Sunday Brunch at Harry's at the Harbor: Food & Family

Photo Credit: Livin The Good Life: Blog

ADVENTURE:
I may or may not have mentioned that I watch a lot of Food Network, Cooking, and Travel Channel; taking a liking to Anthony Bourdain's Layover and No Reservations.  I also regularly have these channels on while the road-tripping hosts such as G. Garvin, Guy Fieri, and others of the like are on.  I find that I like doing sort of a localized version of these various adventures.  Sorry to disappoint, but I'm still not a foodie blogger or a food critic.  I don't like being critical.  A good meal is a good meal, and an adventure is an adventure. 

THE WANDERER (My Wife)
I love wandering with my wife, Katie, because it seems that she always stumbles upon the good food! Since she is the chef of our household, I trust her judgment on these places, and when she cooks, I eat everything she puts in front of me. We wandered upon Harry's at the Harbor while striking a pose or two for maternity photos around the water fountain down by the tower in Adriatica Village.   Unfortunately, doctors generally recommend that while pregnant, seafood should be limited, so we shelved this gem in our minds for a future visit, not knowing at the time that they had a full-on Brunch menu that included an English Breakfast! Being half British, I never pass on an opportunity for a traditional English Breakfast. 

HARRY'S AT THE HARBOR:
Last weekend I got a call from my Aunt Harriet asking us to join her, as well as my Memaw, and great Aunt Violet Crouch Beatty for lunch. Since my Aunt Harriet is not a McKinney native, she always asks that I recommend the location for McKinney gatherings.  A perfect opportunity to try this gem we had stumbled upon! Another McKinney adventure in the making. As the great decider of Sunday Lunch, I revisited the idea of Harry's at the Harbor and noticed they had a brunch menu, and some nice Opening Hours for an independently owned eatery for a Sunday.  The festivities of McKinney Oktoberfest were full swing into Day 3 in the Square, and I needed a quaint spot to spend time with my elders, and pass Little Fi around for cuddles.

Family time is always to be cherished, so where we get together as a family for a meal is also really important.  Harry's is advertised as a sports bar, but while I'm there, I don't feel like I'm at Buffalo Wild Wings during the World Cup.  I have yet to experience Harry's by night during a major sporting event, but by day, Harry's at the Harbor was spot on.

THE FOOD & FAMILY:
I wanted an Englishman's breakfast. I got one. I had been craving an English Fry-up for weeks, and have been too on-the-go to stop and have one.  I ordered the Banger Breakfast which consisted of 2 Banger Sausages, 3 strips of bacon, 2 pieces of toast, and 2 fried eggs.  It showed up to the table nice and hot, like a perfect plate of food.  Katie ordered the eggs Benedict, which she subsequently discovered was the best Eggs Benedict in town and that we must come back often.   Harry made a stop at our table, and had some very kind words to say to us about the many generations sitting at our table.  There were four generations sitting at the table for lunch, and shortly after, there was one giant piece of Strawberry Shortcake and 5 spoons sent to our table on the house.  Good service,  a kind gesture, and a wonderful treat.

UNWINDING:
So, we now have a new breakfast hangout to throw into our Sunday routine, not to mention, a new place to throw into the rotation for family birthday celebration dinners.  To top it off, I can come back later to unwind.  I'll sit on the porch overlooking Adriatica Harbor and have a Franconia to bring the weekend to a close. 

Photo Credit: getmckinney.com [Amy Rogers]

HARRY'S AT THE HARBOR HOMEPAGE

HARRY'S AT THE HARBOR ON FACEBOOK

McKinney Tops the Best Place to Live List: My Take

So I woke up this morning, and I found out that I live in the number one best place to live in the United States of America.  Money magazine probably pinpointed their reasons why McKinney achieved this incredible honor, but I have my own take on it.  All positive of course, but as a musician forgive my gravitational pull towards music and arts.  This is my Ode to the Town. 

