Welcome to my evening as Stephan Pyles. As you can tell from the post title, you need to get there immediately. The service and food were impeccable. We have been to several fine dining establishments before but I do not hesitate to say this was the most consistently best tasting food and wonderful service we've experienced. We decided to opt for the ten course tasting menu, me with wine pairing Travis without. He got the tower of tequila and the mojito instead. I will say while the wine pairing was fantastic, it was not the best ever and it was not always timely. That is a very very very small complaint, considering how incredible the rest of the evening was.
We started with amuse bouche (to get your palate ready for the meal) but I didn't think to take a picture. Trust me, it was fun and tantalizing.
Sorry the pictures are crappy. I was snapping them with my iphone in a hurry in order to not make a scene. Who are we kidding, I was too excited to dive into the food to take a good picture, and you'll see that with some of the courses more than others.
Our first of ten courses. Quatro ceviches. From left to right, salmon with capers, green olives, and jalapenoes (intense, delicious). Scallops with Aji Mirasol and Orange. Kampachi with guanabana and agave nectar (sweet, unlike any other ceviche I've ever had). Striped bass with avocado and tomatillo (this most mild but had a great flavor none the less).
One of the breads we were served through out the night. Balsamic, caramelized onion scone. It was very dense, but very tasty. Such a great flavor.
Charred tomato and eggplant soup with crab crouquetta. Sorry, I took a bite before I took a picture. It was worth it though. Imagine this with a fried crap cake and a dollop of creme fresh. I love the flavor of roasted tomato so this was delicious to me!
Almond gazpacho with lobster, vanilla-roasted fennel and frozen champagne grapes. This was the biggest WOW of the night. It was SO interesting and tasty. It is very difficult how to describe how the flavors worked but man, was it good. The sweet tart of the little frozen champagne grapes with the creaminess of the broth and the buttery-ness of the lobster just worked so well together but was so different than anything I have ever experienced.
Sea scallop with pork belly and passion fruit-serrano chile coulis. This was probably the weakest dish of the night. Not to say it was bad, per se, but it definitely was not as big of a hit as the other meals.
The most surprising course, as suspected. Foie Gras Creme Brulee with Bing Cherry Gastrique and Jalapeno Jam on Date and Nut toast. Wow! This was incredible. From my first and only experience I didn't think that I liked Foie Gras but this dish made me a believer. The servers made a joke about how they ate this particular dish until they thought they were going to die, and I can totally see how that would happen.
Palate cleanser, watermelon three ways. From left to right, key lime, granita, and pickled. That is also the order from best to least best. They first two were very delicious, and the third was best described as interesting.
One of the breads we tasted, potato focaccia. It was melt in your mouth good!
Out first warm entree, beef tenderloin with wild mushrooms (the kind that grow on the side of corn in Mexico, very interesting and VERY yummy), and a Sope with Mole. It was topped with jimica, red pepper, and mozz. from Dallas Mozz. Co.
Our last entree course, mint spiced rubbed lab with potatoes and date-balsamic demi glace YUM!
Happy Birthday to Me! A powdered sugar "Coffee and Doughnuts" (doughnut hole with espresso creme brulee), Chocolate Fondant with Caramel and Kahlua Crema, Banana Caramel Cake with Red Finger Banana and Banana Ice Cream, and my favorite, Powdered Sugar Lemon Fried Pie with Blackberry Ice Cream and Mango Chutney
and after this, they brought us three house made chocolates! I wish they had come in a box so we could have actually taken them home and enjoyed them!
The two of us, so full we're not sure who is going to roll us home
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