as you know, i changed jobs back in february, and things have been going quite swimmingly since i started with the new company. it was hard to leave my previous company, but it really was the best thing i could have done… the opportunity was too great to pass up, pretty much in all aspects [except the commute, which i SUPPOSE is worth it]. it’s been a fantastic 6 months, with lots to look forward to as well.
that being said, i have the fondest memories of my time at my previous company [for instance, remember these fun events?], and i’ll never forget the place where my career started. the people there are truly top-notch and i just love each and every one of them. [i recently got to hang out with a whole bunch of them at a conference which made me sooo happy, but more on that later…] anyway, i found some old pictures on my phone from a team outing that we had – quite possibly THEE favorite of all outings we had. and that’s saying something because we had some good ones. this said outing was naturally centered around food because with our group, fun and food go together like PB&J. and we all just drove our little cars down to bishop arts one afternoon and spent the day with a tour guide, learning all about the neighborhood [bonnie & clyde stories, anyone?], sampling all the amazing restaurants in bishop arts and stuffing our bellies to our hearts’ content.
i had been on a few food tours before – one in milwaukee a loooooong time ago when i lived there and started this blog, one in seattle, and one in paris, and it’s honestly my very favorite kind of tour. these food tours have set my tour standard so high, it’s really quite unfortunate for any non-food tour because they will never measure up. but i had never thought to do one in my own city before! why, i don’t know, because it’s completely brilliant. getting to know our city better, trying out the local cuisine [places i hadn’t been! aaaaand it’s helpful for these businesses since i actually will be able to go back if i like them], team bonding, burning oh, maybe 5 calories as we walked to the different places but still, it’s better than nada, and getting to eat and drink our way through a neighborhood. brilliant, i tell you!
the tour was a private one scheduled through dallas bites. you get to pick what neighborhood of dallas you want to tour, and they take care of the rest. i would do it again in a heartbeat. here are the places and the foods we ate:
{we met at lucia, a restaurant that i’ve always wanted to try, but we didn’t stop there on the food tour. sometime i’ll go though!}
{ohhh bishop arts.}
{our first stop – the veracruz cafe, which features specialties from the mexican state of veracruz. one of the items we tried was jarochitas, sometimes called “mexican egg rolls.” pretty tasty! and there on the right – even though it wasn’t a part of the tour, we stopped at tillman’s on the tour just to see how cool it was on the inside. their food looks fantastic too!}
{next it was lockhart smokehouse for some very delicious BBQ. lockhart is central-texas inspired, and they smoke just about anything! they have some legendary brisket.}
{…and then we went to emporium pies, which i just love so much. that luscious-looking apple pie, a.k.a. lord of the pies, was mine.}
{eno’s pizza was our fourth food stop, and it did not disappoint. i mean, just look at that pizza…! we got to have an eno’s original and a pig smiley. both were super alongside a good brew.}
{our last stop was dude, sweet chocolate and i was prepared to be rolled out the door! i was so full. but boy does this place know how to do chocolate! such unique flavors and just great chocolate in general… i found a tiny little corner in my stomach to fit in some bites. funny how that works. ;) i can’t remember what the pieces above actually were, but they were no doubt something interesting and really delicious, because that’s dude, sweet chocolate for ya. they were giving out samples right and left.}
now, tell me that that wasn’t just glorious!