Repeats with a Twist - Farina's Winery & Cafe, Grapevine, TX

Farina's Winery & Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Grapevine, TX. My first trip was just over a year ago with Joni for lunch.  Then in March we went back for lunch, sat on the patio, and used a restaurant.com gift certificate to save $50 on our meal.  If you've never used restaurant.com, you're missing out.  There's restaurants all across the country that participate, and basically the certificates get you half off when you spend at least a certain amount. I've found quite a few restaurants for this blog through the site, restaurants I never would have found otherwise.

Last Saturday evening we were discussing where to have dinner, and we finally decided on Farina's.  I had never been there for dinner, so I was good with that.

There are 2 entrances to the restaurant.  The main entrance on Main Street, and then at the back of the restaurant, through the patio.  We entered through the back this time, since that's where we parked.  Farina's is a very unique space, as there's no direct path between the main dining room and the patio; you have to walk through both the kitchen and the antique shop next door. I've seen reviews where people hate it and complain; to me, it just adds character.

Grapevine is always crowded on the weekends.  And on Saturday night, the restaurants were packed.  We wanted to sit on the patio, but there was a private party in there, so the wait was going to be about 30 minutes. That wasn't a problem for us, so we waited at the bar. I really like the chandelier hanging over the main dining room

Our wait ended up being closer to 45 minutes, but it still wasn't too bad.  And we didn't mind because they have live music on Saturday nights.  It was one guy playing the guitar and singing, and he was really good. The patio is a good size, seating about 50. Half the patio is covered, and the other half is uncovered. When it's daylight and not too hot, sitting in the sunlight is great. We sat in the covered section and it was a little dark, but too much light is going to bring out the bugs. They also had fans moving the air so it felt good.

We started with a cheese plate

I'm not a big fan of olives, but I really liked the tapenade.  I've had a couple other tapenades that I really enjoyed as well. Maybe I just do better with a mix of olives.  The pesto was delicious. I'm not sure what the different cheese were, but they were all pretty mild, and were all good.

Garlic bread came next.  This caught me by surprise, because we'd only ever been here for lunch and they don't do bread then.

It was served warm, and they definitely didn't skimp on the spread.  It was delicious, but I was good and stuck with one piece.

Our entrees came with a salad, and I got the homemade creamy Italian on the side

I've gotten this salad before and it was like they dumped all the olives in the restaurant on there.  This time it was much less, which works for me. The salad was good, but way too much cheese. I only ate about half the salad to save room for my meal.

Tony got the basil pesto pasta with meatballs. Joni got pizza with all veggies (mushrooms, pepperoncini peppers, and spinach) and I got the shrimp scampi

Basil, pine nuts, chopped meatballs and fresh garlic sauteed in a cream sauce
and served over penne pasta

This dish was excellent.  The pesto was so fresh and flavorful. And even though it was a cream sauce, it was very light.  

I didn't try any of Joni's pizza, but she said it was good, as always.

Succulent shrimp sauteed in a garlic butter sauce, topped with Italian seasoned bread crumbs
and Romano cheese, then baked to a golden brown. Served with spaghetti alfredo

The shrimp was a little overcooked, but the outstanding flavor made up for that.  And it was served scorching hot, so I was really happy. It's a good thing I wasn't kissing anyone, because the garlic was powerful. I mean, I was breathing fire.  But that didn't stop me from eating the whole thing, and even dipping some of my pasta in the remaining sauce. The spaghetti alrfedo was awesome.  So often alfredo sauce weighs down the pasta, but this one was very light. I really liked that the portions weren't outrageous. 

I was able to download a restaurant.com certificate to use here again. It was a $50 certificate, so we had to run up the bill.  It really wasn't that hard with 3 of us.

Yes, of course I will be going back.  Most likely on my next trip to Flower Mound.

Repeats with a Twist - Asahi Teppenyaki & Sushi, Flower Mound, TX

Even though I had quite a few samples at the Dallas Farmer's Market last Saturday morning, I didn't go crazy on them; I knew that by the time I got back to Joni's house it would be time to start thinking about lunch.  My original plan had been to leave the market by 11, but of course I got sidetracked by all the goodies and didn't leave until 11:30.

