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Readable edibles

Chef changes, open doors and other hot Dallas restaurant news

Teresa Gubbins
Oct 31, 2012 | 4:04 pm
  • Danyele McPherson of The Grape, soon to appear on Top Chef Seattle.
    Photo courtesy of Danyele McPherson
  • This Love Shack in Denton will soon be a steakhouse.
    Photo courtesy of Love Shack
  • If you want a Love Shack burger, you'll have to head to Fort Worth for now.
    Photo courtesy of Love Shack
  • Bowl & Barrel's menu consists of "clever" tavern food like giant pretzels.
    Photo courtesy of Bowl and Barrel

Dallas-Fort Worth is having such a busy, active, hopping, jumping, lively, sprightly, go-lightly restaurant scene right now that we're deluged with news — from chef changes to new chains coming into the market. Let's make it easy and round it all up in one story.

Chef changes
Movin' on up: Danyele McPherson has been bumped up to chef de cuisine at The Grape, where she'll oversee day-to-day operations. The soon-to-be reality TV star joined the Grape as sous chef in May 2011; Ian Starr takes over her sous chef position.

Movin' on out: Chefs Jeana Johnson and Colleen O'Hare are outski at Acme F&B, having done the proverbial parting of ways with co-owners (and Barcadia empresses) Brooke Humphries and Brianna Larson. Will they install Jenga? Acme's new chef is Norman Grimm.

Openings now
No relation to Frida: Kahlo Restaurante, a Tex-Mex place, opened in Addison Circle from the owners of the Lion and Crown pub, also in Addison Circle (in the old Avanti space). Kahlo took over the old Masaryk space, which had authentic Mexican. Will Tex-Mex be more popular than the real stuff?

And the wind called: Qariah Restaurant is a Lebanese restaurant that just opened on Lower Greenville, on the ground floor of the Vue apartment building; Lauren Drewes Daniels posted a snapshot here. Qariah also has a hookah lounge, for you dozen or so hookah fans.

Uh-oh, has Jim White been informed? Savour Kitchen & Cocktails is taking over the old Rick Stein's/Tre Amici/Office space off the Dallas North Tollway; that location has the worst karma in the world. Thrillist calls it an "amalgamation of the owners' Savour Social Club and Bonnie Ruth's restos." (Side note: Can we ban the words "amalgamation" and "amalgam"?) The menu is a sprawling thing, from $6 hummus to $38 filet mignon.

So far we have Ser Food + Spirits and Ocho Kitchen & Cocktails. Now there's Savour Kitchen & Cocktails. Anyone see a trend?

Openings later
The B-52s are sad: Tim Love's Love Shack burger stand concept is in crisis! The Love Shack in Denton closed Monday; Love plans to replace it with a steakhouse. But weep not: DFW.com reports a new branch opening on Blue Bonnet Circle in Fort Worth as a quasi-replacement for the Shack that shuttered in Fort Worth's West 7th district.

When in doubt: Smashburger will open an outlet in Mockingbird Station in November in a previously vacant space that sits between the old Vapiano space (soon to be Mockingbird Taproom) and Sunglass Hut. This will be Dallas' fifth Smashburger.

No relation to the play: Wicked Po'Boys will open a second branch in January 2013 in Preston Center, next to the new Grip Mediterranean Grill and the also new Hopdoddy Burger Bar. Wicked Po'Boys opened its first branch in Richardson in June. The menu has po'boys, gumbo, étouffée, crawfish and fried shrimp.

Paging Dr. Weil: True Food Kitchen will open at the Plaza at Preston Center in 2013. True Food Kitchen comes from Fox Restaurant Concepts, with a menu centered on Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet and food pyramid. It will be the seventh True Food Kitchen in the United States.

Fox is a mega-company that owns a slew of concepts, including Zinburger Wine & Burger Bar, Greene House, Arrogant Butcher, Blanco Tacos & Tequila, Olive & Ivy, Wildflower American Cuisine, Modern Steak, Culinary Dropout, Sauce Pizza & Wine, and NoRTH Modern Italian Cuisine.

Fu to you too: Asian chain Mama Fu's plans to expand to Dallas. The Pei-Wei clone has fast-casual service at lunch but full service at dinner. There are currently 13 Mama Fu's, about half in Austin. The folks bringing it to Dallas include the owners of Egg and I plus Daniel Avery and Tao "Echo" Liu, who own several businesses in Shanghai, and they are moving to Dallas. Really? To run a couple of Mama Fus?

Menu action
Define "clever," please: Bowl & Barrel, a bowling alley opening at the Park Lane complex in November, hired chef Sharon Hage to do its menu. It's billed as "clever tavern food," and it includes giant pretzels, cheese and ham boards, oysters, hot dogs, and an "artisanal" bologna sandwich made on Empire sourdough bread with caramelized onions and Gruyère cheese. That's correct, an artisanal boloney sandwich.

Of all the joints: The Gin Mill on Henderson Avenue has added "upscale, pub-inspired" menu items that include pork shank osso bucco, salt-and-pepper salmon, rib-eye, cioppino and a steak sandwich. Not going away are the flatbreads, Jimmy’s meatball sandwich, banh mi with house-made paté, and fish and chips. True to its name, the Gin Mill offers over a dozen gins.

