Coronavirus News

Dallas bakers are whipping up creative coronavirus-inspired treats

The good thing about these is there is no limit, buy as many as you want.

Photo courtesy of London Baker

Taking a page out of Marie Antoinette's book, Dallas-area bakers are helping residents deal with the toilet paper pandemic by turning it into cake.

The London Baker, a bakery in Lewisville's Castle Hills Village Shops known for its elaborate cake sculptures, has introduced two new Quarantine Cakes shaped like toilet paper rolls with nicknames like "#Surviving2020" and "Survival Kit."

A six-inch cake costs $45 for popular non-premium flavors including Wedding Cake, Strawberry Bliss, and Double Dutch Chocolate. Premium and boozy flavors cost a little extra.

Located at the Castle Hills Village Shops, at 2540 King Arthur Blvd., London Baker is from cake artist Elizabeth Rowe, originally of Essex, England, who opened her bakery in Fort Worth in 2016 before relocating to the Castle Hills Village Shops in 2018. She has appeared on national cooking shows like Food Network's Cake Wars.

"I think it's so important to find or create joy in a dark situation, that’s why I do what I do," Rowe says in a statement. "We always try to enhance happiness and make people's celebrations better through laughter – quarantine is no exception. All of us here at The Village Shops are doing what we can to continue serving the community we’re part of. Cakes and cookies make people happy, so like Marie Antoinette once said, Let them eat cake!"

Rowe is not alone: During these coronavirus times, toilet paper cakes have become a national phenomenon, saysFood & Wine magazine. The cylindrical shape of a cake is a ringer for a roll of toilet paper.

Other area bakers who've crafted cakes with a toilet paper theme include Loft22 Cakes in Fort Worth, who are doing a series of cakes including one with a convincing circular swirl on top that sure looks like the real thing. Their other cakes boast COVID-19 messages on top like "Don't Touch Your Face" and "Wash Your Hands."

They come in three flavors, white/funfetti, chocolate, and red velvet and are $50.

"The quarantine cakes have been a huge hit, and honestly have been our saving grace this past week," Loft22 owner Tareka Lofton says.

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Soul Food News

Dallas celebs are flocking to Soul Shack, new restaurant in Cedar Hill

Soul Shack

Fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards at Soul Shack.

Dallas has a new upscale soul food restaurant that originally hails from Chicago: Called Soul Shack, it’s in the former Turkey Leg King space at 305 W. FM 1382 #502, in the Hillside Village shopping center in Cedar Hill where it opened in late January.

Soul Shack was founded by owner Erik “Rico” Nance, an entrepreneur and veteran restaurateur, and is led by his business partners Theous Griffin and Ronald Edwards III, who serves as general manager. The original was a fast-casual concept in Chicago called Soul Shack Express, which is still open.

The Dallas location is a more ambitious effort, with a full-service restaurant, full bar, and swanky nightlife atmosphere. Nance had previously opened Mikkey's Retro Grill, a hip-hop themed burger restaurant, in Cedar Hill, which closed in late 2024.

"I felt like the city needed a cocktail lounge," he says.

The space boasts a 1920's jazz club atmosphere, with marble floors, circular black booths, chandeliers, crystal bead curtains, and tables topped with a newsprint design. There's a "Soul Shack" sign in white neon, and a photo wall with flowers and a photo collage of iconic Black artists and performers like Eddie Murphy and Diahann Carroll. They also host live music and DJs at night.

The menu is mostly Southern but with fusion twists: soul rolls (fried egg rolls) filled with jerk chicken, which is their signature dish; plus gumbo, collard greens, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, lamb chops with a parmesan crust, oxtails, and beef short ribs in gravy.

Tranelle and Ron Edwards with Shaq O'Neal Shaq O'Neal (right) drops into Soul Shack.Soul Shack

"Soul Shack has been an offspring of the things that we've learned from our other restaurants," Nance says. "We're still in soft opening mode, but we've already taken off. We'll have a beautiful nightlife and older crowd."

They've quickly earned notice from celebrities including TikTok phenomenon Keith Lee, who touted them with a review in their first week open (giving it a high rating of 8 out of 10 on his scale); and more recently celebrity Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, who dropped in for a surprise visit, posing for a photo with Edwards and his wife, Tranelle.

"We had no idea, he just came in, made a reservation and said he'd heard the food was amazing," Nance says. "When he came in the door, we said, 'We're turning this into Soul Shaq.' We accommodated everything he wanted. I love that man and what he stands for, his philanthropy."

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