H&M | Shoes: BCBG | Makeup: Tartan collection by MAC

Eye makeup: Tartan collection by MAC in Naked Lunch,
Silverwear and Magic Moor | Earring: hammered metal from The Limited

Embellishment on the shirt

I hope my work wear isn't too boring! I seem to wear some of the same pieces over and over, but I think those must be the best. I'm looking forward to fall/winter. I adore clothes made for those seasons.

How to Find a Doctor's Email Address {Quote}

I'm doing something nerdy. I'm taking a late lunch, and reading a public health book. And now, in my nerd-dom, I will share something with you from my reading.

In The Empowered Patient by Elizabeth Cohen (CNN Senior Medical Correspondent), Elizabeth goes over several important things regular Americans need to know when choosing, dealing, and keeping a doctor or other medical assistance professional. {I can call her Elizabeth because I've met her. She hosted a plenary at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Institute in February.} The particular chapter I'm reading about concerns finding a specific doctor, and tips on doing it quickly. I wanted to share an excerpt with the blogosphere:

How to Find a Doctor's Email Address
1. Google the doctor. An email address might just pop up.
2. If the doctor works at a university or a hospital, see if the email address is listed on the university's website.
3. If the doctor's email address isn't there, look at how other names on the university's or hospital's website are listed, such as john.smith@university.edu or jsmith@hospital.com and try the doctor's name using that format.
4. Use Google Scholar to see if the doctor has written any articles in medical journals. The author's email address is usually listed in these articles.

Good advice, huh? Some of these are no-brainers, but when you're desperate, sometimes you forget your street smarts. I'd also add a fifth option. Ask your other doctors. If you're looking for a surgeon in a particular hospital, why not ask another doctor in that same hospital for their contact information? I've used that method for nonprofit work, not medical care, and it's worked before. It's worth a shot.

Okay, I'll now step out of my nerd-dom and get back to work.

Food Trucking: Nammi Truck

It's time for another Food Trucking blog post! An evening last week we went to have dinner at the Nammi Truck, which was parked on the corner of Montfort Drive and Belt Line in a Walgreen's parking lot in Addison. We had heard about the Vietnamese @NammiTruck on Twitter, and decided to go try some of their fare.

Nammi Truck

Menu on the blackboard

 After checking our their modest menu, written on a chalkboard affixed to one end of their truck, we decided on a chicken rice bowl, a traditional barbecue pork bahn mi sandwich, and two lemonades. Check out that option for adding pate to your dish! After we paid {VIA iPHONE!}, we were handed our lemonades; however, these were no ordinary lemonades. They were BASIL lemonades! In my opinion, it was the best thing I had!

My BBQ Pork Bahn Mi

Michael's Chicken Rice Bowl

I would definitely go again, especially for that basil lemonade. They also had a few homemade sauces - cilantro cream and spicy mayonnaise - to add to your rice bowl or sandwich. Great job, Nammi!
Result:Customer Service: 9
Taste of Bahn Mi/Rice Bowl/Lemonade: 7.5
Price: 7

Fashion?

A few of the blogs I follow, like Shertown Studios (Best Friend!) and Adored Austin (Home State Love!), have a significant fashion vibe. The example has been set. I'm going to try a 'What I Wore Today' style blog post. This is the outfit I wore a few weeks ago to work and then dinner afterwards. Enjoy?

Top: J Crew | Belt: Target | Skirt: Target | Shoes: BCBG
 Watch: Fossil | Bracelet: H&M

Black Pearl Earrings: Gift from Husband

So there it is! My 'fashion' post! Complete with items from Target. :)

Typographical Boston - Pinterest

I thought I'd quickly share something I found via Pinterest.

via xianhurley.com

I've only had it for a day, but I like this Pinterest. Thanks, Natalie! Check it out sometime, then tell me about it.
Also, I LOVE Boston.

Chicago On My Mind...and My Feet

Last night after dinner Michael and I got started on planning our trip to Chicago for our third anniversary. We began by going to shoe shop for site-seeing sneakers. Yes, we each already have a pair of sneakers in our closet, but who can say no to a NEW pair, dedicated to roaming the streets of Chicago? Not this girl. So, after browsing a few stores, I decided on a pair of bright yellow and grey Puma Speeders. Michael unfortunately left empty-handed, but we still have about three weeks to go until our flight leaves.

After making a consumer-fueled purchase, we moved on to the more practical. We headed to the Half Price Books in Richardson, the one that's been recently remodeled. I'm not sure what it looked like before, but I'm glad it looks the way it does now. (Similar to the store on Northwest Highway.) We browsed the Travel section for a few minutes before finding a Moon Metro Guide. I'm usually a Lonely Planet or Frommer's type buyer, but this guide had so many detailed, laminated, fold-out maps, I had to get it. Also, it gives you an idea about which train to take to each area of town. Since we won't be renting a car this time (eek!), which we don't usually travel without, we'll be relying heavily on public transit. Sounds like an adventure to me... :)

The spoils of our journey:

Shoes and Guide

Dinner from Japan, Reading About Mississippi

Tonight Michael decided to make me dinner, since I'm feeling under the weather. (I blame Ry and Natalie, who I'm sure sent this my way ON PURPOSE.) Because it's my favorite dish he makes, Michael spent two hours making fried rice, complete with his garlic compound butter and shrimp.

Michael's Famous Fried Rice



He also tried to replicate the ginger salad dressing from many of our favorite Japanese restaurants. It turned out well, and we jarred up a few more salad's worth to keep in the fridge.

Iceburg and carrots dressed with ginger dressing.

