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?

A Santa Swag Swap at Datz is where it's at

Last week I went to a delicious place. That delicious place is Datz.

I've been wanting to try Datz for awhile. Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Bloggers gave me the opportunity with a Santa Swag Swap.

What is a Santa Swag Swap? Well, bloggers bring wrapped swag (items sent from PR folks, giveaways from conferences, re-gifts, whatever you got) and swap it in a white elephant gift exchange.

I wrapped some random re-gifts and headed to Datz after work. Datz is conveniently located close to downtown Tampa (where I work), so that was pretty handy. 

Upon arrival, I was greeted with a Wreck the Halls. Hello, Datz and Tampa Bay Bloggers, I love you.

Wreck the Halls is a mix of vanilla vodka, Kahlua
peppermint mocha and Adult Chocolate Milk.
(Photo credit: Raffi)

Tampa Bay Bloggers from left to right: Caroline from My Fascinating Life,
Raffi from Running Betty, Brian from Digital Running, me, Asha from
The Dansha Diaries, Denise from RunDMT, Kristen from Gone Bananas.
Not pictured: Marisa from Fit Kids Playground who joined us later.

After drinks, the appetizers arrived: poutine (fries, cheese curd demi-glace and a fried egg), corn fritters (with powdered sugar and jalapeno-maple syrup), figtastic flatbread (slided fig, Asian pear, roasted red onion, blue cheese, baby arugula) and bruschetta flatbread (pesto, Parmesan, mozzarella, roasted red onion, plum tomato, basil, balsamic glaze).

Poutine (Photo credit: Raffi)

The corn fritters rocked (as did the other items). I'm not a syrup fan so I passed on it, thinking it was just maple syrup. After the fact, realizing that this was jalapeno-maple syrup, I'd definitely give it a try. Jalapenos make everything delicious.

Corn fritters (Photo credit: Raffi)

My favorite appetizer, which surprised me, was the figtastic flatbread. I'm not a huge blue cheese fan, but this had just the right amount mixed with the sweetness of the pear and fig and the spiciness of the arugula. You've got to try everything once because you'll never know what you'll like, right?

My surprise favorite appetizer: figtastic flatbread (Photo credit: Raffi)

After appetizers, we did the swag swap. I went first and was rewarded with a Turbie Twist. Score! No one stole it, so I ended up going home a happy girl. I put it to use right away.

The main course arrived after the swap. We were treated to: chicken little (black tea-spiced, baby, free-range chicken, tri-colored quinoa, honey-fig sauteed spinach, Asian pear chutney) with a side of curried vegan winter stew (carrots and butternut squash braised in a tomato curry broth, tri-colored quinoa, cilantro, mint, pumpkin seeds).

Chicken little (Photo credit: Raffi)

I think the coolest thing about dinner was that they were all new tastes to me. Nothing was an "oh, I had something like this at another restaurant." I particularly liked the honey-fig spinach. Apparently, I like figs. I didn't know this.

And then dessert happened. Oreo beignets. Holy yum. And yes, an Oreo beignet is exactly what it sounds like: an Oreo fried inside of delicious donut goodness. For an Oreo-loving girl like myself, this could be the perfect dessert. 

Oreo beignets (Photo credit: Raffi)

My first trip to Datz and my first Tampa Bay Bloggers meetup rocked! I'll definitely be back to both (with my regular camera, not an iPhone camera — thanks so much to Raffi for the non-dark, non-blurry photos; and thanks to Datz)! 

Do you have a Turbie Twist? Have you ever eaten poutine, corn fritters or jalapeno-maple syrup? Are you an Oreo lover? Do you live in the Tampa Bay area? If so, have you been to Datz? What did you think? If you don't live in the area, come to visit me; I'll take you there!