After some discussion of cuisine and locations, we finally decided on Asahi Teppenyaki & Sushi. I had been there with Joni once before 2 years ago.  That was back when I wasn't taking notes as I ate, and I was also way behind on doing my posts. So by the time I actually wrote the review I couldn't remember the names of anything I had.  I always apologize to new meal companions when taking notes, but they fully understand when I explain why.

We pulled into the parking lot from a back street, and really weren't even sure if it was open anymore.  There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot because it a Saturday past the lunch hour. And also there was no sign above the front door.  I later noticed that the sign is on the side of the building that faces the main road.  That kind of makes sense, but at the same time it's still pretty odd.

What I remember the most about our last visit--other than the great food--was the unruly kids. We were seated in the bar area, and this group of little kids kept running all around the restaurant. They were even playing hide-and-seek, and yelling for each other.  Mind you, this was during dinner, when the place was almost full. The worst part was that not once did the parents even attempt to control the kids.  They didn't even get up to come look for them. When I was a kid, if I had even thought of doing something like that, my mom would have spanked me in front of everyone.  Heck, the manager could have spanked me and my mom would have been okay with it.  Wait, I never would have acted like that because I was raised better. These days, if a stranger had confronted the parents or even said something to the kids, the parents would have flipped out.  A couple times the kids were leaning over into this waterfall in the entry foyer. It was all I could do not to dump them in there. 

Thankfully, the restaurant was nice and quiet on this visit, and we were seated in the main dining room.  Asahi has 3 distinct dining areas.  As you walk in and past the host stand, there's a sushi bar area to the right with a long sushi bar and table seating.  The main dining room is to the left of the host stand and is pretty small, with 6 booths and 3 tables. The hibachi tables are just beyond the main dining room.

I don't usually take pictures of the menu, but this one was so unique and I really liked it

I don't know if it means anything, but I just thought it was really cool.

Joni was in charge of the appetizer.  She said she had been at a Thai restaurant lately and the spring rolls weren't fried and were really good.  But the rolls here are fried, so instead we went with steamed gyoza

I've had gyoza lots of times, and this was one of my favorites.  I usually get it fried, but I think I might be a bigger fan of the steamed. The filling was so flavorful, and the dipping sauce matched it perfectly.

Joni doesn't do sushi.  Ever.  So she went with the chicken hibachi, and she selected fried rice. It also comes with soup and salad

The salad is a small green salad.  She had already dug in before I could get a picture, so that's already a little mixed.  The soup is miso.  I didn't try either one, but she said they were good.

I tried a piece of the chicken, and it was delicious.  Very well seasoned.  The fried rice was fantastic.  I can't tell you the last time I had fried rice, but I'm glad she got it and that I tried it. At the hibachi table they cook the rice with the veggies and meat so it gets all the same spices and flavor. I could have eaten that whole bowl.

I started with the sakura. I had never even heard of it before, but sounded very interesting and there were only 3 pieces.  I figure if it wasn't good, I wouldn't waste much.  

Mini tostada chips filled with crab meat & spicy tuna, topped with masago and a hint of eel sauce

These were awesome.  They really were mini, little one-bite appetizers served cold. The menu says that the tuna is spicy, but I really didn't taste any spice at all. I'm very slowly becoming a fan of raw tuna...as long as it is in small quantities and there's other stuff to go with it. I never used to like masago, but I tried it once about a year ago and was hooked. The garnish was julienned carrots, so I dipped those into my soy sauce and ate those as well.

For my other roll I got the caterpillar. I don't do raw eel, so before I ordered it I asked the server. She confirmed that it's seared.

Eel & cucumber, topped with avocado and eel sauce

This roll was so good.  The creamy avocado went really well with the rest of the roll. The pieces of eel were pretty big, and perfectly seared. The first time I tried eel sauce I thought it was made from eel. But there's absolutely no eel in there.  So I can't figure out where the name came from.

I was a little worried with my order, because there were no prices listed on the menu. That's usually a dangerous sign, and you end up unintentionally spending a ton of money. But it was just the opposite here, so I was happy.

Will I go back? No question.  The food is delicious, the service is prompt and attentive, and I really like that the manager is there, visible; as a matter of fact, she was seating everyone during our visit.

