News You Can Eat

New restaurants and lunchtime options fill this plate of Dallas food news

CrushCraft Thai will have chef-driven daily specials.
Photo courtesy of CrushCraft
CrushCraft is located in the Quadrangle.
Photo courtesy of CrushCraft
Blind Butcher's menu includes the Canadian delicacy known as poutine.
Photo courtesy of Blind Butcher
Tanoshii's new lineup of lunchtime burgers includes a veggie burger with miso.
Photo courtesy of Tanoshii
Glazed Donut Works has added Thursday to its nighttime schedule.
Photo courtesy of Glazed Donut Works

As 2014 kicks in, we're seeing lots of restaurant action, with openings, Fort Worth rumblings, loads of lunches and a quiet closure at the Crescent.

Carnivorous Blind Butcher opens on Greenville Avenue on February 6. Matt Tobin and Josh Yingling of Goodfriend have partnered with Ryan Chaney, Tony Bricker and chef Oliver Sitrin in this bar-restaurant featuring sausage, charcuterie, bangers and mash, and bacon bratwurst with sauerkraut. There's a vegan item too: a tofu bacon hot dog with pickled mustard seeds. Also, three kinds of poutine, a Canadian snack with French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds: mushroom, pork belly and duck. Blind Butcher will be open for dinner every day from 4 pm to 2 am.

Cool though oddly named CrushCraft Thai will open in the Quadrangle in February. This fast-casual Thai concept from chef Paul Singhapong and Jack Nuchkasem will feature traditional Thai dishes made from scratch. Menu categories include Thai street food; Thai favorites; and chef-driven dishes that push the envelope, such as sweet pork belly curry and braised short ribs.

The Cane Rosso in Fort Worth is now open on hipster Magnolia Avenue in the old Ryan's Fine Grocer space. Pizzaiolo Shon Ben-Kely moved here from Las Vegas after having worked with pizza guru Carmine D’ Amato, Michele D'Amelio (pizzaiolo at Pizzeria Testa in Frisco) and Roberto Caporuscio. This is the third branch, following the original in Deep Ellum and the spin-off near White Rock Lake.

Tim Love-related restaurant Barter is now open for lunch, Monday-Saturday, from 11 am to 2 pm. There is red chili with cornbread and an intriguing salad with escarole, arugula, black kale, Parmesan, cornbread croutons, Gaunciale and avocado. Sandwiches include tenderloin with caramelized onions and horseradish, as well as a burger with Redneck cheddar and bacon served on an English muffin. Entrees include fish and chips and, just as at Love's Denton steakhouse Queenie's, steak sold by the ounce.

Deep Ellum ramen spot Tanoshii Ramen + Bar is now serving "Japanese burgers" at lunch. Is that really a thing? The "hambāgā" is topped with miso chili, lettuce, tomato and onion. Teriyaki chicken burger is a chicken thigh cutlet. A vegetarian korokke burger is a mixed vegetable croquette coated with panko, fried, and topped with slaw and tonkatsu sauce. All burgers, served on a brioche bun, are $8.50; sweet potato fries with wasabi cucumber ranch dip are $4.50 extra.

Trinity Groves restaurant Chino Chinatown will launch a dim sum Sunday brunch on February 9, with steamed buns, chorizo egg rolls and dumplings. The restaurant will also begin serving lunch Mondays through Saturday on February 3.

Deep Ellum doughnut shop Glazed Donut Works is expanding its weekend late-night hours to include Thursdays from 8 pm to midnight. The nighttime menu includes the signature doughnut grilled cheese and maple-bacon long johns. Thursday nights replace Tuesday morning hours, which Glazed has curtailed for now, until the road construction on Elm Street is finished.

The name is out on the Fort Worth restaurant from former Pakpao chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin: Bite. The menu will include lamb meatballs, duck breast, scallop and grits, short ribs, lobster ravioli, flatbreads, sandwiches, and salads. There'll be a daily seafood entrée and "cut of the day." Entrees range from $16-$30. The restaurant opens in Montgomery Plaza on West 7th Street in the spring.

Fort Worth will get a gourmet ice cream shop called Melt Ice Creams, opening this spring in the southside district at 954 W. Rosedale St. Owner Kari Crowe Seher will make the ice cream in flavors such as brown sugar coffee, lavender honey and lemon basil sorbet. She told Eater that she'll keep her menu small, maybe six flavors.

Oak Cliff has a new Cajun seafood restaurant called Pier 247, from the owners of nearby Bar 303. It takes up residence in an old gas station at 247 W. Davis St. The menu includes fried oyster and crawfish nachos, po'boys, catfish Sloppy Joes and fried seafood baskets.

Top Chef is casting for season 12. Producers will be in Dallas on February 18 from 10 am-1 pm at the Hotel Palomar. To download an application, visit TopChefCasting.com.

In closing, Arcodoro y Pomodoro at Crescent Court is no more.

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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