If you live in Dallas or even if you live closer to Oklahoma in Frisco, you should make the trek to Bishop Arts District.  Why?  Because Eno’s Pizza Tavern is there, duh.

The Bishop Arts District is a quaint little shopping area in north Oak Cliff just 5 minutes from downtown Dallas.  It is a renovated part of town that is surrounded by an area that has not quite seen the same renovation.  Let’s put it this way – if you go an entire block without seeing a yuppie or hipster, you might want to turn around.

I don’t do any wheeling and dealing but if I did, you can bet it would take place upstairs at Eno’s.

We arrived on a Saturday night around 6pm thinking we would beat the crowds.  We still had to wait only about five minutes but the table we got had some pretty uncomfortable Adirondack chairs.

We did have prime people watching views though.

Eno’s has a very cool bar.  It’s obvious they are trying to support microbreweries and local beers.  This is not a come get drunk and throw a wet napkin ring on a deer head kind of bar.  It is an upscale caj kind of joint.  Pearl snaps and flippy floppies.

We started off with a large harvest pear salad.  This consisted of arugula, local greens, fresh basil, pear, pancetta, goat cheese (substituted in place of bleu cheese) and topped with a champagne vinaigrette.  Oh and you get a bonus piece of soft, delicious bread to soak up the dressing.  It was incredible.  I almost wanted to order another large as my entree but I didn’t want Jason to have to eat a large pizza by himself.  That would be rude of me.

We went with a large Traditional pizza with tri-colored bell peppers, fresh basil and hot sausage.  I don’t typically get sausage on my pizza because of the grease factor but their spicy sweet sausage is ballin outta control.  As you can see Eno’s has thin crust and they use only the freshest, most awesometastic ingredients.

Clean plate club check: you’re in!

Look how cool the bar is!  I toll you!  Those glass jars have bar snacks for $.50 each.  In the background there is a stage for live entertainment.

We haven’t even gotten to the best part though.  DESSERT!!!!  BEHOLD GREATNESS.  Foodpeoples, below is the Eno’s Sundae Sack.  Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream, marshmallow cream, blueberries, pecans, hot fudge, graham cracker, cinnamon and sugar and whipped cream all nicely packaged in an edible tempered chocolate box.  If you had just read me that description and I had never seen or tasted the Sundae Sack, I would have said “Sounds gross.  Let’s go get fro-yo.”  But I took one look at this and realized it had to be omnomgarbled.  It is incredible and at least once in your life you must try this but it should probably be on a reward night because I don’t think it is fat free.  Might check with the chef though.

Jason loves buying me dinner.  You can tell by his “I love buying you dinner” face.

Moral to the Garbl?  I LOVE ENO’S and can’t wait to go back!  I better hurry up and get a job because it’s my turn to buy…

Dessert Truck wasn’t exactly on the way back to the hotel from the Brooklyn Bridge but when someone tells you they had the greatest dessert of their life there, you make the trek.

What started as an actual food truck driving delicious desserts around Manhattan led to an actual retail spot which coincidentally happened to be right next to Clinton St. Baking Company.  These two places led to my sugary demise!

The authentic French macaroons looked too good to be true.  I ordered a box of one of each to take back to my mom.  All 7 of them might not have made it back.  Stupid TSA regulations.

Okay fine I’ll admit I had one at the airport on the way back.  THEY WERE ABSOFREAKINLUTELY INCREDIBLE.  I could easily eat 10,000 of these.  At $2 each, they’re not cheap but neither is Jenny Craig.

Sesame-passion fruit.  Who knew heaven was bite sized?

Okay back to dessert snack.  I ordered the warm molten chocolate cake only because the donut squares were not available until 8pm for some reason.  The chocolate cake had an olive oil ganache center, roasted pistachios and a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.  Look at this closely.  About an hour after eating this cute little cup of sugar, I was so dizzy I could barely stand up straight and was forced to lay in bed in a very serious food coma.

Jason had the warm chocolate bread pudding with bacon custard sauce.  He loved it!  Fortunately for him, he had some eggs and potatoes already in his tummy to absorb some of the sugar.  I just had blueberry pancakes with warm maple butter.

When we were leaving the dessert truck pulled up!  Yay!  More dessert!  Lol j/k.  But srsly.

We still had a little over 3 miles to walk back to the hotel.  These bikes looked awfully intriguing.  Too bad they weren’t for rent.

