Julia Pearl Southern Cuisine

For the last few months, Julia Pearl Southern Cuisine has been on my "must try" list.  Being fond of all things Southern, and especially Southern food, I had high hopes for this restaurant.  I had also read favorable reviews, which sang the praise of this place.

Cornbread

We had reservations and were immediately seated and given complimentary cornbread.  The cornbread was pretty basic and nothing special, but I was hungry and we dug in.  I inquired about what soup of the day was and was told that they didn't have a soup on this particular day, but didn't give a reason as to why this was the case.  With no soup to choose from, we settled on the Black-Eyed Pea Hummus.  The hummus was okay, but the dish has a very high hummus to bread ratio and we quickly ran out of bread.

Black-eyed Pea Hummus

For my entree, I ordered the Oven Roasted Lemon Pepper Redfish. The fish was quite good and was served with a terrific sweet corn succotash and hush puppies.  Although the hush puppies were rather bland, the rest of the dish was very good and I would not hesitate to order it again.

Oven Roasted Lemon Pepper Redfish

My wife ordered the highly acclaimed Fried Chicken and attempted to order a side of Collard Greens.  Our waiter said he wasn't sure if they had any collard greens left and recommended she order a second side in case they were out of collards.  She ordered the Bacon Cheddar Cheese Grits as a back-up.  When her meal arrived, it arrived with the grits, which leads me to assume that they were out of collards.  The chicken had a tasty batter, but it was cold and dry.  The grits were fantastic, but couldn't compensate for the disappointing chicken.

Fried Chicken

Bacon Cheddar Cheese Grits

For dessert, we shared the Julia's Chocolate Cake.  The cake itself was dry and not great by any means, but it was served with a coffee ice cream that was commendable.  If I had a mulligan, I would have ordered the Lemon Cake or the Peach Cobbler.

Julia's Chocolate Cake

I arrived at this restaurant with expectations that it would be of the quality of Sissy's Southern Kitchen in Dallas, but it was anything but.  The food was disappointing overall and I was put off by the fact that neither the soup of the day or the collard greens were available on this night, despite the fact it wasn't even 7 p.m.  The noise level was moderate and the wait staff check on us regularly, but I am not sure if I would be willing to give this place a second chance.

http://juliapearlsoutherncuisine.com
Livin the Good Life Rating = 2

Pink Magnolia

Pink Magnolia has been getting a lot of press since it opened in September.  After reading several reviews from local publications and seeing many pictures of the featured dishes, this restaurant went to the top of my "Must Dine List".  I was finally able to dine there on a recent weekend and I must say that I was quite impressed with Blythe Beck's new restaurant, despite the unassuming location in the Bishop Arts District.

Patio Area

The place was packed when we arrived and despite having reservations, we still had to wait about twenty minutes to get seated.  This is not an uncommon predicament at hot new restaurants, so we enjoyed a seat outside on the patio and enjoyed some libations on a nice fall evening.  After being seated, we ordered the Lobster Jalapeño Hush Puppies as an appetizer.  Although  I didn't intend to share, my wife helped me devour these amazing delicacies, which were served with a delicious Creole mustard aioli.  These hush puppies were a nice twist to traditional hush puppies and definitely set the bar high for the remainder of the meal.

Lobster Jalapeno Hush Puppies

For my main course, the Chicken Fried Ribeye beckoned me to order it and I obliged.  The batter was outstanding and the steak was a tender as any I have ever had.  A knife wasn't even necessary to use and I was able to eat the entire dish with a fork.  This chicken fried steak was amongst the best I have ever had in DFW, but the cream corn and beer braised mustard greens were up to the task of complimenting the dish.  Both the sides were extremely flavorful and I didn't leave a single bite on my plate.

Chicken Fried Ribeye

My wife ordered the Pan Seared Texas Redfish and it was equally incredible.  The fish was perfectly seared and seasoned to perfection.  It sat atop a very tasty side of lobster dirty rice, which did not skimp on the lobster.  The dish also came with a side of spinach, which was the only side that we didn't love.  The spinach was not bad, but I would have preferred it be sautéed a little longer and had a little less garlic.

