Chef Eddy Talks

Chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin departs Pakpao but has new plans up his sleeve

Mere hours after being listed as a best new restaurant of 2013, Pakpao, the upscale Thai restaurant in the Dallas Design District, has lost its chef.

Owners Tiffanee and Richard Ellman announced in a release that they've parted ways with chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin, calling it a "strategic ending ... that was best for the restaurant and the brand."

"I was going to quietly leave and let them do their business and wish them success," Thretipthuangsin says.

A spokesperson for the Ellmans hinted that Thretipthuangsin had been let go — a declaration that took Chef Eddy by surprise.

"I'm stunned and speechless that they put out a release and made it sound like that," he says. "I was going to quietly leave and let them do their business and wish them success. But they put me in the spot that if I'm standing still, people will believe they let me go, and that's not the case."

Thretipthuangsin moved to Dallas in part to helm the restaurant. His status as a native of Thailand combined with his training at Le Cordon Bleu made him an ideal candidate for Pakpao's merging of classical French technique with Thai flavors.

He says the Ellmans petitioned him for his recipes. "They said they want to keep the same menu," he says. According to the release, the Ellmans hope to expand the brand in 2014 as a "national authentic Thai destination."

As for Thretipthuangsin, he's staying in Dallas. "I have family here," he says. "But I have something in the works right now. It had nothing to do with what happened with Pakpao, but it's going to be unique, great and different."

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Pizza News

Donatos Pizza totes its unique crust to new location in Flower Mound

dallas.culturemap.com

Donatos

A pizza chain with a quirky obsession on its crusts is coming to Flower Mound: Donatos Pizza, the franchise famous for spreading its toppings to the very edge of the pizza, will open a location at 1400 Long Prairie Rd. #160.

According to a release, it'll open on December 17.

Donatos Pizza was founded by Jim Grote in Ohio in 1963 from a single stand, and remains family-owned. Their signature is to place the toppings on their pizzas "edge to edge" — for clueless diners who do not like plain crust edges. (Come on, the crust is the best part.)

Their menu features more than a dozen varieties of pizza such as veggie, four cheese, and pepperoni with hot honey. Their signature crust is a thin-crust but they also offer thicker alternatives as well as a cauliflower crust. Pizzas come in a 7-inch individual and go all the way up to a 14-inch large. Prices range from $15 to $25.

Fans appreciate their better-than-average ingredients and describe it as more flavorful compared to other corporate pizza chains, with a crisp thin crust and generous toppings.

In addition to pizza, Donatos' menu includes oven-baked wings, sub sandwiches, including meatball and Italian cold cuts, plus appetizers and salads.

The Flower Mound location will be a family affair, owned by Lynne and Ralph Pence, whose son Travis will oversee day-to-day operations. The Pence family has deep connections to Donatos including the fact that Lynne's sister used to work for the company, while her brother-in-law still does.

"We're from Columbus, Ohio — it is where our kids grew up and where our family is—it also happens to be the hometown and birthplace of Donatos Pizza," Lynne says. "Our daughter in Oklahoma found out Donatos was coming to Edmond, where she lives, and called us. She was so excited that Donatos was finally coming down south and we wanted to be a part of it."

This is the second Donatos in the Dallas area: a location opened in Frisco in November — the first in Texas.

There are currently 470-plus locations in 28 states. That includes 175 stores plus nearly 300 non-traditional locations nationwide, including select Red Robin restaurants, sports, and entertainment venues.

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