Duck for breakfast? Boulevardier now serves Sunday brunch, from 11 am to 3 pm, with dinner-menu items such as the French onion soup and croque madame sandwich, plus eggy things like quiche, eggs meurette (poached eggs, toasted baguette, mushrooms, bacon, bone marrow and red wine sauce), and legs and eggs (duck leg confit, duck eggs, grits cake and huckleberry sauce).

Internet food: Central 214 launched its fall menu with some ingredients that required Googling: Dorper lamb shoulder with pappardelle and eggplant caponata, Florida hog snapper with artichokes, grapes and ajo blanco; veal breast with "Hokerei turnips," d'avignon radish and celery leaf pistou; duck with quince and lentils; trompetti with olives, mushrooms and piperade; and Countryside Farm's rabbit with castelfranco and mascarpone polenta. I sure hope there isn't a test.

Mixology spoken here: Cedars Social has new food and cocktail menus from chef Toby De La Rosa and barman Michael Martensen. Those include Akaushi beef tartare; day boat scallops with grapefruit and lemon caramel; Akaushi steak frites with shallots and bordelaise sauce; and a roasted vegetable salad with Benton's 22-month country ham, candied pine nuts and goat-cheese fondue.

Name change
The two restaurants formerly known as Brix Pizzeria — located in Fort Worth and Roanoke — have changed their name to Inzo Italian Kitchen. It's the same basic menu, but there are other Brixes out there, and they didn't want to compete, said a manager at the Roanoke branch. Inzo is short for Inzolia, also spelled Insolia, and it's a grape used to make Marsala wine.

Elvis impersonator department
Stratos Greek Taverna will host live performances by Kenny as the King, an Elvis impersonator, on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-9:30 pm. They're busy with the entertainment over there; they already have a belly dance floor show five nights a week, which includes dance lessons.

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news/restaurants-bars
series/dtx-good-eats-2012

Shining bright

The Gem juice bar shakes into Uptown Dallas, complete with disco ball

Luciana Gomez
Oct 14, 2026 | 2:36 pm
The Gem Juice Bar
Photo courtesy of The Gem
The Gem Juice Bar is now open in Uptown Dallas.

An organic juice bar with a disco ball and a following in Dallas has opened a third location, this one in Uptown: The Gem Organic Food and Juice Bar is now serving juices, smoothies, and fresh food at Rosewood Court, 2101 Cedar Springs Rd., R115, next to Flower Child.

Co-owned by Leslie Needleman and Mary Kathryn Bass, The Gem first opened near Lovers Lane and Inwood before moving into its first dedicated space in Preston Center on Luther Lane in 2013. A second location at Forest Lane and Preston Road followed in 2015.

“We call this new location our 'Hidden Gem; Uptown customers had been asking for a closer shop for years,” Needleman says. “The area also brings steady office and hotel traffic, and for years, we've wanted to bring The Gem lifestyle into new parts of Dallas.”

The Gem Juice Bar The juice is organic and cold-pressed fresh daily.Photo courtesy of The Gem

The self-described “disco soul sisters” built the business around organic food and juice, with a colorful, upbeat atmosphere to match. Their interest in wellness has personal roots. In 2009, Needleman was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her recovery, she explored organic juice, clean food, and a plant-based, anti-inflammatory diet. Bass shared her interest in a wellness-focused lifestyle centered on mind, body, and spirit.

That philosophy informs the menu, which has featured ingredients such as maca, housemade cashew milk, and kale since the business launched in 2012. The juice is organic, cold-pressed fresh daily, and is not treated with high-pressure processing, or HPP, a method commonly used to extend shelf life.

“Gem juice lasts days, not weeks, because we refuse to trade fresh flavor, nutrients, and enzymes for a longer shelf life,” Bass says.

The menu is free of refined sugars, gluten, dairy, artificial ingredients, seed oils, and GMOs. Bestsellers include the Green Glow, made with kale, cucumber, lemon, apple, and ginger; the Golden Glow, a blend of turmeric, lemon, orange, ginger, and cardamom; and the Ruby Slipper, made with beet, ginger, and carrot. The Green Glow was the shop's first recipe and remains a favorite.

The Gem Juice Bar The shop serves soup, too.Photo courtesy of The Gem

Other offerings include French press coffee, cold brew, matcha, smoothies, and protein drinks. Fresh food prepared daily includes soups such as lentil, mushroom vegetable purée, and immunity bone broth; along with salads, hummus, protein bars, and chocolate mousse made with raw cacao, avocado, and chia seeds.

The 1,000-square-foot Uptown shop follows the same colorful formula as the other locations, with a disco ball overhead and upbeat music. There's a front counter, a refrigerated grab-and-go case for busy locals and hotel guests, and seating at individual and communal tables.

“We believe that a healthy lifestyle can be sexy and fun; every Gem has a disco ball turning overhead, walls alive with color, and a soundtrack that makes it nearly impossible not to shimmy while waiting for your smoothie,” Bass says. “Healthy living should feel joyful, vibrant, and energizing.”

The Gem Uptown is open 7:30 am-6 pm Monday-Friday and 8 am-4 pm Saturday. It's closed Sunday.

juice bar matcha drinks organic food health uptown dallas
news/restaurants-bars
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