If invited to Datz Dough, go!

Some words of advice: if someone ever invites you to Datz Dough, GO.

I was recently invited to attend a tasting there with the Tampa Bay Bloggers (organized by the fabulous Denise), and I went. I'm not stupid. And, I was not disappointed.

Tampa Bay Bloggers photo by Gerardo Luna

There was bacon brittle involved, people. Bacon. Brittle. Don't ever pass that up.

When I arrived, I was greeted with a Prickly Pear Mimosa. Yeah, that was as good as it sounds. It included sparkling wine, mandarin/tangerine puree and prickly pear syrup. And, it was pretty.
 

Next up was the Passport Salad. Reading the description, I was not overly excited about this salad. After tasting it, I was overly excited about this salad. It was made up of Belgian endive, Spanish olives, Turkish figs, French goat cheese and crispy Italian garbanzo beans. The sweet, the salty, the crunchy. It was all good.

I was excited about the next dish: Not Yo Mama's Mac & Cheese. It definitely wasn't. Well, the only mac and cheese my mama ever made was the kind out of a Kraft box. This was about 1,000 times better than that. It was cheesy with a crunchy cayenne panko topping. The topping was my jam.

Are you ready? Are you really ready? Because it's bacon brittle time. The bacon brittle came on a pan-seared scallop in The Sea & The Swine. It is as awesome as it sounds. I loved this. Loved it. But, when you think about it, what is not to love about candied bacon?

Steak is one of my true loves in life. You probably think I'm kidding. I'm not. So, when I saw steak on the menu, I was pumped. Then, I read that it involved a valronah chocolate coffee sauce. And, I wasn't as pumped. I'm a salt and pepper on my steak kinda girl because it's so delicious it doesn't need anything else. But, I will admit to being pleasantly surprised by the sauce. Plus, it wasn't like the steak was drenched in it. You could dip as you wanted. The steak came with a blue cheese cheesecake. I was hesitant on this one, too. I'm not a blue cheese fan. I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite. But, I'm all about trying everything. So, I tried it, and I'm glad I did. It was rich and blue cheesy and I couldn't eat it all, but I was happy with my few bites.

Top left: Passport Salad; bottom left: Not Yo Mama's Mac & Cheese;
top right: The Sea & The Swine; bottom right: The Steaks are High

In the midst of this deliciousness, another drink arrived: the Bobby Boucher Spritz. I loved this drink before I ever tried it just because of the name. It included cherry heering liqueur, overproof bourbon, Benedictine and sweet vermouth. I like Bourbon (thanks to a bourbon schooling by my Kentucky friend, Erin), so I liked this drink. If you don't like bourbon, you probably wouldn't. You can just give yours to me.

We also got the opportunity to try Chef Domenica Macchia's speciality, duck fat fries. Wow. Just wow.

To finish off this delicious night, we ended with a Banana Foster Boozy Shake.  I like banana foster. I like shakes. I thought I'd be crazy about this. When it arrived, I knew I wouldn't. It had ... whipped cream on the top. Ick. That is one thing I really, really don't like. I'm weird, I know. So, even though I tried to scoop it off, I still felt like I was drinking it.

Whipped cream doesn't deserve to be photographed.

Have you ever had bacon brittle? No? Do it. Now. Have you ever been to Datz or Datz Dough? If you were there, what was your favorite item? If you weren't there, what do you think would be your favorite?