From the man behind Dallas barbeque staple Smoke comes a brand new Asian-inspired concept. Having become a household name in the realm of meats, Chef Tim Byres makes a 180 degree turn with new, nutritious and filling options. At Tight Quarters, Legacy Hall’s newest food booth, guests can choose from a variety of Asian Inspired power bowls, filled with flavorful meats, fresh veggies, and an abundance of spices.
The Steak Pad Thai noodle bowl is one of the many great bowls available for purchase at Tight Quarters. The noodles-to-fillings ratio is just right, and the customer certainly gets their money’s worth on meat and fresh vegetables.
Apart from bowls, Tight Quarters will soon be offering homemade kombucha and Mother of Vinegar Shrub Drinks.
Tight Quarters is now open in Legacy Hall in Plano. For more information on hours and menu options, visit eattq.com
This weekend, Taste Addison will be returning to Addison Circle Park. Festival-goers can enjoy bites from 26 different restaurants, including Thai Orchid, Zoli’s NY Pizza, and Cantina Laredo. Plus, Casey Donahew and Eli Young Band are set to perform tonight and Saturday, respectively. Tickets for Taste Addison can be purchased here.
Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
Enjoy good music, carnival games, and fun in the sun at Richardson’s Wildflower Festival. This year’s performers include Kool & The Gang, Jimmy Eat World, Mia Rose Lynn, and more! Tickets for Wildflower Festival can be purchased here.
Savor
There are only a few days left to experience Dallas’s ultimate epicurean food showcase. Savor Dallas is the SXSW of food, with tastings, pairings, dinners, and brunches throughout various venues across the city. Tonight, Fashion Industry Gallery will be hosting a mixology party. Can’t make that? No problem! There will be various Savor events taking place every night until the 20th. For a guide to this year’s Savor events and info on purchasing tickets, click here.
Sarah Jaffe at The Box Garden + Grand Opening Events
The Box Garden at Legacy Hall is finally open. Tonight at 7:00 P.M., you can catch singer/songwriter Sarah Jaffe performing a collection of her original songs, and later, she will launch her Bad Baby beer through Unlawful Assembly Brewing Company. Can’t make it tonight? Be sure to drop on Saturday for more live music performances, a late night silent disco, and a farmers market. For tickets and a guide to events, click here.
Main Street Fest
For the 34th year, Main Street Fest returns to Grapevine. This year’s theme is “Lone Star State of Mind.” Festival-goers can enjoy good carnival food, entertainment, and over 75 different brews of beer all weekend. Plus, there will be activities for people of all ages. For information on participating brewers and how to purchase tickets, click here.
Byron Nelson Golf Tournament
Fore! For the 50th year, the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament will be returning to Dallas. This year, the tournament will be held at Trinity Forest Golf Club. There are still a very limited amount of tickets available for purchase here. Can’t make it? The tournament will be airing live on CBS all weekend.
Joon Choe is the founder of FreshFin Poké Co. (Via Facebook)
Within the past few years, poké bowl restaurants have spread rapidly across the Dallas metroplex. Poké is a raw fish salad popular in Asian and Hawaiian cultures.
FreshFin, a concept which originally opened its doors in Lower Greenville in 2016, can be credited as one of the first restaurants to popularize poké in Dallas.
Earlier this year, FreshFin closed its Lower Greenville location, however, they are currently thriving in its new home in Legacy Hall.
One of FreshFin’s poke bowls. (Via Instagram, photo credit: @platesofplano)
“We don’t like to say ‘closing,’ rather, we like to think of it as a revival,” owner Joon Choe says. “As much as we would’ve liked for the Lower Greenville be our flagship location, I think it makes more sense to have Legacy West as the new flagship. I can’t split my body into two and be in both locations at once, but luckily, I’m able to put my energy into the Legacy West location and focus on making it great.”
After being approached to open a stand in Legacy Hall, Choe was excited for the opportunity to grow within Plano.
“Real estate was definitely a big factor for us moving to Legacy West,” Choe says, “but working with Frontburner Restaurants was the biggest factor for us. Seeing how Frontburner has opened restaurants and proven time and time again to be successful, it was really a no-brainer for me.”
Prior to opening FreshFin, Choe spent a lot of time traveling throughout Asia, learning the craft and studying the food consumption habits of various Asian countries.
“The demands are completely different food-wise,” Choe says. “The fact that each region had its own impact on the type of food that was served, was eye-opening to me.”
Following his travels, Choe decided to take what he learned and incorporate it into FreshFin’s operations. As a restaurant owner, Choe places a lot of weight on customer satisfaction.
FreshFin offers options for vegetarians (Via Facebook)
“I’m no celebrity by any means, but I always search ‘FreshFin’ on social media outlets to see how people are reacting to the food,” Choe says. “FreshFin is my baby, and I want to see if there’s anything people don’t like about it. I opened this business to serve people and I always want to make it better, for the best interest of my customers.”
From the moment Choe wakes up to when he goes to sleep at night, his mind is always on FreshFin. Luckily, he has a good team behind him to help lighten the load.
