Dinner at Whiskey Cake

I love Whiskey Cake - both the dessert and the restaurant where I first enjoyed it. After I had lunch there for the first time several years ago, I knew I had to come back with Kelly.

It's just a shame that it took four years to find a time to go together!

The menu changes seasonally:

But it always features delicious cocktails.

We ordered fried green tomatoes and mesquite-grilled mussels as our appetizer. Both were delicious but Kelly and I agreed that we'd happily order the mussels again, but add a salad to make it a stand-alone meal.

We split the OMG Burger - Onions, Mushrooms and Goodness. They brought it to us on separate plates, very convenient. The house-made potato chips were amazing.

We finished with an order of whiskey cake - get the whipped cream on the side and dab the amount you want as you go.

In case you're wondering, it tastes like this. (This is a very happy satisfied over-the-moon face.)

We also had a bit of fun with the general manager, Tanner, comparing a couple of bottles of classic whiskey. The Colonel Taylor is surprisingly excellent!

Tanner, you're excellent.

Kelly agrees.

At this rate, we almost missed our movie. Almost, not quite.

Speaking of excellent, our server Chad was great. Ask for him when you go in for brunch, lunch or dinner. He knows the menu inside and out and is just a really nice guy.

Kelly couldn't believe we waited so long to go for dinner. It's now on our rotation of places to enjoy around town!

For You, Taste of Poland

Who knew that Polish food has so many commonalities with German and Russian food?

(Maybe anyone who thinks carefully about the back-and-forth history of Eastern Europe.)

Even so, I found the food at Plano's For You, Taste of Poland to be both delicious and familiar - just what I like in homestyle comfort food.

But on an even more "who knew" front, did you know that I'm now writing monthly for Plano Profile magazine? Each month, a colleague and I visit one of Plano's "Hidden Gem" restaurants. Our goal is to showcase the wide variety of food available in Plano as well as the many different cultures that call the city home.

Check out our review of For You, Taste of Poland in the January issue of Plano Profile by clicking here.

Road Food: Kellys Family Farm Stand

Grass fed beef is really good for you. Finding it is a bit more of a challenge.

When I learned that a local family not only sells grass fed beef, but also sells burgers out of a trailer on their ranch, I knew we had to stop.

Kelly Family Farms is about 20 minutes from our house (and less than 15 minutes from our offices - dangerous!). It's little more than a wide spot on the side of the road, but there are plenty of picnic tables and places to park.

If you choose to stay to eat rather than taking to go, each table offers a good view of the countryside. In a growing metroplex, that's tough to find and makes eating there a better choice nearly all the time.

You can have a burger or you can have a cheeseburger. I like keeping things simple. You can also get onions and jalapenos - and you can choose to have those fresh or grilled. I like having options. And by the way, you should always choose to grill if you can...much more flavor that way. But if you don't, I won't judge you. (Too much, anyway.)

There are even "facilities" on site if you need them. Ahem.

Kelly Family Farms was a super fun stop for a burger and we're happy to have a nearby location to buy ground beef when we need it. That's a win-win in our books!

The Long-Awaited Visit to Off-Site Kitchen

We finally found time to stop at Off-Site Kitchen for a burger. I've wanted to go forever, but parking at the original location (little more than a shack near downtown Dallas) was tough.

Backgrounder: Off-Site Kitchen (OSK) started as an off-shoot food stand associated with the meat prep facility for a locally owned restaurant chain. The burgers served were soooooo amazing that the owner decided to move into a new location in Dallas' hip Trinity Groves restaurant development.

(Side note: We totally need a Trinity Groves type development in Plano. Someone work on that, ok?)

When we first tried to go for a burger, OSK wasn't open yet. Fast forward four months and we finally found ourselves downtown with time available for lunch.

The vibe is cool. I didn't take any photos outside because it was windy and cold, but there are picnic tables and a variety of outdoor games.

Inside...cooler after cooler of beer, with el cheapo options as well as local varieties.

Plus a cooler full of fun canned soda and cold candy bars. Just like you might keep them at home back in the day.

The drink station has handmade labels and options from the standard Coke to locally made Oak Cliff sodas.

And a host of other drinks - regular and sweet tea, lemonade, punch and more.

The kitchen is open so you can see everyone at work.

