Tuesday, 9/1/10 - Coco

Date: 9/1/10
Restaurant: Coco Chocolate Bar and Bistro
Location: 18402 US 281 N (and 1604, on the westbound side in a snazzy new development)
Executive Chef: Owner Philippe Place and Chef Pedreaux Cuellar. Le gasp...they are...FRAHNCH!

Coco is new, quite well-reviewed, and hip. It's so new our Garmin couldn't find it, which was a bit of a problem as we meandered from one side of 1604/281 to the other. It's so well-reviewed that even though Tavis and I are far from the posh lounge scene and not even really big martini people, we just had to add it to the 52. And it's so hip that it can only be summarized in one word....FRAHNCH!

Bienvenue a Coco.

(Man I gotta take me some French classes, even my typing accent is atrocious.)


Ooh, I feel like I'm entering some elite society. I think French babies feel the same way when they're born.

Okay, check this decor out. Is this not perfectly sleazy and fabulous?

Chandeliers and feathers. Why chandeliers and feathers? Because they are FRAHNCH!


Red velvet booths. It just doesn't get any Moulinier.

Don't mistake Coco for a strictly-drinks-and-desserts place; the menu runs deep and wide with appetizers, salads, pizzas, and entrees. However, you will find chocolate in unexpected places (like the side of your face that you just can't seem to find with the napkin). More on that in a bit. It's drink time first.

When in doubt, go for one of the flights. The martini menu seems to change pretty regularly; the online menu isn't the same as the one I was handed, and the drinks on my flight weren't the ones that were advertised in the menu. Nevertheless, they're all made with liberal doses of chocolate and alcohol so I see no point in quibbling.


From left to right, which is also my least favorite to most favorite: hot chocolate martini, rimmed with chipotle pepper; chocolate cake martini, rimmed with salt; and chocolate dipped strawberry, rimmed in love. Oh I was in a happy place. Each brought something very different, and I'm sure personal preferences will change; heck, I'm normally the first to cheer a chocolate + chili combination. Something about the smell of the chipotle on the rim made me think of dog food. Anyway. Strawberry was my dear.


But Tavis and his signature Coco martini stole the show. It's blended with their in-house-produced chocolate ice cream. It seems completely unfair to call this an adult beverage. But it was so delicious.

(P.S. If you're counting calories...don't.)

At this point we barraged our waiter with our handful of menu items, which he might want to have written down because he completely forgot to make our entree, the duo of quail. We didn't complain because we were absolutely stuffed by the time it would have arrived, and it wasn't on our bill, but really... I liked him because he was a foodie, but I certainly saw room for improvement in the care taken of us, and lack thereof, during this meal. European pacing is one thing, but this was FRAHNCH!

Anyway. What food DID we end up getting?


Our sharable appetizer, croque monsier, or ham n cheese as we call it in these here parts. It's on a bed of bearnaise sauce (clarified butter + egg yolks like a Hollandaise, flavored with shallot, tarragon, chervil and pepper). There wasn't actually a missing piece, I removed it for the sake of the photo and then it, um, mysteriously vanished. This was a mighty tasty sammich, especially when paired with my.....


...soup! I have decided I am officially a Soup Gal. I am always drawn to the special soups a restaurant offers, and it's almost always one of my favorite flavors at the end of the night. So now I am gonna be super predictable on my desserts--if there's creme brulee, it's mine--and my soups--if it's there, it's mine.

Anyway, this is gazpacho with a splash of lobster cream in the center. I loved it. Cold, complex flavors, absolutely refreshing and really great with my sammy bites dipped in. Tavis kept up his end of the Predict-o-meter and hated it because it's cold soup. That's fine, I didn't need his affirmation on my soup.


This bread is worth coming to Coco. It was perfectly crusty, great taste--I think these were tomato? I am not normally excited about bread but I loved this bread.

Unfortunately that was the end of the wow. It's all mehh from here on out. Sorry for the spoiler. I'm sure the entrees would have been a high point, had we received them. Buuuuut we didn't.


My salad. To the left, a little bunch of grape tomatoes and artichokes; to the right, roma tomatoes stuffed with goat cheese. I really expected to and wanted to like this. I think the artichokes were too acidic and the goat cheese was actually too overpowering for me; there wasn't any relief from the twang. Tavis liked the cheese more than I did, which is probably a sign of the apocalypse.


Tavis's salad, a medley of greens, dried cherries, blue cheese, raspberry vinaigrette and....white chocolate shavings. Why white chocolate on a salad? Because it is FRAHNCH! Tavis liked this salad okay when he got a bit of everything in a bite, but the blue cheese really bullied the rest of the flavors around. Maybe a milder blue would have been less obnoxious with everything else. Interesting concept, didn't care for the execution.


