Valentine's Dinner

Every year for Valentine's Day for the past 4 or 5 years, I have tried to really research and find a hidden gem French restaurant tucked away somewhere in Dallas.  And we've found some tremendous places with creative dishes over the years.  So this year I was excited that I had a brand new town to explore.  I found a place called Justine's Brasserie in Austin's East Side.  Note: We never go out East of I-35 and neither does anybody we know, so this was kind of adventurous.  And it was awesome!  A very quaint place that must have been built out of an old two story house but the inside was totally revamped with high ceilings and incredible decor.  It was definitely out of place as there was a welding supply store across the street and a couple industrial plants next to it, but it was jam-packed and lively inside.  The service was great and the menu was overflowing with creative dishes.  We settled on some Cotes de Rhone style red wine and some Escargot to start.  I had never eaten Escargot but it was awesome and each piece was doused with a garlicy, buttery sauce (which we must add was incredible when soaked up with homemade french bread).  We proceeded on to some French Onion Soup and fun conversation as we made our way through the evening and forward to a couple of very unique entrees.  I ordered a scallop dish that was served in a large bowl with a variety of veggies including peppers which I wouldn't typically think would go with scallops but I loved the whole thing!  Lacee ordered the duck which was roasted and served on a bed of some crazy bean/lentil/touch of curry contraption and was perfectly seasoned and perfectly tender.  We were both going back and forth on whether or not to order the duck but figured if we ever were going to eat duck then this would be the place to try it.  It was wonderful!  The whole night was a success.  This was a great place to go for a special occasion and a great opportunity for us to explore a new part of town.  Another amazing Valentine's Day in the books!

Weekend Visitors

This weekend Susan, Andrew & Jacq came to visit! They got into town on Saturday afternoon, and we headed downtown to have dinner at Iron Cactus on 6th Street. Jacq had a great seat looking straight out the window where she got to see all of the horse carraiges stroll by. After dinner, we headed to the Hey Cupcake food truck for a littl dessert.

On Sunday, we headed to San Antonio to meet up with Heather and Joel! We met up on the Riverwalk to go exploring. We stopped first for some lunch and drinks on the river, then headed for a little history lesson at the Alamo. Susan and Andrew had never been before, and I think they had a very similar reaction to most people when they first see the Alamo..."It's so much smaller that I thought it would be."