Tacolandia VS Taco Libre

In a previous post I talked about my glorious adventure at Taco Libre. The first, all taco all the time, festival held in downtown Dallas. Tacolandia is the Dallas Observer answer to Taco Libre. I realize the easiest way to go about this is to compare and contrast the two, because essentially they're the same event with a slightly different name.

Tacolandia took place at the Dallas City Hall Plaza, which is a nice, basically concrete, area of land with a small green patch and some random sculptures. My team (my brother, his girlfriend and my boyfriend) and I arrived about 10 minutes before the gates opened. I learned from Taco Libre to get there a little early unless you want to wait for an hour. Gates opened, we were given some boxes to hold our tacos and a voting chip and were free to eat. And when I say free to eat, I mean that in every sense of the term. It was free to eat. The cost of food was in the cost of your ticket.

So close to the entrance. I want to eat TACOS!

They had 28 vendors serving their version of a taco. Wait, let me correct that statement. They scheduled to have 28 different vendors but I know some didn't show up like Torchy's Tacos. I'm disappointed in you Torchy's. I love you so much and to see you willingly ignore an obligation you agreed to made me feel like your mother. Shaking my head in shame and sadness.

Most were street tacos and like I've said before, there are only so many meat, onion, cilantro tacos you can eat before you get bored. But there were some variations.

Velvet Taco wins for most unique with a Chicken Tikka Taco. An Indian-inspired taco with basmati rice and Thai basil. My brother and his girlfriend voted them to be the best taco based on sheer creativity.

Val's Cheesecakes, whom I actively follow on Instagram, created a taco cheesecake. Yep, taco...cheesecake. I'll wait for that to sink in. It is exactly what it sounds like. Taco flavored cheesecake. Against my better judgement I tried it and my gut was right. Cheesecakes are meant to be sweet not savory. It was too weird for me and I can't say I was a fan. But I'll try a cheesecake one of these days.

I had more than one salmon taco, on accident. It was about 80 degrees that day and salmon was just not something I wanted to eat. That's like asking for food poisoning. Kozy Kitchen was one of those salmon tacos, which I had one bite of and threw out because I refused to waste precious stomach space on tacos I didn't want to eat. One or Done. One bite or I finish it. No middle ground. They also had a buffalo taco, which was fine but not great. Another one bite wonder.

Biggest disappointment

Taco Diner had a chicken and waffle taco. Freaking CHICKEN AND WAFFLE taco. When I first walked by they didn't have any ready and when they finally did the line was ridiculous so I missed out on it's wonder. But props for the idea. I was actually extremely disappointed that I missed out of that taco above all others. I was so curious of this taco that when I recently went to Taco Diner I ordered it and was not thrilled. In the below picture the chicken at Tacolandia was obviously fired to a crispy goodness. At Taco Diner the chicken was breaded in an egg batter like tempura and that was a mistake. The batter didn't hold up well enough to the sauce and the maple syrup. You lost the texture, which an egg batter already doesn't offer much of, rather quickly. Fried chicken Taco Diner, or none at all.

Photo credit to Taco Diner

Lazaranda had my favorite taco of the day. It was a pulled pork taco but the sauce was just this side of salsa and the pickled veggies were on point. Plus, they put the cheese on the bottom AND they threw that on the flat top so it melted and just started to crisp up. I ate one, loved it, waited in line for 10 minutes to both give them my vote, along with the boyfriend, and eat another.

Check out that glorious winner! Well my personal winner.

Besides the food, Tacolandia also took things a little further for its patrons. There was a DJ pumping out some tunes. They had the only grass area set up with bags, massive beer pong, horseshoes, just some fun lawn games. There were some photo-opt areas throughout plus an actual photo-booth area hidden among the taco vendors. They also had people doing Sugar Skull face paintings, which actually looked legit. Those people did a good job. The only thing you  needed to pay for inside the event was drinks. But all drinks. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.

My personal take-away: 

If Tacolandia and Taco Libre got together and had a baby, that baby would be "The Best Damn Taco Festival in Texas" (I'm claiming that name).

