Chocolate News

Award-winning Dallas chocolatier expands with new wine and dessert bar

Kate Weiser lets you drink your chocolate.

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Famed Dallas chocolatier Kate Weiser has expanded her repertoire in a new direction: a wine and dessert bar.

Weiser has retrofitted her retail Kate Weiser Chocolate shop at Trinity Groves at 3011 Gulden Ln. to include a place where customers can not only purchase her signature chocolates, but also sit down and have desserts and wine on site.

Weiser opened this flagship store in West Dallas in 2014, and has been one of the only businesses to survive at Trinity Groves, where she continues to draw customers for her intricately painted bonbons and other treats.

She's also since opened locations at NorthPark Center and at the Shops in Clearfork in Fort Worth, as well as her ever-growing online business. To accommodate increased output, she relocated her production operation, which was previously at Trinity Groves, to a larger facility, leaving her with a large space at Trinity Groves that was home to the kitchen.

It is now a fun, convivial spot for customers to hang out and also serves a unique selection of items not otherwise available at the shop, including fondue, brownies, and frozen cheesecakes.

Items can be ordered at the counter to enjoy on site or purchased from the online app for pick up.

Desserts include:

Strawberries & Cream: Angel food cake, vanilla rice pudding, lemon madeleines, strawberries and guava
Chocolate & Peanut Butter: Devil’s food cake, salted caramel brownies, cinnamon marshmallow cream, cocoa nib crumble and peanut butter cremeux
Sweet Waffles: Belgian liege waffle, fresh pineapples, bananas, strawberries, salted caramel and cookie butter cremeux
Fondue for 2: Chef-selected assortment of fruits and dippable treats with your choice of five different chocolate dipping sauces.
Chocolate Chip Cookie: Made with Valrhona 72% and 55% chocolate with flaky sea salt, served warm; paired with an optional scoop of vanilla ice cream
Triple Chocolate Brownie: Rich, decadent brownie served warm; paired with an optional scoop of vanilla ice cream

There's also a quartet of frozen desserts as follows:

Frozen Cheesecake: Frozen vanilla bean cheesecake on a stick, dipped in 72% Valrhona chocolate. Optional add-ons include salted caramel sauce, strawberry sauce and toasted pecans
Dark Chocolate Cream Pop: Frozen, 72% dark chocolate cremeux dipped in Ecuadorian 65% chocolate
Cafe Mocha Cream Pop: Frozen, 72% dark chocolate cremeux with coffee hazelnut crunch dipped in Valrhona dulce mocha chocolate
Strawberry Cream Pop: Frozen strawberry cremeux dipped in dark chocolate

The wine selection is respectable, with three reds, two whites, and one rosé, as follows: Meoimi Red Blend, Twenty Acres Cabernet, Twenty Acres Chardonnay, Erath Pinot Noir, Simi Sauvignon Blanc, and Ruffino Prosecco Rose, $8 to $15 per glass.

The wine bar is open during regular store hours: Tuesday-Thursday 1-9 pm, Friday-Saturday 1-10 pm, and Sunday 12-6 pm.

“For a while now, I’ve been wanting to expand the business to include additional desserts and wines that pair deliciously with chocolates and other treats,” Weiser says in a release.

Weiser's chocolates have garnered national attention, including her Carl-the-Snowman hot chocolate kit which made Oprah Winfrey's annual list of "Favorite Things" in 2018 and has since been widely copied. Weiser was also named "Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America" by Dessert Professional Magazine in 2014.

Environmental stewardship has become a priority. They've replaced all packing peanuts with recyclable brown paper cushioning in their shipping boxes and they recently introduced an innovative initiative that allows customers to recycle their box. If you bring your empty and cleaned chocolate box to one of their three retail locations, you can get a refill for 5 percent off the normal price.

wine desserts openings

This week in gluttony

Pork chops sizzle in 7 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

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The famous pork chop at Perry's Steakhouse & Grille.

