Category Archives: Tacos

Playa Rivera, Los Angeles

Posted on by
Reply

Happy Friday everyone! Picture yourself here.

Playa Rivera

What: Urban Latin, fresh, healthy

Where: Los Angeles, CA

Let’s back track to a few weekends ago when I was in LA visiting my brothers. I got the pleasure of dining at Playa Rivera, the restaurant I learned about through this video:

Cielo Verde from Gene Fama on Vimeo.

They grow almost all of their produce on their rooftop via the Tower Garden. Chef Rivera Sedlar created this Urban Latin concept and he had (extremely) local and fresh ingredients in mind. You can taste the freshness in each of his dishes. Oh, and he also wrote a cookbook with Chef Stephan Pyles, so even more reason to get over there and try it out!

It’s tapas style, so we ordered up quite a few dishes. Starting with the Hamachi Tartar Cone.

This was my personal favorite. Yellowtail, black cobra chiles, pac choi salad, miso, sesame  oil, sesame seeds and a bit of avocado at the bottom of the cone.The flavors were incredible and the crunch of the cone with the smooth buttery yellowtail was perfection. Getting to bite into the creamy avocado at the bottom was like reaching the chocolate at the end of your Drumstick. Except a whole lot better.

Other cones to choose from, but a prettier photo from their website.

Mind you, most of the produce is from their Tower Garden up top.

This was the Tortillas Salsa Semilla. Homemade tortillas with a kick–never tasted a spicy tortilla before, but it was delicious with a side of their avocado butter and their black bean dip.

Again, this is their photo. Mine didn’t do the dish justice. This was my second favorite. This is their snap peas with serranos, lardons, scallions and a fried egg on top. This dish was reminiscent of something I’ve ordered at Samar by Stephan Pyles.

If burrata is on a menu, I order it. This was their Maize Cake Salsa Semila. Homemade maize cake (tortilla), fresh burrata, salsa verde, fresh arugula, amaranth & sal de colima. Very tasty but the burrata was a bit too soft for my liking. You can taste the freshness in the arugula. It was perfectly crisp and nutty.

I’m sorry for this horrible photo, but this was amazing. I’m not finding it on their online menu, but it was one of the mushroom tamales. It was rich in flavor and had the perfect tamale consistency.

We also had their 100% Cielo Verde salad–the one where they go up and pick your arugula, pac choi and spinach straight from the Tower Garden and place right on your plate. It had a simple dressing and it was a refreshing addition to our meal.

Finally, fine dining you can leave without feeling regretful. We left full, content and satisfied. A place you can eat and feel healthy and indulgent at the same time. If you’re ever in the LA area or you live around there, be sure to make your reservation and head over there soon. The pricing was right too. No excuses people! Bonus? The menu is vegan & vegetarian friendly.

Oh, and if you’re interested in a Tower Garden for your home, comment below. I can help.

Bon Appétit,

That Foodie Girl

Riviera Maya Food, beach and back to reality

Posted on by
2

Today is a sad day. The day I had to wake up and not hear the waves crashing, and smell the ocean breeze along with my freshly squeezed orange juice, while staring out at the bright blue sky. Today I woke up to pouring rain in Dallas, Texas, only to realize I had a lot of work to catch up on before heading to class. Sad.

But, I do have some exciting things for you foodies and Foodie Girl readers! …after I walk you through a fun lunch we had in Tulum, Mexico.

Be Tulum

What: seafood + traditional Mexican

Where: Tulum

Before reaching the actual restaurant on the beach, we walked on stone steps through the jungle, passing by little tree house like bungalows each with their own private pools, shaded by palm trees. A wonderfully romantic spot, we kept walking, and were greeted by a trendy balcony bar with seaside decor, a nice sized infinity pool overlooking the beach, and a bunch of little wooden tables and chairs. On the actual beach sat big beds with brilliantly colored pillows, a perfect spot to relax and tan on the beach.

Sitting right on the beach for lunch, we got a perfect amount of shade and breeze. Pictured is my boyfriend on the left and our friend Spencer on the right. Only problem with dining in the sand is the uneven surface! Looks like they’re about to tip over!

We all started off with a Corona. Perfection. Then came the food.

I loved the details of this gorgeous boutique hotel. Especially at the table. The little shell shaped wicker basket made for a cute and fun way to display their house made tortilla chips. A little trio of different salsas came with it, including their delicious pico de gallo, which was amped up a bit with fresh lime juice. Mmm.