Taco Libre did great with publicizing the event. It was packed. Again, had to wait an hour to get in and the event sold out. Tacolandia was not so packed (which isn't really a downside as a customer but as a coordinator not exactly what you want). It was out on social media but I don't feel like it was as much as it could be. Taco Libre paid for social media ads, either got local food bloggers to advertise on their social sites or were out there enough that bloggers just went ahead and promoted it themselves. Leading up to Taco Libre I couldn't escape it. Tacolandia was really only promoted in the Dallas Observer. I did see an occasional flyer here or there, but I didn't see anywhere near as much of it on Insta nor did I see much on Facebook. It was there, but not as predominate as it could be.

Taco Libre had bands. Granted they were more Mexican bands and that's not really my thing, but live music is nice. Tacolandia had a DJ. He did music. But no one really cared.

Tacolandia was 21+. No damn kids ALLOWED! That was the best. No kids running around, no strollers, no crying. I was so happy to not have to deal with children under my feet while navigating tacos. I'm focused. I'm in the zone. My taco zone does not include me making sure that I don't murder your children. 

Tacolandia was smart to include the cost of food in the ticket. And the ticket prices weren't outrageous either. I got my tickets on sale for National Taco Day, they were 40% off, so that knocked the cost down to $15/ticket. $15 for all you can eat tacos is a deal to me. Hell, $25 still isn't that bad for all you can eat tacos. Taco Libre had it that you had to buy tickets, then buy tacos, and buy beer. It was a mess of money. Here, I didn't have to pick and choose with tacos I ate because I didn't want to spend $100 on tacos alone.

Tacolandia was in the "fall", which in Texas still means summer. That was nice. The weather that weekend was in the 80s. It wasn't blistering hot like Taco Libre was. The outdoor space offered a variety of locations to sit when Taco Libre offered only the grass and, fingers crossed, you didn't get stepped on. Now, to be fair, Taco Libre's location was visually more appealing, taking place in a park, but Tacolandia was more...user friendly.

This is how "The Best Damn Taco Festival in Texas" needs to work. Cost of food included in the ticket, more advertising on social media, done on or around National Taco Day (puts your solidly in early fall, plus give it more of a "national" reason which could up the attendance rate), keep the outdoor activities and keep the music.

Put that taco in your box and eat it!

Frank Underground

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending my first ever Frank Underground dinner. If you don't know of Frank Underground, it's an "underground restaurant" that was created by MasterChef season two finalists Jennie Kelley and Ben Star. Together they take you on a themed culinary journey. Although they never try to recreate a theme they will never recreate a dish. My dinner, "Brunch After Dark" was a theme they had done once before and brought it back because of the response to that particular dinner.

To sign up for Frank you need to visit the website and get on their mailing list. Once you're on there they will send out an email (usually once a month or once every two months) listing the theme for the dinner and the dates. From there you respond if you're interested and can make any of the times listed. After that you pray that luck is on your side because seats are given lottery style. I also encourage you to follow them on Facebook. On occasion they post last minute cancellations and on social media, but it's a first come first serve basis.

The dinner is held in a secret location that is not disclosed to you until the night before/day of your dinner. You sit, along with about 20 strangers, around a communal table crafted of reclaimed wood that Ben made himself. Throughout all the courses Jennie and Ben give you background on the ingredients and the inspiration about the dishes. At the end of the day... sorry night... you will be there for about 3 hours. Three hours of pure food heaven. At Frank they believe in frank food. Just basic ingredients turned into something fabulous.

Upon arrival you have to buzz up to the apartment, and if your name is not on that list you are not getting up. They check your name at the front door and at the apartment door. Just in case in the 2 minutes it takes you to get up to the elevator you're no longer yourself. The staff (yep staff) will take your purse (or coats but this is July in Texas, the fact I wore flannel baffled my mom but I looked hella good) and give you a cocktail, our's being champagne, and allow you to mingle. They will not start dinner until everyone has arrived. They encourage you to not be fashionably late.

Before dinner even started I had taken down 4 glasses of champagne. To be fair, it was the tiny, serving appropriate sized glasses. If I were pouring it would be a wine glass and it would be full. Once everyone arrived we were invited to sit. You are encouraged to make friends with your seat neighbors, which you will whether you want to or not. I was for it. Don't get me wrong. New friends = Yay!

My new dinner friends. Two of which were Frank veterans having attended around 10 dinners.

Once everyone was seated dinner started with an amuse-bouche.

Amuse-bouche:

Buttermilk cheddar biscuit - Foie Gras - Housemade heirloom tomato jam.