“I spend roughly about 80 to 90 hours per week in the restaurant,” Choe says. “ I consider myself always on the run, I’m always taking calls for FreshFin at all hours of the day. Doing everything on my own has been difficult, but I’ve good a good group of people at Champion and Frontburner helping with marketing and advertising. It’s a huge weight off of my shoulders.”
Despite having accomplished more than most 25-year-olds can say, Choe insists he is just getting started.
“I feel like we’ve made such a small dent in Dallas’s industry,” Choe says. “Poké is such a small factor of food in Dallas. For me, I consider my success helping people eat a little more healthy.”
FreshFin is currently open in Legacy Hall. Be sure to stop by and try their many poké bowls, sushi burritos, and their signature Crispy Rice Ahi Tower.
The most anticipated addition to Plano’s Legacy West shopping center is finally set to open its doors this Wednesday. Legacy Hall is a three-story food hall containing a variety of restaurant set-ups and bars. It is the first of its kind in the United States, inspired by the food halls Jack Gibbons, president of The Frontburner Group, encountered during his international travels.
“My business partner Randy and I were in Russia traveling back through Amsterdam,” Gibbons said. “When we studied the history of food halls and how they started in Europe, we felt that there was a big place for this in the United States.
Legacy Hall’s opening comes shortly after the opening of Legacy West’s Haywire, which is also parented by The Frontburner Group. Like Haywire’s three stories, each floor of Legacy Hall has a different feel to it.
“On the first floor, there are 20 stalls that are serving all different product from shawarma to lobster rolls. Each of the 20 stalls is run by local chefs and restaurateurs,” Gibbons said. “There’s a full working brewery on the third floor.”
This past Saturday evening, media and press were invited to a sneak preview of the much-anticipated food hall. Each of the attendees was given a pre-loaded “hall pass,” containing $25 worth of credits, valid at any of the bars and food stalls.
For dinner, I made my way over to Blist’r and ordered a Char-grilled chicken tikka naan wrap. I was given the option of choosing “regular” or “spicy” and opted for the latter. My wrap was assembled quickly, in the same fashion of a Chipotle burrito.
Char-grilled chicken tikka naan wrap from Blist’r in Legacy Hall (Photo credit: Alex Gonzalez)
I was very satisfied with the taste of my naan wrap. While the chicken was hot, spicy, and flavorful, it was the tamarind and mint chutney, along with the pickled onion that gave the wrap a sweet kick. I washed down the wrap with a lemon berry acai flavored Stubborn Soda. The soda tasted different from any other soda I’ve ever tasted, as the sweet fruit flavors overpowered the carbonated water. Originally, I had planned to give up drinking soda in the imminent new year, however, I may have to make an exception for Stubborn.
After dinner, I opted for a healthy dessert at Berrynaked, a stall offering a variety of popsicles, smoothie bowls, and sundaes. I was able to try both the matcha latte and the blueberry lavender popsicle. While both popsicles were refreshing, I preferred the blueberry lavender. The matcha latte was good, however, the dairy base doesn’t allow for the consumer to get to the flavor as quickly as the water base of the blueberry lavender does. As for both popsicles, they were frozen to the right consistency to which they didn’t melt immediately upon removal from the freezer.
A display of popsicles at Berrynaked (Photo Credit: Alex Gonzalez)
To end the night, I paid a visit to the third level bar and ordered a drink called “Teaches and Peaches.” The Teaches and Peaches consists of Peach Brandy, Madeira, lemon juice, raspberries, and billers. Albeit a bit pricey, it was packed with fruity flavor and had a strong impact.
Teaches and Peaches from Legacy Hall’s third-level bar. (Photo Credit: Alex Gonzalez)
Although I didn’t get a chance to try every single food stall, there were several items that looked very appetizing, including “The Soulman” from Press Waffle Co., as well as handcrafted pizza from Forno Nero.
The Soul Man from Press Waffle Co. (Photo Credit: Alex Gonzalez)
Apart from offering a multitude of delicious food options, Legacy Hall encourages its guests to be environmentally conscious, as they have different trash containers for paper, plastic, and food waste.
My only complaint of the night was that the first floor felt rather crowded, however, this is likely to change, as more outdoor additions are underway.
In March of 2018, Legacy Hall will open an environmentally friendly music venue right outside of the first floor.
“Our venue will be called ‘The Box Carton,” Gibbons said. “It is made out of recycled shipping containers and has different bars and restaurants that will really complete the food hall project.”
Although the Gibbons and The Frontburner Group have a lot on their hands right now, they have no plans to slow down in the near future.
“We’ve started a company called ‘The Food Hall Company,’” Gibbons said. “We’re starting our Plano hall as our first one, but we plan to create more of these unique venues and make them wildly popular across the country.”
Legacy Hall is an artistic celebration of food and world cultures. There is something for everybody at Legacy Hall and it will undoubtedly be a hit upon opening.
Legacy Hall is set to open on December 6. For a complete list of bars and food stalls, click here.
