After Dinner Drinks and Dessert

My husband and I had our first date night in probably over 4 months.  Seriously ridiculous.  Following dinner we were having hard time deciding what to do - the movie times weren't looking promising and I couldn't talk him into going bowling - so what did we do instead?  We headed to The Modern to enjoy the exhibit and then have some dessert.
We started off with a "after dinner" cocktail - L'etrusco by Pistoletto: Ultimat Vodka, Bailey, Frangelico, Xo Cafe, Expresso.  Chocolate, Cream, Coffee - really?! A grown up Mudslide - yeah I went there.

Dessert was Cinnamon Peaches and Vanilla Ice Cream with Pound Cake Croutons.  I was a little skeptical when it was brought out.  I could tell immediately that they were forcing the peaches into the dish (not quite ripe enough), but the ice cream is made in house and the pound cake croutons were playful and tasty.  I did ask the bartender where the peaches were from and was at least surprised to find out that he had personally purchased them that morning at the farmer's market, although he was unable to tell me the farm he purchased from.  Had those peaches had time to fully ripen that dish would have been fabulous - it needed the extra sugary juicy goodness from the peaches.
Would I do it again - definitely!

Grace - Fort Worth

Our first visit to Grace was probably a little over a year ago right after our little veggie was born.  We had a Groupon and decided, what the heck, we'll give it a try.  Shocking!  The ambiance is posh, but the people are friendly and the chef is fantastic.
The items on the menu don't rotate like some of the other "local" style restaurants, but because the menu is simple and the items aren't ridiculously off the wall, it's easy for them to seem "in season" all year round.  But, it seems that they did learn that not all Fort Worth locals eat just meat and potatoes.  On our first visit the chef was so kind as to create a vegetarian dish from scratch.  With this last visit there was a vegetarian item on the menu (beside the salad).
I started with the Organic Local Greens (from Tassione Farms in Stephenville, TX) - crispy potatoes, Texas goat cheese and beets.  I know, some guys are afraid of those "local greens", but come on - who can resist a Texas goat cheese and beets.  The salad is worth that alone.  Hubby had the Shaved Asparagus.  This comes topped with something they call the "black hole" - it is a sort of egg, bacon and hash bake.  Shockingly tasty, and he said should have been a dish of it's own.
The veggie dish on the menu is a fresh made Five Cheese Tortellini - english peas, ramps and green onion emulsion.  I thought I could talk the chef into making something "off the menu", so I was slightly disappointed when this came to the table.  First bite taken - disappointed no more.  A great "warm" summer dish that was the perfect balance of both light and heavy.  And not overwhelming, so have no fear I had room for dessert.
One of the guests that joined us got the Meyer Ranch All Natural Beef - grass feed, antibiotic free, no growth hormones.  The fat structure in the beef just seems so unnatural from what we normally see, but it so smooth that you can cut it with a fork.  Sauce choice originally was just good 'ol original horseradish, but the waitress talked him into trying the chef's special preparation of Espresso Horseradish.  If you are a true horseradish connoisseur - steer clear of this - the flavor combination is unlike an other, but not in a good way.

Local Organic Greens

Five Cheese Tortellini

Meyer Ranch All Natural Beef

3 diners, 3 desserts - Warm Chocolate Pudding Cake topped with Henry's organic vanilla bean ice cream - Pain Perdu with butter pecan ice cream, bruleed bananas and salted carmel - Chocolate Walnut Milkshake made with homemade vanilla ice cream, Nochelle and dark Creme de Cacao.  I ordered the milkshake - the best combination of liquor and milkshake around (I drank the whole thing), then I tasted both the other desserts ordered and both were top notch.  But, if I had to put them in order 1. Milkshake, 2. Chocolate Pudding Cake, 3. Pain Perdu.  Would I recommend dessert - heaven's yes.

**Oh and please pardon the picture quality - I don't claim to be a photographer.  But I thought I had better get better about including photos of the meals.

Mini Veggie Joins the Group

Oh my I just saw that the last time I posted to this was 2 years ago!  Seriously, I know this must be wrong.  Well how much can happen in 2 years...  My husband and I know have a 1.5 year old - boy if anyone tries to say that having a kid(s) is a breeze, please just smack them.

So, now that we have added a third mouth to this table, I think I will start to cover some items that we make on a regular basis for the little one.  Of course I treat her like a mini veggie - and so far it's been quite a success.  Although not all the extended family members think this is a good idea (and make those opinions well known).

I'm going to have to spend some serious time updating - we have been to San Fran and had some fabulous food - oh my land of restaurants!  Some restaurants in the Southside have changed and opened and some local regulars have made some serious upgrades.  I am horribly awful about taking pictures - so please forgive - maybe it will give you a reason to go try it for yourself.

Tootles.