Oak Cliff Nosh

Dallas chef roots for Oak Cliff with cordial neighborhood restaurant

Grassroots Kitchen is a new neighborhood restaurant.

Photo courtesy of Grassroots Kitchen

A small mom-and-pop restaurant has opened in an Oak Cliff neighborhood that dearly needs it. Grassroots Kitchen is in the Elmwood neighborhood at 2109 S. Edgefield Ave., where it's serving sandwiches, salads, and appetizers from scratch at a laudably affordable price.

Adam Loew, who co-owns Grassroots with his wife Thania, took a true grass-roots approach to his startup by first introducing his food via a neighborhood street-corner pop-up.

"It took three years to get this place open," Loew says. "In the meantime, I sold food on the street corner across from the Kessler Theater. Every Friday and Saturday night, I'd set up a smoker and table and sell food all weekend. I got to meet the whole neighborhood, and got to know what people liked."

Loew, who previously worked at the Lakewood Country Club, attended Johnson & Wales culinary school and has been cooking for 20 years across the country, from the Boca Raton Resort in Florida to cooking for musicians in Nashville to a restaurant in Kennebunkport, Maine where he did a couple dinners for the Bush family. Grassroots fulfills his dream of having his own place.

"We have banh mis, gyros, meatloaf, a jerk chicken plate, and we're doing wings which are the jumbo size, and can be grilled or fried," he says. "We're doing all our own sauces, and even making our own pickles." He calls it "chef-inspired scratch-made with love."

He's opening with a menu so tentative that it's written on paper sheets on the wall; he anticipates that it will evolve, and does specials such as a shrimp basket and fish & chips every day. There's hummus; spinach-artichoke dip; salads including Caesar, spinach, and Greek; a banh mi with choice of sesame chicken or pork loin; a gyro platter with choice of shredded lamb or grilled chicken; a cheeseburger; and a brisket sandwich.

The space they're in has some notoriety: It was the ice cream shop in the movie Born on the Fourth of July.

"It was an old rundown building, but we built it from ground up," he says. "I wanted to set up in a place where I could feel good, with employees who want to be there and come in every day and make this happen. It's been my lifelong goal and I have a staff that busts their butts."

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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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