Barbecue for a Cause

Top Texas BBQ joints team up for Cafe Momentum blowout benefit

For its next pop-up dinner on July 7, Cafe Momentum is embracing summertime with a full-on barbecue picnic. Executive director Chad Houser and the young men of Youth Village Resources of Dallas are teaming up with top barbecue joints Pecan Lodge, Lockhart Smokehouse, Stanley's, Slow Bone and Joseph's Riverport Barbecue in Jefferson, Texas, for a meaty end to Fourth of July weekend.

Slow Bone is hosting the “pitmasters dinner” in which five pitmasters — one other barbecue joint has tentatively signed on — will serve a main meat and side. Houser calls it “a celebration of gratitude.”

There will be tents set up in Slow Bone’s parking lot, and a band will provide live entertainment. It’s considerably different from usual Cafe Momentum dinners.

“We’re going to sell 200 tickets for $50 each, beginning on June 23,” Houser says. “The idea for us is twofold. The first is to increase the opportunity for those who can’t get in to the normal dinners. The second is to offer something at a lower price than the typical $100 or $200 per seat, but guests still get to interact with the guys from Cafe Momentum.”

The pitmasters dinner will also be a change of pace for the young men, who are used to a more dining formal atmosphere. Instead of helping to prep, cook, plate and serve four courses, they’ll be working with each pitmaster to clear tables and hand out food at the tents.

“Part of what we want to do is expose the young men to different facets of the industry,” Houser says. “This is a wonderful opportunity to do that.”

Slow Bone co-owner Jack Perkins says the barbecue lineup is stellar; all of the other participating restaurants made Texas Monthly’s best barbecue list. Slow Bone is the newcomer, having opened in April.

Houser credits Perkins for being the driving force behind the dinner. If it proves successful, Houser wants to make it an annual event.

“The response for this, at our last dinner at Five Sixty, was overwhelming,” he says. “There are seven $1,000 sponsorships between the five pitmasters, the band and Hypnotic Donuts doing dessert, and we sold five of them at that dinner.”

Cafe Momentum is also busy implementing a $175,000 grant from the United Way. Current plans including additional staff, an improved database to help the Youth Village boys get placement, a permanent office location and a catering venture. “Everyone at United Way has invested time and energy and given us an unbelievable amount of resources, from accounting to office space,” Houser says.

“It’s not just my dining room anymore. It’s been all the way from business advisors to networking to nonprofit help. I don’t think you could put a price tag on that.”

As for the upcoming dinner, there are few details about which pitmaster will cook which meat, but Perkins says to expect anything.

“We’re going to do the barbecue standards like brisket and sausage. But you never know. They might pull something out of their ass and do something crazy.”

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Tickets for the pitmasters dinner go on sale Sunday, June 23, at 8 pm.

Cafe Momentum recently got a $175,000 grant from the United Way.

Photo by Robert Bostick

Cafe Momentum recently got a $175,000 grant from the United Way.

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Chocolate News

Richardson dessert shop Chocolate Drip lays out eye-catching treats

Chocolate Drip

Chocolate bear with pistachio sauce at Chocolate Drip

A dessert shop in Richardson has become the toast of the sweets world: Called Chocolate Drip, it opened in August at 1057 S. Sherman St., in a center east of US-75 near Spring Valley Road, where it's rolling out some eye-catching chocolate treats.

Chocolate Drip is a passion project from Mohammad Quzmar, a Palestinian-born owner who moved to Dallas four years ago and taught himself to cook through tinkering. That experimentation has translated into a constantly evolving menu, with new creations appearing whenever inspiration strikes — earning him a growing reputation as something of a modern-day Willy Wonka.

"Chocolate is my passion. I just love being in the kitchen and creating,” he says.

The cafe's offerings are extensive, from sweet breakfast staples like pancakes and waffles to off-menu items teased on the café’s Instagram, such as the Dubai Drip platter — an interactive fondue plate with fruit, brownies, waffles, marshmallows, to be dipped into melted chocolate and pistachio cream.

Many of his items have the kind of eye-catching twists and table-side presentations that draw attention on Instagram, such as the cruffle (a waffle made from a croissant) topped with spaghetti-like strands of gelato, which a server extrudes through a potato ricer right before your eyes.

Other signatures include a teddy bear made of chocolate mousse and kanafa, finished with pistachio sauce for $13.30, and crepes filled with a brownie, with pistachio and chocolate sauce for $15.

Prices are not cheap but these are ultra-decadent items with generous portions, often meant for sharing.

The drink list is ambitious, spanning coffee, matcha, smoothies, milkshakes, and nonalcoholic mocktails. It's obvious Quzmar is having fun, rolling out his versions of viral items like the famous s'mores hot chocolate pioneered by New York dessert shop Glace, which features a cap made of marshmallow meringue that’s torched.

There are also a few savory offerings like egg-and-cheese crepes, a salmon croissant, and a turkey waffle. Those in the know also come to order Middle Eastern treats like salab, a creamy milk drink topped with cinnamon; and Om Ali, a sugary pudding with nuts, dried fruit, and coconut.

Named after the Gen Z slang for “cool” or “stylish,” Drip is meant to be a hangout spot more than a quick dessert stop, Quzmar says — a place to linger over brunch, then return late night to a place that feels buzzy and fun sans alcohol.

“Everyone who works here is either family or treated like family and everything is homemade with love," he says.

desserts openings