| CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish A Good Bean White Rhino is a coffee shop you should get to know. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS I t was a seat warmer on a cold icy night several years ago that led Chris Parvin to become a different kind of coffee shop owner. He was driving home af- ter a day spent in court for his primary job as a lawyer. “I’m in my Mercedes, and I’ve got my butt heater on, and I’ve got my steering wheel heater on, and I’m just toasty-roasty feeling pretty good,” Parvin says. It was raining and with temperatures sinking below freezing, the city would soon be covered in a thin sheet of ice. Traffic bot- tlenecked under a bridge near downtown, and Parvin had just enough time to catch a man collecting some stuff and crawling into a little nook at the top of the bridge. “Here I am driving at night, and I’m go- ing to my big warm house where I’ve got this meal waiting for me. And a family. And I’m healthy. And I thought, I’ve got to do some- thing,” Parvin says. At the time, he had several White Rhino Coffee shops — after opening the first one in Cedar Hill in 2007 — where he’d hoped to bring people together. “Coffee is good. I love coffee,” Parvin says. “And food is good. I love food. But, we’re really in the people business.” On that cold icy night, he called a friend who had a big mobile kitchen and had previ- ously provided large meals to communities in need. Parvin asked him bluntly what he could do with $25,000. Specifically, could they figure out how to do a big Christmas dinner for homeless people around Dallas. “That became the 17 Days of Christmas because that was exactly what we could af- ford to do. We deployed these mobile kitch- ens to four or five locations around Dallas and Forth Worth — at homeless population centers — and we had volunteer chefs out there and cooked meals,” he says. That’s when Parvin began to understand more about the local homeless community. He sat and ate at these meals and began to glean some insight into how people in his position can help. Parvin says there are no big ah-ha moments, but rather a modicum of understanding. “I remember sitting down with a guy one night and this guy was just lapping up the food and I said, ‘Hey do you want me to get you seconds?’ and he said, ‘You know I just haven’t had fresh vegetables in like a year. When you’re homeless you eat fast food, you eat stuff people hand you, you eat out of trash cans, but you don’t eat fresh vegeta- bles,’” Parvin says. That conversation inspired Parvin to help 14 14 the homeless population even more. He and his organization, The Parvin Group, began The Parvin Group to try to research nonprofit organizations to partner with, leaning on those who had bet- ter experience, tools and insights. OurCalling was one of the businesses they landed on. “We linked up with OurCalling about a week before Snowmageddon last year,” Parvin remembers. “The giving committee presented to me a recommendation to give them some type of donation. And I loved what I saw.” They met with the founder, Wayne Walker, and donated $50,000. Patrick Palmer at OurCalling estimates there are more than 10,000 homeless in Dallas on any given night, including shelters, “It’s an esti- mate, as no one actually knows the number. We will see about 20,000 people in a year, Parkland will see about 10,000 and the Bridge homeless shelter will see about 10,000 unique people.” Now during the winter, White Rhino Coffee shops set out boxes to collect coats, gloves, hats and socks several days before temperatures are forecasted to fall below freezing. Prior to an early-February cold snap this year, White Rhino kicked off the dive with $1,500 in new jackets. “The boxes fill up daily,” chief marketing officer at The Parvin Group Mary O’Connor says, “Our Calling comes and empties them. So, we’re not sure exactly how many we get.” They say that sweaters, socks, gloves, hats and anything that helps wearers to stay warm is needed and accepted. Parvin says their next mission is to look into mobile kitchens with the hopes of con- necting more people with full, hot meals. Other than their mission work, as their coffee shops expand across North Texas (there are seven shops now with another scheduled to open in Midlothian this year) Parvin wants White Rhino still to be a place where people can connect. As often as they can, they remodel old homes to give their stores an at-home feeling. “Even if they have a home and warm bed, there are so many people that don’t have a tribe. They don’t have people to talk to. They have a hard time getting to know people,” Parvin says. “So as we expand it’s not about how can we got out to make a billion dollars, but for me, it’s about how can we truly cre- ate a sense of community where people feel like they have friends.” ▼ BURGERS SO GOOD IT’S MEAN W KNIFE BURGER IS NOW ITS OWN LUNCH SPOT. BY CHANCE TOWNSEND e’ve long lauded the burgers at Knife, including this headline we should never forget: No Fuck You, John Tesar, Because Knife’s Ozersky Burger Ruined Burgers for Me. After temporarily halting lunch service at Knife during the pandemic, chef John Tesar is ready to get back to making midday meals great again. Knife at The Highland is now open as Knife Burger from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Knife Burger will continue to use 44 Farms ground sirloin patties. The lunch menu includes mainstays like The Ozersky with American cheese and red onion and The Magic with cheddar cheese and bacon on an English muffin. The pimento cheese burger is back for lunch. Chris Parvin says his coffee shops are more about people than drinks and food. We visited Knife Burger recently to affirm our ongoing adoration for Tesar’s burgers. Having tried the Ozersky, quite possibly the finest burger you could eat in Dallas, we’re glad to report all is well in Knife Burger land. New additions to the menu include a patty melt and The Knuckle Sandwich made with lobster knuckle meat, garlic aioli and hoagie bread. They also have a 44 Farms hot dog served with cheese, sauerkraut, minced onions and minced jalapeños. Steaks are also available at lunch includ- ing the petite filet, filet mignon and filet au Poivre and the dry-aged, bone-in rib-eye. The dessert menu is also worth checking. The Banana, Bourbon and Dulce is worth its $12 price and more. Banana panna cotta is an underrated dessert, combined with the Bourbon compressed banana, dulce ganache and dulce ice cream. It’s sweet heaven on a white porcelain plate. Knife goes back to its regularly scheduled steakhouse programming at 5 p.m. daily. Knife Burger at The Highland, 5300 E Mockingbird Lane. Open 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday courtesy Knife MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 MARCH 3–9, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.comdallasobserver.com