We also spotted three frozen drink machines tucked away - full of frozen adult beverages. We couldn't resist the frozen bourbon coke. Or the Oak Cliff Root Beer. Both were delicious.

And the food. OH YUM.

I only ordered one side of fresh cut russet potato fries. That was a mistake that I won't make again. They were flavorful, crispy, not at all greasy with just the right amount of salt.

I ordered the Green Chile Bacon burger. The meat - 1/3 lb - was amazing. In addition to the bacon and green chile, it came with carmelized onions and muenster cheese.

Kelly ordered the Locals Only burger. It came with mustard (no mayo), American cheese, bacon and jalapenos. He was very very happy.

Now I'm super sad that OSK doesn't have a location further north. Maybe that will change someday soon?

Dive Expedition: Fish Shack

If a little tiny local place that you've driven by for years is named "Best seafood shack outside of New Orleans," you have an obligation to try it out.

At least that's what I think. So that's why Kelly and I went to the Fish Shack in Plano for dinner.

It is tiny and the lines can get long - always a good sign. And there are signs telling you not to grab a table until after you order.

Tables are simple, no frills. Paper towels, every different condiment that you could want - from standard hot sauce to Tabasco to malt vinegar. Plus saltines. Nice.

We ordered a fried basket to share. The fried goods were crisp-tender and not greasy. Yum. The tarter sauce, always an important element for me, was delicious. The fries were ok, but not a style that I prefer. I like thin-crisp fries, these were fat-tender. To each their own.

We also ordered a side of hush puppies. Yum-o. I'd order those again.

Would we go back? Yes - even though street construction in front makes it extremely difficult to get into the parking lot.  Fish Shack isn't the place to go for Cajun cooking, so it's not the best seafood that I've had outside of New Orleans.

However, it is a great place to get a good order of fried catfish and hushpuppies...East Texas style. We've had a hard time finding that since our favorite place in Noonday, Red Acker's, closed. Problem solved. Thanks, Fish Shack!

Dive Expedition: Mumtaz

Kelly's been craving Indian food.

Craving in a must-get-some-soon-or-life-might-end kind of way. 

I didn't want to drive to Richardson (egads...a whole 15 minutes south from Plano!) to our old standby, Kebab and Kurry, so we tried out a new-to-us place that I'd heard good things about, Mumtaz Indian Restaurant.

They have a good-sized buffet table with a good selection of dishes, from sweet to spicy, vegetarian to traditional meats (goat and/or lamb).

Everything was super fresh and flavorful. What's even better is that they offer a buffet at lunch and dinner, weekday and weekend. Tuesdays offer a lower price-point, making it a great day to get your spice on.

But we haven't let a day of the week stop us - we've gone three times now and have been impressed with the variety each time we've been. 

Looks like we don't have to make that drive to Richardson anytime soon...!

Dive Expedition: A Bar and Kitchen

When we were in Cleveland for a conference earlier this fall, my colleague and I enjoyed trying out the local restaurant scene.

One of our favorite places was a true dive that we visited our last night in town. It met every definition of a dive - a sign that you could only see if you wandered down a pothole-filled alley and, because we had a wheelchair in tow, a hidden entrance that the staff directed us to instead of the main stair-laden entrance.

We were rewarded for our crazy find-your-way-in experience with some really great bar food. The menu had a whole section devoted to tots. TOTS!!!! How could I resist the Reuben tots? Not even possible.

My colleague had the burger, which looked so good I wish I had it, too. But I ordered the bacon mac-and-cheese and was not disappointed. Not at all. So creamy. So delicious. So wanting it right now.

I also tried out one of the local brews and learned that the Dortmunder Gold was not my favorite. I guess our Texas craft beers have spoiled my taste buds.

My colleague and I are already planning to go back to A Bar and Kitchen if we go to Cleveland for conference next year. It's just that good of a dive!

Date Night in Plano: Taverna Rossa

Several friends encouraged us to give Plano's Taverna Rossa a try. Sometimes it takes several recommendations to get me to try a new place - that was definitely the case here.

We sat in the bar on a Sunday afternoon and had the pleasant surprise of having the chef act as our server. The bartender, who normally would be on shift, was out that day. There's nothing like having the chef give you dinner recommendations!

So we started with the dinner salad. Homemade croutons FTW!

