Fall is here, and you can see it on the menus at restaurants around Dallas-Fort Worth. That's the biggest story in this round of dining news, but there are also announcements of new chefs, name changes, and as always, news of a brunch. There is always room for brunch.
Here's the news for you to eat up:
Allen gets two new restaurants, both familiar names: Sushi Axiom opens at 190 E. Stacy Rd. in the Village at Allen, in what was formerly Chaucer's. Sushi Axiom is a small chain with four branches, three in Tarrant County, including two in Fort Worth and one in Burleson. It has shown an impressive ability to survive in circumstances that have defied others, including its location on Henderson Avenue in Dallas.
La Madeline is opening a branch in Allen at 810 W. McDermott Dr., which is west of 75, in the space that used to be a Mimi's Cafe. That's sad; there are now only two local branches of Mimi's Cafe, in Arlington and Fort Worth. But La Madeleine is a pretty similar substitute, since they're both French-inspired and both sell croissants.
A Snap Kitchen is opening in Flower Mound at 3701 Justin Rd.; this is the eighth branch in DFW. The Austin-based chain features grab-and-go prepared meals available for in-store or curbside pickup.
Del Frisco's Grille has updated its lunch menu to make it faster and more practical for people eating lunch. There is a $12 "Grab a Pair" menu that gives you choice of half of a chicken avocado wrap, two fish tacos, a personal-sized flatbread, or half of a banh mi sandwich, with choice of mixed green salad, Caesar salad, or a cup of soup.
Bread Winners is extending the weekend to Mondays with $5 mimosas every Monday from 7 am to 4 pm.
Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse has new salads and cocktails for fall. There's a salad with shaved Brussels sprouts and bacon, and a winter citrus salad with white, pink, and ruby red grapefruits, oranges, tangerines, and blood oranges. That is almost every citrus known to mankind. The cocktails include a caramelized pineapple Old Fashioned and a ruby red martini with vodka and ruby red grapefruit juice.
Fireside Pies executive chef Joe Bozarth has some new cheese dishes: Goat cheese-stuffed peppadew peppers with cilantro pesto and spiced candied pecans; burrata mozzarella crostini with roasted tomatoes, balsamic and sea salt; and Fireside fondue with four cheeses, fire-roasted pie sauce, and flat bread.
Starbucks' fall menu is out and whoo-hoo pumpkin. There are pumpkin scones, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, pound cake with roasted apples, and decorated pumpkin sugar cookies. There's also a peanut-butter-and-jelly bistro box, with a PB&J on wheat bread with peanut butter and strawberry jam, which comes with mozzarella string cheese, vegetables, Greek yogurt ranch dip, apples, and milk chocolate-covered raisins. Of course, there is also the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte, this year fortified with actual pumpkin puree.
Del Taco has new "handcrafted ensaladas," prepared to order, one presumes with hands. There are three: chicken bacon avocado salad, Mexican chopped chicken salad, and taco salad. They're all under 600 calories with dressing included.
Sera Dining & Wine is serving a 12-3 pm "game day lunch" every Saturday through November 28. The menu includes burger & fries, chicken sandwich, beer-cheese dip, $5 Bloody Marys, and $5 draft beers.
Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse in the West End has new items on the dinner menu, including "catty cakes" with smoked catfish instead of crab, Hill Country Scotch eggs made with quail eggs, chicken "lollipops," pimiento cheese fritters, steak frites, New York strip, lamb chops with sweet potato puree, and pecan-crusted trout topped with molasses butter and served with wild rice.
Barley & Board in Denton now serves brunch. Dishes include blueberry pancakes, "pantler porridge," frittata, hanger steak with eggs, smoked salmon and egg scramble, eggs with mushrooms, and a masa corncake with chorizo and egg.
Dunkin' Donuts has two rich-sounding new doughnuts. The first is a Reese's peanut butter square that combines peanut butter with chocolate. The second spotlights the most popular flavor in the world: a pumpkin cheesecake square with pumpkin cheesecake filling, topped with orange icing and crumbled graham crackers.
McDonald's announced that it will eliminate the cage confinement of hens from its egg supply chain in the U.S. and Canada within the next 10 years. The company has already shunned hens raised in cages in other parts of the world, including Europe.
Taco chain Rusty Taco has a new name: R Taco. Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings bought out the company last year which was named for founder Rusty Fenton, who died in 2013. The change will take place at the nine branches over the next three months.
Filament, the Matt McCallister restaurant in Deep Ellum, welcomes another chef in the kitchen: Cody Sharp, formerly of The Standard Pour, Stephen Pyles, and Casa Rubia. In a release, McCallister says they share the same philosophy, and have been bouncing ideas off each other. When Filament opens, which is now predicted to be late October, guests will find dishes such as beef cheek tamales with pinto beans, fried sepia taco with green papaya slaw, and flat iron steak with fried potatoes and roasted marrow pistou.
Lark on the Park welcomes back Laurel Wimberg as executive pastry chef; she was part of the opening team in 2013. Her new fall menu includes saffron tart with almond crust, whipped cream, honey, grape, and figs; butterscotch panna cotta with chocolate mousse, kettle corn, and cocoa cashew; semolina cake with mascarpone creme and spiced pear sorbet. Wimberg will also contribute to dessert menus at the Meddlesome Moth and Bird Café on Sundance Square Plaza.
Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck has appointed Jacob Williamson as executive chef. He's worked for Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining for 10 years, and was part of the opening team in 2008.
Cody Lynch is the new executive chef at Del Frisco's Grille Fort Worth, located in Sundance Square Plaza. Lynch moved here from Maryland and takes over in time for the September launch of the new lunch menu.
Fireside Pies is thinking "cheese."
Shrimp diablo served over pasta with toasted slices of bread at Red: Italian.Photo courtesy of Red: Italian