Dallas Farmer's Market, Dallas TX

I love farmer’s markets. About 15 years ago I discovered one on the north side of Baltimore.  It was an hour’s drive from my apartment in College Park, and my mom thought I was nuts for driving that far when there were other markets much closer. But this one was huge.  They had dozens of vendors selling everything you can imagine and more.  And they had a vendor selling these amazing spring rolls.  Yes, I drove all the way to Baltimore for spring rolls at a farmer’s market.  But it was worth it. And I only did it about once a month and also stocked up on fresh produce. Once I moved to Columbia, it was a much shorter drive.

When I moved to Stillwater in ’07, I was so disappointed there was no farmer’s market in town.  And when I did go to OKC or Tulsa to run errands, I was hitting all the stores we don’t have in Stillwater and honestly kind of forgot about finding a market. Then I found out that Stillwater does have a farmer’s market. But the times I went it was relatively small, and it was hit or miss to find the things I wanted.

About 6 weeks ago I was on Facebook and the Uptown 23rd Farmer’s Market popped up on my news feed.  It’s in OKC, and it looks awesome.  It’s only open the last Sunday of the month, and I had big plans to go at the end of May.  But that was the same weekend OSU hosted the baseball regionals, and since we had lost Saturday we were playing the early game Sunday; therefore the market lost out to baseball. I'm definitely going this weekend.

Last week when I was planning my Dallas trip, I was online looking at restaurants.  And suddenly it occurred to me to look into the Dallas Farmer’s Market. I knew nothing about it other than it's Dallas, so figured they've got to have a big one. It's in downtown Dallas and is open Thursday evenings, and then Friday - Sunday. Monday is the resale market, where I'm guessing farmers sell to stores. 

The Farmer's Market
The farmer’s market is split into 2 sections.  The Shed is where you can find all the produce.  The Market is currently being renovated.  When it opens, it will have 4 anchor restaurants, local & specialty foods, and artisnal food vendors.

I wasn't sure what the traffic was going to be like to get down there, and I knew it would get crowded, so I arrived at about 9am.  There's a lot of free parking nearby, and I was lucky enough to find one right around the corner from The Shed.

I definitely reached at the perfect time, because there weren't more than about 50 shoppers. I love the chalkboard sign welcoming this week's farmers

Fruits & Vegetables
There are 3 rows of vendors, selling everything you can think of. In season right now are tomatoes, onions, green beans, zucchini, melons, and berries, just to name a few

The above pictures are just a sampling of the fruits and veggies they had available. What I love is how fresh everything was! And the fact that several stands were offering samples. Everything just burst in your mouth.  There's no comparison to what you normally find in the grocery store that took who knows how long to get there. 

One of the most interesting samples I came across was sugar cane juice

It's nothing but juiced sugar cane. You would think it would be really sweet, but it's not at all.  Just very refreshing, and I really enjoyed it.

A couple other items I never thought I'd see at a farmer's market were beans, peas, and mushrooms

I guess I shouldn't be surprised about the mushrooms, since they grow them.  But I really don't think I've ever seen them at a market.  The baby bellas were huge, bigger than anything you'll ever see in the grocery store. The beans definitely caught me off guard. And I saw 3 different vendors selling them. 

 

Prepared Food

I guess I really haven't been to a market in a long time because I was kind of surprised at the amount of prepared food that I saw for sale. Like the fruit, there were samples at every turn.

Mrs. Burk's Buns instantly caught my eye with their desserts.  I'm not usually a big dessert fan, but I couldn't resist these.  And when I started talking to the owners, I found out that they are located in Flower Mound! What a small word.

They have pies, cinnamon buns, and homemade caramel corn

I absolutely couldn't resist a sample of the almond toasted coconut bun. OMG. It was so good. Warm, moist, and delicious.  I was worried it might be really rich, but it wasn't at all.  And they've got lots of different flavors, so it was all I could do not to sample every single one.  The popcorn was delicious as well. I tried to be strong, but ended up buying the cinnamon bun and a bag of popcorn.

Joni and I broke into the popcorn when I got back to the house.  We devoured about 3/4 of it by Sunday morning, so I left it there so I wouldn't be tempted anymore. We held out on the cinnamon bun until Sunday morning. I wanted her to try it before I left, since they're right in her neighborhood

Even room temperature, i twas excellent. I forgot to take a picture before we dug in, so this is after 2 bites.  When I got home Sunday night, I warmed the rest up.  It was absolutely amazing.

Texas Parcel sells pizza sauce and pasta sauce.  Of course I had to stop by when I saw that they were doing samples over pasta! 