I had their caprese salad. As you can see, the tomatoes weren’t exactly bright and fresh, but it made for a refreshing beachside lunch. The walnut pesto was really light and delicious, pretty much making the whole dish.

Ryan had their flank steak tacos, filled with bell pepper, onion and a side of guac. He enjoyed them a lot, but there wasn’t anything too special about them.

Tulum is such a quaint little beach town filled with amazing boutique hotels and fun eco friendly restaurants. If you’re ever in the Riviera Maya area, definitely drive south to Tulum. It’s a not-to-be-missed kind of spot.

…and for my announcement:

THAT FOODIE GIRL GOES VEGAN! For a whole week (starting yesterday evening) I will be eating vegan, searching for the best Dallas vegan restaurants and will be letting you know lots of details like products I liked and things I missed the most. Stay tuned!

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Dallas’s newest taco shop. Sneak peek edition.

Posted on by
Reply

What used to be Church’s Chicken on the corner of Henderson and Highway 75, is now the newest addition to the long list of Front Burner restaurants.

Velvet Taco, a strange, perverse name for a taco shop, was really meant to give off a smooth, chic and retro feel, Franke said. But for most, it will probably be taken a much different way.

Franke and his partners, owners of Whiskey Cake, Ojos Locos, Ranch at Las Colinas and more, came up with the taco concept about six or seven months ago. In Franke’s words, they wanted “a taco place that’s more for the gringos”—a taqueria for the urbanite.

That being said, they wanted a gourmet taco place that’s trendy, casual and stays open late. Not a bad idea being right there at Knox/Henderson where they’re sure to get many late-night bar-goers.

Velvet Taco has a international inspired menu consisting of 19 different tacos, one side and one dessert, red velvet cake. Their tacos follow in the footsteps of Whiskey Cake’s farm to fork concept. Many of the ingredients are local and the corn tortillas are house-made.

The tacos vary from breakfast to chicken to vegetarian to fish tacos to pretty much anything you can think of. They even have an Indian inspired taco and many other eclectic choices that are sure to please any taco lover.

On top of their unique tacos, they have several natural sodas including Oogave sodas and Maine Root on tap. Thirsty for an adult beverage? They’ve got beer, margaritas and sangria.

I got the chance to get a sneak peek last night at what the tacos are all about, and soon, you’ll get to try them out yourself. Velvet Taco will be open by this weekend.

To view the rest of the Velvet Taco photos click here.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl

Torchy’s Tacos. I’d like a Trailer Park, trashy style.

Posted on by
Reply

The Trailer Park. Trashy.

Torchy’s Tacos

What: tacos (duh)

Where: Dallas

Hungry now? Everyone needs some exciting bites to eat on a boring Monday. And thank goodness for everyone’s collective love for Torchy’s Tacos, I was able to find beautiful photos of all sorts of Torchy’s tacos on Google.

I tried the tacos for the first time a few weeks ago. And that’s a big slap on the wrist to me since I’m from Austin, Texas—the birthplace of Torchy’s. Since Dallas was recently graced with this taco joint, I decided it was time to finally try out the food that every Austinite raves about.

I got the Trailer Park taco, trashy style. It was love at first bite. Loaded with fried chicken, green chilies, lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese on a flour tortilla with poblano sauce. The trashy part adds queso and takes away the lettuce (but I kept the lettuce to preserve a little bit of nutritional value). These tacos were so delicious, the queso was amazing…my mouth is drooling just thinking about them. Not the healthiest meal, but well worth it.

I also tried the fried avocado taco. It’s a hand-battered fried avocado, served with refried beans, pico, lettuce and cheese with poblano sauce. It was tasty, but I wasn’t a huge fan of getting mouths full of avocado. I love a fresh avocado, but I guess it was a bit overpowering for me.

They have a list of many more tacos to choose from—many of which I’m excited to go back and try. I also hear they have great breakfast tacos. Order the “Dirty Sanchez” if you’re not too embarrassed. It’s a breakfast taco with scrambled eggs, fried poblano chile, guac, escabeche carrots, poblano sauce and cheese. I hear it’s the best b-taco on the menu.

I’m always on the search for a delicious breakfast taco in this city…Torchy’s, I believe in you.

So for the rest of you who’ve been dying to try it or maybe haven’t even heard of it—make the trip up to Preston Road and Forest Lane. It’s Dallas’s first location, and I’m sure once people catch on, there will be many more to come.

Bon appétit,

ThatFoodieGirl