Big Opening News

Villa-O space off Knox Dallas to house new restaurant and butcher shop

Travis Walk is hot.

Intercity Investments

Two vastly popular restaurants in the Knox-Henderson district are about to welcome a third sibling.

The new restaurant, still to be named, comes from restaurateur Stephan Courseau and will join a family that includes Le Bilboquet, the French restaurant in Travis Walk that's been such a hit with the Park Cities ladies crowd; and Up On Knox, the recently opened brasserie and brunch phenomenon at the corner of Travis and Knox, in what was once the Chili's space.

Courseau is teaming up with new partner chef Junior Borges to open this new eatery, and they've landed an enviable address: 4514 Travis St., also known as the space that was Villa-O, the longtime Italian restaurant known for brunch and endless mimosas. Villa-O closed in January 2018 after more than a decade in that spot.

The theme will be farm-to-table with a big push on food sourced from local farms, and a menu that's meat-centric with Brazilian influences. Borges originally hails from Rio de Janeiro.

The restaurant will also house an exciting shop and butcher, similar to the bodegas that Borges grew up with, serving to-go fare such as salads and sandwiches, along with foodstuffs such as eggs, produce, and meats. They're already partnered with an East Texas ranch that will provide produce, free-range chicken, and grass-fed beef for the market as well as their restaurants.

They're building an in-house rotisserie where they'll do chicken with potatoes and other sides that people in the rapidly growing neighborhood can pick up for take-out dinner.

"This farm shop will be an exciting amenity for the neighborhood, but also allow shoppers to buy the same grass-fed beef and seasonal vegetables we'll use in all three restaurants," says Corseau, who cites inspirations such as Cochon Butcher in New Orleans and Meat & Cheese in Aspen.

Hoping to create something that looks entirely new for Dallas, they've retained GRT Architects, a Brooklyn firm that just completed work on Don Angie, an Italian restaurant in New York's West Village. They're aiming to open in March 2019.

chefs

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.