Let me explain what an amuse-bouche is, in case you've never heard of that term. An amuse-bouche is a single, bite sized hors d'oeuvre. It's usually served on a spoon but this one had potential to be messy so it was served on a plate.

I've never had foie gras and I still couldn't tell you want that tasted like. I didn't try it on it's own because liver. But this was a humanely obtained duck (?) liver. The biscuit was homemade with Vermont sharp cheddar cheese. What I was most cautious of trying, besides the liver, was the tomato jam. I'm very finicky with tomatoes. I used to eat them like apples when I was younger and then I got over them. Now I have to be in the mood for them. And honestly, I might start off in the mood and half way through my food be over them and pick them out. This jam was mixed with thyme which helped with the balance of flavors. It wasn't too sweet which one would assume tomato jam to become. At the end of my three bites I was very ready to get into this meal.

First Course:

Black bean huilacoche puree - Uncle Ron's heirloom squash - Chorizo - 63.5° egg (specifically) - Salsa Verde - Pickled vegetables

I know your first questions is, "What the hell is huilacoche and how do I say that?"

Huitlacoche (wee-tlah-KOH-cheh), AKA "corn smut", is a fungus that grows naturally on corn. It is a delicacy in Mexico while here in America we will just destroy the whole crop. The fungus itself sells for a higher rate than actual corn. It is perfectly safe to eat.

So in the bottom you have the black bean huilacoche puree. Mixed in are bite sized chucks of Jennie's uncle's squash. On top you will find chorizo, the 63.5° egg, salsa verde, pickled radishes and onion and cilantro as a garnish. This dish was fanominal.The black bean puree tasted like refried beans but was perfectly smooth. The chorizo added just the perfect amount of spice while the pickled vegetables added a slight sour note. Cliantro and the salsa verde rounded out the Mexican inspired flavor profile. It is mind blowing in its simplicity. Honestly though it could be a bowl of cilantro and I would be happy. I love that herb. It's disgusting how much I love cilantro.

Let's talk about eggs for a minute. I'm sure you're wondering, as I did, why specifically 63.5°?  Eggs want to cook at 145° F. Fact. Well assuming fact, this is what I was told at dinner. We cook our eggs too high. Here they cook the eggs for an hour sous-vide style. That means they put the egg in an air tight plastic bag and put that bag in a water bath and let it cook. Sous-vide is also great from quick marinades. It forces the marinade into the meat because it has no where else to go. The more you know right? When you cook the egg in this style the white and the yellow are the same consistency. If I had the patience to cook eggs for an hour, sous-vide style, I still probably wouldn't because I would never be that patient.

Second Course: 

Frittata - Ibercio ham - Smoked mozzarella - Asparagus salad

This is an Italian-based dish. Although, the ham comes from southern Spain and only southern Spain. The pigs, which this specific ham is from, are foragers. They eat acorns and wild flowers. No one feeds them. Once the pigs are fat or whatever they need to be they are salted and hung in a cellar for 1+ years. Obviously the curing of the meat happens once Babe is no longer with us. The technique these farmers use essentially make prosciutto. This specific ham was aged 2 years and goes for $180-200/lbs.

I put my fork into the ramekin and had a hard time getting it to come apart so at that point I wasn't too impressed with this dish. Then I put it in my mouth and took back every negative thought I had. That ham though. I have very rarely said the words "Oh my God" while eating but this time I did. I almost put the fork down. I didn't want to be distracted from eating. I didn't feel the need to rush into my second bite. But no because $200 ham. I have never had anything like that before and I most likely will never experience that again. That'll do pig. That'll do.

Third Course:

Watermelon sorbet - House-distilled peach moonshine - Mint

Once you are on the guest list for a dinner at Frank they send you an email with all your instructions and also your menu. You are free to look at it or not. Some people don't because they want to be surprised. I love surprises but I also love getting excited about what I was going to eat so I looked. Of all the dishes listed this was the one I was most excited to try. I love watermelon. That's one of the reasons I love summer. So much watermelon so little time.

Moonshine. The booze of the Prohibition era. Moonshine must be consumed within one week of distillation or it is no longer moonshine. Moonshine is also highly illegal and extremely strong. I obviously did not have moonshine (wink wink).

