Wine and Chocolate Tour

On Sunday, I went on a wine and chocolate tour of Dallas (organized by this company). My SIL Kim was going with a group from work, and invited us to go along. We met at her work and boarded a bus, where they took us all around Dallas to places that specialize in wine and chocolate. How could that be bad, really? It was really fun. Here are some snapshots I took along the way:

The first stop - Two Corks and a Bottle

This wine shop has only been in business for a little over a year, but they are making great headway into the wine scene here in the city. They make their own wine here, with grapes they source from all over the world. They do wine tastings and parties, and you can even bottle your own wine! They will also make custom labels for wine gifts. We sampled four wines at this location.

While we were there, a representative came in from the online business, "Piece of Cake," and they brought us cake ball samples!  They were freaking delicious. They don't have a storefront at this point - you have to order via the website.

They went well with the wine, too.

Next stop - Rush Patisserie

Here is Ms. Rush, the proprietor

She trained in Paris, and makes french pastries, fresh, every day. Think tarts and croissants. She said she starts with flour, butter, sugar each morning, and that's it! She also doesn't have a freezer in her store - everything IS fresh every single day. Pretty tasty, friends.

The ladies bought up most of her daily stash...

On the way into the next place, the bus bottomed out.

Then it died...the driver jumped it and got it going again!

Next stop...

Bolsa Mercado

Bolsa is a fabulous restaurant in town that uses fresh, local ingredients. Down the street from the restaurant is Bolsa Mercado. This place is fabulous, too - a little deli, wine store, fresh sauces, and even some fabulously sourced dry goods. Here, we had some wine and, well, some chocolate.

Last stop - Dude, Sweet Chocolate.

I had heard of, and tasted, this chocolate before. The proprietor seriously chooses some strange combinations - on paper - to put into her chocolate. But, when you taste these creations, they are delicious, so she knows something about what she's doing! Everything we tasted was awesome.

If you think we left here without purchasing stuff, you are dead wrong.

A great way to end the tour.

Then the bus took us back to Kim's place of employment and we headed on our merry ways. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, for sure. Totally fun!

I have been able to get through the Arboretum photos, and upload them even. But, I really haven't culled through them to decide what to post - but I will do that and share them soon. Until then, I hope your Wednesday is fabulous - it happens also to be my Mom's birthday, so I wish her an extra special day!

See you soon.