We split the original supreme pizza. The crust was incredibly tasty (Taverna Rossa obviously excels in bread products) and the toppings were very fresh.

But desserts are where we went completely overboard and I totally blame the chef. I told Kelly that I was full and it would have to be a world-changing dessert to make me eat anything more. The chef heard that and said he had the perfect things for us to try.

The salted caramel bread pudding, he said, was inspired by the memory of eating his grandma's kugel during Passover. Oh.My.Gosh. It did in fact taste just like kugel which is only my absolute favorite thing on the plate at Passover.

We only ate a couple of bites - and all of the accompanying Henry's Ice Cream - before packing it up to take home. He recommended that we fry it up the next morning as French toast. FYI...that was an excellent (and tasty) suggestion.

Kelly couldn't resist the chocolate stout cake - a very moist and tasty cake made with lots and lots of chocolate and stout. Again, we ate a couple of bits and all of the Henry's ice cream and took the rest home. It came with candied bacon as well. In my mind, this was a little over the top but Kelly loved it. Must be a guy thing.

I would totally go back to Taverna Rossa for a meal and a relaxing afternoon. 

College Town Treasure: Varsity Donuts

Wow - this is one that I almost forgot to write about. When we went up to Kansas for the baby sister's wedding, we stayed one night in my hometown before heading to the wedding venue.

Not needing to get on the road super-early meant that we could stop by a donut shop that I'd heard a lot about but never had opportunity to visit: Varsity Donuts.

It's housed in what used to be my favorite place to shop while growing up, the Palace Drugstore. It was a mecca for fun things - food, kitchy gifts, Hallmark cards, stickers...just awesomeness.

But if the Palace had to close, I'm glad that Varsity Donuts came along to fill the space.

They kept the Palace's great floors and display cabinets, filling them with tons of donuts.

And the donut hole display? Cuteness.

I don't think anyone needs to worry about them running out of donuts...

We got an assortment to share and found a window seat to eat and people watch.

An awesome part of college town life in a smaller town is the street scene. I happen to think that Aggieville in Manhattan has some of the best street scene around.

We also feel fortunate that we stopped in when we did. Varsity is obviously a popular place.

The donuts were good - not as good as Hypnotic, but not bad. If we could have heated them slightly they would have been even better. Live and learn. Let's chalk it up to learning for our next visit.

The Local Tour: Visiting 903 Brewers

Kelly and I have always loved factory tours. We love seeing how things are made and understanding the process that it takes to create familiar products.

We also love supporting local businesses, so local business/factory tours are our favorite.

North Texas has experienced an explosion (of sorts) of craft brew companies. We thought it might be fun to try to visit all of the brewers during my (our) next 101 list time frame.

First up: 903 Brewers in Sherman, Texas.

Sherman's not quite local, but as DFW continues its growth march towards Oklahoma, it's starting to feel more and more that way. From Plano, it's an easy hour-ish drive which makes 903 Brewers a nice Saturday afternoon adventure.

We doubted our Google map for a while on our way to the brewing facility as we passed through residential neighborhood after residential neighborhood. Finally, an old industrial park appeared and we knew we'd found the spot.

903 Brewers doesn't really offer a factory tour. You can look at the brewing tanks and you can see the packaging operation, but otherwise it's mostly about a hang-out joint.

By the way, you can enter through the loading dock (like we did) or through a very unassuming door that you're sure isn't the right door but really is the way into the main hang-out space. Oh well. It didn't seem to matter how you got there, as long as you got there.

The interior is very cool and is packed with plenty of places to hang out with your friends - tables, chairs, board games and televisions showing the latest sporting event.

The bar sits in front of a large wall of taps. They'll let you sample (1 oz) and you can buy a half or full pint of anything you'd like.

We quickly learned that 903 brews are really great mixed. While the base beer flavors are good, it's fun to play alchemist and mix and match to build your own special drink. They've suggested several starters and will also do mixes on the fly.

All in all, 903 Brewers is a fun visit. Next time I'd go with a group of friends and plan to spend 2-3 hours hanging out, enjoying an afternoon away from the madness of the metroplex.

In the meantime, we've been able to find an assortment (though not all) of 903 in local grocery stores in Plano. We've been having fun making our own mixes - sharpening our skills! - at home.