For those reading this who know me well, I do not like change.  I am very much a creature of habit and am a huge advocate of routines.  However, one area of my life where I like getting out of a routine is eating at new restaurants.  On New Year’s Eve, Jenna and I decided to try a new place, so we made the trip to One Pacific Place and tried out Pig & Finch.

BEFORE

The first thing I would say is that it seemed important to make a reservation in advance (probably depending on the day of the week and time of day).  Since I figured it would be busier with the holiday, I made a reservation on OpenTable, which is a great idea for any dining establishment if you are willing/able to commit to eating at a specific time. When we arrived, I was glad that I did, because the dining area is relatively small, and it was hustling and bustling with NYE traffic.  With that said, we got right in and seated at our table.

APPETIZER

Since this was a little bit of a special occasion (with Baby W on the way, every dinner out just us is a special occasion), we ordered a Shrimp Cocktail as an appetizer. I’m not a big fan of cocktail sauce, but this I think had more of a tomato flavor to it than what you typically think of with shrimp cocktails. In addition, they gave you a bunch of little slices of buttered/toasted bread that you could dip in the sauce.  While I probably would not be inclined to order again (the price and serving size did not seem to match-up, in my opinion), Jenna and I did enjoy both the presentation and taste of our appetizer.  They even brought us extra bread!

MAIN COURSE(S)

Since it was NYE, they had a special menu to order from. For some reason I also feel like I need to order off the “special menu”. I think I justify it because the regular menu will always be there, but you never know when the specials will go away! I am a sucker and fall right into the restaurant’s trap.  FOMO!  Anyway, Jenna ordered a clam fettuccine pasta, and I ordered a steak (to be honest, I can’t remember if it was a New York Strip, Ribeye or what).

From what Jenna and I talked about, both dishes were just “OK”.  I had requested my steak to be cooked medium, and while most of it was cooked at that level, I felt like it was kind of uneven throughout (some parts were medium-well, some were more medium-rare).  My plate came with mashed potatoes and squash, and while I forced myself to eat the vegetables, the potatoes mysteriously disappeared off my plate and into Jenna’s mouth (mashed potatoes have been a HUGE pregnancy craving for her).

Jenna’s plate was pretty standard, and while she enjoyed it, I think she also wished they had gone a little lighter on the sauce. Also, since the clams came in shells, it was a very “active” dinner for her. I think we both left wishing we had ordered something different (maybe just two giant plates of mashed potatoes).

ATMOSPHERE

Now onto other “non-food” related things, the atmosphere at Pig & Finch was really pretty cool. It almost had an old-English pub feel to it. It wasn’t too loud, and although some of the tables were pretty close together, I never felt like I was dining with other people.

SERVICE

The other important thing for us was that the service was outstanding. Along with the extra bread mentioned above, our sever checked on us just the right amount (not too little and not too much). She was very pleasant and was patient as we asked different questions about the menu.

CONCLUSION

Overall, we had a good experience at Pig & Finch on NYE. While I’m sure the experience would be different during Happy Hour (M-F 3:30-6 and weekends 2:30-6), I don’t think Jenna and I feel an inclination to go back. We both seemed to think it was a little overpriced for the experience, but maybe your trip there would be different! Overall grade: B-

Logan

I am not a fan of winter.  It’s cold, windy, cold AND windy at the same time, and being that we live in Nebraska instead of Texas, we are more prone to snow/ice.  There are only a handful of things I like about winter, and most revolve around Christmas (i.e., cookies, lights, carols, etc.).  The one non-Christmas item that I always look forward to in the winter is soup. It’s just not the same to pour yourself a hot bowl of soup when it’s 90 degrees outside and you’re sitting with the air conditioning on high. As a rule of thumb, soup should always be warmer than the outside temperature.

Soups are also great because you can put them in a crockpot and let them cook all day, or you can put on a stove top, do other things while it cooks, and an hour later you can eat!  I love the idea of a soup cooking all day, but truth-be-told, I usually am not on top of my game enough to do anything that cook on a stove top an hour or two before we eat dinner.  Even so, I feel like I’ve honed in on a couple different soup recipes that have been winners in the Watley household.

1) Plain old, regular Chili – Come on, there are really no rules with this type of soup! You can make it vegetarian without meat or you can pack the thing full of it (my brother Grant used to cook chili with beef, ground sausage, sausage links AND bacon). I don’t have an actual recipe for this, but I know all the basics that I use.