Have you guys ever had chomps muffin milk?  Damn it’s good.  Good marketing too.

Hey it’s Grand Central Terminal!  I forgot how cool this thing was on the inside – making a mental note to go in next time I visit.

We finally made it back to the hotel around 9:30pm.  I was starting to feel really bad but knew I probably just needed something other than sugar in my system.  We had just walked over 20 miles.  TWENTY MILES.  On a bagel, pancakes and molten chocolate cake.  And I call myself a mathlete.  We dropped our camera stuff off and walked to the elevators to go find some dinner.  Once I got to the elevators I got really dizzy and felt myself about to either throw up or black out.  Both sounded cool but I decided I better go back to the room and lay down.  I turned on the tv and Food Network was doing a feature on cinnamon rolls so that helped.

Not 20 minutes later and my knight in shining food armor came through the door with the most delicious brick oven pizza.

If you’ve never had a serious food coma before, take note.  The only thing to help it is to eat pizza.  Trust me.  I’m a professional.

We had to leave for home the next morning but what a way to end the most magical 30th birthday celebration I could have ever imagined.  Thank you again to the most amazing future husbandgarbl!

After a brief stop at our hotel, we were back on the streets to see the world famous Times Square.

But first I changed into these:

I’m totally kidding!  The girls wearing these were roughly 14 – 15 years old.  Normal.  When I was their age…oh Lord here it starts.  I’m officially 30.

No matter how hard we try, we just can’t seem to get away from the Colony or Dallas BBQ.

Thank God for something different!

It had been way too long since we had food (roughly 20 minutes) so we headed over to John’s Pizzeria for dinner.  John’s came highly recommended by my virtual travel guide, Adriana from Austin.  She is awesome and gave me some awesome NYC tips which I’ll share with you later.

If you’ve been to Grimaldi’s in Dallas, this is very similar.  These are both small pizzas (6 pieces each).  I have a confession to make…we finished them.  Two people.  Two pizzas.  Done.  Oops I ated it.

So good!

The waiter was impressed with our domination so he took our picture with the aftermath.  We also talked to him about one of the locals who was sitting at a table next to ours who tried to buy us drinks.  He said the guy comes in all the time and just buys people drinks out of pure niceness.  He also tips really well.  I felt so bad because he was there sitting by himself doing such a nice thing.  I hope something good happens to him.  Maybe it already did.  Maybe he won the lottery and he’s paying it forward.  Or maybe he’s trying to pick up chicks.  Either way, nice guy.

Also, during our meal these guys busted a bike lock with bolt cutters.  It looked suspicious but who am I, the Port Authority?

After dinner we walked through Times Square back to our hotel and I snapped a few more pics.  On a side note, I should probably go on a diet.

New York City is seriously awesome.  I’m so glad Jason surprised me with this trip!  There is SO much to do/see here and there’s no way we’ll cover it all but we’re trying to eat do as much as possible while we’re here.  The thing I love is that everyone I’ve talked to who knows I’m here is just as excited as I am about being here.  They want me to go to all the special places they went to when they were here.  I love exciting energetic cities!

As promised, here are Adriana’s NYC travel tips for rookies.  THANK YOU SO MUCH ADRIANA!  I think I’ll have another list tomorrow from another NYC fan so get excited!

1. Central Park – go see it – gorgeous
2. Right by Central Park go to the Apple store. It’s a giant clear
cube…
3. Go by Tiffany’s.
4. Go to FAO Schwarz and take a photo with the guards up front. I don’t
know if they are there year round but they are in Dec.
5. Eat something from a street vendor. I’ve always wanted to.
6. It sounds tacky but go to a Broadway show. It’s amazing/awesome. You
can sometimes find inexpensive tix. Ask the concierge at the hotel for
help or check out www.broadway.com. Wicked is beyond awesome. Phantom of
the Opera? Mer.
7. Shopping. Shopping. Shopping.
8. Museums are amazing there. Guggenheim!!
9. Explore south part of the city – SOHO!
10. Figure out how to ride the subway. It’s pretty awesome. Just do it
during the day…

Have fun!!

Well, I made it to Chicago despite Riley’s last effort attempt to get me to stay by offering me her final rose.  Sorry Bears, it’s family reunion time.

We wasted no time driving into the burbs and getting set up in our hotel room.  On our way to the room we toured the fitness facility where my brother channeled Madonna.

