That's Another Wrap

Southlake's Bolo Italian Grill takes Chipotle formula where it's never gone before

A new fast-casual restaurant called Bolo Italian Grill will take the "Chipotle" style of dining to a place it's never gone before: Italian food. Slated to open in Southlake in mid-December, Bolo comes from Jud Phillips, who has a long and successful track record as a restaurateur in Dallas.

"If you look at what's hot, Chipotle has been the hottest thing in the restaurant business," he says. "I took what they do and 'Italian-ized' it."

Bolo's menu begins with a "bolo," an Italian thin-crust flatbread named after Bologne, Italy, which Phillips describes as an Italian version of a tortilla. It gets filled to customers' specifications with angel hair pasta and choice of meat, vegetables, cheese and house-made sauce. It's sort of like a cross between a burrito and a calzone, except it's like nothing else you've had.

If you're skipping bread, you can do the equivalent of a rice bowl, but with angel hair pasta, choice of protein, vegetables and sauce. Or take the salad route, with greens, protein, vegetables and dressing.

"Proteins" include chicken, crispy chicken, steak, Italian sausage, turkey meatballs, salmon and vegetarian.

Sauces come in hot and cold varieties: Marinara is crushed tomatoes, garlic and basil. Bolognese is spicy tomatoes, ground beef, garlic and chili flakes. Alfredo is cream and Parmigiano Reggiano. The simplest hot sauce is an herbed oil with garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, oregano, parsley and rosemary.

Cold sauces include basil pesto, red wine vinaigrette, balsamic and ranch. There are two dozen vegetable ingredients, four kinds of cheese, plus some sides such as polenta fries and a spinach-artichoke dip.

Phillips has extensive experience as a multi-unit owner of chains such as McDonald's, Quizno's and Pizza Patron. It took him more than a year to find the right location for this first store, at 260 N. Kimball Ave., in what was previously a Planet Burrito, between Southlake Boulevard and Highway 114.

"Uptown, Fort Worth, Frisco — you name it, I looked at it," he says. "But this is a perfect location with great visibility. I wanted to make sure that it didn't fail because of a bad location."

Bolo will use good-quality ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, with a limited bar of beer and wine that will be sure to include Italian labels.

Phillips, who grew up in the Midwest, loves Italian food.

"The city I grew up in was heavily Italian. I felt like I was Italian without being Italian," he says. "With Bolo, I just wanted to put a modern quick spin on great Italian food."

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Matcha News

Cool new Dallas shop Roché Coffee brews decadent lattes and matchas

Photo courtesy of Roché Coffee

Matcha drinks at Roche Coffee.

A coffee shop with an authentic, decadent twist is perking up North Dallas: Called Roché Coffee, it's an indie shop that specializes in Vietnamese coffee and matcha drinks, located at 17062 Preston Rd. #130, in the same shopping center as Cris and John's and Deli News.

Roche was founded by Kendall Luu, a native of Vietnam with an entrepreneurial streak who wanted to share the unique tradition of coffee as it's enjoyed in her homeland. In addition to Vietnamese coffee, the shop's other foundation is matcha, the Japanese green tea drink that's become a major trend across the U.S.

Luu began Roche first as a pop-up, before graduating to this brick & mortar location, where it opened with great fanfare in mid-October.

The menu is broken into three main categories: Vietnamese coffee, flavored lattes, and matcha drinks.

Vietnamese coffee
Vietnamese coffee refers both to the coffee beans and style of roasting, as well as Vietnamese coffee drinks.

Beans: As Roche notes on its website, Vietnam is one of the world's largest coffee producers, and most of it is robusta beans, which are bolder and more bitter, with about twice the caffeine of arabica (the beans used by most popular coffee chains). Vietnamese robusta beans are generally roasted dark, for a rich, chocolatey, full-bodied cup.
Drinks: Vietnamese coffee is also a beverage, which combines coffee with sweetened condensed milk. It's made using a small metal filter, called a phin, which results in a concentrated, intense brew.

"At Roché, we source our robusta beans directly from Vietnam and brew them slowly, drop by drop, through a traditional metal phin," Luu says. "We stir in sweetened condensed milk and keep the brew at full strength so the deep, bold flavor of the coffee still comes through the sweetness."

DFW has a few places doing Vietnamese coffee but it's still a somewhat unfilled niche.

"That's the tradition I wanted to bring to Dallas, from the patience it takes to brew a cup to that first sip that tastes like home," Luu says.

They approach matcha with the same fastidiousness, sourcing ceremonial-grade matcha directly from Japan and whisking it by hand for every order.

Menu
They make their coffee-based lattes with either traditional espresso or, for a twist, with Vietnamese coffee. Both lattes and matchas come in decadent flavors such as banana matcha topped with a thick layer of foam and slices of banana; or the Biscoff matcha, layered with Biscoff spread, cookie crumbles, and a Biscoff cookie.

They also offer the Einspänner Latte, a buzzy layered drink that first emerged in Korean cafes, featuring espresso, cold milk, ice, and Viennese whipped cream; the cream cunningly serves as an insulator to separate hot from cold.

Prices average $8, but the shop is as much a dessert experience as a drink stop.

Their flavors embody the hottest trends including tiramisu, Starbucks' seasonal flavor for the fall, which they make with espresso, tiramisu syrup, mascarpone cream, and a ladyfinger cookie garnish. They call it "your favorite dessert for your coffee break."

They also offer pastries such as croissants, muffins, and poptarts from acclaimed Dallas bakery La Casita Bakeshop.

The shop is bright and tastefully appointed, with a sleek white interior and touches of Starbucks-style deep green. Furniture is curvy and modern, evoking Eero Saarinen.

Aesthetics are an important part of the experience, Luu says.

"We measure each ingredient carefully and give just as much attention to how the drink looks, from the first pour to the finishing touches," she says. "I want that care to come through the moment we place the cup in someone's hands, before they even take their first sip."

coffee openings