Chocolate News

Swiss chocolatier opens shop at Stonebriar in Frisco in time for holidays

Stacks and stacks of chocolate.

Courtesy of Laderach

Award-winning chocolate is coming to Dallas via Läderach, a Swiss chocolatier opening a location in Frisco, at the Stonebriar Centre at 2601 Preston Rd.

The shop will take over a space formerly occupied by a Godiva store, which sadly closed after the company shuttered all 128 of its brick-and-mortar outlets in January, another victim of the pandemic.

According to a Läderach spokesman, the new store will open the week of November 15, just in time for the holidays.

Läderach is a family-owned business that was founded in 1962, and still makes all of its chocolate at a production facility in Bilten, Switzerland. Accolades and achievements include a patent they hold for making thin truffle shells. Their head of innovation and production, Elias Läderach, won the World Chocolate Masters in Paris and is the reigning World Chocolate Master until 2022.

After Godiva closed its stores, Läderach stepped in — on Valentine's Day, fittingly — and assumed the leases for 34 Godiva locations across the U.S., including the one at Stonebriar. In September, they opened two stores in Houston at the Premium Outlets and the Galleria.

The heart of every Läderach store is called the FrischSchoggi, AKA the fresh chocolate counter, where slabs of chocolate loaded with different combinations of nuts and fruits are on display. Customers choose a variety and the slab is broken by hand, then sold by the quarter-pound.

Other offerings include truffles, chocolate gifts, and popcorn.

They're also a bean-to-bar company, which has become a point of distinction in recent years. Since September 2012, Läderach has been producing its own chocolate mass, making them one of the few premium producers that can guarantee sustainable quality from the cocoa bean to the end product.

Their chocolates are sold in more than 100 Läderach chocolateries in Switzerland, Germany, the UK, the USA and Canada, as through sales partners in the Middle East and Asia.

"We are proud to expand in the U.S. and bring the joy of our fresh premium Swiss chocolate to Simon properties coast-to-coast,” says Nathanael Hausmann, president, Läderach North America in a statement. "We've had high e-commerce demand of our chocolate for everyday consumption and gifting in these new locations for the past year and can't wait to bring our in-store experience to life there. A chocolate experience that will awaken all five senses because of our passion to deliver the freshest, highest quality chocolate possible."

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Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

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Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

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