Review - Flora and Muse

I finally went in today with my sweety and had dinner. The front entrance is a little difficult to find, but look for the little chalkboard out front and go in that door. Sometimes they keep the front doors propped open and the flowers at the front entrance draw your eyes into the restaurant. Right next to the flowers, you'll see the pastries and your eyes will tell your brain to go inside. Once inside, you feel like you've stepped through a portal into a small European restaurant (where everyone talks with an American accent).

If you're there for a meal, then you should walk past the pastries and towards the hostess. When we went, the hostess was probably sitting other guests and I had never been here before, so I wandered into the restaurant area looking like a lost person. Thankfully, my sweety spoke to someone and they sat us. Apparently I can't function properly in public without her.

The restaurant was dimly lit and very "chill". We ordered the most unique dishes that we saw on the menu, which were the Pides (turkish pies). There were two different varieties available and we ordered one of each. The sausage and olive pide was a blast of flavor inside my mouth. The saltiness of the olives and the sweetness of the sausage went well together. I had a taste of the chicken, wild mushroom, and guyere pide and it was lighter on the pallete. It reminded me of a meatier quiche as the egg flavor was slightly more dominant than the rest of the ingredients. The crust of the dish was buttery and fantastic.

I ended up ordering a drink as well called a Bailey's Mint Kiss. Being the mixed drink newbie that I am, I didn't realize the drink was a warm one (it came with a straw). I took a big sip and burned the inside of my mouth; my mistake! I don't remember all the ingredients, but it was a minty coffee-like alcoholic beverage.

We ended the evening with a seasonal fruit crostada. I believe it was a peach (seasonal) crostada with vanilla ice cream on top. The flakey goodness of the crostada was to die for and you can't go wrong with vanilla ice cream!

I liked the food a lot and the ambiance was excellent. The food took awhile to come out, but everything is made fresh to order so I could understand why. You have to stay on the waiter/waitress to check for you once in awhile as the tables around us, including us, miraculously received our food after asking our waitstaff to check the kitchen.

If you're meeting up with friends, I would suggest sitting at a table. If you are coming with a special someone, I would suggest a booth. If it is a first date, sit across from her. If it isn't, sit next to her! I will be back!

NFL Sunday

The NFL season officially started last Thursday, but this is the first Sunday of the 2010 season so I have been watching football all day long. It helps that I am a part of an office fantasy football league. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure I lost the first week to a coworker that doesn't even follow American football. On a happier note, our Houston Texans kicked some Colts booty!

I digress, let's talk about CityCentre...

Starting this Tuesday, the live music lineup continues at Monnalisa Bar with Two Star Symphony on Tuesday, El Orbits on Wednesday, David Caceras Quartet on Thursday, Bruce James Soultet on Friday, and Mingo Fishtrap on Saturday.

Of course, there's still the Eco-Farmer's Market going on Thurday from 4 to 8 PM with music in the plaza.

For those of you who enjoy fashion (or just beautiful women), there is a Fashiontini event on Thursday. Sip on Grey Goose martinis, watch beautiful women model fashionable clothing, then attend the post party at Monnalisa Bar. More information can be found on Facebook, here.

Flowers and Flora & Muse

I have lived in CityCentre for about 9 months now and have worked here for about a year. One thing that has continued to amaze me is management's dedication to keeping the plants and grass in tip top shape. During the Winter, many of the more delicate plants were covered up. Once Spring hit, Robert the groundskeeper, could be seen outside tending to plants all day. See if you can spot him working hard in the following picture. One of the daily struggles that he has is keeping rocks out of the grass and this picture showcases the manual labor involved in keeping the grass healthy. Unfortunately, the plaza is surrounded by dark gray rocks that I am guessing are part of some drainage design. I had commented on the grass in an earlier post and the team here has done a good job reviving the plaza after the 2010 Ride of a Lifetime.


I do not have a green thumb at all. In fact, my thumb is reddish, which just happens to be the color wheel opposite of green! What I am trying to say is that there is no way I can identify the plants in these pictures, but if you can then let me know and I can update this post at a later time. Here is an arrangement you will find all around the grounds. These include flowers that were covered up during the winter time.


This arrangement can be found around Ruggles Green. It looks to me like the pink flowers here are the same as in the top layer of the previous picture. Again, this is all speculation on my part because I really do not know one flower from another unless it is a Texas wildflower. I had to do a project in high school that involved collecting ~50 varieties and had a test over them. I know my Texas wildflowers.


Aside from flowers and trees, there are also ferns all around the place. Or at least I call them ferns. I mean they're huge blades of grass as far as I'm concerned.


I conclude with one note of disappointment. To those who walk around CityCentre smoking whatever you smoke. I understand it is your right, even though there are designated smoking areas for a reason, PLEASE DO NOT THROW YOUR CIGARETTE BUTTS IN THE FLOWER POTS OR ON THE STREETS AND SIDEWALKS. Help keep this area beautiful.

Speaking of flowers, Flora & Muse is now open! Their website is terrible and uninformative right now so let me shed some light on what they are and where they are located.

WHAT IS IT?
(taken from the CityCentre website)

Flora & Muse - a new bistro, patisserie, flower stand, coffee shop and tea room all in one whimsical, neo-Victorian setting encompassing numerous indoor and alfresco seating vignettes. In addition to sweets and fresh fruit from the patisserie, plus a variety of coffee and tea options, the menu showcases European cuisine with American flair, while offering a handful of twists, plus more hearty and exotic options like steak au poivre and traditional Turkish Pide pie.

WHERE IS IT?
Underneath RA Sushi across from Eye Couture in CityCentre.

Stay tuned for more.

RA Sushi Patio

I am still slowly getting back into the flow of blogging. Unfortunately, my workload has not come down any, but I am blessed to have a job so I'm not complaining.

So I stopped into RA Sushi today and chatted up one of the managers there. I have seen construction workers building a frame over the back patio of RA and inquired about what was going on there. Apparently there will be an extra section of outdoor seating and a covered outdoor bar. I heard this concept about 6 months ago and it is nice to see them actually getting it built. I know I'll be frequenting the outdoor seating areas more once it gets cooler.

More to come...