Never Met a Cheese I Didn't Like...

THE REVIEW - Rise No.1



I’ll admit, I was a bit apprehensive about dining at Rise No. 1. I mean this place is a French styled restaurant, drenched in classic French tradition, predominately serving the French-iest of French food – the soufflé. Newsflash: The Robertson family is not the biggest fan of the French. Anyone that has ever met my father would know how tough it was for me to even step in the door of this place.

Despite my fathers words of warning of the French being a pretentious and smelly group of people that don’t bathe or shave who needed the US to bail them out of WWII and yet they treat us like crap; Linds and I decided to forego my Pop’s opinion, trust our palates, and give Rise No. 1 a shot. Boy…I'm glad we did.

Linds and I started off our evening at Rise No.1 with a glass of Presecco ($10) at the cozy little wine bar in the back. Tad bit expensive for a glass of Presecco, but then again it’s bubbly. Good Move No. 1- The bar was small and a group of old ladies were taking up a ton of room, which made it tough to order. The bartender notices us failing at trying to politely eek our way through the grandma perfume and sequins. He walks out from behind the bar, hands us a menu, and introduces himself. He said he could tell it was going to be tough for us to order over the people at the bar, so he’d just come to us. That was a first. Service like that, unfortunately, just doesn’t happen at most places..

As for the drink menu, no surprise, it’s extremely wine driven. There are at least ten different 4 glass flights to choose from and prices range $8-15 per flight…very, very reasonable considering the quality and pour you get with each wine. Linds rocked the "We Never Drink Alone" flight which was made up of "sweet and sassy" whites: a Pinot Gris, Alsace Riesling, German Riesling, and a Gewürztraminer all for only $10. As a tipsy Lindsay later told me, "I freaking loved every glass." I opted for the "4 Rhone’s Make it Right" flight which was a four glass tour of the Rhone Valley featuring a Blanc followed by 3 fruity reds ($12). Nicely done.

On to the food…
APPETIZERS:
Good Move No. 2 – Get the Chariot de Fromage. I’ll say it again…if you only get one thing at Rise No. 1, get the Chariot de Fromage. You’ll thank me when you see the dude wheel out a cart with 8-10 different cheeses that are a veritable who’s who line-up of the cheese world. All the major players are there and even a couple of up and comings you’ve never heard of. Never meeting a cheese we didn’t like; we chose the Chevre (Blackened Goat), Brie with layers of Blue, and a nameless White Semi-Soft with chucks of white truffles. I’m not one to curse, but MF’er, I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and be totally happy.

ENTRÉE:
Soufflés take 17 minutes to make at Rise No. 1, apparently the fastest soufflé in Texas, so we ordered the Rise Salad ($5) to tide us over before our Truffle Infused Wild Mushroom Soufflé ($15) arrived. The salad is basically the same signature salad from Maguire’s (baby greens, blue cheese, roasted pecans, Granny Smith apples, and Walnut vinaigrette). Linds thought this version of it was better though…I think she said it was sweeter. Either way, Mark Maguire (the chef, not the baseball player) does a salad right, so why not bring it over to Rise with him?

Good Move No. 3 - Truffle Infused Wild Mushroom Soufflé. Soufflés are typically so heavy that you get tired of eating it before you’re half way though; not the case with the Wild Mushroom. Linds and I split this, but I easily could have eaten the entire thing. It was light, crispy, and full of earthy goodness. Every bite had great balance of all of the flavors, which really left you wanting more after each spoonful. I highly, highly recommend this soufflé. Other notable soufflés on the menu: fresh crab, jambon and Gruyere, and Fromage de Chevre.

DESSERT:
We’d heard the dessert soufflés were just okay, so we picked the Chocolate Lava Cake at $9. I’m no expert on Lava Cakes, so I must defer to Lindsay’s proclamation as this being the "best lava cake ever." Did I mention her wine flght…

Good Move No.4 - Highlight of the dessert for me though was the coffee…individual French Presses. Glorious presentation aside, it was a very tasty cup of coffee.

OVERALL:
Rise No. 1 is somewhere that Lindsay and I are already chomping at the bit to go back to. This place was nothing like what I expected…It wasn't pretentious, it had a cool laid back upscale casual vibe, wasn’t crazy expensive ($125 total bubbly/wine flights/food/tip), and oh my God the cheese plate…

I’d honestly rank Rise No. 1, as my No. 2 favorite place in town right now. Ya, see what I did there with the No.? I'm a tool, I know.