15 January 5-11, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | P atrick Murphy is the general manager at the store where Randle works. We meet there one day to talk. Billie Eil- ish’s “My Future” is playing in the back- ground, the music a bit louder than normal. Eilish’s voice takes a delicate turn: “I love my future and you don’t know her.” The coffee shop is packed, again. Not an empty seat. The line down the counter occa- sionally reaches the door as those waiting for coffee look for a seat. “She [Randle] made the first drink ever at La La Land number one,” Murphy says with a big smile. “I’m proud of her for growing into being a mom, providing that life she didn’t get.” Murphy talks about the “normalize kind- ness” motto and the impact it’s had on his life too. “A lot of them [in the mentorship pro- gram] haven’t received that growing up or in a work environment, so they get that experi- ence here,” he says. “It’s changed me as a person. I didn’t realize how many times I needed to hear ‘I love you’ in one day.” Randle hopes to start college after she completes her GED, and at some point she wants to become a general manager at La La Land. Her goal is to be a two-car family with her boyfriend, so they don’t have to share a car, one working during the day and the other at night. In the next year or so, she also hopes to be able to afford day- care for her daughter while she pursues her career goals. As for the future of La La Land and the mentorship programs, Reihani has ex- panded to Houston and Santa Monica, with more stores in the works locally. “My long- term goal is really endless,” he says. “I want La La Land to be able to touch every human on the planet in some capacity.” ▼ FIRST LOOK NEW MEETS OLD WANG’S COOK HOUSE OFFERS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. BY HANK VAUGHN W ang’s Cook House in Richardson offers a good combination of both traditional Chinese fare and Americanized dishes. General Tso’s chicken, crab Rangoon and orange beef share menu space with pork intestine dried hot spicy pot, Chengdu mung bean jelly and spicy fish with boiled oil sauce. In short, there’s some- thing for everybody, with steamed rice and an eggroll thrown in for good measure. We started off with a pot of chrysanthe- mum tea, attractively priced at $2.50. The light floral notes and warm cups helped us thaw out from the drive out while we sam- pled yet another take on the ubiquitous scal- lion pancake. Wang’s pancakes are on the thin side and could use a bit more scallions, but they had the right amount of chew and were not at all oily as is sometimes the case. Other appetizers offered include bao, Si- chuan sweet cold jelly and dumplings, along with Sichuan spicy wonton in red oil. In ad- dition to ordering the pancake, we also quite often try whatever spicy wonton is offered. These wontons were indeed spicy but not overly so, and they were not drowning in the red oil as sometimes happens with this dish. We took advantage of the lunch special menu this day (about $11), which included a choice of soup (hot and sour or egg drop), rice (steamed or fried), an eggroll and an en- trée selected from a relatively large list. The soups, served with some wonton “crackers,” were not large servings but were just enough and really hit the spot on a cold and blustery day. Other soup choices include tomato fried egg, oxtail, braised beef and seaweed egg drop. For the mains we were dull and unimagi- native and went with shredded pork in gar- lic sauce and orange chicken, both of which were above-average efforts of these two popular stalwarts. Neither was oversauced or underseasoned. The chicken had red and green peppers that provided a bit of visual pop over the usual monochromatic brown, and the shredded pork was cooked to per- fect doneness. Other mains include some lamb selec- tions such as stir-fried lamb with green on- ion and sliced lamb with cumin sauce, both of which will definitely be sampled on fu- ture visits, along with perhaps one of the spicy pots (spare rib, fish, lamb, combo), Chengdu sweet roasted duck, whole fish Szechuan-style and stir-fried eggs with to- matoes, the latter of which summons some nostalgic childhood memories. Although we have an abundance of Chi- nese restaurants in North Texas, Wang’s Cook House is definitely worth a visit. 4011 E. Renner Road, No. 128, Richard- son; Monday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. Hank Vaughn Orange chicken at Wang’s Cook House NY delicatessaN RestaURaNt & BaKeRY 5 dFW locatioNs cRitics choice Best deli ReadeRs choice Best BReaKFast RestaURaNt Best comFoRt Food Best saNdWich ciNdisNYdeli.com 12817 Preston Road, Suite 105 • 972-392-0190 indiapalacedallas.com New Year, Same Delicious Indian Food 10250 Shady Trail • 214.358.5511 • babydolls.com Come watch all the football action with us! THE LEGEND LIVES ON® THE LEGEND LIVES ON® check out our new kitchen daily buffet Mon-fri 11aM-2PM stadiuM buffet Monday-friday 4PM-10PM Sat 11aM-10pM • Sun 12pM-10pM