THE LARGEST SMALL TOWN IN THE WORLD:

Photo Credit: Cheryl Simpson

When I moved to McKinney almost three years ago,  it was a refreshing change to immediately notice people actually still wave and talk to one another here.  It's amazing the difference in the way people interact between neighboring cities.  I see very few people glued to their smart phones, with the exception of an art shot for instagram or a few suburban hipsters taking selfies for their blogs, like me.  If there's anyone playing Words With Friends, I'm sorry.  I missed it while I was eating an Apple Pie from Emporium.  I also noticed somehow everyone knows what's going on around town.  Some folks may find this a little intrusive or nosey but, I don't.  I see it as people giving a hoot.  Speaking of hoot; Trip Advisor!

MORE TRIPADVISOR OWL STICKERS IN THE WINDOWS THAN I'VE EVER SEEN

I noticed this Sunday night while my wife, daughter, and I were eating dinner with my parents at Cadillac Pizza Pub.  Probably the 6th Trip Advisor sticker I've noticed in the window of a business in McKinney Square.  This just tells me one thing.  People around the country talk about this place.  It's quickly becoming a tourist hub! I mean, it's not there for kicks....while I am a huge proponent of the historic homes being residential as opposed to commercial business, someone needs to up the ante on the bed and breakfast train to accommodate all the Trip Advisor visitors.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM FROM FLEETWOOD MAC PLAYED IN McKINNEY PAC.
I didn't go.  I'm kicking myself now, but this is still not a common occurrence in your typical suburban city.  This is a remarkable musician in a legendary band playing an intimate set in the Historic Courthouse Building, now home to McKinney Performing Arts Center.  Judas Priest are about to shatter some suburban windows in Allen in November, which is also a pretty extraordinary suburban feat, but I think there's something a little more special about Lindsey Buckingham singing to 112 people.

 Speaking of:

LIVE MUSIC SOMEWHERE IN THE SQUARE AT LEAST 4-5 NIGHTS PER WEEK
Whether it be a local kid absolutely nailing Johnny Cash covers at Spoons, Bud Rager the Singin' Son of a Gun doing his Cash repertoire at the Farmer's Market, Buzz Andrews running a longstanding open mic night at Cadillac, Rhythm and Beards playing a tight set at Cafe Malaga, Crystal Yates giving us chills with her voice. (Someone sign this woman already and take her on tour with your CMT superstars) or people quasi-busking outside Churchill's, there's music.  I cannot complain about the music scene in McKinney.  It's not a big national touring acts hub, but it could be if someone opened a Granada or Trees-like venue and brought in Lance Yocum of Spune to grab the national acts, or Ken Welker of 13th Floor Music to pack the house with the lower Greenville staples.  It would become a 18-35 "north of 635 but east of Preston Road" music mecca overnight.  Denton birthed Midlake, and that's a tough one to top.

CENTRAL MCKINNEY IS HOME TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GUITAR SHOP IN THE COUNTRY : THE GUITAR SANCTUARY- Adriatica Village

Photo Credit: The Guitar Sanctuary

I have never been into a more amazing musician's paradise.  The Hollywood, CA Guitar Center is pretty sweet, but living 2 miles from a guitar shop that looks like a $3 million home lined in $1,000 to $50,000 guitars and floors lined in hand-wired boutique amps, I find myself getting the "I wants" real bad.  What I love about this place is that they don't treat me like a four year old about to spill Big Red on a white bed in Z-Gallerie.  If you ask for help like the little tags say, they'll pull a $8,000 guitar off the wall for you, and not bat an eyelash.  If I had a fat wad of cash in a shoebox, I would go buy a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24, and a Rickenbacker 4003 bass without question, and The Guitar Sanctuary would be the place I could count on to find it.

THE FOOD: IT'S ALL GOOD.  READ MY BLOG ON THE NEW HARVEST SEASONAL KITCHEN, then GO EAT THERE

Photo Credit: Paul Ernest Photography

DOG MOVIES & TV SHOWS:
Lassie and Old Yeller ain't got nothin' on McKinney.  We've got Benji in the 70's and Wishbone in the 90's.  If you were a 90's kid you must remember coming home from elementary school and watching Wishbone at 4:00 in the afternoon and the little Adventures at Storybook Ranch, and if you haven't heard of Benji, get it together! You will feel love, all around, and you will feel it, shining down.  Promise. Everywhere you go.  You'll feel love.

