Review – JAXX ARTZ

Highly-Anticipated Italian Restaurant Opens inside The Plaza at Preston Center

May 28, 2019 | Jaxx Artz

After several days of soft opening, the neighborhood Italian restaurant il Bracco opened to the public May 28 inside The Plaza at Preston Center.

A project of Robert Quick, CEO of Western Addition, and Matt Gottlieb (COO) – who together have 25 years of restaurant experience – il Bracco offers a craveable menu in a chic but comfortable environment. With 74 interior seats and an outdoor patio, it is the perfect restaurant for the whole family to enjoy this summer.

“il Bracco offers a fresh take on classic Italian dishes with everything made from scratch including bread, pasta, and sauces; fresh fish is delivered daily and all proteins are butchered on-site,” Quick said.

The Food

The menu includes Italian favorites, such as house-made Focaccia with whipped ricotta cheese, roasted garlic, and thyme; Crispy Artichokes made with baby artichokes and olive aioli; and Meatballs with a blend of beef, lamb, and pork topped with a house tomato gravy and Reggiano.

To honor their new home in Dallas, il Bracco also hosts The Plaza, a roasted chicken dish with golden beets, pancetta, and Marcona almonds.

Other salads and sandwiches include the Burrata Salad with fresh burrata cheese and dressed market vegetables; the Fried Chicken Sandwich with an Italian twist using sundried tomato, provolone, and dressed arugula with fennel to the Classic Italian Combo with artisan charcuterie, mozzarella, hot pepper relish, oil, and vinegar.

Pasta made in-house include Spicy Gemelli – Gemelli, spicy vodka sauce, basil, and Reggiano; Marsala Trumpets with trompetti, trumpet mushrooms, garlic, and marsala; and several more.

For Entrees, seafood lovers can indulge in the Mediterranean Sea Bass, pan roasted, topped with mint gremolata, served with snap beans; and more traditional offerings include the Porchetta, thick-cut over whole grain mustard sauce and topped with herb salad, or a Chicken Piccata with lemony chicken served with a kale salad.

Roasted Chicken, Center Cut Tenderloin, Eggplant Parm and more are also available for entrée choices.

The Drinks

An interesting and diverse wine list aids guests in a tasting exploration of Italy from a comfortable booth right here in Dallas. il Bracco has also put a spin on classic Italian cocktails to complement the food, such as with The Bracco, made with New Amsterdam, Aperol, and fresh grapefruit.

il Bracco is open daily for lunch and dinner; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

A version of this article originally appeared on the website for People Newspapers.

MIXT Offers Customizable Options for Everyone

June 28, 2019 | Jaxx Artz

The recently-opened MIXT in Uptown Dallas provides fresh and fast healthy food for guests, allowing them to choose from pre-set, seasonal menus or customize their own plate using the ingredients as a guide. We at People Newspapers couldn’t pass up an opportunity to stop by for a taste.

After perusing their salad, seasonal plates, and grain bowl options, I decided to try the Pacifica Grain Bowl, featuring quinoa, black beans, grilled chicken, and freshly-sliced mango with a cilantro jalapeño vinaigrette on top. After mixing my grain bowl together, it was beautifully presented to me with long strips of mango on top, highlighting the array of colors that made up my meal.

I also tasted items from their Seasonal Plates section, where guests can select options from three categories: Farm + Sea, Homemade Sauce, and Market Sides. I tasted the braised Tuscan chicken with a homemade spicy Korean barbecue sauce. Paired with my choice of roasted rainbow carrots and grilled broccoli, the warm meal served as a comforting dish for the rainy day outside.

Thirsty? MIXT also provides beer, wine, and kombucha on tap, along with a refreshing hibiscus and strawberry lemonade.

The Dallas location, located at McKinney & Olive in Uptown, offers an easy online ordering and pick-up system using their website, making it even faster to grab lunch on the go.

Mixt also partners with Bonton Farms—a local nonprofit dedicated to bringing fresh produce, nutrition classes and employment opportunities to a former food desert in South Dallas; and collaborates with Fusion to aid in the city’s efforts of reducing and recycling food waste.

This article originally appeared on the website for People Newspapers.

