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The top 10 Central Market items Dallasites can't live without

With the Central Market at Preston Royal making its grand return, it's time to restock your shelves and fill up the fridge with all your favorite Central Market goodies.

To celebrate, here's a list serving up 10 of the specialty grocer’s most famous items. These delicious must-haves are available year-round and they're famous for a reason.

1. Central Market super-premium small-batch craft ice cream
Crafted by award-winning chefs, this super-premium ice cream is a rich and indulgent summer treat. Central Market uses regionally sourced ingredients, makes their own inclusions (all the sauces and tasty bits swirled inside), and doesn’t skimp on the butterfat for extra creaminess. Choose from flavors like Tahitian vanilla, Saigon cinnamon, Texas pecan praline and bourbon, goat cheese and Texas honey, and more.

2. Cold-pressed juices
Refreshing signature blends of Central Market’s peak season fruits, vegetables, and herbs are house-made daily. Cold-pressing preserves nutrients and delivers crisp, sweet, intense flavors that start your morning with a zing. Choose from more than 20 varieties like classic orange juice, strawberry lemonade, and the weekends-only special: tangy margarita mix.

3. Maryland-style crab cakes
Central Market's handmade crab cakes are bursting with fresh blue crab meat. Pick them up for an easy mid-week meal, and be sure to ask about their house-made remoulade sauce. You’ll have a variety of flavors from which to choose, like traditional and spicy to creamy jalapeño, Thai chili, and more.

4. Scratch-baked breads and tortillas
Central Market bakers work day and night to craft scratch-made baked goods, including flaky croissants made with real French butter, artisan breads, fresh fruit pies, cinnamon-spiced chocolate cake, and their famous butter tortillas. There’s always something warm from the oven in a Central Market bakery.

5. In-house-made sausages
Central Market sausagemeisters use only the finest cuts of meat and custom-blended seasonings to produce flavors like jalapeño cheddar, chicken sausage with spinach and feta, Italian, and maple-blueberry breakfast sausage. Made fresh daily, there’s a sausage for every meal.

6. Central Market sea salt caramels
These bite-sized treats are the perfect blend of sweet and salty. Central Market confectioners take soft, buttery caramels, dip them in rich chocolate, and top them with flaky sea salt. Good luck eating just one.

7. Bulk spices
We've all had a recipe calling for a pinch of a spice we don’t have in the cupboard — and probably won’t use again anytime soon. So Central Market’s bulk spices to the rescue. Buy as much (or as little) as you want of hard-to-find or infrequently used spices and ingredients. Just scoop, weigh, tag, and be on your way.

8. Sushi
Did you know Central Market serves up fresh, restaurant-quality sushi, nigiri, poke, and more? You’ll find a variety ready to grab-and-go for a quick and easy meal, or they’ll roll something special, just for you.

9. Anthony’s Mousse Cake
Picture three dense, luscious layers of rich, spongy decadence, all frosted in chocolate buttercream, ganache, and chocolate shavings. Anthony certainly knew what he was doing! You can buy a full 9-inch cake to share, or a mini 5-ounce cake for when you don't want to.

10. Love Dip
A Central Market cult favorite. This tomatoey, garlicky dip is so incredible, just one taste and it will hold a special place in your heart. Serve it cold with crackers, chips, veggies, or whatever you want, really — it's so good it goes with everything.

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The newly remodeled Central Market is now open at 10720 Preston Rd.

Stock up on Central Market small-batch ice cream.

Photo courtesy of Central Market

Stock up on Central Market small-batch ice cream.

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Coffee News

New cafe in Richardson spotlights fine Ethiopian coffee and pastries

Fanah

Fanah Cafe

A coffee shop has opened in Richardson with serious coffee roots: Called Fanah Cafe and Pastry, it's in a center at 139 N. Plano Rd. and Belt Line Road, where it's serving authentic Ethiopian coffee, lattes, and pastry baked in-house.

Owner Esayas Zeweldi was born in Ethiopia and moved to Dallas in 2008. In his early years in the U.S., he worked as a barista at UT Southwestern, then at Jasmine Market and Café. He went on to build a career in medical transportation and tech manufacturing — but his love for coffee never faded, and he decided to open his own shop.

"Since I came to the United States, that was my dream," Zeweldi says. "Nobody showed me the way, but I had it in me."

They serve traditional beverages including espresso, cappuccinos, and brewed coffee, and will be adding a collection of specialty lattes as well. They've partnered with Dilla Coffee Roasters in Deep Ellum, which specializes in Ethiopian beans. Ethiopia boasts some of the highest quality coffee beans grown in the world. The country is known for its diverse array of bean varietals, some of which have been cultivated for centuries.

Fanah will also soon offer an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony, with boiled coffee served to participants on small cups that sit on a tray, meant to be shared.

“In my country coffee is all about conversation, we have a coffee ceremony, you call your neighbors, enjoy some time with them. With drive-thru concepts and quick coffee pick up, we lost the connection, I want people to have a good time," Zeweldi says.

The café also serves an assortment of pastries from international cuisines, as well as some Ethiopian dishes. The menu includes cream puffs, muffins, scones, croissants, tiramisu, and cakes in varieties such as Oreo, vanilla and millefeuille. Everything is baked in-house.

For breakfast, they serve traditional Ethiopian/Sudani fuul, a dish made with fava beans, tomatoes, onions, and chechebsa, fried pastry typically eaten with yogurt. They also serve pancakes and scrambled eggs.

Hours are 7 am-7 pm daily, and they're adding lunch which will feature a mix of Ethiopian and Italian items, based on recipes developed by Zewldi's wife, Yodit.

The food and beverages are important, but that's not all they're about.

"The café’s mission is simple: to bring joy through food and connection. using only the finest ingredients and creating an inviting space for everyone to feel at home," Zeweldi says.

coffee openings