Doughnut News

Carte Blanche chef team to open doughnut shop at Dallas' Trinity Groves

Doughnuts coming soon to Trinity Groves.

Carte Blanche

A loss for Dallas foodies has become a major win for doughnut fans with the soon-to-open La Rue Doughnuts, a doughnut shop opening in the former Cake Bar space at Trinity Groves.

La Rue comes from Casey and Amy La Rue, the acclaimed chef duo who previously owned Carte Blanche, the award-winning restaurant-bakery on Greenville Avenue. They closed the restaurant in early June after receiving an offer from a restaurateur who plans to open something in the space.

In their brief three years, both the restaurant and bakery won numerous awards, including the Forbes Five-Star in Texas for two years in a row, in 2022 and again in 2023, and they're the only Dallas restaurant to earn the prestigious 5-diamond award from AAA. Carte Blanche was nominated for Restaurant of the Year in CultureMap's 2023 Tastemaker Awards, while Casey was nominated for Best Chef and Amy was nominated for Best Pastry Chef in 2021 and in 2022.

Now they'll focus strictly on a standalone bakery, specializing in house-made doughnuts in a variety of flavors.

"Doughnuts were among the many items we offered at the bakery, but one of our more popular items," Amy says. "We were making so many different kinds of pastry — croissants, Danish, cookies. Pastry chefs tend to be a little neurotic, and it was a lot to juggle to make sure all of those different things were consistent. This will give us the opportunity to tune in and create consistent and wonderful doughnuts full time."

At the Greenville Avenue location, they would generally do two to three flavors, but now they'll expand into a variety including brioche doughnuts, cake doughnuts, old-fashioned, and their signature crullers. They'll continue to rotate in flavors such as lemon and passion fruit, depending on the season.

One thing that's noteworthy about their doughnuts is that they are genuinely made from scratch, with doughs made in house. The majority of doughnut shops — even shops that do fancy toppings — use a mix.

Closing Greenville Avenue gave them the financial freedom to do their own thing; they had an investor partner in the restaurant but the doughnut shop will be their own.

Having a business in which they can do one thing and do it well is part of the appeal, but they're also looking forward to shifting into a schedule they can share, as well as the opportunity to spend more time with their kids. The shop will be open mornings only Tuesday-Thursday, but all day Friday-Sunday.

"Casey and I only saw each other on Mondays," Amy says. "He worked evenings, and I worked overnight. With both a restaurant and a bakery, we were basically running two businesses in one space. For the past three years, we felt like we were always working, and never had time together. Sundays if I got off, I'd come home and take a nap."

Cake Bar left Trinity Groves in March after a decade to relocate to the Medical District. Having a doughnut shop in their former space at 3011 Gulden Ln. #117 carries on the bakery tradition, and the La Rues say that Trinity Groves has other appealing elements including a family vibe and ample parking. They're looking at opening the shop in late summer.

Lastly, this gives them a situation in which they can work side by side — something they love.

"We both share a desire to be excellent and consistent, and it'll be fun to be able to do that together again," Amy says.

Matcha News

Calif bakery-cafe with creative drinks and snacks makes Dallas debut

Smoking Tiger

Garlic cheese bread and matcha latte from Smoking Tiger

A buzzy coffee shop and cafe from Southern California has made its Texas debut: Called Smoking Tiger, it opened in June in Carrollton, at The Great Oasis plaza at 2225 Old Denton Rd. #100, where it's serving Korean pastries, breads, coffee, and beverages.

Adored by Korean-Americans and possibly everyone on Instagram, the cafe is part of a chain founded in 2020 in Buena Vista, California, that encompasses both coffee shops as well as bakeries. The Carrollton location — full name "The Smoking Tiger Bread Factory" — is one of their most expansive, offering coffee, pastries, breads, and sandwiches.

Carrollton will be the first in the DFW area, but a spokesperson says it won't be the only, although they do not have specifics on other locations or timetable for opening.

Drinks
Their beverage menu is notably rich and creative, leading with the Tiger Latte, their signature brown sugar latte with caramel and frothed oat milk. The Smokin Spaniard is a twist on latte combining espresso, condensed milk, hazelnut, and cinnamon.

Other options summon favorite Korean flavors such as

banana milk latte
honey bori latte with barley milk and salted honey cold foam
sweet corn latte, with sweet corn milk and corn cold foam
chai latte
misugaru — a roasted rice latte served slightly sweetened over choice of milk

… plus matcha lattes including strawberry matcha latte; jeju matcha latte sweetened with maple syrup; hojicha latte, featuring jeju green tea — a green tea grown in South Korea — sweetened with vanilla.

Latte prices average about $6.50.

Other irresistible-sounding drinks include the Pineapple Express, featuring jasmine tea and pineapple concentrate, shaken with ice for a smooth texture; and "YSL" — Yuzu Sparkling Lemonade, featuring yuzu syrup, sparkling water, and lemon.

Garlic cheese bread at Smoking TigerSmoking Tiger

Food
Food options are equally as creative, led by three signature goodies:

Cream Cheese Garlic Bread — a large round roll with a heavy dose of garlic and cream cheese baked inside
Original Salt Bread — sort of like a cross between a roll and an everything bagel
Kimchi Musubi Croissant, featuring a croissant filled with a slice of Spam and kim chi, with a sheet of seaweed baked onto the top of the croissant

Plus "sconkies" — a cross between a scone and a cookie — in flavors such as Oreo or lemon earl grey. For Texas only, they also introduced a special menu of breakfast sandwiches such as a slider with scrambled egg, cheese, and habanero aioli on grilled King's Hawaiian rolls.

According to marketing director Andy Lee, part of its appeal is the way it channels similar cafes in South Korea offering both bread and coffee.

"We wanted to essentially create a space where people could experience modern Korean culture in a very authentic and approachable way," Lee told The Dallas Morning News.

That extends to the decor: They've outfitted the Carrollton location with vertical mahogany wood panels, often seen in cafes in South Korea and traditional Korean houses called hanoks.

coffee openings