“Where’d You Go Bernadette” Is The Perfect Summer Flick For Families

August 14, 2019 | Jaxx Artz

Movies are never as good as the books they’re based on. It’s something I think whenever I walk into a theater, already poised to point out the fatal flaws in the movie adaptation of a favorite novel. I try to give every film the benefit of the doubt, telling myself not to compare them, even as I roll my eyes at the casting decisions (though “Gone Girl” did a great job with Rosamund Pike).

I walked into “Where’d You Go Bernadette” expecting to be underwhelmed, sinking back into my chair as the lights dimmed.

Of course, sometimes adaptations surprise you, most likely when it’s been a few years since you last read the book and can enjoy the movie without cringing too many times. And then there are the films that recognize a book as inspiration but take the story in a different direction, choosing what can fit into a 2-hour time slot and be interesting enough to keep an audience’s attention. These are the success stories, when done well, and when the readers of a beloved book can recognize how different formats produce different stories.

“Where’d You Go Bernadette” is not the same as the book, but that’s okay.

The film stars Cate Blanchett as rising star architect Bernadette Fox, who gives up a promising career to move to Seattle with techie husband Elgin Branch (Billy Crudup) to raise their daughter Bee.

But the thing is, Bernadette hates people; detests their fake niceties, deplores social events, and absolutely cannot stand the moms at Bee’s school who hound her about sleepovers, fundraisers, and bringing cupcakes to the annual bake sale. When Bee reminds her parents about a promised vacation to Antarctica, Bernadette has to confront everything she’s afraid of and prefers jumping out of a window (literally) to becoming a “normal” mom, forcing Bee to search for where she may have gone.

The characters in the movie are funny, frustrating, and more real with a skilled set of actors than most page-to-screen adaptations can accomplish.

Whereas the book slowly reveals Bernadette’s story through FBI files, emails, and notes throughout its 352 pages, the movie went inside the mind of Bernadette to share her struggles and anxieties, her hatred of “Seattle gnats” bugging her about an unkempt yard, and her fear about her husband seeing her as everyone else does.

And with Cate Blanchett as the leading lady, of course it’s going to be a good film. I have always loved Cate Blanchett; she becomes her characters, fitting so perfectly into the world she’s created that you forget you’re watching a movie. I often wonder what she would be like in real life, away from her roles as Carol, Lou, and Queen Elizabeth. With brown hair, a sharp American accent, and bangs, she is Bernadette Fox, transforming a character I liked and understood better than the one I read about years before.

In 130 minutes, viewers experience the hilarious, and at times heartbreaking, unraveling of a family that is forced to cross oceans to come together again. If you don’t want to go to feel closer to your family, then go for Kristen Wiig. Never have I seen her in such a role, and she nailed it.

“Where’d You Go Bernadette” (Rated PG-13) will be released nationwide on August 16.

This article originally appeared on the People Newspapers website.

New Menu at MidiCi Offers A Little Italian for Everyone

July 11, 2019 | Jaxx Artz and Keyuri Parab

MidiCi, a fast-casual Italian eatery, started slinging Neapolitan pizzas in Preston Hollow in January. Now, the location has expanded its menu to include freshly-made pasta, sandwiches, flatbreads, and more.

Owner Michelle Martin said customer feedback was the driving force behind the refurbished menu, that people wanted more than just pizza.

With fresh ingredients, gluten-free pasta options, in-house bread, and staff that aren’t just employees but “team friends,” MidiCi has much to offer, said Zeke, MidiCi’s bar and service manager, “We really just wanted to round out our portfolio for the product offering.”

With a fresh menu and revamped space to welcome a more extensive clientele (psst, they’ve installed large screen TVs perfect for Monday Night Football), we wanted to get in early and see everything in person. Well, we wanted to taste everything in person.

And did we mention, the vegan cheese, kosher, and gluten-free options? And their double zero dough is baked with no animal by-products.

THE SPACE

One of the most exciting parts of MidiCi’s Preston Hollow location is the staff. Even during a midday slump when most employees want to relax before a dinner rush, every server welcomed us when we walked in the door with bright smiles and a playful attitude. You can tell that everyone really is a “team friend.”

That idea is something Cash, MidiCi’s front of the house service manager, wants to bring to every customer who walks in the door. “When you go out to eat, you want to be spoiled,” he said. “We want you to feel like you’re at home but not have to do anything. I want to take care of you.”

Though the outdoor patio was tempting, the Texas sun offers no mercy, so we sat inside, not far from the full-service bar. Whether you’re having beer and pizza while watching football or wine and appetizers when catching up with old friends, MidiCi offers options for every occasion. The space is open and not crowded with useless things, directing focus exactly where it should go: the food.

