Bread News

One Dallas baker makes the list of Best Bread by Food & Wine magazine

Sourdough bread.

Photo courtesy of Kuluntu

One of the biggest pandemic foodie trends was a surge in popularity with bread, and here is national food magazine Food & Wine exploiting that trend with a new best-of list.

Called "The Best Bread in Every State," the article is a list of breadmakers in each of the 50 states, including Texas.

With Texas being so large, the blurb highlights bakeries in three cities:

Written by David Landsel, the magazine's editor, the article references the "quiet revolution taking place within American bread" spurred by the pandemic, with bakers cooped up at home that led to "an absolute explosion in the cottage baking industry."

The blurbs are written in a conversational style - heavy on chattiness, light on stats.

Here's the Texas summary:

Bread in the Lone Star State has come very far in not very much time at all, which is to say that 2018 already feels like ages ago. That's the year Ryan Goebel took the bold step of opening ThoroughBread in Austin. At his modest-seeming shop, tucked away from view in the Zilker neighborhood, Goebel was, from the very start, turning out some of the finest naturally-leavened loaves in the state, back when there weren't a ton to choose from. These days, that's still true, but there's no denying that the drought is officially over. From the sprawling North Texas suburbs on down, sourdough is kind of a big deal right now. There are two standouts: the beautiful, catch-them-if-you-can loaves at the online-only Kuluntu Bakery in Dallas, and Magnol French Baking in Houston, where chefs Otto Sanchez and Brittany native Matthieu Cabon have been shaking things up since 2019.

There's no question that all three of these breadmakers are doing great bread. But the "Best Bread in Texas" headline might be a little misleading, as the list bypasses some well established names, and instead skews towards new, hipster, and independently owned entities. Maybe "Best New Post-Pandemic Breads"?

It also seems to be focused on bakers who are doing sourdough breads. Maybe "Best New Post-Pandemic Sourdough Breads"?

ThoroughBread in Austin fits the filter: Founded in 2019, they're a small operation that does only five breads, dominated by sourdough: white sour, wheat sour, rye sour, white loaf, and wheat loaf. (Non-bread-wise, they also do cookies and their signature kolache-style "Burridoughs.")

Kuluntu in Dallas does incomparably amazing breads and baked goods, but it's not something you can just walk in off the street and buy. Founded in 2018, it's a cottage business, requiring that you order via email, then pick it up at a house in Oak Cliff a few days later. The selection is limited and changes every week, but follows the article's sourdough-centric theme, offering 2-3 sourdough options, plus seasonal items such as a fall croissant filled with Delicata squash, goat cheese, & sage.

Magnol in Houston was founded in 2019 by two veteran bakers, one a native of France, and has a big wholesale business supplying bread to restaurants such as Bludorn and Coltivare. They're bigger than the other two Texas bakeries that made this list, with a broader menu that focuses on French breads rather than sourdough. They definitely have hipster cred, with big lines on weekends.

Landsel, the author, very likely sought advice from local "experts" since he could hardly have, for example, ordered bread from Kuluntu. Or did he go by Instagram photos? (Neither he nor the magazine's PR team responded to a query regarding their methodology.)

"Two years later, where are we? This list aims to answer that question, and one thing is clear—we're left with far more good bread than we started with," he concludes.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun