Main St. Bakery & Bistro

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I have been having a weekly lunch with my grandma for over 8 years. Last week, we were shopping in Grapevine and decided to patronize Main St. Bakery & Bistro.

The first thing you see when you walk in the door at Main St. Bakery is the gorgeous display case of French confections.

You are forced to stare at these delicious pastries as you wait in line to place your lunch order, eroding away at your will power like licks on a Tootsie Pop.

After placing your order, you can either eat at a table on the bakery side, or make your way over to the beautiful dining room.

My grandma ordered a Croque-Monsieur, which is a ham and cheese sandwich as only the French can do it. This broiled, gooey sandwich is stuffed with sliced ham and cheese, topped with Gruyere cheese over a thin layer of a garlicky creme sauce, similar to an aioli. Ordinarily one sees this sandwich with a darker, crispier top crust of cheese, but the chef instructors at my culinary school would just call this an "American" version of properly cooked, because Americans tend to prefer things on the paler side as compared to European sensibilities. 

I ordered the Beef Tenderloin sandwich when I saw that it would be served on a home-made black pepper brioche bread. If you follow me for long, you may come to learn that not only am I always going to select the homemade bread, but cracked black pepper is one of my weaknesses.

The sandwich featured hearty, tender slices of beef tenderloin, Gruyere cheese, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and a balsamic reduction. This balance of herbacious meat, sweet, savory onions, unctuous cheese, and bright vinegar and tomatoes was only enhanced by the slightly sweet, peppery bread. 

My grandma and I opted to leave after lunch and walk around Main St. for a bit before coming back to get a bite of dessert. My grandmother had a children's book she wrote published a few years ago, and the little shop down the street has decided to sell it, so we did a little business, too. (One grandmother a published author and the other a wedding cake baker- you can see where I get it!)

I ogled the iced cookies but settled for a little sample, and selected an eclair and a "creme brulee mousse bomb" for us to split. I like to get eclairs at specialty bakeries, because an in-house made eclair is a rare thing, and a really good one is nearly extinct.

I found that while the pate a choux (eclair dough) was perfect and the filling was delicious, the frosting on top reminded me a little too much of doughnut icing. Upon tasting the mousse dessert, I concluded that I think the eclair would be an even greater success if they glazed it with the ganache that enrobed the bomb.

I was wary of anything called a "creme brulee" that did not have any hard, caramelized sugar on top, because- and I know this is super snobby, but French Patisserie is my specialty as a chef- the use of popular, fancy sounding french culinary terms that every day consumers are familiar with enough to recognize but not enough to know if it's accurate is appallingly common. Creme brulee is a cream-based custard dessert that is trademark for the "burnt sugar" hard crack caramel layer on top. People can do all kinds of variations on this dish, but if you'll pardon the term it's a bastardization to stick custard, even custard and caramel, into a dish and call it creme brulee if there isn't any crunchy burned sugar on top. If the caramel is a sauce or just a flavoring element, it's closer to flan, or in french creme caramel.

Anyway, that rant over, Main St. Bakery delivered a delicious dessert with a layer of custard between the chocolate mousse and the soft crust below. I will even give them a nod for including a layer of some kind of wafer that reminded me of the crunch on a creme brulee, which redeemed this dish enough to not technically classify as having been mis-labeled, though just barely. Still, in all fairness it was a delicious dessert and a brilliant fresh spin on two classic desserts.

So go check it out for yourself! Save room for dessert! And let me know in the comments what your favorite thing from Main St. Bakery & Bistro is.

Pie Five

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I've been seeing Pie Fives popping up all over the metroplex, so I had to check it out. 

What immediately surprised and impressed me was the prices. I think for the most part we have come to expect customize-able sandwiches and salads at a reasonably low price, but, maybe it's the baking step or something, I kind of expect a personalized pizza to either be a little on the pricey side (at least $10) or to be insatiably small.

This was not the case, however, at Pie Five.

The first step is to select your pizza crust, which can come in Crispy Artisan Thin, Whole Grain Thin, Classic, or Gluten Free. Next you select from one of 6 sauces or plain olive oil. Then you have a choice of cheeses, including a vegan option, and any combination of 8 meats and 17 veggies and fruits.

You also have the option of making a salad.

While you wait for your pie to bake, you'll be strategically placed in front of the dessert display case with several tempting and decadent, mostly brownie-based desserts.

Then you get to add any cold toppings, sauces such as pesto, or just pile on the magic dust. I took this opportunity to ask the... pizza artist? to drizzle my pizza with the basalmic reduction offered for the salads. It really enhanced the flavors of my pizza.

I also found that they allowed me to do a half and half pizza so that I could taste more of their offerings in one sitting. On one half of my pizza, I got the alfredo sauce, chicken, tomato, basil pesto, shredded fresh basil, and basalmic drizzle. on the other half of my pizza I tried the buffalo sauce, chicken, and jalapenos.

I was also asked to order something for my grandmother because she was on her way, so I chose the alfredo sauce for her as well, and went for a more pork-themed pie with ham, bacon, chicken, and tomatoes. I also had them drizzle her pie with the balsamic reduction to offset some of the saltiness.

I was visiting with my husband and family, so here are some of their creations:

My husband tried the spicy marinara sauce and was really happy with his choice- he said he was surprised at how particularly well they balanced the heat in with the flavor of marinara.

All in all, I was impressed with several things. First was their ability to quickly service our group of 8 people. Second was the quality of the crust! It was delicious, and cooked to soft in the middle but not doughy at all. The combinations were excellent, but I take some credit for that! However if you aren't culinarily inclined, don't panic! They offer a whole menu of tried and tested pizza recommendations.

I recommend you go try Pie Five if you haven't been before, and whether it's a new experience or you go every week, let me know YOUR favorite pie recipe in the comments! Or Tweet them to me @WritingChef and I'll retweet your recipe to my followers!