Pan Seared Texas Redfish

The highly recommended Chocolate Fudge Waffle was ordered for dessert.  The waffle itself only had a mild chocolate flavor, but it  had a flavorful chocolate ganache that was drizzled over the waffle, peanut butter ice cream, and seared bananas foster.  Overall, the flavors went well together and I would have no problems ordering it again.  Although I enjoyed the dessert, I was slightly envious of the table next to us, which ordered the Maker's Mark Banana Pudding.  

Chocolate Fudge Waffle

Although we only sampled a small portion of the overall dinner menu, we really enjoyed the food we tried at Pink Magnolia.  The service was equally incredible and the staff was both friendly and informative.  After dining here, it is easy to see why the DFW foodie world is buzzing about this new restaurant!

Pink Magnolia
http://pinkmagnoliadallas.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

The Great Southern Cafe

Seaside, Florida has quite a few restaurants in the downtown area.  During our previous visit to the town, we tried quite a few of them but didn't get to dine at all of them.  The Great Southern Cafe was one of them that we did not get to try on our first trip to Seaside.  We made it a point to remedy that situation on this trip because several friends highly recommended the restaurant.

Covered Patio Area 

Since my wife and I are both fans of collard greens, we started with the Soul Rolls.  They were essentially spring rolls filled with chicken and collard greens.  We both enjoyed the Asian-style take on a Southern-style food.  The rolls themselves were quite good, but I didn't particularly care for the peach chutney or the horseradish sauce that was served with them.

Soul Rolls

I had heard through the rumor mill that their Grits and Grillades was a dish that was not to be missed.  Having never had grillades before, it was a very unique taste and reminded me of gumbo made of beef.  This restaurants version of the dish consisted of slow roasted beef in a Shiraz stew and served over smoked Gouda cheese grits.  I absolutely loved the flavor of the dish and it was unquestionably the best-tasting food item I had on this trip.  It was so good that I almost cried when I shoveled the last bite in my mouth.

Grits and Grillades

My wife decided that she wanted to try the vegetable plate.  When people order the vegetable plate, you assume that they are trying to eat healthy.  This was not the case this time around as my wife chose fried okra, fried green tomatoes, grits, and black-eyed peas.  Everything on the plate was delicious, but the fried okra cut length-wise was absolutely incredible.

Veggie Plate-Fried Okra, Fried Green Tomatoes, Grits, and Black-Eyed Peas

We enjoyed the food at The Great Southern Cafe and were pleasantly surprised how cool the breeze as it was blowing off the ocean while we sat on the patio.  The place always seems to be packed to the gills, but the service was more than adequate despite the large crowd.  This place will definitely get a return visit from me the next time my family visits Seaside!  

The Great Southern Cafe
http://www.thegreatsoutherncafe.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

The Gumbo Shop

We had planned a family vacation to Seaside, Florida and my family decided to stop in New Orleans to spend one night and enjoy the French Quarter and it's food.  Having never been to New Orleans before, I was looking forward to my stay there.  We were only in town for about 16 hours total, so I was only able to sample a couple of places.  I always like getting recommendations from people who have lived in places I am visiting and one of the places that was recommended to me was The Gumbo Shop, which is located just off Jackson Square and was awarded best gumbo by bestofneworleans.com.

Courtyard at The Gumbo Shop

Our waiter recommended that we order the Complete Creole Dinner, which gave diners a choice of one gumbo, one entree, one side, and a dessert.  My wife and I both decided to order this because we wanted a sampling of several items  I started with the Chicken and Andouille Gumbo and I must say that it was very good.  My wife had the Seafood Gumbo and I tried some of hers.  I preferred my gumbo to hers, but she claimed it was some of the best seafood gumbo she has ever had.

