A Night At Mot Hai Ba

I am back in the Beeman Hotel cafe and the only one sitting here. Obviously, the girl's lacrosse tournament is over and all is quiet here in Dallas. It's overcast and 43º but will get up into the high 50s later in the day. And from what I can read, the snow has finally ended in Chautauqua. Fortunately, we were not hammered like Orchard Park's 77 inches. It looks like we may have gotten a foot and a half,  perhaps a bit more. 

One, Two, Three

Yesterday morning was like the day before, today, and tomorrow and I am up somewhere around 6:00 or 6:30 and quietly dress, grab my computer and phone, and sneak out of the darkened room so as to not wake my sleeping bride. Yesterday, however, I drove to Beth and Rami's at 7:30 and both Rami and I took Kaia out for a half-hour walk, and picked up amazing croissants at The Village Baking, filled with either spinach and cheese or bacon for our breakfast. We went back to their apartment and Rami made lattes and we enjoyed them with our croissants. At 9:30, I drove back to our hotel with a croissant for Evie. I showered and we both were ready to return to the apartment by 10:30. 

A Morning Walk On The Katy Trail

We relaxed and had some breakfast before driving off to the Open Market in downtown Dallas, about a 15-minute drive. On weekends, there's an outside market, filled with all kinds of food and merchandise, from clothes to coffee, and teas, to wooden kitchen utensils, to all kinds of foods, ready to eat. . It was packed and one out of five shoppers seemed to have a dog like us. Next door is an indoor market, mostly food stands, and it's open all week. Three of us had tacos and Beth sushi and it was warm enough to enjoy our food outside. We also did some shopping in a couple of stores and both Marisa and Beth picked up a few things. 

Outdoor Market

We then drove to the neighborhood where Beth teaches and looked at a couple of homes that were for sale, one an older ranch from the 1950s, the other a new two-story with a large backyard. Both had plusses and minuses and were fun to walk through. We then drove around the neighborhood looking at houses, both older, quaint 1960s homes, or new ones, obviously tear-downs. We resisted the urge to stop for donuts on the way home. Evie and I drove back to our hotel at 3:00 and fell asleep watching football, what else on a Sunday afternoon. 

View Of Dallas From White Rock Lake

We were back at the apartment at 6:00, in time for a glass of wine before driving off to our restaurant, Mot Hai Ba or One Two Three. We had reservations at 6:30 and like the other night's restaurant, it was crowded and you needed reservations. The menu is eclectic, a fusion of both French and Vietnamese cuisine created by its Serbian chef Peja Krstic. He has been in the news for cultural appropriation probably because he is neither French nor Vietnamese. What a crazy world. Rami and I ordered the famous Five Spice Old Fashions with Suntori whiskey, in fact, we each had a second. We had Banh Bao (steamed buns) and crispy rice cakes with veggies and shrimp for an appetizer. For dinner we shared a couple orders of amazing garlic noodles, along with a grilled Bronzino with lemongrass and scallions and Sakura Short Pork ribs with apples and radish salad. We also tried their fried avocado salad. What an amazing display of tastes and textures. We will be back next year for sure

We ended the night in their living room watching the end of episode one of Yellowstone, and some amazing photos Rami took of their trip to view the gorillas of Rowanda this past summer. We then drove home at 9:30, tired from our day, and ready for bed.