This Week in Gluttony

These are the 6 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Learn how to make mozzarella at Whole Foods on December 21.

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Most everyone is gearing up for the ultimate Sunday supper — Christmas — so there are fewer food and drink events this week. But we have rounded up what is available, so get out there and eat, drink, and be merry.

Tuesday, December 20

Christmas Lights: Chocolate and Sips Tour
Begin the tour by boarding a private motor coach and tasting treats from premier local dessert venues. Then relax as you glide past some of Dallas’ most spectacular holiday displays in the Park Cities, Addison, downtown Dallas, and Lake Highlands, while sipping hot cider or chocolate. Tickets are $43 and include transportation, dessert samples, beverages, and tour guide. Meeting spot is at Krispy Kreme on Greenville Avenue at 6:30 pm, and tours are offered once a day through Christmas by Dallas by Chocolate.

Taste of Italy Cooking Class at Sur la Table
In this (non-holiday) hands-on class, learn how to make blood orange and green bean salad, marsala braised chicken with mushrooms, creamy Parmesan polenta with sage, and butterscotch budino with olive oil and sea salt. Cost is $69 per person, and class runs from 6:30-8:30 pm.

Texas Christkindl Market at Globe Life Park Arlington
Inspired by a cherished German tradition, this free, family-friendly market features a unique shopping experience for holiday gifts, decorations, one-of-a-kind finds, and some amazing food. Not to be missed are the kirschkuchen (German cherry cake) and quarkkeulchen (a type of potato cake). The market is open Monday-Friday, noon to 8 pm, through December 23.

Wednesday, December 21

Hand-stretched Mozzarella Class at Whole Foods Lakewood
Ever wonder how mozzarella is made? Here's your chance to take a lesson from an expert. Learn how Freddie makes this delicious delicacy at the Lakewood Whole Foods, just in time to host friends and family for Christmas. The class starts at 5 pm, and it's free to attend.

Sweet N' Savory Pastry Bites Wine Pairing at Messina Hof Grapevine Winery
Not sure what pastries go best with your favorite wines? Join Messina Hof on the third Wednesday of each month to learn how. Pairings include pastries both savory and sweet, and you can take some home with you. The event costs $20 and lasts from 5-8 pm. Call 817-442-8463 for reservations.

Saturday, December 24-Sunday, December 25

Still no Christmas dining plans? No problem. We have a comprehensive list of places open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

where-to-eat

Ice Cream News

Kwality Ice Cream shop to bring creamy exotic desserts to Frisco

Kwality

Kwality Ice Cream

An ice cream chain with an Indian flair is dipping into Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Kwality Ice Cream, it's a concept founded in New Jersey that specializes in traditional Indian ice cream and cold drinks, and it's opening a location in Frisco, at 13089 Main St. #500, in a new shopping center.

According to franchisee Raju Vikey, the shop will open sometime in 2025. It joins two DFW locations already open: Irving at 8600 N. Macarthur Blvd., and Euless, at 1060 N. Main St. at Harwood Crossing shopping center, which opened in April.

Kwality Ice Cream was founded by food scientist Dr. Kanti Parekh and his son Anand, in New Jersey in 2003. It has expanded with 38 locations in 14 states including Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas, where there are three locations in Houston and one in Austin.

“The idea was to create a South Asian-specific ice cream, which is more known for fruits and nuts,” Anand says. “As a Ph.D. in food and nutrition, my father’s background and expertise were in flavor. He used that to create very unique flavors and top notes to give a really good mouth feel and experience.”

They have close to 50 ice cream flavors with classics like cookies & cream, chocolate supreme, and butter pecan; but South Asian and Indian flavors dominate the menu with exotic options like green guava, lychee, and Nuttie Tuttie Fruitee, a berry-flavored ice cream with nuts and candied fruit.

There is also kulfi, a frozen dessert that's like ice cream but with less added air so it has a stiffer, creamier texture. It's served in slices and comes in popular Indian flavors like pistachio, mango, and rose.

Other novel frozen treats include cassata, an ice cream cake with three flavors of ice cream layered over sponge cake.

As with many Asian desserts, they're often less sweet than American-style confections. Wild inventions include the mawa rabdi cup, with ice cream, rice noodles, basil seeds, and rose syrup, topped with nuts and candied fruit; and Thandai ice cream, a staple at Indian festivals, consisting of almonds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, watermelon seeds, rose petals, pepper, cardamom, saffron, milk, and sugar.

Rabdi is like a pudding, believed to have originated during the 1600s. Kwality makes it following the traditional method of slow-cooking milk until it thickens and reduces, enhancing its sweetness and creaminess, then adding ingredients like cardamom, saffron, and pistachios.

Pints of ice cream and frozen desserts range from $8-$11, and cassata ice cream cake slices are $7.

ice cream openings desserts