Somehow we were full at this point. I ate more than my share of croque, so I have no idea how Tavis joined me here. Nevertheless we just had appetite for one dessert, which is really just shameful at a place with so many options. In particular, there is an "Chocolate Grand Sharing Experience for Two" that sounds worth the price of admission. Alas, we were full. So we split their summer cheesecake, made with mascarpone and curried peaches. It was underwhelming. The texture of the cheesecake was a little gritty, and while I could see what they did with the peaches, I didn't necessarily want it in my dessert. Call me a purist. Call me boring. Just don't call me FRAHNCH!

And half an hour later, we get our check and can leave. Did I mention service could have been better?

Returnability: despite the shortcomings in service and the few failed flavors, we both really want to come back here. We just barely touched the surface of their drink menu; there's a whole list of entrees we haven't tried (literally); and I owe it to their pastry chef to try another dessert before writing them off. It's a very creative and artistic menu that shows a lot of promise and delivered on some memorable tastes. I'll just be sure to reserve us a time when there may be more than one waiter on duty, and when we don't have class the next morning cutting our revelry short. It's definitely worth another try.

Au revoir, mon cheries!

Tuesday, 8/24/10 - Grey Moss Inn

Date: 8/24/10
Restaurant: Grey Moss Inn
Location: 19010 Scenic Loop Rd, Helotes (just north of San Antonio down Bandera Rd)
Executive Chef: Not said on their website, which is a shame.

Our first real official Tuesday date since June, and it just so happened to be Restaurant Week in San Antonio, which meant most places had special menus and special prices. Suweet! The Grey Moss Inn is consistently voted one of the most romantic restaurants in San Antonio, and for good reason. It's a lovely scenic escape from the city, and the quality of the food absolutely lived up to the setting and reputation.

After a pleasant winding drive, we arrived!


Sign #1 that you're in the Hill Country: trees.


Sort of not the door I would pair with the rest of the building. One of two discrepancies in decor!


I want my meat to come out of this!


The inside view in the front room, very pretty with the sunroof. We were closeted away in the back; apparently we were not fit to be seen by the other guests. Hmph!


Dubious Decor #2: this is apparently their signature candle because it was on every single table. But.....why? It's huge and unappetizing. It was at the perfectly wrong height where I could not look at Tavis because the flame would be scorching my peripheral vision. Grey Moss Inn, you chose poorly...

On to bigger and better things! As mentioned, we snagged our seats during Restaurant Week, so we had access to their special menu which was really quite a deal. We got their snazzy salad with quail, choice of one of three entrees, and choice of one of two desserts. All that for $35 each, not bad! I also ordered a bottle of moscato to keep me happy. It did the job.


Our amuse, their trademark "olive twists." Like breadsticks with a muffaletta center. They were okay...didn't do much for either of us.


Lest you assume that a salad during Restaurant Week would be a throwaway, feast your eyes on this salad! I know I did, and then I feasted my tummy on it too. Perfect balance of crunch and creamy between the apples, candied walnuts and cheese on the salad. And the quail were stuffed with chorizo--I can hear my mom going "mmmmmmmmmm" now--and barbecued. Absolutely delicious!


I can say with some glee that for the first time in a LONG time, I beat Tavis on the entree. He has a knack for picking the most delicious thing, while I get caught up in trying to order "artsy, avant-garde" entrees against my better judgment. Well, I went for the meatfest and I won.

We have a bacon-wrapped filet front and center, which was just perfectly juicy and tender. We have a couple of renegade shrimp which were cooked perfectly. Hiding in the back is a twice-baked potato which I could have skipped, along with its cohort veggies lurking under everything else--though they too were cooked in chorizo, cue Mom's mmmmmm. And finally, the best of all was this amazing venison sausage to the right. Our waitress said their antelope sausage is even better. Try the charcuterie plate if you come here and report back to me.


Tavis's dish, pork chops with sauteed greens and stuffing. The chop was dry, sadly! And the sides weren't wow. Too bad.


It wouldn't be dessert without a disastrous attempt at photographing creme brulee! Trust me, with the flash it looks like a Japanese horror movie. Anyway, it was just the right amount of brittle to creamy deliciousness.


Tavis's cheesecake with raspberry sauce. By this point, I was 3/4 through the bottle of Moscato, so forgive me for not remembering how he liked it. I thought it looked like a perfectly nice cheesecake.


Tavis shows off the romantic, just-shy-of-kitschy decor in our corner of the restaurant.


Am I sad because my wall has no decorations? Am I sad because there's no more creme brulee? The answer may never be known.

Returnability: high! The Grey Moss Inn made a very good impression on us, with fantastic service by Leah and a menu with far more hits than misses at very reasonable prices. It was a lovely escape and a sweet return to the culinary world.