Right-Chicken and Andouille Gumbo.  Left-Seafood Gumbo

For my entree and side, I ordered the Creole Combination Plate (Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice) and the Smothered Turnip Greens.  The Shrimp Creole was my favorite of the three items, but I was not overly impressed with the Jambalaya or the Red Beans and Rice.  Both items were rather bland and lacked the heat I was anticipating from "real" Cajun food.  The Smothered Turnip Greens were decent enough, but not what I was expecting.  It was my first time to try the dish and I guess i was anticipating more of a collard greens type of flavor.  The turnip greens actually reminded me more of spinach.  My wife had the Crawfish Etouffee and I thought it was really good and had much more flavor than the trio of items I ordered.

Creole Combination Platter-Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, and Shrimp Creole 

Crawfish Etouffe and Turnip Greens

For my dessert selection I chose the Praline Sunday and my wife chose the Bread Pudding.  My dessert was fantastic and I loved the toppings and the ice cream itself.  My wife's bread pudding was equally good and she claimed it was one of the top three orders of bread pudding that she has ever had.

Praline Sunday and Bread Pudding

The Gumbo Shop does have a kids menu and both of mine seemed to enjoy their grilled cheeses and chips.  The service was impeccable on this visit and we were lucky enough to have a table in the courtyard on a beautiful New Orleans evening.  While the food itself was far from bad, I can't help but wish we had tried some place else that had spicier dishes.  That being said, the trip to the Gumbo Shop did give us a chance to explore beautiul Jackson Square and take a horse drawn carriage historical tour of the French Quarter.

Family Photo at Jackson Square

The Gumbo Shop
http://www.gumboshop.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=3
 

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken

Fried chicken can be a marvelous meal when it is done right.  Having heard good things about Gus's Wold Famous Fried Chicken, I knew I had to try it out this year since it was only two blocks from my conference in Austin.  One publication even lists this restaurant as one of the 21 Best Fried Chicken Restaurants in America.  While this small chain has several locations, Austin is currently the only Texas city that has a Gus's.

A co-worker and I arrived early for lunch and I was surprised to find that the only seats available for us were at the bar.  Since there was not another option, we snatched those up and placed our order.  I had the Three Piece White Plate with beans and fries, while my coworker ordered the Chicken Tender Plate.   My chicken was juicy and had a slightly spicy batter.  While not the best chicken I have ever tried, Gus's was certainly better than average.  My co-worker enjoyed the chicken strips too, but we both thought our sides were fairly pedestrian.

Three Piece White Meat Plate with Fries and Beans

We both ordered a piece of pie before leaving.  He had the Pecan Pie and I had the Chocolate Chess Pie.  His pie was good, but I thought mine was exceptional.   By the time we left, there was a line thirty deep waiting to be seated.  Luckily, the friendly staff at Gus's does a good job of getting food out quickly and most patrons are in and out in less than thirty minutes.  Overall the food was pretty good, but I don't think it lived up to the hype I read in several reviews of this place.

Chocolate Chess Pie and Pecan Pie

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
http://gusfriedchicken.com/
Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Yardbird Southern Table and Bar

Every year that I go to Las Vegas, I make a list of restaurants that I want to try during my trip.  One restaurant at the top of my list was a new restaurant called Yardbird Southern Table and Bar.  I have a friend who is also a foodie and she has raved about the Miami location for some time, so I was pleased to see that the restaurant had opened up a second location on restaurant row in the corridor between The Palazzo and The Venetian.

Dining Area

Shortly after checking in to The Palazzo, my wife and I took the short walk to grab some lunch at Yardbird.  We decided to try out several items, including the Fried Green Tomato BLT, Lewellyn's Fried Chicken, Buttermilk Biscuits, and the Macaroni and Cheese.  The restaurant makes a point of delivering items as soon as they are finished cooking, so we sampled the biscuits first and they were still piping hot.  The biscuits were wonderful in every possible way and were made even better when you added the honey butter and strawberry jam to them.

