News You Can Eat
Pizza and wings rank as favorite things in this dose of Dallas restaurant news
BonChon Chicken is Korea's version of a wings place.Photo courtesy of Bonchon
Pizza Snob will allow TCU students to get their pizza in minutes.Via 313/Facebook
Eddie "Lucky" Campbell has a new gig at Abacus.Photo courtesy of Sunset Lounge
Emporium Pies is expanding to Collin County.Emporium Pies/Facebook
Fort Worth's trending, chicken's being fried and – pizza. Because no report on restaurant news around Dallas is complete without news of more pizza. Pizza always wins.
Korean chicken chain BonChon Chicken will open on Greenville Avenue and Lovers Lane in the defunct Another Broken Egg spot. It's basically a wings place, but you can also get drumsticks or boneless strips. There are currently approximately 30 branches in the U.S., mostly up the East Coast, with one in Sunnyvale, California (and more to come). Do they know that WingStop's headquarters are in Richardson?
A new seafood spot called The Shell Shack will open on McKinney Avenue in Uptown, taking over two forlorn spots, the old Rock 'n' Taco and The Stand. The place describes itself as an "exciting seafood bar and grill concept." But with "shack" in the name, you shouldn't get your hopes up. That location has terrible juju, and if you call the number listed on The Shell Shack's Facebook page, you get a perky answering service asking if you'd like to be added to the opening night party. Hope springs eternal.
Oak Cliff pie shop Emporium Pies will open a second location in McKinney; Eater Dallas says that co-owners Megan Wilkes and Mary Sparks will split their time between both locations, and the new location will open in the fall.
Fort Worth now has arepas at Sol de Luna, a Mexican-Venezuelan fusion restaurant on University Drive near TCU, from recent TCU grad Frank Sigala. In addition to those puffy corn cakes, Sol de Luna also serves empanadas plus tacos, burritos and quesadillas.
And not far from Sol de Luna, a new pizza place called Pizza Snob will open this fall, also on University Drive near TCU. The concept is like Pie Five, with build-your-own pies baked in a turbo oven, but with more gourmet toppings (if you can call "bourbon bacon" gourmet).
Miss Saigon Cafe, a popular Vietnamese restaurant in Hurst, opened a second branch in Fort Worth's Camp Bowie District. Along with rice and noodle dishes, it offers the two essential items for any Vietnamese spot: banh mi sandwiches and pho. Not so essential but probably more popular: an appetizer called Lone Star Wings.
Eden Restaurant on Lovers Lane is open for breakfast at 6 am, serving muesli, yogurt, biscuits, potatoes and smoothies.
Cook Hall at W Dallas-Victory added some new late-summer dishes, including cheddar corn pops, charred snap peas (like a spin on shishito peppers), asparagus bruschetta, gnocchi with peas and prosciutto, seafood boil with corn and potatoes, and seared scallops with fennel salad. New sides include caramelized cauliflower with hummus and crispy potatoes with chile aioli. New desserts include doughnuts with rhubarb-lager jam, Okay, all over that.
Michael Bratcher is now general manager of SĒR Steak + Spirits at the Hilton Anatole; he left his longtime job as general manager at Stephan Pyles Restaurant. Former SĒR Steak manager Mark LaRocca is now at Nick & Sam's. Troubles at SĒR?
Battuto Italian Kitchen, the North Dallas restaurant from Gene and Julie Gates, has a new chef: the peripatetic Joel Harloff. Harloff will oversee all aspects of the culinary program as well as personnel and revenue management. He’ll also be creating a new lunch menu. Troubles at Battuto?
Abacus has a new bartender: the peripatetic Eddie "Lucky" Campbell. The release says that Lucky has a "storied career" with stints at Bolsa, The Chesterfield and Standard Pour. Campbell will add some favorite recipes incorporating global flavors, such as yuzu, ginger, jasmine and chai spices.
After 22 years as a co-owner of jazzy restaurant chain Sambuca, Holly Forsythe is getting out of the restaurant business. Her brother and co-owner Kim Forsythe will take over the chain, which has locations in Uptown Dallas, Plano, Houston and Nashville.
Big photos make Texas BBQ fun to flip through.Image courtesy of HarperCollins
Author Veronica Meewes at la Barbecue.Photo by Alex Gray