Ice Cream News

Cute ice cream shop with plant-based self-serve coming to Dallas' Oak Cliff

Soft serve ice cream, so creamy.

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Dallas' Oak Cliff is set to get a unique new dessert shop that any neighborhood in its right mind would want. Called Swirled Peace, it's an ice cream shop opening at 309 W. 8th St., with three cool hooks:

it's soft-serve ice cream
it's self-serve
it's all plant-based

The shop is going into a cute Craftsman house that used to be an art gallery, and is slated to open in early summer.

UPDATE 7-3-2024: Swirled Peace is now open. They'll be hosting a grand opening soft-serve party on Saturday, July 6 from 4 pm-12 am with giveaways, a live comedy show, and a DJ starting at 8 pm.
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Swirled is founded by Sara Saginaw, who lives in Bishop Arts and wanted to bring something positive to the neighborhood.

"I've always had a burning desire to have an ice cream shop or bakery," she says. "I went to medical school, but I almost went to culinary school instead. I love the idea of doing something plant-based, that's healthier and better for the planet."

The setup will be similar to a self-serve frozen yogurt shop with six flavors of premium soft-serve ice cream, made inhouse, and a toppings bar. You grab a cup, choose your soft-serve, then help yourself to toppings such as fruit, nuts, candies, brownies, and so on — but all plant-based.

"For our soft-serve flavors, we'll have the basic chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, and then rotating flavors like peanut butter, white chocolate, and hazelnut," she says. "Toppings will be plant-based versions of classics like Snickers and Twix, plus some more toppings you don't see at every dessert shop."

The soft-serve will be oat milk-based from a recipe Saginaw developed herself. "I have a background in biochemistry, and used that along with a lot of trial and error to get the product to exactly how I wanted it to be," she says.

Ceremonial cacaoAmazon

There'll also be coffee, cappuccino, and adult milkshakes infused with "plant magic" (THC/Delta 9). Plus one other item that'll be entirely new to Dallas-Fort Worth: ceremonial cacao.

"It's a very natural, minimally processed cacao with chocolate and cocoa butter, like a thick dark chocolate," she says. "It has high levels of theobromine which have been found to have health benefits, but it's also just really good."

The location's history as a gallery has created an elegant platform with wood floors and walls. She's adding art and brightly colored tables. "It'll be simple with bright color pops," she says — plus a projector to show movies or photos.

"It has a big back yard where people can grab ice cream or a shake, hang out, and enjoy themselves," she says.

Asian Food News

Asian restaurant in Carrollton imports new malatang trend to Dallas

Tanghuo

Tanghuo Kungfu Malatang serves three dishes: malatang, stirfry hot pot, and pork.

An Asian restaurant has opened in Carrollton, bringing a fresh new trend: Called Tanghuo Kungfu Malatang, it's the first location in Texas of a chain from Korea named for malatang, a popular street food from China.

The restaurant is open at 2701 Old Denton Rd. #164 in a center just north of the Bush Turnpike, where it's specializing in mala tang, a dish originally from China that is similar to hot pot, with ingredients cooked to order in a broth.

Both hot pot and mala tang consist of a broth in which ingredients are cooked quickly.

However, in hot pot, ingredients are brought by servers to your table, for you to share with your party. At malatang shops, it's self-serve, with customers selecting fresh ingredients that are displayed on shelves — almost like a supermarket — which they pile into a bowl and take to the counter to be cooked for them in a spicy broth.

That communal experience of choosing your own raw ingredients, very hunter-and-gatherer, as well as the freshness it implies, is what makes it unique.

At Tanghuo Kungfu Malatang, you choose your own ingredients.Tanghuo

At Tanghuo, the menu has only three items and everything is charged by the pound:

Mala Tang is a spicy hot mala soup, cooked in a broth, and is $15 per pound.
Mala Xiang Guo is a spicy stir fry (which they call hot pot) and is $19/pound.
Gua Bao Rou is sweet and sour fried pork: Pork tenderloin served with a tangy sweet sauce, $19 for 8 pieces and $27 for 14 pieces.

Ingredients include seafood, beef, noodles, mushrooms, bok choy, fish balls, tofu, squash, Napa cabbage, all cut into sizes that will cook for the same length of time.

While $15 to $19 per pound may not sound "cheap," they push the affordability aspect, including the fact that the self-serve approach means it's "no tipping."

The Carrollton location of Tanghuo Kungfu Malatang is from Yoon Mun, a native of Daegu, South Korea who has been in Dallas for 13 years, working in tech operations. He discovered the unique concept on a trip to Asia and was shocked to discover it had not arrived in the U.S.

“I want to make malatang a trend here in the U.S., just like pho and ramen is," he says. "It is a trend right now everywhere as it provides an affordable, personal and enjoyable culinary experience. It is all fresh ingredients, great quality, and we try to make it affordable."

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