ERWIN PARK
I'm not an avid cyclist....yet...but I will say this....I think Go-Pro Helmet mount sales went up because of this park, and Cadence Cyclery were genius to open a bike shop in the Square.  It's a happenin' little bike shop and half of McKinney are cyclists.










 


 CHURCHILL'S
The bias continues, but rightfully so; I'm half British, and this place is heaven.  I can drink beer and eat Full-English breakfast, shoot darts, and listen to The Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur, The Smiths, The Jam, Pulp, The Beatles, The Verve....in McKinney, TX.

I could go on for hours.....but I don't want to get too Rolling Stone about it again.  Well done McKinney!

Weathering the Occasional Life Storm: Where's Your Happy Place?

Photo Credit SNUG ON THE SQUARE - Coffee House and Good Eats Cafe McKinney, TX

 I like to think of myself as a positive person, at least a realistic 85% of the time.  I can only count on one hand the people that see me when I'm not having the best of days, when I'm truly in a horrid mood, things are not working in my favor, and I'm not thinking rationally.  God Bless the people I work with who see my 15%, and in addition to being my business associates, end up being part psychologist, part some sort of counselor or life coach.  What can I say? That's how it goes in business sometimes, and I guess you could say I'm one of the "wound up like an 8 day clock" types who has that passion for my industry and success; and it probably translates to others as some really boisterous B+ off Broadway Musical or theatrical spectacle. The good days are excellent and bad days are just every kind of not awesome imaginable and I'd be lying if I said I was totally tolerable during those lulls. Sometimes I bring it home on my shoulders and my lovely wife takes the brunt of  this occasional storm cloud, and God Bless her the most.

I would also be lying if I told you that I'm capable of always having 100% positive subject matter.  But here is the good news, I'm going to find some way to turn it back around and make it that way.

For those of you who are fans of FRIENDS, prime time past or like myself, king of the re-runs, I can only think of Alec Baldwin's guest appearance as Phoebe's boyfriend, Parker, who is physically and mentally incapable of being negative or unhappy.  It's unnatural, comical, and towards the end of it, a little annoying.  After a while all I could think was 'Shut up dude! There is nothing interesting about tail lights or cab rides in traffic!'

If I've lost you, watch the clip.
FRIENDS "The One In Massapequa" S08E18 © Warner Bros. Television 1994-2004

If you couldn't tell by now, it's not my favorite week, but I'm writing this, and it's making me feel better.  That's got to count for something, right?  It's my happy place. Stack it with a late morning or an hour before closing, 'zone out on the couch time' at Snug on the Square. Quite frankly, I need to do this more often because it's therapeutic.  At work, I also walk a lap or two around the office complex pond.  That works exceptionally well when I face the temptation of regrettable actions or words. I get fresh air, inspiration, and clarity.  If your office complex has one of these, grab a bottled water from your office fridge and take a lap.  It may do you some good, as I've recently found that it's beneficial for me.

The office pond.  If your workplace has one, spend time there.

This brings me to my point and question.  You don't have to be a Parker.  Most people are not Parker.  We will all inevitably have many crappy days and we will experience negative. 

So I ask you this. Where is your happy place?  That one place where you can decompress, escape the negative, take your mind off a stressful, wretched day, and get clarity and perspective?

I want to hear from you!

-DAN+McKINNEYTX-

Yours Truly, Dan+McKinneyTX @ Elm Fork Shooting Sports

In Food as in Life, When One Door Closes, Another Opens. Harvest: The Dawning of a New Season of Food for McKinney

Photo Credit Paul Ernest Photography

ONE DOOR CLOSES ANOTHER ONE OPENS
Since I started this blog last month, one of the adventures I've been excited about is food.  While I can't claim the "foodie blogger" status in the slightest, I can, however, claim that I am more of an "appreciation blogger" when it comes to local, up and coming chefs on the rise with a passion for culinary excellence, and restauranteurs who do good for the community. 