DRINKS

The best way to start a meal is with a great drink, and that’s exactly what we got.

Zeke served us a Peach Bellini, homemade peach purée (they refuse to use a syrup), Babe Rosé, and Peach Schnapps; and the MidiCi Margarita. Wait, a margarita at an Italian place?

Well, it is Texas, after all, and the MidiCi Margarita seems to improve upon the classic recipe to ensure each ingredient works together, and prevent that sickly sweet taste that often accompanies badly-made margs. No unnecessary lumps of sugar on the back of your tongue here!

To show off the restaurant’s Italian inspiration, the Peach Bellini has little pieces of the fruit floating along the bottom of the glass, adding texture and a fresh taste to the classic Italian drink.

Non-alcoholic options include several flavors of Italian soda, because what is an Italian restaurant without Italian soda?

A Blue Raspberry Cream Italian Soda, with it’s light, refreshing, and the fruity flavor was a favorite for us. Not heavy at all, if that’s what you associate with cream. But if that isn’t for you, a Watermelon Soda maybe; sparkling, of course, and with a hint of watermelon and a subtly sweet flavor, this soda is the perfect escape on a hot Texas day.

FRESHLY-MADE PASTA

MidiCi is excited to highlight its new pasta dishes, featuring dough that is freshly prepared and delivered to the restaurant each week. Their new menu draws directly from Italy to show American customers how pasta is supposed to taste. “Al Dente means ‘to the tooth,’” said Zeke. “If you go to Italy and think the pasta is undercooked, they’ll tell you no, what you’ve been eating is overcooked.”

As a lifelong fan and maker of pasta, with a Sicilian mother to boot, I know what Zeke means, which is why tasting the Cheese Tortellini in a garlic cream saucemade my tastebuds soar. In my opinion, piping-hot food is under-appreciated, most likely because of our acceptance of lukewarm dishes when we go out to eat. At MidiCi, though, steam rose from the heaping pile of tortellini as I dug into the garlic cream sauce. Another thing you can never have too much of? Garlic.

The Ragu Alla Bolognese was just as exciting, featuring the restaurant’s chicken and beef meatballs found on their Small Plates menu in its “gravy” (that’s what red sauce is called in Italy. The more you know!). This one blew me away, as someone who doesn’t eat red sauce that often, I sure slurped it down fast. The red sauce is cooked more savory than sweet, unlike many other American-Italian places. The quality of the pasta and gravy allow you to feel satisfied without getting stuffed.

FLATBREADS AND PIZZA

Remembering that dough is, in fact, MidiCi’s specialty, seeing a place for their fans’ favorites on the new menu was a real treat. Flatbreads take on the flavor of your favorite pies in a smaller, lighter form, catering to those who want to enjoy the taste of pizza without committing to a heavier dish. Our Chicken Pesto flatbread came perfectly browned, with a little bit of every flavor; the grape tomatoes are tangy, the house-made pesto and chicken add something savory, and a balsamic reduction is found on the side in case you want a hint of sweetness.

The Truffle pizza was similar, with a truffle purée and fresh arugula supplying something for everyone at your table to enjoy. The earthy flavor just enough but not too much, and the mushrooms were melting in your mouth. By this point, we were pretty full but couldn’t stop picking up slice after slice. Only when the word dessert was mentioned, did we ask to box our pizza…

DESSERT

A bite of the Lemon Berry Italian Cake is all you need to taste every ingredient that went into its creation. The seasonal berry compote, the cream-filled Italian cake, the fresh lemon. For two people who aren’t the biggest lemon-flavor enthusiasts, we were happy to go all in, and the not-too-sweet or overpowering cream perfectly cut through the cake and berries to bring the dish together. Light and creamy, it’s the perfect end to a summer dinner.

MidiCi’s menu isn’t seasonal or temporary– it’s here to stay. As part of their revamp and refresh, MidiCi will soon be offering a brunch menu, complete with a specialized cocktail menu and Italian dishes to enjoy on the weekends. They will also be adding to their themed restaurant nights, such as with Wine Down Wednesdays featuring half-priced bottles of wine. For now, you can start by enjoying MidiCi’s new menu in Preston Hollow, just don’t forget the stretchy pants.

This article originally appeared on the People Newspapers website.