Who remembers the glory days of the Deep Ellum Café? It was one of the hottest spots in Deep Ellum in the mid-80s and the chef was Brian Hennington. Currently Hennington and his wife Lori operate a 40-acre farm in Arkansas. They grow organic arugula, vegetables, and fruits and raise hogs, turkeys, and chickens. They also breed German Shepherds.
Every few years Hennington returns to Dallas and visits his good buddy Mike Snider, the owner of AllGood Café. Four years ago Hennington spiced up AllGood’s menu with some New Mexico-style dishes. Earlier this month he upgraded the offerings once again. Hennington worked with AllGood’s long-time execuchef Cesar Martinez (15 years!) and sous chef Martin Contreras to create some marvelous new items.
The lunch menu now features new salads with house-made dressings and a hearty guiso de res. Dinner offers chicken breast picatta and shrimp Alfredo. They even called neighbor Paula Lambert and asked her to design a cheese plate. The aptly named Paula’s Cheese Plate features smoked Scamorza, Deep Ellum Blue, Herbed Goat Log, and Caciotta (black pepper and galic) with assorted crackers, red and green grapes, spiced pecans and jalapeno jelly by Yims Foods. “We’ve even gotten rid of our old beat-up chairs and bought new ones,” Snider says. “After 16 years of handouts and other people’s throwaways, we thought it was time.”
