The cool downtown Dallas restaurant Café Momentum is reopening, with a little something extra on the side: a new line of its top products — including a mix to make its signature biscuits at home.

The restaurant, which is nationally recognized for its program to help at-risk youths, will reopen its dining room on Thursday, September 24. Seating capacity will be limited to 25 percent, but this will allow the restaurant to continue its dual tasks of serving great food and training interns who are exiting juvenile detention.

The restaurant will be open Thursdays-Saturdays, 5:30-9:30 pm. Café Momentum will also partner with delivery service Favor so you can get Cafe Momentum favorites delivered to your door, plus new to-go meal options.

Café Momentum is a non-profit 501c3 restaurant that teaches critical skills in a paid internship program for young men and women coming out of juvenile facilities. They work for a year after their releaase, rotating through all aspects of the restaurant, focusing on life and social skills, coaching, and development.

Chad Houser, Cafe Momentum's founder, CEO, executive chef, and all-round dreamboat, says in a release that they're eager to get the momentum rolling again. Pretty good pun, huh.

"Whether you prefer to join us in the dining room or have a to-go meal delivered to your home, we're eager to serve our community again," Houser says. "We'll continue to prepare inspired seasonal dishes while focusing on our mission of creating an environment that equips at-risk youth with the life skills, education and employment opportunities to help them achieve their full potential."

Cafe Momentum closed its doors in March. But they've been busy: The restaurant transformed itself into a food hub where staff prepared almost 22,000 meal kits (350,000 meals) for food-insecure students and their families. The Get Shift Done Relief Fund covered salaries.

This not only provided relief to those in need, it allowed the restaurant's young men and women to continue working and provided an opportunity for them to be good neighbors and contributing members of their community.

Momentum to-go
The intern program helped inspire part of the new Café Momentum product line, says general manager Timmy Combs.

"We have continued to work together to support and coach our interns, and the development of the new product line is an extension of our collective dedication," Combs says. "This is another way we've evolved and sustained our culinary classroom during these unprecedented times, and we look forward to sharing it with the community."

The retail line has artwork developed in collaboration with Foremost, a Los Angeles-based artist whose themes explore limitless Black love, Black resilience, and Black freedom. His design, "Sol Food," was inspired by his conversations with the Café Momentum interns.

Products (and their cute descriptions) include:

• Biscuit Mix – bake our beloved biscuits at home
• Beef Jerky – pick the perfect slice and wait for the feeling of your belly smiling in enjoyment
• Chicken Mix – seasoned flour we use to make our legendary smoked fried chicken at home
• Noble Coyote Coffee Rub – try this as a rub for steaks, chicken, seafood and veggies. It might just become a staple in your kitchen too
• Fire Salt – use for seasoning proteins, vegetables, popcorn, finishing salt, or cocktails for little flavor with a kick
• Smoked Jalapeno Powder – try for a pinch of spice in cocktails, popcorn, marinades and salads
• Fresno Bonton Honey – use on biscuits, pancakes, cocktails and more; just remember it's spicy
• Texas Cabernet Vinegar – use for dressings and marinades that call for vinegar and a little of that Texas pride
• Limited Edition Vinegar: Seasonal Strawberry – use for dressings and season with veggies to make your taste buds sing

The products can be purchased at the restaurant after they open, or else online beginning September 9 at cafe-momentum-shop.myshopify.com/.