Serious chicken

Special chicken at Munay Kitchen Peruvian draws foodies to Dallas suburb

It's all about the chicken at Munay.

Courtesy of Munay

A new Peruvian restaurant in Carrollton is doing an accomplished rendition of a dish that's hard to find: Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken. Called Munay Kitchen Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken & Grill, it's an indie spot at Old Denton and Frankford roads, doing a homey, tender bird with a citrusy marinade that's luring in discriminating fans.

"I've had it in many places, and my bar is pretty high for this," writes one savvy fan. "Munay is a substantial cut above the rest."

The name is a spin on the Munay-Ki rites that are practiced by shamans who live in the Andes in Peru: "Munay" is said to mean "I love you" or "be as you are." Owner Carmen Espinosa opened the restaurant in November 2016 in a former Southern Maid Doughnuts shop, but didn't change the "Donuts" sign out front until recently.

Dallas has other Peruvian restaurants such as Chicho's on Belt Line Road in Addison, and Tineo on Arapaho Road in Richardson. But this is about that chicken. At Munay, you can order it whole, with French fries and a salad for $20, or in a 1/ 4-chicken portion, with option of dark ($7.39) or white ($7.99) meat.

A key element is the sauce. Peruvian chicken comes with aji verde, a green sauce containing cilantro, garlic, and jalapeños that's both tangy and creamy.

Munay also offers a selection of offal, one of its most popular items being the grilled beef heart kebabs marinated in Pervian panca pepper sauce. Anything on a skewer is fun. It also does grilled cow's belly strips, and choncholi, or grilled cow's tripe strips.

Dessert merits its own trip. Picarones are doughnuts made with sweet potatoes served with sweet fig syrup and fig chunks. Torta helada is a fluffy gelatin three-layer cake made with strawberry, pineapple, and orange. There are alfajores, topped with powdered sugar and filled with manjar blanca, a sweet caramel milk.

There are also Peruvian beverages including the soft drink Inca Kola and herb drinks with barley and flax. And there is the doting attentiveness of Espinosa and her small staff.

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Pizza News

Donatos Pizza totes its unique crust to new location in Flower Mound

dallas.culturemap.com

Donatos

A pizza chain with a quirky obsession on its crusts is coming to Flower Mound: Donatos Pizza, the franchise famous for spreading its toppings to the very edge of the pizza, will open a location at 1400 Long Prairie Rd. #160.

According to a release, it'll open on December 17.

Donatos Pizza was founded by Jim Grote in Ohio in 1963 from a single stand, and remains family-owned. Their signature is to place the toppings on their pizzas "edge to edge" — for clueless diners who do not like plain crust edges. (Come on, the crust is the best part.)

Their menu features more than a dozen varieties of pizza such as veggie, four cheese, and pepperoni with hot honey. Their signature crust is a thin-crust but they also offer thicker alternatives as well as a cauliflower crust. Pizzas come in a 7-inch individual and go all the way up to a 14-inch large. Prices range from $15 to $25.

Fans appreciate their better-than-average ingredients and describe it as more flavorful compared to other corporate pizza chains, with a crisp thin crust and generous toppings.

In addition to pizza, Donatos' menu includes oven-baked wings, sub sandwiches, including meatball and Italian cold cuts, plus appetizers and salads.

The Flower Mound location will be a family affair, owned by Lynne and Ralph Pence, whose son Travis will oversee day-to-day operations. The Pence family has deep connections to Donatos including the fact that Lynne's sister used to work for the company, while her brother-in-law still does.

"We're from Columbus, Ohio — it is where our kids grew up and where our family is—it also happens to be the hometown and birthplace of Donatos Pizza," Lynne says. "Our daughter in Oklahoma found out Donatos was coming to Edmond, where she lives, and called us. She was so excited that Donatos was finally coming down south and we wanted to be a part of it."

This is the second Donatos in the Dallas area: a location opened in Frisco in November — the first in Texas.

There are currently 470-plus locations in 28 states. That includes 175 stores plus nearly 300 non-traditional locations nationwide, including select Red Robin restaurants, sports, and entertainment venues.

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