Buttermilk Biscuits, Honey Butter, and Strawberry Jam

Next up was the fried green tomato BLT.  Normally one associates a BLT with a sandwich, but this particular item was a fried green tomato topped with pork belly, greens, house-made pimento cheese, and tomato jam.  My wife is more a fan of fried green tomatoes than I am, but I really enjoyed the pork belly and pimento cheese which added flavor to the dish.

Yardbird's version of a BLT-Fried Green Tomato, Pork Belly, Greens, Tomato Jam, and House-Made Pimento Cheese

The fried chicken and mac and cheese arrived shortly after we finished off the BLT.  The fried chicken was very good and it was easy to see why it made Southern Living's list of The South's Best Fried Chicken.  I would certainly put it among my fried chicken top five.  The mac and cheese was made with a combination of Torchio pasta, five cheeses, and was topped with a crispy herb crust.  It was good as well, but it was not as good as the other items we tried on this visit.

Lewellyn's Fried Chicken and Macaroni and Cheese

I also dined at Yardbird a second time on my third day in Vegas.  My wife was at the pool, so I sat at the bar, watched some college basketball, and ordered the Smoke Brisket Sandwich and the House-Cut Fries.  The sandwich was made with brisket, tomato, and Swiss cheese on grilled bread.  This plate also included house-made ketchup and some pickled veggies.  I was a little surprised that the brisket didn't have a lot of smokey flavor and didn't include any bark.  Although it was very different from the brisket sandwiches I am used to, I really liked the flavor of this sandwich.  It tasted more like a spicy pot roast, but the flavor went great with the grilled bread.  The fries, which were topped with bacon salt (aka salted bacon bits), were amazing.  A buttermilk dipping sauce accompanied the fries and really added to the flavor of the fries and bacon.

Brisket Sandwich and Fries with "Bacon Salt"

Since I dined here twice, you can already guess by now that I really liked this restaurant.  The service at both the tables and the bar was excellent.  This casual restaurant has some excellent Southern cuisine and I can certainly see why the original location was nominated for best new restaurant of 2012 by the James Beard Foundation Awards.  If I had stayed another day in Vegas, I might have eaten at Yardbird a third time.  This restaurant is a great addition to the Venetian/Palazzo family.

Yardbird Southern Table and Bar
http://runchickenrun.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=4

Devil's Pool Restaurant

During the week of Thanksgiving, my family and I visited Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri.  The resort is absolutely gorgeous and has plenty of family friendly activities.  Our family had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed our little mini-vacation to Big Cedar.  The resort also has several restaurants and we were lucky enough to have one of them, Devil's Pool Restaurant, adjacent to the lodge where we were staying.  

Bar Area at Devil's Pool

On the first night that we visited Devil's Pool, we were famished after a long drive.  The menu had several appetizers that sounded great, but I ordered the Smokehouse Chili because I didn't want to get overly full prior to my meal.  The chili had fantastic flavor and I particularly liked the fact the meat had a brisket-like texture instead of the usual ground beef that one finds at most restaurants.  Our waitress also brought us a basket of some very good jalapeño cheddar biscuits that we enjoyed prior to our meal. 

Smokehouse Chili 

Jalapeño Cheddar Biscuits

For my entree, I ordered the Cajun Cornmeal Dusted Catfish.  It didn't have the Cajun flavor I expected, but it was still a large catfish filet with good batter.  The coleslaw was good as well, but the hush puppies were amazing.  My wife had Bourbon Barbecue Glazed St. Louis ribs.  She gave me one of her ribs and although they had good flavor, they were a little too tough for my liking.

Cajun Cornmeal Dusted Catfish

Bourbon Barbecue Glazed St. Louis Ribs

I really should have stopped eating because I was filled to the gills, but my wife and girls wanted dessert.  After an intense family discussion, we went with the Devil's Pool Sundae.  This particular sundae was a chocolate chip cookie, topped with an Oreo stuffed brownie, vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, and candied pecans.  Amazing doesn't even begin to describe this dessert which we all agreed was the best sundae we have ever had.