Temperatures are still hot but the grand opening of a new Italian ice and frozen custard shop will help keep things cool this week. A pizza joint's 10th anniversary provides for pies at a price that's easy on the wallet, and there's also a steal of a deal on a legendary steakhouse pork chop come Thursday. Plan for a family-friendly brewery birthday party come Saturday.

Tuesday, August 25

Pie Tap 10th Anniversary
The Dallas pizza chain known for its multi-day fermented sourdough crust will celebrate 10 years in business with $10 pizzas at all seven DFW locations. Choose from options like hot pepperoni with jalapenos and hot honey; and mushroom with caramelized onion with fontina cheese and a farm egg. Guests will want to visit throughout the rest of August as well, as Pie Tap is also randomly picking up patron tabs as a “thank you” to the communities that have supported the brand over the past decade.

iichiko Shochu x Midnight Rambler
The subterranean speakeasy under The Joule will welcome guest bartender George Kailho of Tei-An for an educational happy hour celebrating 100 years of Japanese cocktail culture in conjunction with iichiko Shochu, a native spirit of Japan. A seminar for industry professionals starts at 4 pm followed by happy hour at 5 pm (open to the public, no reservation required) featuring three Japanese cocktails by Kailho: the Million Dollar, Bamboo, and Lemon Sour. The event will run until 7 pm.

Wednesday, August 26

Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard Grand Opening
The world’s largest Italian ice concept will celebrate the opening of its new shop in Carrollton (4213 N. Josey Lane) with sweet giveaways. The first 50 guests will receive a Rita’s gift bag with merch, and in select bags, a golden ticket good for a week’s worth of Italian ice or frozen custard. The Pennsylvania-based brand opened a North Richland Hills location in July, and locations in Farmers Branch and Flower Mound will follow later this year. The grand opening will take place at 12 noon.

Thursday, August 27

National Pork Chop Day at Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille
Perry’s enormous pecan-wood roasted pork chop has anchored the steakhouse’s menu since its early beginnings in Houston. Now the restaurant will celebrate the signature dish (in conjunction with National Pork Chop Day) with a four-course dinner. Highlights from the prix-fixe menu include skewers of pork chop “bites,” white bean pork chili, Perry’s famous 18-ounce pork chop, and orange vanilla cream cheesecake. The dinner is $44 and is available after 4 pm by request. Perry’s has locations in Dallas, Frisco, and Grapevine.

A Lucky Pairing: Chef’s Dinner with Suerte Tequila at Ollie’s Azul House
Suerte means “luck” in Spanish, and Ollie’s Azul House in Rowlett will toast to buena suerte during this four-course tequila pairing dinner featuring four expressions of Suerte Tequila. The menu includes shrimp aguachile with blanco tequila, charred octopus with still strength tequila, duck breast with mole negro with reposado tequila, and olive oil cake with anejo tequila. The dinner is $55 and will run from 7-9 pm.

Saturday, August 29

Lakewood Brewing 14th Anniversary
The Garland brewery will mark 14 years with a day-long anniversary bash. The free-to-attend, family-friendly event will feature live music, local vendors, food from the Lakewood kitchen, and lots of craft beer, including a special American barley wine called Lion’s Share XIV brewed just for the occasion. Guests can also sample a selection of anniversary beers from years past. The agenda also includes beer poking, a centuries-old technique that uses a heated brewing poker to caramelize sugars in the beer. Don’t miss vendors T-Rex Pickles and Married to Sugar who’ll bring specialty creations made using Lakewood beers. The party will run from 12-7 pm.

Monday, August 31

Mixology Mondays at The Parlor
The speakeasy-inspired lounge inside Sheraton Dallas will launch Mixology Mondays, an opportunity to learn the art of cocktail-making with a different signature drink featured each week. Participants will get to shake up classics like the Manhattan, Cosmopolitan, Sidecar, and Old Fashioned during the hour-long experience. Class is $30 (includes free parking) and begins at 5 pm.

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