Best Bites: Dining out in Dallas-Fort Worth March 14

by Teresa Gubbins

You must head outside the loop to find bubble tea, and one outstanding new entry is the just-opened Cassis, located in a corner shopping center in Plano in what used to be a Carvel store. Cassis, which has already earned notice from the savvy crew at DallasFood.org, comes from Calvin Lin, who moved here from Los Angeles with his wife.

His menu includes iced teas, frozen blended drinks, hot chocolate, and a unique section of sophisticated, non-alcoholic cocktails such as the White Snow, combining sparkling lemon soda with strawberry gelato. He uses Monin syrups and makes the gelato for the frozen drinks himself. All can be ordered with or without "bubbles" -- tapioca pearls -- which he makes fresh twice a day.

"With tapioca, it's hard to predict how many you need, but you need to have it prepared because it takes a couple of hours to cook," he says. "I don't keep it overnight, I throw away what I don't use. If you keep it overnight, the texture changes. It's not chewy anymore, it turns soft, and to me, it tastes funny. It's very delicate. My philosophy is that if I don't drink it, then I won't sell it."

He offers free wifi and a sleek interior with leather couches and Bauhaus-chic black-and-white leather ottomans.

"Starbucks created a nice environment, I wanted to create the same thing, but in a modern style," he says.

Pho you

Pho is another foodstuff found primarily outside the loop, and the latest newcomer is Pho Mac, which opened on Plano Road in Richardson just two weeks ago. It's a second branch of the original Pho Mac in Plano, which David Quynh Mac opened three years ago.

"People love our noodle soup," he says. "We also have expertly done spring rolls and we do a whole range, with beef, chicken, and vegetarian versions. We make everything, and we try to use vegetables that are as fresh as possible. When people come, they ask, 'Did you just get these vegetables from the garden?'"

David's family moved to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1995, after receiving a sponsorship from the U.S. government. Pho Mac is a family business: his brother Hoang is in charge of the Richardson branch while he supervises Plano. He adopted the name David after moving here because, he says, he met a number of people named David who had overcome a lot of challenges.

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