French Word News

Suave restaurant from high-flying team jet-sets into Dallas' Preston Center

The cuisine will be global but with French techniques.

Au Troisieme

UPDATE 6-16-2022: Au Troisieme is now open for lunch.

------------------------------

There's a promising new restaurant coming to Preston Center from a trio whose turf extends from Hawaii to France: Called Au Troisieme, it'll open in the former Pei Wei space at 8305 Westchester Dr., with an emphasis on world cuisine and shared plates.

The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, and is slated to premiere in mid-April.

Au Troisieme is from Bobby Pollette, the 32-year-old founder of Hapa Catering and a private chef who has cooked everywhere from Hawaii to Aspen to Palm Beach. Pollette consulted on the menu with chef Jeff Acol and Jess Acol, who previously owned a restaurant in Florida, with a goal to bring something new to Dallas; the Acols are not involved with the restaurant.

"Most of our food will use classical French techniques, but with influences from all over, with a worldly sense of style," Pollette says. "Growing up in Hawaii, you're exposed to a divergent group of people, with a mixture of cultures and ethnicities, and that's how our food is. I hope our flavors are different from what Dallas has seen."

The menu will evolve, but if there's a dish that personifies their style, it's the escargot done with Filipino flavors, served with a smoked eggplant and tomato salad.

"It's onions and garlic but instead of cooking them down in white wine, we use coconut milk, finished with an aromatic adobo broth made from vinegar and soy sauce," he says.

Other dishes include halibut wrapped in mustard greens, then grilled so that the greens acquire a smoky char as the fish is steamed. It's served on a corn sauce with baby turnips. There's also an innovative risotto starring cauliflower and smoked tomato.

"We'll have your basics, but we also want to do some adventurous food that will blow your mind," he says.

Sandwiches include a clever spin on a Reuben that features kim chi, and a "Hawaiian Cuban" — "it's pork as you would do it in Hawaii, wrapped in banana leaf and smoked, and we're making our own cured ham with house pickles," he says.

Cocktails will be unique, fun, and probably with flowers and herbal infusions.

They'll offer distinct experiences for lunch and dinner, to accommodate what is two very different audiences.

"Lunch is so important in that neighborhood, and we'll meet the needs of the business lunch crowd with a power lunch, with salads and sandwiches," he says.

"At night, the orientation will be based on the idea of sharable plates," he says. "The way we eat these days is to order three or four appetizers and everybody shares. I don't enjoy getting a first course, then a second course. I get bored by that. I want to try different things on the menu. That's also the way I run my catering company, and I like that feeling in a restaurant as well."

One positive change they're making to the space is the current essential: a patio, where he sees many great happy hours going down.

"We'll have a full liquor license with beer and wine, including a strong burgundy program, aggressively priced," he says. "I'd rather offer customers the opportunity to get that second bottle, rather than marking our prices up three to four times."

The restaurant will also have a cool private dining room speakeasy seating 14-16 people, which can be used for chef's tastings and other private events.

"Au Triosieme" is prounced "oh tur-was-zee-emm." Sorry, it had to be said.

"It means 'the third place'," he says. "There's your home, your office, and we want this be your third place. I did wrestle with whether to come up with an easier name, but in the end, we decided to embrace it. This is who we are."

openings uptown

A Roundup of Restaurant News

Fill up on the festive fare in this roundup of Dallas restaurant news

Maison Chinoise

Spread at Maison Chinoise

This roundup of restaurant news around Dallas is all about new menus, with lots of festive-themed dishes and menu additions. There's a new brunch at a surprising destination, new cocktails, and lots of hot chocolate, fitting for the season.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Taziki’s Mediterranean Café is opening a location in Las Colinas, at 5910 N. MacArthur Blvd. Taziki's is known for its hummus, whipped feta, kebabs, Greek salad, and Mediterranean lamb burger. This is the chain's fourth Dallas location and 100th location nationwide.

Catch Dallas, the seafood restaurant at Maple Terrace, ha some splashy new items including truffle sashimi, rainbow sashimi pizza, and a Wagyu hot rock dish with options of A5 Kobe beef, olive beef, and snow beef cooked tableside.

Dive Coastal Cuisine in Snider Plaza has new seasonal specials, including beet & blood orange salad, butternut squash soup, fingerling potatoes, coconut rice, and portobello mushrooms, available through the end of November.

TK's Addison, the comedy club, has a new brunch every Sunday from 10 am-3 pm. Shareable options include cast-iron cinnamon rolls with Grand Marnier cream cheese icing, deviled eggs, and Belgian waffle bites. Meals include filet mignon Benedict, crab cakes Benedict, Nashville chicken biscuit, and the hangover burger, with a short rib/chuck/brisket blend patty with bourbon bacon, four-cheese bechamel, a fried egg and crispy onions.

Fish City Grill, Half Shells restaurants are launching a name brand oyster on November 19 called the Mystic Mermaid, which have a heavy brine and shell ranging from 3-3 1/2 inches, served with cucumber-citrus mignonette. Available for for $21 per half-dozen and $42 per dozen at all Dallas, Flower Mound, Richardson, and Plano locations.

