News You Can Eat

Toast this chapter of Dallas restaurant news with craft beer and cake

Dallas gets another craft brewer, plus some new restaurants in the 'burbs. Look for more doughnuts on the docket, and who doesn't love cake?

Those are some of the highlights of this tasty collection of restaurant news. Keep reading.

Keller finally gets its own brewery. Shannon Brewing Company, which celebrates its arrival with a grand opening on September 20. The brewery will open with five beers: pale ale, Irish red, All American Blonde, chocolate stout and IPA. All will be poured at the event, which runs from noon-4 pm. For $10, you get three pints and a souvenir glass.

A second branch of Black Walnut Cafe has opened, this one on North Denton Tap Road in Coppell. The Houston-based chain prefers the suburbs; it opened its first Dallas-area branch in Allen in July.

Lewisville gets a Rockfish Seafood & Grill, at 4740 State Hwy. 121, where it will debut a menu with not only seafood, but also rib-eye steak and baby-back ribs. Rockfish has been under new leadership since 2010; according to president and CEO Tommy Lee, this is the first new location since 2009. The concept, which started in 1998, will undergo a transformation in the next few years. The Lewisville store represents the new direction.

In One Arts Plaza, Proof + Pantry is open, but Fedora has closed.

After five years, Afghan Grill in North Dallas has closed, allowing chef-owner Matt Pikar to focus his time and energy on Nora Restaurant & Bar. According to a spokeswoman, the lease was going to be up anyway, and there's greater opportunity on Greenville Avenue. Nora is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday.

Pizza chain Fireside Pies has a new owner: the Chalak Metra Group, owner of Genghis Grill, which took over four branches — Henderson Avenue, Inwood Road, Grapevine and Plano — from Consilient in July. The Fort Worth location, now called Thirteen Pies, was not part of the deal.

In Trinity Groves, Cake Bar will open on September 18. The menu boasts a variety of cakes, available by the slice, such as Key lime, Neapolitan and coconut. Owner Tracy German, who grew up in Georgia and attended culinary school in Seattle, has been selling cakes out of her house for nearly 14 years.

A new Dunkin' Donuts is open in Rockwall, at 3035 Ridge Rd; another branch will open in Lewisville in late September. Both will serve the chain's seasonal pumpkin goods, including pumpkin doughnuts and pumpkin latte drinks.

At Grain, the restaurant inside the Hilton Dallas Park Cities Hotel, chef James Music and his team have developed a farm-to-table menu, with items sourced from the Dallas Farmers Market. Options include heirloom tomato salad; crab, avocado and mango tower; tenderloin tips with tobacco fried 1015 onions; and Windy Farm rib-eye.

Big chain Del Taco has a line of "fresca bowls" in three varieties: Southwest chicken and veggie, pollo asado chicken, and roasted veggie with green chile sauce. They're served on a bed of fresca lime rice and seasoned black beans.

Design District restaurant Oak has a new weekday lunch menu. Dishes include chilled almond soup; Canary melon salad; eggplant trio with masala, peanut, okra and yogurt; and a $15 Wagyu beef burger with bacon and Manchego cheese.

At Urban Rio in Plano, this month's featured tamale is called the Hatchmale. Isn't that adorable? Hatch chile + tamale, see? It has Hatch chile in the masa dough, and it's filled with Hatch chiles and Chihuahua cheese, topped with Hatch chile verde sauce, and served with rice and beans. There's also a Hatch cocktail made with Jose Cuervo silver tequila, Cointreau, Hatch chile peppers and fresh lime juice.

Noted for its grilled cheese sandwiches, Ruthie's Rolling Cafe has added mac and cheese to its menu. It can be customized with toppings such as brisket, grilled chicken, bacon, tomatoes, caramelized onions, jalapeños and blue cheese.

Deep Ellum's Monkey King Noodle Co. is extending its dinner hours to Thursdays from 6-10 pm; it is currently open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.

Rabbit Hole Brewing has a new beer: Off With Your Red, a red IPA that the brewery describes as having a substantial malt backbone and dark ruby/garnet color, with a 7.9 percent ABV. It launches September 23 at Jack Mac's Swill & Grill in Plano and at Oak Street Drafthouse in Denton.

The Hilton Anatole has appointed Matthew Leonard as executive sous chef, reporting to executive chef David Scalise. Leonard has worked in hotels and resorts across the nation, including time as the executive chef of the Montage Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. The Anatole is home to five restaurants and bars, including SĒR Steak + Spirits, Media Grill + Bar and Gossip Bar.

Design District restaurant FT33 has a new chef de cuisine in Jason Ferraro, formerly of Hibiscus and The Porch. New faces behind the bar include Tristan Price and Robert McLemore.

Black Walnut Cafe loves the suburbs.

Pork It Over sandwich at Black Walnut Cafe

Black Walnut Cafe Facebook

Black Walnut Cafe loves the suburbs.

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Sushi News

Frisco sushi restaurant Hinoki does a slimmed-down twist on omakase

Thanin Viriyaki

Hinoki

A new sushi restaurant has debuted in Frisco with a mini version of omakase: Called Hinoki, it's open for lunch and dinner at 8050 Preston Rd. #106, in a space previously occupied by another short-lived Asian restaurant called Imura, and is serving seafood both raw and cooked.

Hinoki is from chef Leo Kekoa, who previously worked for the acclaimed Nobu chain and who also owns the well-regarded Kinzo Sushi in north Frisco, which he opened in 2022 to bring the omakase experience to Frisco and save them a drive to Dallas.

Omakase is the dining experience in which the chef prepares a multi-course tasting menu of small bites made to order, often at a premium price. While omakase has no set number of dishes, it usually ranges from 10 to 20 courses depending on how excessive the chef/restaurant is.

Hinoki offers a concise version on the omakase experience with a more manageable six courses for $75, as well as an a la carte menu featuring sushi, hot items, and composed bentos boxes for lunch.

Hinoki sushi HinokiThanin Viriyaki

"Kinzo is my fine-dining omakase restaurant," Kekoa says. "Hinoki is designed as its more casual counterpart — still rooted in discipline and detail, but more accessible."

Kekoa created the menu but he says it’s a team effort, with two veteran chefs: Chikau "Harry" Kikuchi, who brings 25-plus years of experience to the sushi counter (he and Kekoa worked together at Nobu); and chef Sachiko Hashimoto presiding over the hot line and overseeing the preparation of Hinoki's home-style and regional Japanese dishes.

No sushi restaurant can ignore basics like the spicy tuna roll, California roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura roll, but Hinoki also has a few of distinctive rolls such as the Kumo roll with crab, avocado, and chipotle aioli, wrapped in soy paper, which has a pleasing texture that's a little more toothsome than the standard crisp seaweed wrapper.

There are creative bowls as the Sake Dashi, featuring sushi-grade raw salmon, Asian pear, crushed marcona almonds, yuzu shirodashi, and truffle oil; and hot dishes such as miso black cod, teriyaki salmon, and Kushiyaki: grilled chicken thigh, kurobuta sausage, and shishito pepper on skewers. Most items average about $20.

Kekoa calls his lunch offering "honest and efficient."

"We’re bringing back the Japanese bento [referring to the cute boxed lunch with compartments for courses], such as our chirashi bento with fish, sushi rolls, and seaweed salad," he says.

Hinoki also has a full bar with sake, wine, beer, and cocktails.

Kekoa lives in Frisco and is bullish on his hometown.

"With Universal Studios on the way and PGA nearby, I believe this city deserves a neighborhood sushi spot done right," he says. "I want Hinoki to bring fine-dining service at a price more people can enjoy."

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