From the hotel we drove over to my grandmother’s house to see the future birthday girl!!  I have been doing breathing exercises all day so I can help blow out 90 candles tomorrow on the birthday cake.  Speaking of cake, the beauty of going to my grandmother’s house is that she ALWAYS has treats like this already made and ready for om nomming.  This was only one option.  There were also rhubarb cheesecake squares and an assortment of cookies.  There is nothing like your grandparent’s home.

Another perk of casa de los abuelos is the porch swing.  I can’t tell you how many times I was on this as a kid.  I’m getting a little verklemp just thinking about all the times I sat out there with my grams and gramps watching the cars go by and listening to the conversations of passersby only to mock them once they were out of earshot.

While we reminisced on the porch swing, my uncles came back from setting up the party for tomorrow at my grandmother’s church.  They’re pretty swolled.  We might turn the birthday party into a steroid intervention.

My cousin Tara was fa-reaking out running all over the house like a wild banshee so we took her for a walk.  She behaved like a good cousin.  My mom is allergic to wind so we had to put her in her anti-weather cocoon blanket.  Also, my other cousin Julie is in 5th grade and has an iPhone and a Kate Spade purse.  She also recited the “hide ya kids hide ya wife” song to us.  My intervention powerpoint slides just got more complicated.

During the walk Tony practiced his parkour routine.  Tara is now mad jealous and wants to start climbing buildings.  We’re having a hot dog eating contest tomorrow but that is totally unrelated.

Dinner tonight came from a newly bankrupted local fav: Giordano’s!

They are known for stuffing their deep dish pizza.  Imagine a deep dish pizza baked into a deep dish pizza crust.  America and your pizza ways you so crazy.

I had two pieces and barely had enough room in my dessert compartment for chocolate chip ice cream.  I still like Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizza better.  Giordano’s crust is too floury and the cheese was like string cheese on pizza.

Tomorrow is the big bash!  We’re getting up early to enjoy free breakfast buffet at our hotel followed by an intense family workout in the awesome fitness center and then we’re gonna get our party on.  Stay tuned for more shenanigans tomorrow!

This morning started off with one of these pretty thangs:

Then I took my three hyenas (2 dogs and a fiance) for a run.  Jason has been mega hyper lately.  I feel like I must either convince a doctor he is a 12-yr old boy so I can get him on Ritalin or I can take him on runs to calm him down.  So far the latter is working.

We went about four miles then got dressed to meet my parents at Brackets for lunch.  Brackets is a new restaurant/sports bar in the old Trader Vic’s spot at Hotel Palomar.  They feature Il Cane Rosso pizzas from a built-in Texas oak burning wood oven.

When you walk through the front door you are greeted with two full size pool tables and a hostess.  We made our way past the entry game room to a larger bar/dining area filled with an SMU crowd.  To start, we took the waiter’s suggestion of the ahi tuna nachos.  I like my ahi tuna pink in the middle but these were definitely overcooked.  The greasy chips didn’t tickle my fancy either.  For $11, so far I wasn’t impressed.

They keep the wood burning oven at 900 degrees and only cook the pizzas for 60 seconds.  I’m not joking.

If you can’t wait the whole minute for your pizza to cook, you can catch a game of ping pong in the middle of the bar area.  There is plenty of room to run around and execute the double spin around the back left grip lob for the win.  If you’re into that.

This is the $14 Jimmy’s Sausage pizza with basil, tomatoes, house-pulled mozzarella and Jimmy’s sausage.  Looks pretty good freshly delivered to the table.

Then you get a slice…and it’s limp bizkit.  Maybe this is supposed to be like Papa Murphy’s where you take it home and put it back in the oven for more than 60 seconds?  Except my oven doesn’t go to 900

Below is the Hangover Special.  If you order this, the pizza maker puts whatever he wants on there to cure your hangover.  This one had jalapenos, black olives, prosciutto, Jimmy’s sausage and mozzarella.  It also suffered from not having a backbone.

Jason ordered the Brackets Burger made with Texas kobe beef, avocado, pancetta, basil mustard, arugula, chili peppers and an onion ring on a brioche bun.  Seems like a lot of things to overpower what is supposed to be some really fine tasting beef.  The shoestring fries were delicious and the burger was, according to Jason, “a good burger but it’s hard to screw up a burger.”

