What another weird day in quarantine, eh? I spend half of my day- literally like 12 hours- working, trying to get caught up on projects where I am over due. The other 12 hours I am doing my best to go on walks, not have anxiety attacks, and of course, cancel travel…which is a nightmare. (Obviously not as bad as being ill, but still, headache). Anyway, how good would a dinner out be today? The Charles, a fun, upmarket Italian joint in Dallas’s Design District sound OK? Thought so.

Last weekend I was here on a surprise date, my how things change quickly!

We shared a whole mess of menu items (including a not pictured bottle of rose Billecart-Salmon, an all-time favorite), starting with this modern art masterpiece of burrata, cipollini onions, tomatoes, and bread. Good, but not overwhelmingly so.

The date insisted on their famous foccacia which was stuffed with tallegio. Wow, was it rich.

Then, there were some funky little soft meatballs over polenta. All of these just fine dishes were great news for me so I could focus my claws on what was coming next…

This octopus may look like your average octopus, but I assure you, it was incredible. Perhaps the best, most tender octopus ever. I later learned from a friendly bartendress that it was so delicious because it was first flash-poached in olive oil. Fannnntastic.

We also shared a branzino and some charred broccoli. Again, good, but did not blow my mind.

This homemade pasta though.. wow! Spicy pasta dough, come to mama! It also featured rock shrimp, lemon, breadcrumbs, and a bit more cheese- basically all of my favorite food groups landed in one bowl.

For dessert we shared a pretty out of this world olive oil cake that oddly came with pumpkin gelato and strange yellow sludge. The cake was incredible, fruit aside, let’s keep it plain people.

It was nice to try so much at The Charles, including the new speakeasy bar behind the restaurant. We had a great night and it was nice to not be over the moon with every single dish because my dress still fit. 😉