Dallas Eats, Part 1

W wanted to take me to a well-known section of the city called Oak Cliff.  Oak Cliff is a world unto itself and as W told me, the neighborhood has tried to secede from the city of Dallas (unsuccessfully) numerous times!  We visited the Bishop Arts District, ate lunch and did some window shopping.

We wandered around window shopping because much of the district is dark on Mondays.  W was craving beef panang so we stopped for lunch at Thai Chan (I think that's it - totally forgot to take a picture).  This was just the tip of the iceberg as far as food is concerned!

beef panang below (or what was left of it)

I got Mussoman with chicken.  Don't even remember what it was but it was incredible.  I mean, just look at the sauce!

It's nice to look at the pictures again and somewhat relive the experience.

Afterward we did a little window shopping because mostly everything is dark on Mondays; but we made mental notes about what we had to come back to see.

I'd say, the best find during the entire trip was spotting this store:

Dude, Sweet Chocolate was open for a few hours on Monday, much to our delight. 

We walked in to the lovely, funky shop and were immediately welcomed by voiced telling us we could try whatever might sound interesting!  Chocolate.  Twist my arm. 

Chef Katherine Clapner nabbed the much-deserved 2010 Best of Big D Best Chocolatier.  They also sell ice cream and other lovely things.  We didn't even get to that part, being sidetracked by the shelves of chocolate confections...and being full from lunch.  Damned delicious Thai food! 

 

Chef Katherine Clapner's background is as a pastry chef who turned a passion for decadent chocolate into the tastiest storefront ever.  Here's a blurb from a 2009 article in the Pegasus News:

"Clapner procures chocolate from Colombia, Venezuela, and Africa, to which she adds exotic flavors such as curry, paprika, bee pollen, and Thai ginger. She fabricates the creamy flavored centers using high-end ingredients such as butter from Lucky Layla Farms, then dips them in chocolate, creating small truffle-like chocolates which she sells in boxed collections...

With her use of Mexican, Moroccan, Indian, and Peruvian spices, her flavorings reflect the cuisines she's been exposed to at restaurants such as Stephan Pyles, where she previously worked."

I've never been a fan of dark chocolate, yet have had some European kinds and it changed my opinion.  Dude, Sweet Chocolate will rock your world, my friend.  It was a scream to hear them answer the phone, "Dude, sweet chocolate." 

Just look at the choices and the cool packaging.

There were sweets and savories of all shapes and sizes.  How in the world do you choose?  There's the chef in the background, working hard.  Must be a terrible job... 

The flavor combo may sound really weird to you, but the Cheesehead popcorn was my hands-down favorite.  It was white cheddar popcorn drizzled with caramel and white chocolate.  Yes, sounds funky but was ohmygoshshutupyouregonnaloveit!  That was the one thing I didn't actually buy at the time, promised myself I'd come back the next day and get it, but didn't after all regret. 

Some savories, like below, had sea salt and bleu cheese while others had varieties of mushrooms or various herbs.   Wow!  We tried the Albatros and it was very good.

We bought ourselves some Crack in a Box on recommendation and it is good though not my fav overall. 

This next one has my heart.  Rosebud is absolutely divine.  Lovely dark chocolate truffles with rose petal jam.  I can't even describe the experience.  Suffice it to say that once the dark chocolate spoils of our shopping excursion made it home, they didn't last long.  The only thing that didn't get touched was the box we got for our friend who was watching out kitties.  Consider yourself fortunate, Katie.  It might not have made it home to Jackson. 

There's officially a dark-chocolate-sized hole in my heart right now...