The pasta sauce was good, but the pizza sauce was fantastic.  It only has a few ingredients, but they make the sauce absolutely shine. The flavor burst of one bite is what sold me.  I bought a bottle, and can't wait to try it on my homemade pizza.

Sunnyvale Honey sells, you guessed it, honey!  They also sell different types of eggs and meat.  

I read a post the other day about commercial vs raw honey.  I used to always buy the store brand honey. But like many other things, locally made/raw/natural is better than mass produced.  I've been buying raw honey at the grocery store, but this honey was a lot better.  Very smooth, tastes fresh, and absolutely no aftertaste.  I bought a small one, but in hindsight should have gotten the bigger one.  I'll solve that when I go back in August.

The Pickle Shack Gourmet Pickles caught my eye because of the huge jars of samples as well as rows of the jarred product

I tried both the pickled cucumbers and pickles.  They were both very good, and honestly I'm not sure which one I liked better.  I considered buying some, but I know me.  I wouldn't eat them fast enough, then they would go bad, and then I would be annoyed.  So I passed.  The vendor jumped me a little when I took the picture of the pickle jars.  I didn't even really think about that, and quickly told him I'm a food blogger and that I was writing about the market.  After that he was okay, especially when I mentioned that I would write about him. Note to self: always ask the vendors of packaged foods before taking pictures! 

Sweet Companion Bakery sells duffins.  What's a duffin you ask? It's a combination of doughnut and muffin.  Duh. And they're made from scratch, just like all the products they bake.

It's basically a muffin that's filled with stuff.  Good stuff.  Delicious stuff.  I tried the pineapple filled, and it was excellent.  But when it came time to buy, I had to go with the chocolate filled.  I broke it open on Monday night to eat.

This was so good.  The sugar on top created a little bit of a crust, and it provided a really great sweet contrast to the muffin. Sometimes doughnuts are stuffed so full that all you get is the filling.  This duffin is just enough filling that it's not overpowering. I had originally planned to only eat half on Monday and the other half Tuesday.  That didn't work very well.


Freshly Cooked Food

Between missing breakfast and seeing all this food, I got hungry pretty quickly.  At the end of the first row was homemade fried pies.  He didn't have any of the spicy meat pie ready, so I waited about 5 minutes for him to fry one up for me.

It had a little kick, and was very flavorful.  But the middle was cold.  I'm talking super cold.  He definitely didn't cook it long enough; I'm not sure if it was because he was rushing to cook it since I was waiting.  I find it very hard to believe he would last long if that was normal.  I thought about taking it back, but I was hungry and didn't worry about it.

There was another food stand, this one for breakfast tacos.  I went back to that one about 30 minutes after I ate the fried pie. Every time I looked there were people ordering and eating them, so of course I had to join the crowd and try them out. I was so bummed because they were out of barbacoa.  That's what I get for waiting.  So I did one with chorizo & egg, and one with bean & cheese, and chose corn tortillas. 

The chorizo was delicious. It was a little spicy, but not overpowering. The bean and cheese was very average.  I added a little of the salsa, but that didn't help much.  It just didn't do anything for me.

What made me super happy was that they had Mexican coke!

I tried Mexican coke for the first time on my trip to Playa del Carmen 2 years ago.  I was immediately hooked. I rarely ever drink full-calorie coke, but I make the exception for Mexican.  They use real sugar, and it's so addicting. 

Pet Friendly

I've seen and heard both sides of the pet debate at public outdoor events.  I can't really decide where I stand.  I've heard friends rant that they have the right to bring their pet. Maybe. But, not everyone likes dogs. And for events that are focused on food, there could be health/safety issues.  The debate continues, and policies range from event to event.

The Baltimore market is not pet friendly.  The Dallas market, however, is. There are even several vendors selling pet products, and some that have water bowls for the dogs.

Overall

I made it out of the market without spending my entire paycheck.  Really though, the prices are really good, especially for the produce.  When I got back to Joni's house I went through all my stuff. I had some helpers immediately come running into the kitchen, thinking it was for them.

I'm really glad I took the time to visit the Dallas Farmer's Market.  I met wonderful farmers and vendors and got some great products. If I lived anywhere close I would most certainly be there every week.  I can't wait for The Market to open next spring so I can check out those restaurants and other shops.