Really Farm To Table

Urban Acres blossoms into legit Dallas restaurant with chef hire

Dallas' favorite farmstead, Urban Acres, has hired a head chef, David Rodriguez, who will transform the cafe into a more meaningful dining destination. Rodriguez, who was most recently at Oddfellows in nearby Bishop Arts, already has created a new menu to showcase seasonal, local produce and goods from Urban Acres' farmers and artisans.

Rodriguez took inspiration from restaurants on the West Coast: pizza at the Cheeseboard Collective in Berkeley, quiche at Tartine in San Francisco's Mission District, and sandwiches at Lardo in Portland.

"We spent some time traveling and researching what the best chefs are doing on the West Coast, where they set the standard for cutting-edge local and organic cuisine," he says. "My hope is to take this little urban farm in Dallas and use the eggs from our chickens, the honey from our bees, the veggies from our greenhouse and other honest ingredients to put our unique spin on Dallas' food scene."

The menu will rotate weekly; typical new menu items include the "Pig and Fig" sandwich, tacos with chorizo, chicken salad, and organic pizza with garden sorrel pesto.

Prior to his appointment at Oddfellows, Rodriguez worked under chef Sheena Croft at Hannah's Off the Square in Denton. A native of Dallas, he began cooking with his father at age 13.

Urban Acres began on Davis as a produce co-op before moving to its current spot on Beckley Avenue. Visitors can dine on the patio at communal farm tables and tour the onsite chicken coop, herb garden, flower garden and aquaponics greenhouse, as well as sign up for classes such as knife skills, cooking, canning and gardening.

With Rodriguez's hire, the cafe has expanded its hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 8 am-2 pm; Friday, 8 am-8 pm; Saturday, 8 am-6 pm; and Sunday, 9 am-5 pm. There was always a small kitchen serving breakfast and lunch, says operations manager Ben Johnson, but Rodriguez brings professional training as well as commitment to their local focus.

"We hadn't defined ourselves as a restaurant, but we had all this food left over from our co-op membership," Johnson says. "We donate a huge amount every week, but we also wanted to funnel it into our kitchen.

"'How do you cook sorrel from East Texas?' We've been trying to make the connection between the raw ingredients and the way we eat."

They make their own granola and cookies, and there is always pizza on Friday nights and Sundays, which arose out of an interest among the staff. "A lot of our employees are passionate about what they do," Johnson says.

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Ice Cream News

Global ice cream brand Kelvin Scale makes creamy U.S. debut in Frisco

Kelvin Scale

Ice cream cones by Kelvin Scale

A unique new ice cream shop has made its U.S. debut right here in the Dallas area: Called Kelvin Scale Ice Cream, it's a dessert shop featuring ice cream, waffles, shakes, brownies, and ice cream cakes and it's now open in Frisco at 2650 King Rd. #750, in a former spa business near the intersection of Main Street.

Kelvin Scale was originally founded in India, where it has approximately 40 locations. The name comes from a temperature scale used by scientists that starts at zero — which they wink at with a motto that says "the Absolute Zero of additives."

Bringing it to the U.S. is a team of entrepreneurs who were impressed with the premium quality of the ice cream and other menu items, says spokesman Ram Bonda.

"We make the ice cream from scratch, not from a mix, with none of the additives or stabilizers used by some ice cream brands," Bonda says.

They also tout their use of A2 milk, a whole milk that has become popular because is supposedly causes less gas or digestive discomfort than regular milk — a claim that has yet to be proven. Nonetheless, A2 milk is more expensive.

They also do not whip in much "overrun" — the industry term for infusing air to make ice cream lighter (and less costly to produce).

"The texture of our ice cream is very creamy and rich, and you definitely get more with each scoop," Bonda says.

They offer an unusual selection of flavors, with global influences such as Belgian chocolate, Biscoff cookie caramel, cotton candy, and blueberry cheesecake. More exotic offerings include chikku, made from the sapota fruit which has a distinctly caramel flavor; lychee, from the floral fruit that's popular in Asian cuisines; and Rajbhog, a flavor that pays homage to an Indian dessert featuring almonds, pistachios, and saffron.

"We'll feature 24 flavors in the store, pulled from a total bank of 70 to 80 flavors, with flavors rotating in and out according to what's in season and trending," Bonda says. The company enjoys keeping tabs on social media and weaving in flavors that turn viral.

One scoop is $4.50, but additional scoops are a dollar, making it irresistible to get two scoops instead of one.

There are sundaes of all kinds, brownies solo or with ice cream, and an entire menu of waffle treats: waffles with Nutella, waffles with fruit, a red velvet waffle, and a waffle sandwich with ice cream sandwiched between two waffles.

Frisco was a natural place to introduce the brand in the U.S., Bonda says.

"It's one of most rapidly growing cities in the U.S., and it seemed like the ideal place to launch our flagship location," he says. "The location has an open kitchen so you can see the ice cream being made."

ice cream openings