Grilled Cheese Please

Tom+Chee heats up trendy grilled cheese concept in Dallas suburb

A new-to-Dallas restaurant concept, coming to the new CityLine mixed-use project in Richardson, is a trend-lover's dream: Tom+Chee comes bearing grilled cheese sandwiches, doughnuts, bacon and a plus-sign in its name. It's slated to open in May 2015.

This is the first Texas branch of Tom+Chee, which is famous for two things: its "grilled cheese doughnut" and an appearance on ABC's Shark Tank. The menu has more than 20 kids of grilled cheese sandwiches — with bacon, turkey, tomato, chicken, pepperoni and so on — plus salads and three versions of tomato soup. It also includes vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options; the Hippy+Chee has hummus, cucumber, mixed greens, tomato and cheddar.

Colin Fitzgibbons, vice president at CityLine developer KDC, calls Tom+Chee a "fun concept" that's a "perfect fit for the high-energy business, dining and entertainment district." But keep in mind that he called Jasper's a perfect fit too. Can every restaurant that goes into CityLine be a perfect fit? Shouldn't some of them be a "pretty decent fit," in order to make the perfect fits seem like standouts?

Greg Sippel, who is the local franchisee for Tom+Chee, learned about it on Shark Tank.

"I started out with Norman Brinker nearly 40 years ago in the restaurant business, and this concept is so exciting to me," Sippel says. "When I saw it on ABC's Shark Tank, I knew it was something special, and I had to be a part of it."

Tom+Chee began in a small tent next to an ice-skating rink in Cincinnati's Fountain Square before growing to three stores in the Cincinnati market; then it started franchising. There are 18-plus branches in Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Georgia and Pennsylvania, with big expansion plans for Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee and no doubt all the other states.

In addition to Shark Tank, Tom+Chee has been featured on The Chew, Travel Channel's Man v. Food Nation and Amazing Eats. This has to be the most televised restaurant concept in the world.

Tom+Chee will be part of the initial phase of CityLine construction that's already underway and includes an Aloft hotel, Look Cinemas, Whole Foods Market, Jaspers and Coal Vines, as well as 935 apartments, a wellness office building, and a health and fitness facility adjacent to a 3.5-acre park with trails.

Tom+Chee's quintesssential grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Courtesy of Tom+Chee

Tom+Chee's quintesssential grilled cheese and tomato soup.

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Ice Cream News

Cult ice cream brand Salt & Straw makes Texas debut in Dallas

Salt & Straw

A big name in ice cream is coming to town: Cult-favorite artisan ice cream chain Salt & Straw will make its debut in Texas, opening its first locations in the state in Dallas and Fort Worth.

According to a release, the Oregon-based brand will open two shops in the DFW area this spring, both located in buzzy neighborhoods, as follows:

Dallas: 2323 N. Henderson Ave. #107, in the same center as Gemma
Fort Worth: 1305 W. Magnolia Ave., in the former Great Harvest Bread Co. space

Salt & Straw started out as a pushcart, founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek in 2011 in Portland. They've now grown to 57 locations with a huge presence in California and an expansion to the East Coast — from New England and New York to Florida to even Disneyland.

Wild flavors and collaborations
They're famous for their hyper-creative, often unexpected flavors including a never-ending rotation of monthly specials, overseen by head ice cream maker Tyler Malek. A recent Thanksgiving Series is typical: It included Parker House Rolls with Salted Buttercream; Turkey Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce, which featured a salt-and-pepper ice cream studded with bread pudding, turkey sausage, & cranberry jam; Pumpkin Pie Tiramisu; and Cranberry Orange Sorbet.

They also do partnerships such their 2024 collaboration with Taco Bell on a flavor called Tacolate, featuring a waffle-cone taco shell filled with cinnamon ancho chili ice cream, dipped in chocolate, and topped with toasted brown rice, served with two custom Taco Bell-inspired sauce packets: Mango Jalapeño Sauce and Wildberry Cinnamon Sauce.

Why DFW
In a statement, Kim says that DFW was a natural fit.

“We’ve spent meaningful time in Texas and have been inspired by the depth and momentum of its food and creative communities," Kim says. "Dallas and Fort Worth, in particular, stood out as places where craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, and hospitality intersect in a really genuine way, making them natural homes for Salt & Straw’s first shops in the state."

Dallas-Fort Worth has also in recent years embraced ice cream in a way it never did before, with incoming chains such as Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, and Handel's Ice Cream, as well as emerging local concepts such as Melt in Fort Worth.

Both Dallas and Fort Worth Salt & Straw locations will feature chef-driven classics such as Double Fold Vanilla and Salted Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, featuring a house-made cookie dough, made with the same malt you'd use to brew amber ale, and inorporating two types of salt, with thick malted fudge as a sweet counterpoint.

The shops will also serve as platforms for hyper-local collaborations that celebrate each neighborhood’s character, and gathering spaces for the community, where guests are encouraged to linger and try free samples of as many flavors they desire.

desserts ice cream openings