Since my favorite-ever boss, Natalie, gave me the ultimatum last week, "Hey, have you read The Help? You should read it, and we'll see it at the theater when it comes out," I've been up to my elbows in southern black maids, iced tea and grumpy, drunk senators. It usually takes me at least a month to read a novel, but I've had a fire under me to get it finished. She is my boss, after all. So far it's a decent read, but it makes me wonder what a white, middle-aged woman knows about the black servants of the civil rights era, especially enough to write a book. I'm all for empathy, but not for enthusiastic scare tactics. But then again, if it wasn't written by an actual maid, then I'm not sure I would trust it anyway. So, mute point. After reading about 60% of the book, I'd give it 3.5 of 5 stars. I'm hoping to see the movie with Natalie later on this week or this weekend.

On another note, there are only 3 weeks until we leave for Chicago! I'm excited to be taking this trip, which will be the first trip we've taken since our honeymoon without family or friends. With that being said, I'll take suggestion on food, sites, activities now. :)

Fancy New Updated Look

Check it out!
I have given my blog an update, and tried to simplify.
Thoughts?

On another note, I noticed I use a TON of labels. A label for each outing, food-ism, etc. Does that say something about me? OCD? Colors in the lines?

Enjoy your weekend, folks!

Can I Just Say

Blogger is being weird today!
Anyone else think so?

Onion Soup

Last Sunday Michael and I began making a dish we've been wanting to make since last month when we had it in the restaurant: Thomas Keller's onion soup! We had it at his Bouchon in Las Vegas, and couldn't get it out of our minds since.

Thus, we opened our copy of the Bouchon cookbook, and read through the 6-page recipe. We grabbed the ingredients around lunchtime, and sat down to the finished soup at 11:00pm. What took so long? Making the beef stock from bones, caramelizing the onions for 4 hours, among other things.

The product was an exact replica, and was incredible! Enjoy these photos!

Beef bones from Central Market (free!)

Onions, sliced juuuust right.

The finished product, complete with toasts.

Bittersweet: Flowers

Texas Dining: Chez Roux

The last week in July I went to a conference in Montgomery, Texas, on Lake Conroe. I haven't been to this area of Texas many times, mainly because it's near Houston, and not Austin or San Antonio. Along the Interstate 45 drive, there are few stops worth making, and I'd argue there aren't any to my knowledge. Some folks would argue that Buc-ee's the infamous (glorified?) gas station is worth stopping by. Not in my mind. Also, we stopped at a Texas Burger to have a bite, and I wasn't thrilled with the result.

There's a shining star in this story, however. During our trip, we ate at Chez Roux, which houses a Michelin-stared chef. Their Web site states that Chez Roux "was created by Chef Albert Roux, a revered name in the international restaurant world. Chez Roux is his first-ever American establishment and offers a contemporary French menu with heavy emphasis on local and fresh products. Chef Roux and Executive Chef Gray bring their exceptional cuisine to La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa." Sounds fabulous. And it was!

Here are some photos of my food, eaten next to a wall of windows, lakeside, while the sun was setting.

Petite Fours, served with coffee.

Rooster motif. (Pardon the side view.)

My Dish

My dinner was a green salad, dressed simply; green peppercorn-glazed duck with asparagus, cheddar polenta cake and roasted peach; a malbec; and a plate of petite fours with strong coffee. Delicious!

Food Trucking in Dallas

Austin has always been cool. To me at least. Austin has a lot going for it - nature, outdoorsy activities, unique shopping, and FOOD. In the past 10 years, Austin has been collecting and growing it's food truck scene, as have other large, 'cool' cities in the United States. Dallas is just now catching up. Within the last 6 months Dallas has adopted an ordinance allowing for mobile food units, aka Food Trucks. Go Dallas! It's about time.

Originally I heard about this news on Twitter. I came across a food truck reporting twitter feed, and the rest was history. Original Source: @BigDFoodTrucks
D Magazine is trying to catch up. End of story.

First Round
Il Cane Rosso "Food Truck" - Wood-oven grilled pizzas
I'm not sure who first tweeted about this "food truck," but it is definitely a "Portable Oven." It even says that on the Il Cane Rosso's Web site. So, that's was a letdown when we arrive on a weeknight to the Sigel's parking lot on Greenville. They were parked outside under the awning of the liquor and spirits store. We were told by the oven workers to go inside for a quick wine tasting, then peruse their menu before ordering. Once inside, the wine tasting folk told us they only had 4 dough balls left, and could only make that many more pizzas. With no wine in hand, we rushed back to the cash register to order a pizza quickly. Once we ordered, we started making conversation with the Pizza Maker and Manager. I said I was thrilled to come try the pizza and didn't know it existed before hearing about them on Twitter. The pizza maker asked if we wanted the dough recipe. We said sure. He said, "It's water, flour, salt and yeast," or something to that effect. I replied that's how pizza doughs are usually made, but I'd need the proportions in order to make it correctly. He said "yeah right" and went on making our pizza. Attitude much?
We went back inside to get away from Tacky the Pizza Maker, and looked over the selection of pear and raspberry liqueurs. I looked up after a while and the Oven Manager was holding up my pizza and shaking it towards us. No one came in to let us know it was ready. So after being told to go in, quickly pay, harassed about dough, etc., I was finished with Il Cane Rosso. Maybe I insulted them by saying I'd never heard of them, but that was no cause for rudeness. Plus, the pizza was overpriced and nothing fantastic.
Result:
Customer Service: 2
Taste of Pizza: 6
Price: 3

Stay tuned for the next Food Truck I try!

Change.

“Sunrise” by Georgia O’Keefe


"Change means that what was before wasn't perfect. People want things to be better."
Esther Dyson

Things are changing. We are changing. We should be honest with ourselves and know when something needs to change. But that is hard. Hurtful. Tearful. But it's necessary to move on, and live life.

I'd say live and let live.
Somethings are worth saving.