The old saying that comes to mind as I write this blog is "when one door closes, another door opens." As McKinney restauranteur Rick Wells closes the doors to Sauce on the Square and neighboring Grotto, in a week, he will reopen those same doors with a brand new and exciting Farm-to-Table concept: Harvest Seasonal Kitchen. Sauce's Andrea Shackelford will take the helm as Executive Chef.

Photo Credit : Paul Ernest Photography

THE CHEF
I sat down with Chef Andrea recently to get in on the excitement of this highly anticipated new restaurant and learn about her journey. Originally from the Houston area, she relocated to Dallas where she graduated from Lake Highlands High School and got her start working in a local bakery.  After graduating from SMU in 2007, she worked under the guidance of her mentor, Tim Bevins, at Dallas' own Dragonfly and Craft restaurants for 5 years before emerging on the McKinney culinary scene.

Chef Andrea brings an incredibly refreshing energy to this highly anticipated restaurant, choosing to work with local farms from Texas and Oklahoma as providers of fresh local meats and vegetables, and wild caught seafood from the gulf.  This energy spills from her kitchen out into the field where she works with these farmers, building relationships, and getting to know their processes, as well as participate in their adventures.  She rolls up her sleeves and farms with them. With this in mind, we're far more likely to see a farm truck pull up at the back door of Harvest than one bearing the name of a larger food distribution company.  This deepens the sense of community that anyone with an appreciation for the Farm-to-Table movement can expect to feel.

THE RESTAURANT AND THE FOOD
In addition to the Farm-to-Table element patrons have to look forward to, Harvest will also have a resourceful and Green element to it.  The space will be constructed and fitted almost entirely from recycled and repurposed materials from Sauce, and will accommodate 90 guests in the main room, with a private dining area in the former Grotto space, set to accommodate up to 60 guests. 

When it comes to the food there is one thing I can really appreciate from Chef Andrea, and that's simplicity.  While precise preparation is a culinary standard, she takes the approach of focusing on not overcomplicating the menu, and just focus on making good food.  What we have to look forward to is an adaptable seasonal menu consisting of traditional American choices such as Collard Greens, Fried Chicken with corn meal derived from heirloom grains from Waco, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Cajun dishes such as Boudin fritters, as well as common fish selections from the Gulf, one of Chef Andrea's favorites.  To top it off we have a flat iron steak option to look forward to and finished off with old school desserts such as a spice cake with a tomato soup base! Before I get too Rolling Stone about it, I'm going to stop there.  As someone who likes surprises, I don't want to ruin the fun. I hope to see you next Friday night for the Harvest grand opening.

Harvest Facebook Page

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

Family: It's a Team

Before my next feature I just wanted to take a quick recess, and reflect on one of my themes.  Family.

Around town, I see all sorts of teamwork going on.  There are youth sports teams, high school drill teams, charity teams, street teams for bands, debate teams at school.  You see a lot of teambuilding exercises at work.  I even see some great teamwork going on between the vendors at the McKinney market.  But there is one team that sits at the top for me.  Family.  I don't often see family be compared as a team; a unit of people working together to function and accomplish all sorts of goals. 

I ponder a lot of ideas, and get a lot of my inspiration for blog topics from my own adventures and life events, usually while holding my baby daughter.  Yesterday I had to remind myself while she was in need of consolation, this is a team effort. As the man of my house, I have to be there through the best and worst of times and keep my head in the game.  I have to be there for my team. 

With teambuilding at work, where you're sorting out routine processes, people may be learning how to work together, putting a Band-Aid on some sort of procedural glitch, and create a professional harmony.

With a sports team, like baseball or basketball, it's a group of people working together, each bringing their strong point (position) and the end result is baskets and runs.

At the market, it's a "hey can you make me some change for this 20?" scenario....

But the family team is lifelong.  It's not a seasonal thing like a sport, and it's not a 9-5 thing like work. It's loved ones working together to function, or achieve many goals ranging from very simple to very complex and challenging.  Obviously this evolves over time as we all get older and our roles change in our loved ones' lives.  Children become adults, adults become parents, and parents become grandparents, etc.  But even as things evolve over time, family still requires teamwork.

I've found as a new dad, this is something I occasionally have to remind myself when I get off track.

I welcome your input.

-DAN+McKinneyTX-