food field trip: dude, sweet chocolate & hattie's

On occasion some girlfriends and I will leave our suburban zip code and venture out into the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on what I call a "food field trip".  We don't have any rules or guidelines when it comes to deciding where to go...someone simply makes a suggestion about a restaurant or food/cooking store they've heard about and we make a date and go.

Most recently, we went to the Bishop Arts District in North Oak Cliff (Dallas) to visit Dude, Sweet Chocolate.  My kind neighbor introduced me to this gem when she brought me some chocolates from their store.  She gave me a box of their M'Tini Truffles - luscious, dark chocolate truffles flavored with Breckenridge vodka, lime and sea salt.  When I tasted this truffle I knew Dude, Sweet Chocolate would be the next field trip destination.  Eating the truffle was pure delight and a flavor festival.  In every bite, each flavor pronounced itself, then stepped aside for the next flavor, and then they all came together for a delicious finish.  I shared my truffles with my field trip friends and quickly got this one on the calendar.

The storefront.

The store and kitchen share a small, funky space; so you are engulfed with the sweet smell of chocolate as you browse the goods.  The staff is kind and helpful and eager to share tastes of their creations.  And you want to taste, you need to taste - because the chocolates are artistic flavor combinations that sometimes sound curious.  But you must taste even the oddest sounding chocolates, because you will be surprised.  I fell in love with a dehydrated blue cheese and sea salt fudge (called Albatross).  I realize how crazy that combination sounds - I thought what you are thinking.  But my tongue thought otherwise...it was love.

The goods.

And their product names are cool: Crack in a Box, Tub of Love, Dr. Feelgood, Fungus Amongus, and Break Up Potion to name a few.  The packaging is simple - tan kraft paper mailing tubes or boxes with a dark brown label.  And the name is awesome!  I can hear someone saying, "dude, sweet chocolate" to express their adoration.  And I'm particularly fond of the word "dude" as my husband and I use it as a term of endearment.

I honestly wanted to buy just about everything in the store.  But I decided to restrain myself by promising myself a return visit.  I left with an assortment box of chocolates called Dude Sweet Artisan Chocolates (6 chocolates on the savory side and 6 sweet flavors), Albatross fudge, M'Tini Truffles, Chubby Nuts (candied nuts dipped in dark and white chocolate), and Rosebud (rose petal jam and mahlab fudge.  Mahlab is a spice made from the pit of a small, sour cherry).

My purchases.

The assortment box - beautiful and delicious.  

The savory descriptions.

The sweet descriptions.

After starting our day with chocolate love, we walked around the Bishop Arts District.  We admired the trees with hand-knitted sweaters, window shopped and scoped out the restaurants.  There was more than one restaurant that grabbed our attention, but we decided on Hattie's.  It was light, bright and beautiful inside.  The ambience was both welcoming and sophisticated.  We read the menu in detail and became giddy over our choices.  A friend and I were both torn between the same sandwiches, so we ordered one of each and shared.  We had the Fried Green Tomato with Smoked Pimento Cheese Sandwich with house-made Onion Rings, along with the Grilled Ham and Brie Sandwich on Raisin Bread with Sweet Potato Fries.  And they were every bit as delicious as they sound.

The trees.

Hattie's.

The tomato had a perfect cornmeal coating, the pimento cheese was good enough to stand alone, and together they were divine - and the bacon and lettuce tied it all together.  The tomato wasn't as tart as one would expect, but they aren't in peak season right now.  The onion rings were perfect - light breading, not greasy, full onion flavor...oh, and they were sinful when dipped into the creamy, house-made buttermilk ranch dressing.

Fried green tomato and pimento cheese on one
sandwich - a delicious tribute to my southern roots.

The ham and brie was packed with flavor.  It hit the culinary goal of reaching all 5 tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami.  The raisin bread was sweet, the ham salty, the golden raisins were just a bit sour, the tomato chutney was bitter and the brie brought the umami.  The flavors were layered and complimented each other deliciously.  It was sandwich happiness!

Culinary joy in a sandwich.

If you live in the DFW area, treat yourself to a meal at Hattie's - open for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.  And no matter where you live, you too can fall in love with Dude, Sweet Chocolate because they offer online ordering from their website.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate

Hattie's

a change of plans

It's crazy to realize that January is already behind us.  In most aspects of my life I really, really, really want time to slow down.  But, in this case, I am so grateful that January is over.  It was a tough month, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I have withdrawn from culinary school.  It was not an easy decision - and if you know me, you know I over-thought this from every direction before coming to this choice.  I am confident that I made the best choice for me and my family...and that pleases me more than anything.  

I went into this adventure not knowing what I wanted to do when it was over.  My focus was to learn as much as I could about food and cooking, because I adore food and cooking.  I truly LOVED the experience last semester - it really was a dream come true and I learned a wealth of information.  I won't get into the details of it all, but I truly disliked the experience this semester.  This made me both sad and angry.  I was sad because I wanted to love it just as much as I did last fall; and I was angry because I was taking time away from my family to do something that wasn't bringing me joy. I wrestled with all of this for a little while and came to the conclusion that I should just deal with it.  And then I thought "why?".  Why deal with being miserable? Please don't misunderstand me - there are plenty of circumstances in life where "dealing with it" is absolutely the right choice.  But I don't think pursuing a hobby is one of them...at least, not for me.  I did not like culinary school this semester.  I was not getting what I wanted out of it.  I made the choice to stop spending my time and money doing something I didn't enjoy.

I still adore food and cooking - that has not changed.  And I will still pursue learning about food and cooking.  But at this point in my love affair with food I don't believe that culinary school is the way to go...and I'm cool with that.

I'm going to continue the grateful plate blog and Facebook page.  Instead of writing about my adventures in culinary school, I will now write about my adventures with food.  A logo is in the works and who knows, I may even try to learn twitter. 

Most importantly, THANK YOU for supporting me through this adventure.  For that, I am forever grateful.