The watermelon sorbet is made with just frozen watermelon juice. It was a subtle flavor. The moonshine was strong but I didn't get peach. I got booze. I ended up mixing the sorbet with the moonshine resting on the bottom of the glass and taking it like a shot. I also removed the mint. I thought there was too much mint and I know that was the consensuses among my new friends on my side of the table. I also just don't like mint outside of mint chocolate chip ice cream or a mojito. But like I said, the people sitting around me agreed. We decided that basil would be a better herb. Or salt. Either in the form of some granules atop the sorbet or salting the rim.

Fourth Course: 

Crouque- madame - Laraland farms smoked red wattle ham - House-made sourdough - Gruyere - Sunny duck egg - Caviar - Green Salad. 

This was considered the main course. Again, a dish I've never experienced before. Crouque- madame. A crouque-madame is like an open-faced sandwich. It's bread, ham, cheese, and optional sauce. Our sauce was replaced with the egg. What's the difference between a crouque-madame and a crouque-monsieur? No idea. I tried to Google it and it gave me the same definition. So my guess is the monsieur is an actual sandwich. Someone, please feel free to enlighten me on the difference.

I was not a fan of this dish and I'll tell you why. The sourdough was a little too crusty which made it difficult to cut. I was literally throwing my food all over the table, at one point my lap, because I couldn't get through the crust. It was incredibly frustrating. Maybe it was the wild yeast. Wild yeast takes longer to rise. The first rise takes 24-48 hours and the second rise takes 3-6 hours. I doubt it was the yeast, that's a cop-out. I even just got in that dish after a little while and picked it up with my hands. Naturally after covering it with the caviar that was falling off because if I'm going to eat caviar I might as well get that shit all over it. I've had caviar on it's own before and was not a fan. Mixed with more food it's not as bad. After the hand attempt also failed me I ended up giving away what was left of my food. Like I said, the people around you become your best friends. Already willing to eat after you. No cooties at this table.

Fifth Course:

"Dessert Benedict" - Candied bacon waffle - Cantaloupe ice cream - Zabaglione

You know how fruit salads are always cantaloupe and honey dew and you're disappointed? Not here. The only way I want to eat cantaloupe is in ice cream form from now on. One scoop is all you need. The color of the zabaglione (which is an Italian whipped custard) was very yellow. Questionably yellow. It received its color from tumaric but it was really throwing me off. Yellow is not an appetizing color for food. At least to myself. But it was delicious nonetheless. At the bottom was the bacon waffle. Cause bacon waffle. You can't go wrong with bacon waffle. It was little bits of bacon so it wasn't overpowering at all. I only really got crunch from the bacon more than bacon flavor.

Drinks:

Home-made blood orange grapefruit mimosa

The mimosa was mouthwatering. I feel that carafes needed to be on the table. They didn't really, the servers walked around and re-filled your glasses often. But still, carafe wouldn't have upset me or anyone I was sitting with.

Rose

The rose came with the main course. I know I drank it but at this point I was kinda boozed up and a little overwhelmed by taste to really remember it. I know that in looking for a wine pairing for the dish they tired 8 different wines. PS- I would love to be apart of these tastings beforehand. I like wine.

Turkish coffee 

Turkish coffee. I don't drink coffee. When I was younger my mom had coffee in a water bottle in the fridge. I mistook it for soda and chugged it and regretted it instantaneously. Since then I just never wanted to drink it. It brings back bad memories. There are few exceptions to this statement. 1. I'm dying and need caffeine to get me through the day. 2. It's this Spanish espresso on of my Directors at work makes. 3. Turkish coffee.

It's slightly sweetened so you don't need to add sugar but they do offer it at the table. Apparently, in Greece they use Turkish coffee grounds to read your future. We were not in Greece, nor was anyone of Greek decent so no readings for us.

At the end of our three hour dinner I was done. This brunch dinner was some of the best food I've ever eaten. No brunch nor meal will ever compare. I might as well stop eating altogether. From now on I am eating for nourishment and not enjoyment. That's partially a joke. I love food. But really this meal is in direct competition for best meal of my life thus far, and I think it wins. When Jennie and Ben came around at the end asking everyone what they thought I told them "Anorexia starts tomorrow. Might as well end on a high note."

They also ask everyone what their favorite dish was. I told them mine were the two dishes where the main component was something in my every day life I hate.

I don't like beans (although I'm warming up to them) but that black bean puree was the best dish of the evening. It was so humble in it's origin and ingredients. So perfectly balanced.

Also I hate cantaloupe. But like I said, ice cream form and I'm sold.

