Rise No.1

We visited Rise Number 1 this evening with some of our very good friends. They'd been wanting to try it for a while and we'd been dying to go since our neighbors suggested it. We LOVED it!

The restaurant is impeccably decorated, especially considering it used to be a take out chinese place. It's best described as French antique, with some patio seating and a cozy interior. It's also got an impressive wine list, a small but functional bar, and wait staff that is attentive at the least and very personable and helpful at best. In fact, the waitstaff was incredibly courteous and went above and beyond.

For example, prior to being seated they even came over and asked if we'd like to order something to drink while we waited. Our waitress apparently got sick half-way through our meal, so Theresa took over. She was great! She even remembered to bring our friend his coffee with dessert when we ordered it an hour before (you order all of your courses at once as the souffles take about twenty minutes to cook). The patio wind cover was hitting the girls, so the manager came out and personally rolled it up for us.

The whole menu is built off the souffle. They have both savory and sweet souffles and some great appetizers and french entrees as well. Apparently everything that isn't nailed down is for sale as well. A memphis-based antiques dealer decorated the place and all furnishings, silverware, bread baskets, etc. are for sell if you so desire. It kind of reminded me of dining in a tree house. We sat on the patio and it was beautiful, so there's another dallas patio you can check out. It has a prettier view than Cafe Italia, so that was nice.

I got the Rhone wine flight...it was only 11 bucks! There were four different rhone wines (one white and three red) and generous pours. The first white reminded me of blue cheese, would have been great with the cheese plate. The last was a very tasty chateauneuf-du-pape that was perfect with our dessert.

Oh, side note, they are very into being 'green'. For example, their glasses are recycled wine bottles, cut off half way up. If you care to know more, your waitress will go on and on about it.

When I was reading reviews about Rise, all of them talked about their marshmellow soup; so when we got there and it wasn't on the menu I was bummed. When our waitress mentioned the specials, however, it was one of them! I was super excited because the reviews said chefs came from all over to try this soup. It's a tomato and carrot bisque with 'marshmellows' of chevre (goat cheese) on top. The soup was a little more carrot-y than I was expecting, but overall it was great. The cheese puffs were very sublime and added a great tartness to the soup. The presentation was also pretty cool...the bowl had a lid with pesto in a little cup that the waitress poured into my soup after setting at my place.

My salad, the No.1 Rise Salad, was amazing! The mixed greens, pecans, bleu cheese, and pecan vinagarette are an amazing mix together. It was a great size, not too big not too small, and was really well put together. Guys, this is even a good guy salad, as it had some good taste and substance to it. I highly recommend it!

J and I then split the jambon and Gruyere cheese savory souffle. We were pretty glad we split it after both eating the sourdough bread and my soup/his salad. The souffle was a bit more eggy ( i need a new way of writing made-up adjectives) than I've experienced in the past, but then again, I've never had a savory souffle, just sweet. Our friends had the crab and cheese (can't remember which kind of cheese, it started with B) and the Southwestern Chicken souffle. S really enjoyed her chicken one, it had a little bit of spice and a green tomato banana pepper relish on top.

We split the Lava Cake for dessert. I felt kind of odd about dining at a souffle place and not getting a dessert souffle, but the waitress insisted. It was fantastic. You dipped your spoon into it and warm, gooey chocolate came oozing out. And of course it came with vanilla ice cream to cut some of the richness. Yum!

A and R ordered coffee with dessert and it came out in individually sized french presses. She was pretty excited about how cute they were. Only downside was they had to share the cream, but I think they got over that pretty quickly! Moral of the story, this is a must-go at some point in your dallas dining career!

We rate Rise No. 1 a 4.0 out of 5 for food and a 5 out of 5 for twenty somethings.

Highlights:
- Cheese Plate
- Wine Flights
- Chocolate Lava Cake
- Souffle Specials
- Great date or special occasion place!
www.risesouffle.com