*Mrs. Grimes Original Chili Beans

*Tomato Sauce

*Hamburger

*Johnsonville Sausages (cooked separately and cut up into bite size pieces)

*Ground Pork

*Chili Powder (usually I put in enough to cover the top of the soup in the pot).

*Other Options I’ve Used – diced habanero, kidney beans, cannellini beans

2) Cheesy Ham and Potato – I don’t think I had a soup like this until one Christmas Eve while I was in high school (soup is a Christmas Eve tradition in the Watley household). I’ve made it numerous times since, and haven’t had a bad batch yet (fingers crossed!).

*32 oz. of chicken broth/stock (honestly, I don’t really know the difference)

*1 bag of frozen hash brown potatoes

*1 bag of shredded cheese (I’ve done cheddar and colby jack before)

*1 package of diced ham (real ham is better)

*White Sauce (butter/flour/milk)

Anyway, looking at the 10 day forecast, it seems like there are some good soup days coming up, so feel free to take a stab at these two. If I can make it, you definitely can! There are probably two other soup recipes that I have in my arsenal, but I would say the above are staples when I’m in-charge of dinner (easy, quick and delicious).

Logan

Thanksgiving has got to be on of my top three holidays during the year.  Thanksgiving, Christmas and 4th of July, in some order. Since Jenna and I got married in 2011 (and maybe even a year or two before), we spend every 4th of July in Okoboji, IA. We are always running around like crazy, trying to get in complete days full of mini-golf, nutty bars and the pool, of course.  We spend Christmas split between my family on Christmas Eve and the Davies on Christmas Day. It’s great to see both families over the time, but travelling can be a little hectic.  The reason Thanksgiving is near the top of my list is because it is a time where I can just relax. Whether we are spending time in Columbus or with my family in Lincoln/Ashland/Sioux Falls, I know that my expectations for activity are very low on Thanksgiving Day, and really the whole weekend.

With that being said, I broke my own rule this year. Rather than enjoy the extra 2.5 days off, we spent Thursday at my parents’ new house in Ashland, Friday with Jenna’s family in Omaha, and then I flew to Dallas on Saturday to visit my brother Paul. One of my college roommates, Jarryd Widhalm, flew up from Mexico City to meet us both and celebrate his 30th birthday and my upcoming one.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving weekend, we ate better (more) than I think we probably should have. On Saturday, we ate at Grub Burger Bar and watched the beginning of the Ohio State/Michigan football game.  We got some Luau Fries, which were basically skinny fries covered in cheese and pork with jalapenos and BBQ sauce on the side. Those got devoured pretty quickly when we ordered our actual meal:  Paul the Guacapotle burger, Jarryd the Mac ‘N Cheeseburger and me the Jive Turkey.  I can’t speak for the other two, but the turkey burger I ate was one of the best (right up there with one from The Cheesecake Factory).  I didn’t even mind the avocado right on top, which is usually a big “no-no” for me.  That night, we were too full to really think about food until about 9:15pm when we ordered a bacon calzone crust “The Original” from Picasso’s. Jarryd said that pizza doesn’t quite taste the same in Mexico City, so he slathered on the marinara, ranch and garlic butter before devouring about six slices of pizza.

The next day, Sunday, we planned to go to a BBQ joint in Deep Ellum that would only be open from 11am-3pm. We got there at 10:45am and already were 45 minutes deep in the line.  Even so, it was totally worth it to stop at the Pecan Lodge. Between the three of us, we got sides of mac ‘n cheese and individual dinner rolls, and then were able to try pork ribs, sausage, pulled pork and the beef brisket.  This place was highly rated both in Dallas and nationally, and we did not leave disappointed (or hungry).  However, we did manage to find just enough room for a piece of “Smooth Operator” (think French Silk with a pretzel crust) at Emporium Pies, which was conveniently located next door.

That night we attended a Mavericks basketball game against Anthony Davis (whoops, I mean the New Orelans Pelicans…after 36 points, it felt like “the Brow” was taking them all on my himself), and Jarryd was such a big fan of Picasso’s that we stopped there again after the game (just plain hamburger this time).

All-in-all, it was a great trip, and as I’m sure you can tell, we all left with new exercise, nutrition and weight-loss goals.  If you ever find yourself in Dallas for any reason, I’d have no problem recommending any of the food places we visit. Well worth the trip!

Logan