My restaurant bucket list is growing and growing. Not a bad problem to have mind you. Next up on my list was The Theodore at NorthPark Mall. The mission on the website states The Theodore is “reinventing mall dining”. Mission accomplished! Chef/owner, Tim Byres, holds Teddy Roosevelt in high regard. He has taken the former President’s principles and philosophies and woven them into every fiber of the restaurant. The colors are warm and comforting. The namesake-tiled floor welcomes you when you arrive. A smiling host mans the reception desk while tasseled keys wink at you from their little cubbie-like homes behind the desk. 

The color palette here is wonderful. There are deep blues and grays with pops of green and yellow. Just wonderful. From the tile floor to the salt shaker and pepper grinder, the gray stripe on the napkins to the red backing on the menu…it is sublime.

I really had to fight the urge to steal the salt shaker and pepper grinder.

There is also a private dining room hidden behind the bookcases. How cool is that?! The bookcases just glide open wide revealing a dark emerald green room with a molded ceiling. The walls are covered with paintings of past Presidents. This would be a great place to hold a small dinner party. The decor really transcends time. 

Now onto the food. Since leaving Smoke, Mr. Byres has redirected his focus to classic American food. We started with the Brunch Bread Basket. This really could have been a meal all on its own. The basket arrived bearing a chocolate croissant, plain croissant, blueberry muffin, scone and banana muffin. All that yummy goodness was served with butter and fresh preserves. I chose the scone. It was moist and sweet. Smeared with the butter, it was spot on. My daughter went for the chocolate croissant and loved every bite. The banana was the real deal; loaded with banana and yummy spices. We saved the plain croissant and blueberry muffin for later to leave room for more yummy goodness.-

Keeping with the bread theme, I ordered the Breakfast Calzone. Oh. My. Goodness. The gigantic calzone arrived piping hot and wrapped around a warm crock of perfectly seasoned tomato sauce. It was filled with scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, fresh herbs, and mozzarella and ricotta cheeses. The eggs were fluffy but not hard. The pork sausage was not that store-bought tube stuff. No sir, this sausage was ground fine and the seasoning was savory. It was a great pair with the two cheeses and herbs. There were a lot of individual tastes going on but they made fast friends. 

My daughter ordered the buffalo-style fried chicken breast sandwich. The sandwich comes dressed with the blue cheese, red onion and romaine lettuce. The Theodore adds roasted pear to the sandwich. Let me confess that my daughter switched out the blue cheese for brie. Decisions like this make me question whether she was switched at birth. Anyway, I tried the sandwich and it was really good…even with the switch. The Theodore adds roasted pear which is a really nice addition. The pear tones down the spiciness of the buffalo sauce. 

To quote Teddy Roosevelt, “When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.” Tim Byres isn’t playing around and it shows. This is serious good food.

Until next time, have fun and eat it up!