Fish & Chips News

One of Dallas' most authentic fish & chips spots closes due to lease issues

Authentic fish & chips as only a Brit can do it.

Photo courtesy of Fish & Fizz

After a mere five years of bringing some of the most authentic fish & chips to Dallas-Fort Worth, Richardson restaurant Fish & Fizz has closed.

Located at 400 N. Coit Rd., the restaurant from chef Nick Barclay, an actual native of England, and his Dallas native wife, Kelli, has closed due to their inability to negotiate a satisfactory lease with the landlord.

"With that in mind, our journey in this building has come to an end," Nick Barclay says.

"For us to stay for another five or 10 years, the space would have needed some work," he says. "For us, it got down to, why not go to a place where the landlord says, 'We would love to have you guys.'"

"As sad as I am to leave the space, I’m excited for 2023," he says. "We've got some exciting plans we’re working on, and that's the way I’d like to leave it — that we are working on exciting ideas for 2023."

Fish & Fizz won over fans for its excellent chef renditions of dishes like fish & chips plus English dishes like bangers & mash and Cornish pasties.

When they opened in 2018, Barclay described his rendition with traditional sides like curry sauce and pickled eggs and proper malt vinegar with Cornish sea salt.

He used a signature batter to create a crust that was light but with a golden brown crunch, with chips that were a little fatter than what is generally served in DFW.

The fizz part referred to beverages, all of which sparkled, including Champagne, sparkling wines, Prosecco, craft beer, and soft drinks.

For the couple, Fish & Fizz was a return to the Dallas dining world; they once had a restaurant here before going to England to run an inn by the sea.

Barclay also earned a nomination in 2019 for Best Chef of the Year in CultureMap's annual Tastemaker Awards.

In 2020, they joined forces with fellow authentic British business British Emporium, the UK-themed store based in Grapevine, providing space for a pop-up inside the restaurant that sold grocery staples, British teas, biscuits, and shortbreads.

The space they took previously housed restaurants such as Pelican House and Alligator Cove. They gave it a pleasing seaside feel with beach huts, plus an old-school nostalgic London black taxi in front, a marker to all of the British that lay within.

chefs closings

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's an ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.