John’s Photo Blog

It’s a great time to be in Dallas. The sports energy has been amazing this year, starting with the Rangers in the World Series last fall, the Super Bowl in town this winter, and now an NBA Finals championship to kick off the summer. Not a bad 8 month stretch.

Neo Pizza Napoletana is a fairly new pizzeria in downtown Dallas. It’s been around for about a year and was created by the owner of Olivella’s, another fantastic place near SMU. They claim to be the “Best Pizza in Texas”, and to be honest I can’t disagree. We always get at least half of a black truffle pie, and typically change it up with the other half. The stuff is amazing.

You can tell the food was good, because I didn’t even stop to snap a photo of it.

It’s June in Texas. Every year we are all somehow shocked that it is so hot, already. The only way to spend time outside these days is by the pool. This weekend it was the perfect way to spend the first 100° days of the season.

I’m not sure why I thought this carpet was cool. But it is.

Holiday weekend shopping at the mall.

S. & D. Oyster Company is a gem of a restaurant in the middle of uptown that is one of the few great places to get fresh oysters in the city. The service is fantastic, and they will shuck and serve you a dozen oysters within about 30 seconds. And probably the best part is the fresh, homemade cocktail sauce that they make at the table. The perfect Friday dinner after a long week at work.

My love affair with the Bishop Arts District continues. Today’s ode to The District comes in the form of a corner restaurant named Oddfellows.

As soon as you enter the dining room you’ll notice the massive espresso machine directly behind the hostess stand. Off to a good start. They were proudly displaying french press propaganda so we gladly obliged and ordered a round. The coffee was amazing. Our waitress told us of the owners’ friendship with a Colombian grower that ships raw beans directly to a roaster in Austin. Luckily for the rest of us, they’ll sell you a pound.

The food was equally amazing and, as the older gentleman next to me mentioned a few times, all of their food is local and fresh. He especially cared for the local peaches and not “those ones that just look good from California.” The beignets and homemade pepper bacon omelette were more my speed. But either way, the place was fantastic. I haven’t found a spot in The District yet that disappoints.

Last weekend Chris and I made our way over to the Dallas World Aquarium. The crowds were minimal and there weren’t many lines in sight, so it was a perfect day to walk around and snap some photos.

This weekend we celebrated my wife’s birthday at Si Tapas in uptown. Tapas are little appetizers, snacks and other assorted bits of typically bite-sized Spanish-style food. The Sangria pitcher was rarely empty and a good time was had by all. This plate of cheese, grapes, nuts and figs was one of the highlights.

We spent the first part of our Mother’s Day Sunday at The Dallas Arboretum. The flowers were a little fried already from the Texas heat, but there were a few good ones to see. Next year, we’ll go back before it gets to be 95 outside.

The bishop arts district of Dallas has become one of our favorite spots in the city lately. It seems we travel there every weekend to eat or hang out. This week we hit a few of the interesting shops in the area.

And if you’re in the area, check out Eno’s pizza. It is fantastic.

While visiting the The Belmont Hotel a few weeks ago we stumbled upon a random gathering of people playing music. They had a bunch of extra instruments and were inviting random people out of the gathering crowd to join in. I’m not sure if this is a regular thing, or a spur of the moment event, but it was great. And they actually sounded pretty good too.