After dinner was said and done my mother and I cornered Ben and asked for MasterChef secrets. Which I got. I know all the behind the scenes goodies. I'm on to you Fox and MasterChef. On to you.

I encourage you to sign up for Frank. It's hard to get in but when you do it's worth it. One thing I was told by Frank frequenters is to let them know you are open for any night as opposed to a singular night. I suggest creeping the Facebook if you don't get picked and snag last minute seats. It's an experience and it's one to remember.

Thank you Jennie and Ben for a wonderful dinner and a most kismet evening. Brunch After Dark was obviously meant to be in my life. I appreciate all the hard work that you put into putting that dinner on and want to emphasis just one last time how absolutely, without a doubt, fabulous the food was.

Taco Libre!

What is the best food on the planet? I'll give you 5 seconds to think about that just kidding it's tacos. Tacos, the most perfect vesicle to transport delicious meat and toppings into your mouth for consumption. Why are tacos great?

1. Various types of filling. You have beef, chicken, fish, barbacoa, carne asada, pork. Really anything you want as a filling is doable. Hell, there are even choco-tacos that are ice cream sundaes in a taco shell.

2. You can also top them with anything. Classic cheese and salsa, mango salsa, slaw. The combinations of fillings to toppings is essentially endless.

3. If you eat your taco over other taco shells you automatically get a new taco. I like to use my chips as a nacho, scoop the fallings onto the chip and use the salsa or the queso as a binder. Taco nachos. 
(You're welcome)

So when Taco Libre was announced for last weekend I was all over that. Endless tacos amidst beer and music for an entire afternoon into the evening? Why would I say no to that? Alex and I bought our tickets ahead of time. It was the smartest decision ever because 1. We had our tickets and 2. If you bought them online and got the early bird tickets they were $10 cheaper long as you were inside the doors by 5 PM. I do love saving money.

Alex and I got there around 4 PM because traffic was awful and find out so was the line for Taco Libre. It was wrapping around the park. To be fair, it was a small park, but still.

That was just the people in front of us, there were people behind us and it wrapped around at the corner.

During our almost hour wait in line we found out the event sold out. Like I said, we already had our tickets so it was great news for us. We assumed the line would move along quicker after that announcement but no, everyone else in line also had tickets. Seriously, we were almost in line for an hour.

Naturally, if it's sold out that means the event itself was packed, and it was. They had various taco shops along one side of the park and the lines were about 15 mins waits a piece. Booze was closer to a 20 min wait. 

Hurry up to wait

We got out first tacos at Revolver Taco Lounge.  I was starving at this point so I ordered 2 crispy tacos and 2 barbacoa tacos. For those of you that don't know, barbacoa is goat. It's actually really good. If done well it's like beef. From what I could understand the cripsy tacos were filled with meat, of some kind, deep fried, then given to us in bags with a slaw and marinade mix that we were supposed to shake. The barbacoa tacos were like typical street taco style, add your cilantro and onions and whatever sauce.

TACOS!

After that we walked around a little bit to try to find alcohol. Well, not find it, it was around, but find a line that wouldn't take forever. Heat stroke was not on my to-do list for the day. After we were refreshed with beer I wanted to try at least one more taco joint while there so we got some more tacos at Urban Taco. 

I got an al pastor taco and some type of chicken taco. Of the two, the chicken taco was better. The chicken was seasoned well and was moist. The al pastor taco was a little chewier than I would have preferred. We enjoyed our tacos and beer while hanging out in front of the stage while listening to Pinata Protest. They are a band from San Antonio and they actually had fans in the audience that knew the songs so I take it they are somewhat popular. 

At the end of the day the biggest complaint I had, and various other people, was it ended up being bigger than expected. That's obviously not a bad thing. You want events to be popular, that's the whole point. But for the location is was small with long waits. The other "complaint" would be that every station was street tacos. I love street tacos, I understand they are easy, but when you're just getting 14 restaurants with their variations of street tacos you're not going to find much actual variety. Also, it was hot, but that's Texas. 

We ended up leaving after an hour or so. The plan was to head over to the Reunion Tower Lawn Party but that changed last minute, which was fine. I didn't need to spend more money. If they end up doing Taco Libre again, which they should it's a great idea, it needs to be in a bigger location. Variety in food options should be suggested to the restaurants. Also, more weird guys dressed like this...