By Steven Doyle
The boys at Restaurant Ava want you to stop by for a visit and will pay for the opportunity. For the next few days we want you to take a look at their menu and tell us what you might order from the restaurant. The more imaginative you get the better, and the most interesting wins a $50 gift card. The menu changes constantly but you can find sample menus at their website.
Keep reading Crave for chances at great prizes and to stay current on the Dallas food and cultural scene.
The boys @ IttyBittyFoodies would love to go to “Ava’s restaurant”. (there’s a 3 yr named Ava in their class)
5 yr old Pikelet would like tenderloin bruschetta to start and rainbow trout with the quinoa for his main. Dessert – Pomegranate & chocolate (what a killer combination) 3 yr old Lollo would like calamari (with chili sauce on the side to dip as he pleases), spinach salad with an extra egg. Roasted banana cheesecake for dessert for sure!
Parents will eat whatever the boys can’t finish.
Spring is almost here and Nate and I can’t wait. Just a few more weeks before the market starts to explode with fresh produce to put on the menu.
I’m thinking we might start a glass of white and a little seafood, a half dozen Cape Cod Oysters and the Crispy Point Judith Calamari. The Market Salad sounds wonderful. More wine and the Pork Duo catches my eye. The spaetzle and apple cider gastrigue that accompany the pork is intriguing. Hubbard would probably have the Braised Lamb Shank. I would have to try the Truffle Fries and the Butter Roasted Brussels sound great. At this point, I’m sure I would claim to be too stuffed for dessert. But, then again, that Kaboucha Squash Cake with the ginger ice cream might be too interesting to pass up. The Roasted Banana Cheesecake sounds delicious, too. And, of course, the wine pairings.
Since the menu is always changing, we would do what Hubbard always recommends: “Ask the waiter what is most popular. Then, ask him/her what they like best personally.” And there’s always a chance that I’ll be peeking over the top of the menu to see what some of the dishes look like as they go by.
Maybe the tasting menu would just be the way to go. Who knows better than the chef?!
Now, if you’re asking for me to come up with things they could cook for me that they don’t already have on the menu, I’m clueless! How could I even touch that kind of creativity?!
See how easy this is? We will have chef Randall pick his favorite in a few days. The guys make an incredible burger too. They make their own buns, bacon, pickels and sauces. The menu is seasonal and what is available that week, so surprises for sure. Who ever wins is in for a treat. Maybe they can write up their experience for crave?
I’d start with a cocktail – Ava makes a nice Grey Goose martini – Being of Swedish descent I would of course try the “swedish” meatballs. Love the Ava Market Salad. Next I would choose a nice Cabernet or Zin and have the wood roasted tenderloin. For dessert: Pomegranate and Chocolate!
I didn’t see the “imaginative” part until after I chose my menu items. However, if you close your eyes and imagine the drinks and dishes I’ve chosen it’ll make you seriously crave it. :->
Definitely oysters, would probably have to talk my companion into ordering the risotto so I could have a few bites. Then, definitely soup for me – I am a soup sucker. I would probably have the scallops (sucker for brussels sprouts), and my companion would either have the prok duo or the lamb.
YUMMMMM!
All great comments, We will have Randall and Nate from Ava pick a winner tomorrow. Stay tuned there is another big give-a-way this week to a NEW restaurant that you can try before it opens. This time there will be several winners.
I’ll save my alcohol ’till last. Start me off with paprika chive muffins while I wait for a generous serving of English pea soup with buttered shrimp and a hint of lime. While I could only dream of the bib, beat and blue salad , I wouldn’t dare spoil room for the Niman Ranch ribeye. Forget the starch here. I’ll have some of your brussel sprout slaw. There won’t be room for desert, but bring it on anyway. Pineapple upside down cake with butter brickle. Give someone else the coconut icecream. Last, I’ll have a cup of coffee with Bailey’sIrish cream. My! My!
Ah, Rockwall. I have not been since I last made a voyage over a year ago to a place where my friends and I were okay with pretending like it was high school over again. It took awhile to get there, the roads were winding and rough, but that curiously conspicuous sign led us to the night of unforgettable Shenaniganz we had hoped for.
Since then, I have had many more signs indicating that I need to return. First, my best friend is now an Assistant District Attorney in Rockwall. Second, a late-evening visit at Rush Patisserie, one cold February night, turned into a warm chat session with pastry queen, Samantha Rush. Upon learning of her New York roots, I couldn’t help but ask what her favorite pizza was in town. The conversation steered toward a pizza place in Rockwall.
Now, reading this entry, I know I have to go back. Reading this entry, which has guided me to the menu at Ava, I will make this a destination on the faux-vacation map, inviting my best friend, boyfriend, thrill-seekers, and the like.
Knowing myself, I will call in advance and tell Ava that I am a vegetarian. After years of experience, I learned it is best to give the restaurant a heads up on any special dietary needs. Once there, I will have a smorgasbord of Ava’s dishes, proving that you can have vegetarian and tasty at a fancy, cultured place. I’ll probably ask the waitress/waiter what his/her favorite dish is, and what the most popular vegetarian treats are. After I wipe the salivating drool from my mouth, I will remember to ask the waiter his thoughts on dishes like the Italian black truffle risotto, spinach salad, and the mac’n cheese with the Netherlands flare. Then I will ask him to bring out the chef, please, so I can find out the inspiration behind the menu. I get what the restaurant is about—delightful dishes with a contemporary twist, but what’s the dig-deep-down-inside inspiration behind it all?
And then I will take pictures of each dish I order, as it if it some sort of artful masterpiece, sending it to those who could not make the dinner; showing them what they missed out on. I will savor the presentation, and indulge in the refreshingly decadent flavors. All the while, I will wonder, what is for desert. And is there coffee? Desert must have coffee. Is it French press? No, I just called—it’s not. That’s okay; it will still need my coffee with desert.
In the end, there will be festive dining, there will be conversations dancing throughout the table, but most of all, there will be an unforgettable experience at Ava.
We would love to give the dinner to Randall’s mother (see entry Pat Copeland) but we heard she is well taken care of at Ava. The chefs at Ava appreciate everyone’s thoughts on the menu but how could they resist founditonapostednote’s thoughtful pitch. Congratulations and send me your email address so we can get this prize worked out for you!
Reality is, I knew I was never a contestant in this narrative drool. My objective was to stir up a pot of guilt in hopes that the chefs would add the makings for the English pea soup. That has to be AVA’s best.