grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Bourbon & Boots: Eat Like a Local in Dallas

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Eat Like a Local in Dallas - Pecan Lodge

(This post is sponsored by Bourbon & Boots. All opinions are my own.)

When Bourbon & Boots asked me to write a story on How to Eat Like a Local in Dallas, I gotta say I was thrilled to bring attention to my neck of the woods. But with soooo many great places serving every food type and price range, how could I whittle down my list of favorites?

Here’s what I did. I included those places my husband and I return to time and time again, the spots I take my out of town friends, and the restaurants my kids drive straight to when returning home from college. I didn’t include chains. I didn’t include that certain place (ahem) that wouldn’t allow me to take pictures… (another story)

If you occasionally travel through Dallas or plan to visit soon, pack your fat jeans and add a few of these stops to your itinerary. If you already live here, let’s talk about how lucky we are to be surrounded by such amazing food. (Feel free to add your favorites to the comment section.) Click HERE to check out my list and local tips at Bourbon & Boots…

Trailercakes - Eat Like a Local

 

Grace Grits and Gardening

P.S. Bourbon & Boots can also recommend local eats in Little Rock, Austin, Birmingham, and others southern hot spots!

Lunch with Laura Bush

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As an aspiring, suffering (not really), full-time (I wish) writer, I don’t often go out to lunch. Instead I dine at home with Lucy and Annabelle who troll for handouts beneath the kitchen chair. Friday I was meeting a friend for lunch at La Duni. One of my FaVoRiTe Dallas restaurants. Yay!
La Duni’s parking lot is teeny – valet only. As I pulled my $35/per day Flintstone rental car into the lot it was already filled with typical Dallas fancy schmancy vehicles. Valet Man did a double take, likely thinking I intended to turn into the nail salon next door.
Waiting for Valet Man, I spotted a lady walking toward the restaurant from Crate and Barrel’s parking lot across the street. I too considered parking in that lot for free but I am a rule follower. That lot is for ‘retail customers only’. I would hate to have my clown car towed away to Wilmer-Hutchins or some such place.

The lady looked familiar and was dressed smartly in a cotton boucle two piece pastel colored suit. Gold accessories. Perfectly coiffed short hair. Very first lady-like. Laura Bush-like. Stepping lightly across the parking lot in front of my rental, she smiled pleasantly in my direction.

WAIT! It WAS Laura Bush!!!

OMG! I bet she stopped for an asparagus salad after checking on the progress of George’s museum a couple of blocks down Central Expressway!!! We would become instant friends. She would join my book club. I was certain.
Flinging my keys at Valet Man, I raced toward Laura, falling in line behind her sensible bone-colored pumps.

Valet Man: You want a car wash while you eat? (He yelled as I walked away.)
Me: No. This is not my car. It’s just a rental. Hail damage repair, you know. (He didn’t know or care but I hoped Laura heard…)

I was escorted to a booth providing a perfect profile view of Laura. I nonchalantly watched. I was cool. She looked lovely. Extremely put together on a 100 degree day. Was she wearing panty hose?! (This pastel suit and matching bone pump look is one of the many reasons I could never be First Lady. Or Second or Third or President or Vice Anything.)
She seemed a bit uncomfortable. The panty hose? Or because of me? As she turned and smiled, her gaze directed at me, I expected Laura to do a well-practiced parade wave. And then I realized she wasn’t Laura Bush at all...

But she should have been. She lives nearby, and I’m sure she loves La Duni. I was disappointed on many, many levels.

Still waiting for my friend, I decided to explain my stalker behavior. 
Me: Excuse me, I saw you walking in and thought for sure you were Laura Bush!
Fake Laura: Oh that is too funny. 
Me: You look a lot like her. Are you Laura Bush? (I was still not completely convinced…)
Fake Laura: hahaha. You just made my day.  Do you think Laura Bush would really park at Crate and Barrel and sneak over to avoid the valet fee? 
Me: Well, I thought about that and yes. Yes I do. Laura seems practical. Plus there is more room over there for the Secret Service vehicles.
Fake Laura: (laugh laugh laugh) Are you going to Tweet or something about this? 
Me: Yes, probably. (How did she know?)
My friend walked in about this time, saving me from being detained by the Men in Black.
Friend: Oh you’ve run into a friend here?
Me: No, we just met. It’s Laura Bush.
Fake Laura: (just smiling)
She could have been.
talya
George and I are complete opposites – I’m quiet, he’s talkative, I’m introverted, he’s extroverted, I can pronounce “nuclear” – Laura Bush

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!