Devil's Pool Sundae

Since we enjoyed our dinner here so much, we also at breakfast here one morning.  They have a breakfast menu, but they also have a fantastic breakfast buffet that includes an omelette station, bacon, house made breakfast sausage, waffles, biscuits and sausage gravy, eggs, and several other items.  Of all the items on the breakfast buffet, I enjoyed the house made breakfast sausage and the biscuits and gravy the best.

One of many plates I had at their breakfast buffet

The Devil's Pool is much better than most restaurants that you will find at a resort or in a hotel.  The food was great and the service was top notch on both visits.  If you every have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Big Cedar Lodge, I strongly suggest you take the time to dine at the Devil's Pool Restaurant at least once.

Devil's Pool Restaurant

http://www.big-cedar.com/Page/Devils-Pool-Restaurant.aspx

Livin the Good Life Rating=3

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

Rick Wells, a restaurateur based in McKinney, has been serving seasonal items at his steakhouse, Rick's Chophouse, for a number of years.  These menu items are in addition to his regular menu and usually features items from regional producers.  Mr. Wells recently decided to take this a step farther and opened Harvest Seasonal Kitchen last month.  The menu is filled with local, regional, and organic menu items and Andrea Shackelford was hired as executive chef for the restaurant.  Since Rick's Chophouse is one of my favorite restaurants in Collin County, I was very excited to try Harvest.

Decor and Bread Basket

I was unable to get a reservation for the first week that the restaurant opened in September, but my wife and I were finally able to dine at Harvest last week.  One of the first things that I noticed was that the restaurant was much larger than I had anticipated.  The restaurant is decorated with a rural theme, but not in a corny way that is such a cliche in many restaurants.  My wife absolutely loved the decor and assured me that it was "super cute."

Crispy Ribs

After our server described several of the appetizers and the nightly special, we decided to start with the Crispy Ribs.  The ribs were basted with their house version of Texas barbecue sauce and served with apple and pear slaw.  They arrived just a few minutes after we ordered them and the ribs were crispy on the outside, but very tender and easily pulled off the bone.  Both of us thought the sauce was extremely flavorful and felt that the apple and pear slaw was a perfect compliment to this dish.  We were also served a basket with a variety of tasty bread.

Chicken Fried Buffalo

I ordered the Chicken Fried Buffalo for my entrée. This dish was topped with sage gravy and was served with mashed sweet potatoes and squash gratin. The chicken fried buffalo was phenomenal and rivaled any chicken fried steak I have had in the last few years. The batter was fantastic and the sage gravy could not have been better. One of the restaurant's managers, Brent Tyler, explained to us that the batter on this particular item had hops, barley, and other byproducts from Franconia Brewery mixed in with flour. Both sides were great as well, but I liked the squash gratin the best. It was made from butternut squash and had a very sweet flavor.

Butternut Squash Gratin

My wife ordered the nightly special, which was Pan Roasted Black Drum.  It was served with sautéed sweet potato greens, purple kohlrabi, sweet potato puree, celery, and watermelon radish.  She was very pleased with the fish and I also enjoyed the couple of bites that she gave me. The sweet potato puree was the favorite of the sides that were included.

Pan Roasted Black Drum

Since everything that we had tried so far had been delicious, we decided that we could not leave without trying dessert.  My wife ordered the Apple Brown Betty with salt caramel ice cream and I ordered the Chocolate Whoopie Cake.  Of the two desserts, we both preferred the Chocolate Whoopie Cake, which had a tasty marshmallow center. 

Whoopie Cake

Apple Brown Betty

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen did not disappoint. The food was simply amazing and it was priced right too. For the quality of food, we felt the dishes we ordered were a good value. The service was remarkable during this visit as well and the wait staff is very informed about the menu and preparation of dishes.  If this restaurant can continue to consistently turn out dishes of this quality, it could easily be a top five restaurant in DFW. The dining experience we had at Harvest was one of the best overall dining experiences I have had in the DFW area in the past five years.

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen
http://harvesttx.com
Livin the Good Life Rating=5