They make action figures out of you, drummer not included.

Had the MOST delicious dinner last night with my sisters Veloute and Alex. The restaurant is called Lonesome Dove, located in the Fort Worth Stockyards in what used to be Hell's Half Acre.



This is the dinner menu, which changes daily but this one's pretty close to what ours looked like.

We were early for our reservation, so we sat at the bar and all sipped on a Texas Tini (I really cannot order anything "tini" without thinking of Scrubs' JD and his Apple Tinis...) and a shot of Tuaca. The 'tini was faboo (vodka, cranberry and peach schnapps--my kinda cosmo, really), but it was kinda lost next to the Tuaca. Tuaca looks a little like whiskey at first, til you get it near your nose! It's sweet but strong. It reminded me of Bailey's--it's got a caramel/vanilla thing going on but it's far from rich.

I'll be buying a bottle tomorrow. :)

So we got seated (it's actually a pretty small restaurant--reservations are absolutely necessary, luckily Alex thought to do so in advance!) and ordered a 4-item sampler of appetizers and a bottle of 2005 Ridge, York Creek, Napa Valley. DAMN. Vel & I are big Zinfandel fans and she chose this one with the waiter's help. We thought it would be a nice selection with the meats...

As for the four samplers we chose, in order of favorite from best to least best for me (it was all really succulent): wild boar ribs with house BBQ sauce. It falls off the bone like butter. I could have nearly eaten just a plate of them. The second best was the bacon-wrapped stuffed (with almond) figs. Vel had had to convince me I'd like them (I've not had good fig run-ins in the past), but they really were unusual and savory.

Third were the rabbit-rattlesnake sausages with spicy manchego rosti and creme fraiche. These were more interesting than "yummy", and they were the wild card we picked. They were tasty, but I'm not sure I'd order them again! Fourth was actually tastier than the sausages but somehow it didn't do it for me as much as Vel and Alex enjoyed them. They were the blue corn lobster "hush puppies." I love lobster, and it was still an incredible appetizer! (Obviously, all four were!)

We decided to all share one second course, since it was mostly intended as a palate cleanser (I presume). Alex picked it out and it was mind-blowing. (Ok, mostly due to bacon, but let me explain.) It was the butter lettuce with a lemon viniagrette, chili pepitas and applewood smoken bacon lardoons. The salad was really tasty and light, but oh my holy lord, those bacon lardoons. I still can't really say what a "lardoon" is (I'm sure Veloute will have a far more descriptive post than this!) but instead of a piece of bacon, it's more like a bacon crouton.

A CHUNK OF BACON, IF YOU WILL.

Then it was time for the third, main course. I ordered the New Zealand red deer chop with mountain elk sausage. It had a pepperiness to the start of each bite but the great thing about venison is how unlike other meat it is. It makes it tricky to describe well here, but suffice it to say: gorgeous.

Now, we only remembered to take pictures towards the end of the meal, so excuse me shooting what was such a lovely dish post-tear-in, but it was so good.



My dish came with some crazy mushrooms, which I perturbed my waiter about by needing them on the side, but whatever. I even ate one to satisfy Vel, and it turns out I still just can't do mushrooms. (I really wish I could, and these were deemed quite delicious.)



Alex had their signature dish, the roasted garlic stuffed beef tenderloin with western plaid hash and syrah demi-glace. There is a reason this is their signature dish. Her plate, with mine and Vel's help, was the first to get polished off:



All gone. But That was a mouth-wateringly tender cut and I think it would be my choice next time.

Veloute had the Alaskan halibut with smoked crawfish stew and crispy yucca. Now I'm not ordinarily a fish person, but this was really something. The buttery fall-apart goodness of the fish was completed so nicely with the crispy texture of the yucca. This fish dish absolutely held its own with the other meats.



To be fair, the asparagus was from Alex's dish, but everything on that table was orgasmic and everything on that table went beyond expectations. Hey, even the mushrooms I sampled were better than what I'd had in the past!

Now to tie all these together, there had been a little bread coarse of spicy jalapeno cornbread and a nice simple brown loaf. Very yum. Far more impressive was the side we ordered of white truffle macaroni and cheese. Unlike traditional elbow macaroni, they used orzo. It was...transcendental. I know it made the back of my knees tingle and I thought Veloute was going to take me down with a fork for the remnants! (In a nice sisterly way, of course, Vel. ;D)



See? That's called, "fucking good."

Finally, there was the dessert menu...even though we weren't busting at the seams yet (amazingly), we decided to share one dessert and another Tuaca.

Dessert was fresh Mexican doughnuts with cajeta & chocolate dipping sauces. I think Vel and Alex preferred the cajeta sauce (it is pretty impressive), but especially with the wine paired, I really did favor the dark chocolate dipping sauce.

OM. NOM. NOM.

So this was actually both my sisters' birthday treat to me, and it was way too much! I'm so glad I got to try this place and would absolutely recommend it and readily spend another evening there. I also can't wait to hear Veloute's re-telling of the food--it will have nuance and detail I just couldn't write as well!