Mom and Dad graciously came over to stay with the kids around 3:30, and they brought Sara and Matthew with them (my niece and nephew). Caleb loves to play with his cousins, so this worked out great! They all got to have a good time while Scott and I had a chance to be by ourselves.
We decided to eat dinner at Jasper's, which the owner/head chef describes as "gourmet backyard cuisine." Holy cow, it was good! I'd heard about Jasper's from an article in a Frisco magazine, and the chef was actually on Iron Chef last year. (We are big Food Network fans here.) So, I knew we were in for a treat.
We got there about half an hour before our reservation and sat and had a glass of wine at the bar. We actually had an entire conversation without being interrupted by a child! In fact, there were no children in the place. (Ok, we did see two middle schoolers entering as we left for the night, but I'll pretend they were really short adults.)
So, here's the good stuff. After a calamari appetizer, here's what we had for dinner:
Scott: Pan-seared scallops, sea bass, and shrimp over black rice with Thai coconut curry sauce
Me: Almond-crusted rainbow trout with a cast-iron side of aged gouda and ham mac n' cheese
That macaroni and cheese was amazing. It was a meal in and of itself. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
So, Jasper's has made the short list of our favorite restaurants in the Dallas area (ranging from $ to $$$$):
- Nana
- III Forks
- Jinbeh
- Jasper's
- Bread Winners
- The Cheesecake Factory
- La Hacienda
- Del Frisco
We walked in, and we noticed that it was extremely crowded. This didn't look anything like what I'd imagined--I thought it would be a small, cozy little place, but when we walked through the revolving doors, I saw TVs on the wall and heard upbeat music. A lady asked how many were in our party, and, being closer to her, I answered "Two." Scott was hanging back at the door, looking shame-faced. After a sniff of the air, he looked at me and whispered, "Umm....this is a pizza place."
Oh, my gosh. I wanted to burst out laughing, but I managed to compose myself enough to tell the hostess that we'd changed our mind and wouldn't need a table after all. She looked wounded and said, "Ok. But the food is really good!"
Someone should open up a pie shop there. It sounded good to us!
We walked over to Legacy Books and looked around (and had the world's worst mochas at the cafe there), then headed home to the kiddos. All in all, it was a good night. :)
