Sassetta — Restaurant in Dallas

What a way to end our vacation in Dallas Texas. We grabbed a lunch after a wonderful Worship Service at UPPERROOM. If you know me I have to stop and get on google and get the lowdown of my area. Well my inner culinary voice led us to a wonderful bistro called Sassetta in the Design District.

The words you are about to hear might make you want to get up from your chair and literally head to this bistro just for the Gelato 🍨 Seriously, Chef Paul Allen just had the best ice cream 🍦 product I have ever had in my life! I have eaten ice cream all over this world 🌎 and many many times over. I can literally stuff myself until the point of sickness and still have room for ice cream, you don’t believe me, ask my dear friends that know me best 😉

So let’s get into the flavor profile. Yes, the other food was over the top good, but this gelato was the best thing I have eaten on this entire trip. First let me explain to you the difference between Ice Cream and Gelato:

Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream. It starts out with a similar custard base as ice cream, but has a higher proportion of milk and a lower proportion of cream and eggs (or no eggs at all). It is churned at a much slower rate, incorporating less air and leaving the gelato denser than ice cream.

It was a Pistachio Gelato with no food coloring, no tricks, no fillers. They started off with large whole pistachios that they toasted with lots of sea salt. And then let’s get into the freshness. You could tell this ice cream was made within the last couple of days, if not the same day. The pistachios were not soggy at all but had a beautiful salty crunch. The creamy ice sugar crystals flaked in your mouth upon each bite and the shot of espresso doused on top was the perfect pairing. I don’t even do coffee that much, but this is literally one of my favorite style of desserts on the planet 🌍 yet it is oh so very simple. Another key 🔑 to this dessert was the no green coloring added, it was the way Mother Nature intended. My wife and I were extravagantly blown away at the attention to detail of this masterpiece 🖼

Now that we have the star 💫 of the show described let’s talk appetizer. The Fritto Misto was absolutely superb!!! From the wild-caught Shrimp 🦐 to the calamari, the broccolini was attractive to the taste buds but they took it a step further and deep fried fennel. What??????? Who does that?????? It was gorgeous!!!!! It was right in between that raw licorice flavor and the fully cooked flavor so it was lightly licorice-ee. Super charged yum 😋 And it was served with a nice Aioli, a half of lemon 🍋 dressed with a piece of cheese cloth to detour the seeds and then this impeccable sauce. It was like a mixture of a roasted red pepper coulis meets marinara. Very well thought out, and a nice portion. Then topped with slightly spicy mini pepperoncini rings. I knew at the moment this course arrived we had made the right decision of where to eat our last meal in Dallas.

Our waiter David recommended the Burnt Honey Pizza that had an assortment of cheeses drizzled with burnt local honey 🍯 The pizza was cooked in a wood fired 🔥 oven so that always makes the crust extra crispy and slightly burnt but in a good way. My wife loved it, but she loves everything sweet. I probably wouldn’t order it again, but I don’t really like to mix my savory with sweet to often but will say I am glad I tried it.

This bistro was definitely 5 star 🌟 over the top, quality food, amazing service and positive atmosphere. Thank you team for truly caring about what you do, and thank you to the chef and owner for making it a memorable experience!!!!

#Sassetta #travelwiththeallens #allentravels...

The only reason I'm giving this place a 1-star rating is because of the way the manager handled a customer-service related situation. We were a large party of 11, and one of the individuals had to leave early for a personal emergency. Before the plates had come out, she asked to cancel the order and hurriedly left, thinking it was all taken care of. However, the waitress still brought out the plate while we were all in the middle of eating, and mentioned that the food had already been made and couldn't be taken back, and they still needed to charge for it. Since I had planned the entire event (it was a birthday dinner for a friend), I took on the responsibility of figuring this out, so everyone else could enjoy their night. This was now MY food, and I'M the one who had to pay for it- which was understandable. But, I tried the plate (it was the crab linguini), and it tasted awful. The pasta was far too sour from the citrus, the chili flakes were tacky and too strong, and the crab was rancid. Overall, I wasn't happy with this plate, and I definitely didn't want to pay $36 for it. I brought the waitress back and explained that I understood the extra plate would be charged to me, but now it was an issue of not liking the food itself and wanting to possibly swap it out for something else. You would think, any restaurant that wants to keep its customers satisfied and comfortable would gladly offer this- it wasn't food I was okay with eating. Instead, the manager came out and bluntly placed the food back on the table, said there was nothing that could be done. "The plate was already made and it needed to be paid for". Not only was her tone upsetting and extremely unaccommodating, but it was a horrible way to handle what could've been an opportunity for kindness and top-tier customer service. The way I see it, it was a bad plate of food; It doesn't matter if it was a cancelled order from someone else or not. It wouldn't have been an issue paying for it if the food was good. Overall, this ruined our night and we won't be recommending this place to anyone.

I would, however, like to point out that before this situation, the waitress and hostess were really kind and accommodating, especially for such a stressful amount of people at once. The ambiance of the restaurant is very aesthetic and a solid dinner spot for a nice atmosphere. They even used the candles I bought for the dessert we chose for the birthday. Just wish they would've met basic customer service needs and expectations, so I could recommend...

I had high hopes for the restaurant, but unfortunately, several things went awry and left my family and me utterly dissatisfied with our experience here. I'm certain we won't be returning, if you're in a group or a family looking for a solid and enjoyable Italian meal, I don't think this is the place for you.

Regarding the food, we ordered the following items:

Whipped Ricotta with Sourdough and Olive Oil Sausage Pizza Cavatelli Lasagna Rotolo Rigatoni

The Whipped Ricotta and Rigatoni were quite good. However, the other two pastas (Cavatelli and Lasagna) and the pizza were average at best.

As for the service, if you happen to be in a group of four or more people seated at the back of the restaurant, it doesn't seem like you'll receive attentive service here. I don't think it was entirely the fault of the staff who served our table, but rather an issue with how the restaurant is operated. We noticed another group sitting next to us going through similar issues. Here are a few pointers:

We frequently ran out of water. When we asked for more water, we were told the waiter would bring it right back, but it usually took another 10-15 minutes. First time, I joked I am chugging down everyone else's water while waiting but it quickly got a little old the second time.

Our cocktails were the very first thing we ordered but didn't arrive until the end of our meal. Mind me, I've checked with the staff and told they were coming. Since the timing was off, we decided to send them back. The restaurant comped us for the cocktails, which was a nice gesture, but still a bit disappointing considering our high expectations.

We asked for our remaining food to be boxed when the bill came to the table, for the uneaten pizza and a plate of cavatelli. However, we waited for a long time, at least 20 minutes, and no one brought the requested to-go boxes. This was particularly inconvenient as we were traveling with three young children. Eventually, we approached the front and asked if we could pay for our meal and get our food boxed. The manager came by to help me pay, but nobody knew what had happened to the requested to-go boxes. At that point, I decided it wasn't worth waiting any longer and left the restaurant without them. Overall, it doesn't seem like staff are well trained or staffed fully to manage the amount of the tables...