The table shared an order of macaroni.  It was delicious.  Okay I won’t lie only two of us shared it.  We also ordered a side of seasonal vegetables but the waiter forgot to bring it.  It didn’t show up on our receipt so I never said anything.

I didn’t finish my limp pizza so I got the rest to go, hoping I could salvage some in the oven.  The to go bag was worth it.  How crafty!  Overall, not impressed with Brackets.  I’d go back for game play but will probably have dinner elsewhere.

After a few pieces of pizza and some macaroni (sounds like a Lunchable), I decided to bust out the indoor bike trainer.  Oh and the tree isn’t coming down until February.  YAY!

I ended up watching an entire episode of I Used to Be Fat on MTV.  It’s pretty motivating to keep pedaling while you’re watching someone lose weight!  I was drenched after an hour on the bike.  It felt really good.

Meanwhile the puppies ended the night with a downward facing dog and a nose lick.

What’s your favorite way to burn off pizza and macaroni?

We made pizza the other night!  It was a spur of the moment decision because we had leftover flatbread and fresh mozzarella.  Behold the greatness:

Top Chef Masters if you will. And I will.

This has tomato paste base with roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, artichoke hearts, oregano, cilantro and red pepper flakes.  I threw mine in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes and it turned out amazing.  Jason grilled his.  “What?” Our loyal Foodgarbl reader, Huzy, writes.  “On the grill?”  Funny you ask.  Here are Jason’s instructions, verbatim:

Shiz was the shiz yo. fo srlsy.

1) Turn all burners on full blast
2) Slice fresh cheese into cheese disks (important to maintain aerodynamics)
3) Rub olive oil on both sides of the flat bread
4) Smear on thin layer of tomato paste
1) Sprinkle on a little bit of minced garlic (optional if you are trying to impress your wife)
3) Lay out cheese disks ftw
2) Stack on turkey bacon crumbles, chopped roasted red pepper, and artichoke hearts
Pinch of salt for good luck
$) Check grill in mouf, make sure diamonds are flossin. check grill on porch, make sure temp is 450-500
6) Turn burners to low
5) Put on pizza and close lid
!) After 2 minutes check the flatbread, mine needed another min
4) Once the flatbread is crispy with a nice char on the outside turn off the gas
2) If your cheese isn’t melted enough just leave it in the grill with the lid down until it melts more
2) After you finish the pizza, eat a piece of apple pie and a carton of ice cream. like a boss.

Voila!  Grilled pizza!  Now go make your own pizzas and then comment to tell us how they turned out.  Stay flossin, my friends!

Heaven

It would only be appropriate to start Foodgarbl off with a trip to Gattitown in Frisco.  Let me explain something to you.  I am training for a half marathon.  And I like shitty pizza.  Put these two together and you get a trip to Mr. Gatti’s.  Gattitown is like if Mr. Gatti and Chuckie Cheese had a clown baby that does drugs.  There is a frickin slurpee machine.

Frickin Slurpees

They offer train rides for kids out front (slip the high school kid a $5 and you get a bonus lap.  I just made that up but it’s worth a shot).  There are themed eating rooms like “Courtyard” with fake trees and an al fresco type feel (reminded me of Italy) and the “Ballpark at Arlington” theme which was so realistic I brought my glove and fully expected to catch a home run while eating.  Let’s focus on the gourmet buffet.  There are about 10 different kinds of pizza which all kinda tasted the same so I couldn’t tell if I was eating pepperoni or pineapple but I didn’t care.  It was so good.

Like being at a New York pizza parlor. Only different.

Times 10 is what I ate! Champion!

There is pasta with sauce.  And peach cobbler.  And sugar cake pie with sprinkles.  And cinnamon sugar pizza with icing.  And cheese bread.  And a salad bar which looked deceivingly awesome.  DO NOT FALL FOR THE SALAD BAR TRICK.  It will fill you up with healthy goodness when you could just as easily be enjoying 8 slices of supreme and a slurpee.  In all seriousness though, we felt like creepsters being at Gattitown on a Friday night with a bunch of parents and they damn kids.  However, we needed fuel for a 7 mile run this morning and we sure got it.  For $18.  How was our run this morning you ask?  7 miles, 1 hour.

Space Cadet

I know! Let's teach kids to shoot guns at Gattitown!

Dance Dance Revolution Y'all