Dog Haus is celebrating Thanksgiving all month with a twist on the Turducken: a turkey, duck, and chicken sausage topped with garlic aioli, turkey gravy, onions, and scallions, served on King’s Hawaiian rolls; and the Turducken burrito, a turkey, duck, and chicken sausage, three sunny side up eggs, white American cheese, sweet potato fries, caramelized onions, and spicy mayo in a toasted flour tortilla.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar has a new lunch menu with a two-course prix fixe starting at $28. New options include steakhouse filet chopped salad, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse burger, steak frites, and a barbecue salmon fillet. All lunch dishes are $30 or less. There are new cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages, like Tropical Tee and Blackberry Lavenderade.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill has new menu items including Arancini, a risotto bite with fennel sausage, mozzarella, parmesan, & Romano cheese; rigatoni al forno, with tomato cream sauce, Italian sausage, Romano, parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheese; and short rib marsala, bone-in short rib over garlic mashed potatoes with Lombardo Marsala wine sauce. Dessert includes a triple chocolate bread pudding. New festive cocktails feature the merry berry martini and wood-fired old fashioned. Available through January 13.

Taziki’s has brought back its tomato basil soup. Prices start at $5.49, and the soup is also available as part of a soup-and-salad combo with pricing varying by market. This soup is available through January 26.

Beyond Sun Sausage is now available at Whole Foods Markets across Dallas. It’s made from plant-based ingredients, including yellow pea, brown rice, and red lentil proteins. There are 12 grams of plant-based protein per link with no cholesterol, soy, gluten, added antibiotics, or hormones. Flavors include Cajun and pesto, and a four-count package is $11.

Al Biernat’s has new cocktails with a festive twist. At the Oak Lawn location, find Golden Hour with Basil Hayden, Dolin Blanc, Campari, Giffard Piment d’espelette, and grapefruit bitters; Frosted Poinsettia with Titos, spiced cranberry syrup, lemon juice, and Zerbina with red glitter sugar; and Bloody Sidecar, with The Macallan 12, Fruitful Blood Orange, Cointreau, and lemon juice. The Al Biernat’s North menu has Spicy Pineapple Margarita with Flecha infused tequila, Grand Marnier, pineapple juice, and lime juice; Camp Fire Mule with whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup, and Ladybird ginger beer; and Gin Apple Pie with Roku Gin, cinnamon syrup, and apple cider.

Maison Chinoise in Uptown has launched a new Dim Sum Happy Hour, available Monday-Thursday, with a selection of dim sum for $10. A new Sunday offering features all bottles of wine under $100 available at half-price all day for dine-in.

P.F. Chang’s has added Asian fried chicken to the menu for the first time. It comes in two options, Korean fried chicken and Taiwanese popcorn chicken, with a choice of sauces, including sweet soy glaze, dynamite, hot honey, and chili crisp. Available as bone-in three-piece or six-piece and boneless four-piece or five-piece, eight-piece or 10-piece for shareables.

Laredo Taco Company, 7-Eleven's in-house restaurant, has two holiday specials: Quesabirria, featuring shredded beef and melted cheese, available as a taco or bowl, paired with consommé dipping sauce; and tamales in choice of pork or chicken, in packs of three, six, or 12 or a family size with two dozen tamales and two sides.

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt is collaborating with candy brand Hi-Chew for a limited-edition Key lime pie flavor, inspired by Hi-Chew Dessert Mix’s Key Lime Pie. The flavor is available through November 30.

Main Event has new frozen hot chocolate shakes in three flavors: Classic, a frozen hot chocolate with chocolate candy frosted rim, and a Little Debby Christmas tree cake; s’mores with marshmallow rim and graham crackers; and peppermint with peppermint frosted rim and a candy cane. Bailey’s Irish Cream or Caffè Borghetti can be added to any flavor for $3. Prices start at $11. Available through January 7.

Rita’s Frozen Custard has two limited-time frozen treats: Frozen Hot Cocoa Gelati, which layers Rita’s Frozen Hot Cocoa Cream Ice with Vanilla Custard, blending the taste of hot cocoa with cool Italian Ice; and Frozen Hot Cocoa Gelati Blender with a crushed peppermint topping.

Dunkin' is bringing back holiday favorites and new menu items. Drinks include the cookie butter cold brew, peppermint mocha latte, toasted white chocolate latte, and white hazelnut bark coffee. New items include the cookie butter donut, holiday cookie latte, almond croissant, and hash brown brisket scramble bowl.

Barrilitos, the Mexican soda, has returned to Texas shelves. Originally produced nearly 100 years ago, the drink is available in four flavors: Mandarina, Manzana, Piña, and Ponche de Frutas in both 12-ounce and 1.5-liter bottles. The aguas frescas were sold until 2020-2021, and the sodas were sold until 2017. Now they're available at El Rancho, La Michoacana, and Fiesta stores across Dallas.

Wendy's has a new salted caramel Frosty. It can also be paired with the limited-time mushroom bacon cheeseburger, which features roasted mushrooms, bacon, Muenster cheese, and garlic spread. The Frosty is $3 and the burger is $6.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has shut down two oyster harvest areas in the Gulf: the 14-acre Desperation Reef and the 529-acre Dollar Reef, both in Galveston Bay, to allow the oyster population to recover the reef is healthy enough that they can start harvesting oysters again. They'll reopen in November 2026.

Chipotle has launched a wacky new merchandise collection that includes a $10 cilantro soap, a nod to the small percentage of the population who are genetically wired to experience a soapy flavor when eating cilantro; the $28 “Water” Cup candle, a lemonade-scented candle; and $20 car napkin holder. The collection will be available for individual purchase, or as a bundle for $50.

holidays news-you-can-eat lists