Ice Cream News

New gelateria and dessert bar opens next to downtown Dallas pizzeria

Whatever flavor this unicorn-tinted gelato is, it has to be good.

Photo courtesy of Zero Gradi

A Neapolitan-style pizzeria in downtown Dallas has spun off a sweet new sibling: Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar just made its U.S. debut in Dallas’ City Center District, serving pastries and gelato, which you can find just off the shores of the Amalfi Coast.

Zero Gradi was created by Johnny Di Francesco, the award-winning chef behind 400 Gradi, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria from Australia that opened a location at 2000 Ross Ave. According to a release, it's inspired by his travels to Italy.

Zero Gradi Dallas features a full espresso bar, a dessert bar with an Italian-inspired menu of pastries, and a gelateria with more than 20 traditional gelato flavors, including several fruit-forward sorbettos.

The original Zero Gradi opened in 2016 in Melbourne, Australia; this is the first Zero Gradi in the U.S.

"The Amalfi Coast is renowned for its traditional gelato made with Italian expertise," Di Francesco says in a statement. "We couldn’t be more excited to bring Zero Gradi to the U.S. and give Dallasites a taste of authentic gelato and premium desserts."

He says they chose Dallas because of its multi-cultural food scene and the people.

"You can’t find the same Southern hospitality that you get in Dallas, anywhere else in the states," he says. Hey that's a compliment, we'll take it.

The company was founded in 1984, and uses good ingredients including pistachio nuts (versus paste), hazelnuts from Piedmont (the source of the best hazelnuts), Illy coffee, and fine chocolate.

Their sorbets are made from fresh fruit, and don't contain dairy derivatives, coloring, preservatives, or artificial aromas. They also make cakes and semifreddo (ice cream cakes). Their Instagram page is fairly torturous.

The release says that the inspiration for their decor came from pastel-colored parasols that lined the Amalfi Coast beaches during the '60s and '70s. They hired Dallas design firm Harrison to execute the vision.

Zero Gradi Dallas is located next to the pizzeria at 2000 Ross Ave., #180.

desserts ice-cream

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.

openings pizza