Just....get rid of the candlestrosity first.

Tuesday, 2/23/10 - The Vineyards at Garden Ridge

Date: 2/23/10
Restaurant: The Vineyards at Garden Ridge
Location: 27315 Farm-to-Market (FM) 3009, just north of the Natural Bridge Caverns
Executive Chef: Unsung heroes.

So, turns out we were treading trodden trails with our selection this week. In all my research for these 52 restaurants, it didn't occur to me that I was retracing my steps from oh about six years ago. Shortly after moving here from Oklahoma, I searched for "The Most Bomantic Restaurant in San Antonio" for a special occasion with my honey. My buzzwords for the 52 were the most authentic, the most celebrated, the most foodie-catering...and the most bomantic. So it was inevitable that there would be overlap one day. Sure enough, as we pulled into the parking lot last night, Tavis turned to me and said, "I think we've been here before."

Well, it was a warm welcome back!


It's a straight shot north of San Antonio; just go north on Nacogdoches above 1604, follow the signs toward the Natural Bridge Caverns, and head straight past them. Just barely bordering on San Antonio, it feels like a different world entirely. Maybe Europe. Maybe Tuscany.


Okay, maybe Tuscany in the off-season.


Aww, it's still scenic! And our dinner coincided with the 5 minutes of fat flaky snow we got in San Antonio, so we had a lovely winter meal by the windows.

We arrived just at 5pm and had the place to ourselves for the first half of our meal, a very pleasant experience. Also, for once we had perfect lighting for food photography! Our waiter was friendly, the room was attractive for what it is--most often, the reception room for wedding parties.


You can almost hear YMCA playing now. I kid, I kid.

I have to say, I was surprised at the brevity of their menu AND wine list, considering it's, well, The Vineyards. However, I got a glass of Seven Sisters blend white which was nice and fruity as a California wine ought to be, and we both found tasty items on the menu. I suspect that the small selection of menu items and the low price of said items are closely related. Cheap classy meal, what what!

Crab-stuffed mushrooms. Big flavor in small packages! I am not ashamed to say that we gobbled them up and used the bread to mop every drop of this spicy, zesty sauce off the plate. And then gnawed on the plate.


My starter, a bowl of poblano corn chowder. This was exactly what I needed on a winter's day. There was heat but I daresay less than in the mushroom caps; instead it was just sweet, smoky and perfect with our basket of fresh-baked rolls.


One of the rolls in question before I took it back and made a soup spoon out of it.

(If I may nitpick just for a moment? Okay, I give myself permission. There were just a couple small touches that I was surprised were missing. The tablecloths weren't ironed at all. I had no soup spoon either tableside or presented to me with my soup. And our waiter didn't know where the Seven Sisters wine was from when I asked. However, all superficial faults--still much preferred to the trip to Bohanan's which was all show and no substance.)

To continue.


My entree, which I ordered off the menu as recommended by our waiter. Chilean sea bass in a sauce somewhat reminiscent of the crab-stuffed mushrooms. While a little nervous about eating "chef's special" fish that was smothered in sauce, aka recipe for "old fish in new clothes," it was delicious and fresh and full of just the right amount of fish-to-sauce flavor. Alongside is a bundle of seasonal veggies including asparagus and broccoli rabe with a humdrum rice pilaf. Also, two tasty parmesan-crusted shrimp.

Tavis: "Omg these vegetables taste so good!"
Me: "They're cooked in enough butter, they BETTER taste good!"
Tavis: *guilty look he learned from Roland*


Tavis's chicken florentine, stuffed with pancetta and spinach and deliciousness. Crispy outside, juicy outside, with fresh pasta in a very-well-prepared alfredo sauce.


Check that out. Isn't it gorgeous? Clear foreground/background differentiation. Perfect play of colors, terrific lighting. Oh, and the food ain't bad either.


Dessert: vanilla creme brulee with strawberries. Okay, as beautiful as this is and as fun as it was to shatter the sugar like stained glass in my mom's basement...I've made better and I've eaten better. Could've used more vanilla infusion for sure and I really prefer a thinner layer of sugar crust. But it sure is pretty. And I sure did eat it anyway.

Returnability: moderately high. We had a really wonderful time. The drive was actually a plus, because it was a drive OUTSIDE of San Antonio so we got the feeling of escaping the city and having a vacation, which was nice. If the weather had been less inexplicably-wintry, the Vineyards would make a great end to a date beginning at the Natural Bridge Caverns. I would hope they change up their menu seasonally to compensate for the lack of options; however, for what they have and how little they charge for it, this is definitely a great experience for your dollar if you and your own honey are looking for a night out. And then another one six years later.