Pizza News

Here's the skinny on a New York pizza concept opening in Addison

Skinny Pizza gets its skinny from its extra-thin crust.

Photo courtesy of Skinny Pizza

A pizza chain that claims to have a healthier spin is headed for Dallas-Fort Worth. Skinny Pizza promises to bring a gourmet, healthy, authentic New York pizza experience in a fast-casual format. It'll open its first Dallas-area branch in Addison Circle, in a spot with pizza DNA: the former location of Pastazio, which closed in early 2016.

Founder Joseph Vetrano, who has lifelong experience with Napoli- and New York-style pizza, created a menu with a no-additive crust, organic tomatoes, and hormone-free, nitrate-free toppings. Pastas are GMO-free, salads and greens are organic, and the sodas have no high-fructose corn syrup.

The "skinny" part of the name refers to the crust: It's very thin and crisp. They also offer whole wheat and gluten-free crusts.

Topping combos sound like an international food festival. The Italian has sausage, ground beef, pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, and olives. There's a Mexican with ground beef, jalapeño peppers, cheddar, tomato, onion, and cilantro; a Greek with tomato, onion, olives, spinach, and feta cheese; and a Hawaiian with turkey bacon, pineapple slices, and cheddar cheese. A hickory has chicken with barbecue sauce, and a buffalo has chicken with hot sauce and blue cheese.

Pasta is prepared to order, and is not only GMO-free, it's also egg- and cholesterol-free, low in sodium, and high in fiber. Sauces include pomodoro, vodka, and pesto.

To their credit, the selection of vegetables surpasses the usual green bell pepper and button mushroom. There's grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and three kinds of mushrooms: shiitake, porcini, or cremini. There are also capers, although calling capers vegetables, a bit of a stretch, no?

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open at Post Addison Circle, with a targeted opening "in the next month or two."

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Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

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Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

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