rise nº1
Posted: August 31st, 2009 | Author: Olivia | Filed under: oFoodie | No Comments »even though it’s jessi’s birthday this week, she wouldn’t let us take her out to dinner since it’s her foodie day this week. we enjoyed some french dining at rise nº1. michael was our guest for the night.
when: 7:00pm, monday
wait: around 20 minutes, due to seating whole party at once.
customer service: A-
food rating: A
rise is in the inwood village – at the intersection of lovers lane and inwood. kind of a run down area, but i think it’s just an older part of dallas and going under construction right now. has some nice shopping around the area (great place to just walk around on a nice, breezy, sunny day) – noticed a lot of decor stores. outdoor seating is available, and they have those great fan misters. i guess this french establishment understands the heat in texas.
when i first walked into rise – i was greeted with a “bonjour” from the pretty hostess and with a quick look around, confused myself with my surroundings. it was like i was transferred into a fairyland junkyard. there is so much stuff inside this cute little place, and rise has a great story to tell when you sit. they pride themselves on being eco-friendly and a lot of the stuff in their restaurant are recycled, or antiques. their aprons are made from 80 year old french linens… their water cups are made out of recycled wine bottles and all their silverware are antiques and different (i love the spoons!). everything at the front of their store is ‘for sale’ and they have some really great reads… including the very hungry caterpillar and best desserts in dallas!
customer service was adequate. nothing too stellar, but they were attentive and friendly. water was never low. our waiter teased steph a little bit (who was no in the best of moods) which jessi straight up told him and said “i wouldn’t mess with her if i were you”. he threw back his head and guffawed really loudly and jessi just said “i’m serious…”. but he didn’t believe me that it was jessi’s birthday (who cares if it’s on wednesday and not TODAY…) all cause jessi is a party pooper and decided to tell him “they’re going to try to tell you it’s my birthday, but don’t believe them”. you’re such a lamer, jess.
just so you know, rise is famous for their souffles and nothing else. the majority of the menu is souffles so if you don’t like them… would suggest you go somewhere else. honestly – i’ve never had souffles before but they were so good and i have the feeling one of the best i’ll have here in dallas at least! the food is slow cooking, so make sure you’ve got the time to chat and relax. life isn’t all about rushing!
to wait while the souffles rose to perfection, we ordered the artichoke andree as our appetizer. tonight was just a bunch of firsts before – as i’ve never had artichoke (excluding the dip). everyone got a good laugh because i shoved the whole artichoke leaf in my mouth instead of just biting out the meat at the root… oops. in my defense, i had no idea how to eat it. it was pretty tasty… though unique. they also bring out some hot bread with delicious butter. yum.
we decided on family style and ordered the following ‘savory’ souffles: lobster, truffle infused mushroom, jambon & gruyere, and herb & spicy sausage. these souffles were so puffy and didn’t collapse when poked around. very delicious. it’s a bit on the heavy side and i really suggest sharing because one ‘flavor’ is a lot to take all at one sitting.
lobster souffle: oh my gosh, amazing! they make the souffle on top of a lobster – so you get a ton of lobster meat. presentation is pretty stellar as well.
truffle infused mushroom: truffle anything gets overwhelming after a few bites. if you love it though, you will love this. it’s pretty good, just hard for me to handle a lot at once.
jambon & gruyere: little lunch souffle, tasted just like a ham and cheese sandwich. was a lot more mild than the other souffles with a homey taste.
herb & spicy sausage: just like a breakfast taco… but in a souffle. steph insisted it had a strange taste, so who knows. i only had one bite, and it wasn’t bad.
a souffle is a souffle so it’s hard for me to review – especially since i’ve never had one before in my life! but they were very puffy and good quality. great first experience.
and now for the goods. most souffles you think about are the dessert kind. never fear… we enjoyed two dessert souffles – chocolate & raspberry. soooo good. i loved mixing them together. the chocolate was crunchy on the outside, which was very impressive and gave it a delicious texture contrast. if nothing else, come here for the dessert. there were a bunch of other types that we would have loved to try, but were too full to indulge.
summary – will definitely come again. this place is so quaint and adorable – seriously. has a great story and the ambiance just makes you happy. the puffy goodness isn’t that bad either. absolutely a whimsical place to have a girly night out!
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