Tag Archive | Cheese Boards

Boulevardier

Aug3

Dallas, Texas

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I will readily admit that I am a big fan of Chef Nathan Tate’s restaurants. I enjoyed Ava, love Rapscallion, and had high hopes for Boulevardier. I was not disappointed!

Boulevardier is located a little off the beaten path in the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. It is a very stylish, but casual, upscale French bistro and bar. The restaurant has a cozy, exposed brick interior with a wrap-around bar in the front. There are wine racks lining the walls, modern artwork, gold-framed mirrors, sleek tables, colorful booths, and an outside dining area.

The dinner menu is varied with French-inspired dishes as well as more typical American foods. Choose from French bistro fare such as onion soup, steak frites, crawfish beignets, duck wings, and bouillabaisse. If those items don’t appeal to your taste buds – try the oysters, pork chops, burgers, or steaks selections. Bouldevardier seems to have something for everyone, including  a long list of classy craft cocktails and an extensive wine list. 

 

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My husband and I dined here for the first time last month and had an outstanding meal. We each ordered wines by the glass from their impressive wine list and enjoyed both of our choices. We choose the Cheese Board to share as our appetizer and it was outstanding. It contained four types of cheese, bread, crackers, nuts, fruit and honey. I don’t think I have met many cheese boards that I didn’t like but this one was exceptional! These selections rotate periodically at the chef’s choosing.

Next up were our entrees. My husband ordered the Wild Boar Ragout Pappardelle and it was delicious. Luckily he is a kind man and shares his food, so I graciously sampled a bite or two (or more!). This dish had house-made pasta, tender meat, local greens, parmesan cheese, and was topped with house-made ricotta. It was very tasty. I decided on the Crisp Chicken Paillard for my entree  and it was amazing as well. This dish consisted of a thin, breaded chicken breast cutlet topped with greens, haricot verts, heirloom tomatoes, olives, capers, cucumber slices, parmesan, and a peppadew vinaigrette. The chicken was tender, cooked perfectly, and the overall combination of flavors was spot on. I enjoyed every bite! We has also ordered a side of Mac & Cheese (our waiter’s suggestion) and it was also amazing. This was a large portion of  pasta, creamy mornay, gruyere, parmesan, garlic and fresh thyme sprinkles – think comfort food 2.0.  This made great leftovers the following day!

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Never ones to refuse desserts (even when full and satisfied), we decided to order and split Nancy’s Bread Pudding (one of my favorite desserts). It came beautifully plated with a large portion of sweet bread pudding, huckleberry jam, bourbon butter sauce, and was topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. It was a perfect end to a perfect meal. 

 

We really had a most enjoyable meal this particular evening. From the convenient valet parking – to the lively ambiance – to the service and food, it was a dining experience we look forward to repeating very soon.  I would love to try their brunch next – the menu looks quite appetizing.

I hope you will be inspired to dine at Boulevardier in the near future for brunch or dinner. We may see you there. Cheers!

 

Toulouse Cafe & Bar

Apr14

Dallas, Texas

Toulouse Cafe & Bar
Patio dining

If you are anything like me, when you hear the words “French restaurant”…..it conjures up thoughts of snooty waiters, expensive wines, and icky snails floating in a butter sauce. That is what I always thought until I found Toulouse Cafe and Bar in Dallas. Luckily, after dining here I have a whole new appreciation for French cuisine.

Toulouse is a French bistro located in the trendy Knox-Henderson shopping area. There is convenient valet parking located right across the street from the restaurant. Once you enter the main doors, you can choose to sit in the covered patio area or inside in the casual dining room. The patio area is all draped with bright red fabric and was very quiet and relaxing – that is where we chose to dine on this particular evening. The cane-back chairs, the black & white floor tiles, the small table candles and the patrons with their dogs table-side all enhanced the feeling of dining in a cafe in Paris.

Cheese Board
French Onion Soup

Service was really attentive and we felt like we were well taken care of this entire evening. We started with a couple of  featured cocktails – a Chanel No. 6 Champagne Cocktail and a Mint/Cucumber Gimlet. Both were very nice and quite refreshing. We ordered the Cheese Board as an appetizer and it was exceptional. There were four types of imported artisan cheeses, fresh honeycomb, fruit, prunes, candied walnuts and grilled baguette slices. We followed up with French Onion Soup which was one of the best I have ever had. The Gruyère cheese was thick and lightly toasted and the overall taste was delicious – good to the last drop. 🙂

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Short Rib Bourguignon with noodles

We were almost too full to eat more at this point, but decided to keep going….the food was just too good not to! My husband ordered the fish special which was an Alaskan Halibut with Beet Risotto and Brussels Sprouts. The fish was very nice and cooked to perfection. I ordered the Short Rib Bourguignon which was absolutely “mouthwatering” delicious. I am not a huge fan of meat and I honestly ordered this dish for the carrots, onions, mushrooms and wide butter noodles. I was really surprised; the ribs were red wine braised and cooked for hours until fork tender – great taste and great texture. I ate what I could and had the remainder for a really fancy lunch the next day!  

Chocolate Souffle
Grand Marnier Souffle

Though being completely full and satisfied at this point in the meal, we had souffles served to us. We had ordered souffles for dessert at the beginning of our meal since they take some time to cook. Who cannot make room for dessert….right?!  The Chocolate Souffle and the Grand Marnier Souffle were both extremely light in texture and in taste, the perfect finale to this excellent meal.

Overall we had a most enjoyable evening with good service, delicious food and drinks, and a nice ambiance. If you would like to dine at Toulouse, they are located at 3314 Knox in Dallas, just a couple of blocks west of Central Expressway. This is a great place for a date night – casual but very nice. Bon Appétit!

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What have you got “to lose?” Get it?!

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions about this post. I would love to hear of your experiences if you have dined at Toulouse. Also, please subscribe to my blog if you enjoy reading about my dining and travel experiences. I appreciate it!