The Financial Times reported on Feb. 9 that in addition to increased demand and tight supplies for lightweight metal, ten- sions in Ukraine have pushed prices even higher. In bigger news, because of electric vehicles and some other factors, inventories are being quickly depleted. What’s next? “I don’t know. I really don’t. I feel like we’re just managing it as it comes right now,” says Meyer. “I’ve just really started looking at the retail prices lately, instead of just meddling in the prices. We need like a whole redo. At least to have a better under- standing of like … the blueberry muffins, I used to know that was my standby, but now I’m not sure. What else is it going to be? What can it be?” She points out that chefs are built for adversity. “We’re used to stuff flying at our heads all the time. Like this order now, this is on the fly, now this. There’s no ‘Oh, it’s Friday, I’m going to go home, and I’ll work on this on Monday.’ No, I have to do this now because the customer is waiting for me. There’s such a sense of urgency. This level of having to problem solve is in- herent in our personality. This now is tackle-able, but I don’t feel like we’re get- ting ahead of it.” ▼ FIRST LOOK MOCHI A LA DOUGHNUT MOCHINUT IN PLANO BLENDS CULTURES AND TEXTURES. BY ANISHA HOLLA T he food scene in America continues to evolve each day, subject to genius influences from different cultures, countries and individual spins on things. Jaewook Ha, founder of Mochinut, a chain that recently opened in Plano, is a perfect example of this ingenuity. The “mochinut” concept originates in Hawaii and, as its name implies, blends the traditional Japanese mochi snacks into the coveted American doughnut. Mochi, a common delicacy from Japan, is made with stretchy rice flour and is known for its gratifying texture, giving a nice elastic rebound when bitten into. Deep-fried to a golden brown color, the mochinut has a crisp outer skin. Although the outer layer mimics a typi- cal doughnut enough to fool any unassum- ing doughnut lover, the mochinut hides an unexpectedly chewy core with pockets of air to give it even more of a spongy texture. Unlike the common American doughnut, the mochinut is meant to be chewed on at length, with each bite giving more bounce than the last. It’s not just the texture of these mochi doughnuts that makes them so popular. The extensive list of flavors on Mochinut’s menu adds yet another dimension to this already- intriguing concept. There are more than 25 rotating flavors on the menu. Each confection is finished off with a top- ping and either a glaze or a sugar coating for an extra rush of flavor to an already lightly sweetened dough. Whether you choose to try an Asian-inspired flavor like ube churro — an ube flavored doughnut rolled in cinna- mon sugar — or something more exotic like lychee cream, each provides a mix of tex- Anisha Holla tures and flavors. Mochinut also makes k-dogs, a popular fried Korean street food similar to a corn dog, made with sausage, mozzarella or a combination of both that is rolled crunchy ramen noodles or potato cubes. These Ko- rean street dogs can be dunked in a tangy honey mustard, spicy mayo or ranch. Wash it all down with housemade creamy milk-based tea that is topped with brown sugar-soaked tapioca balls. They of- fer typical boba flavors like Thai tea to those more anomalous like ube or matcha. Mochinut, 3052 Old Denton Road (Car- rollton) and 8600 Preston Road (Plano), 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday - Sunday ▼ DRINKING THE MILE-HIGH BAR IS OPEN Starting Feb. 16, on flights of 176 miles or longer, passengers can get their vacation started with a bloody mary onboard once again. The Dallas-based carrier stopped selling S alcoholic beverages two years ago in the early days of the pandemic. In January 2021, President Joe Biden put into place a federal mask mandate for public transportation to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The man- date requires air travelers to wear masks in- side airports and on airplanes. Many passenger disruptions are over the mask mandate; in 2021 there were 5,981 unruly passenger reports and 4,290 mask-related incidents reported. TWU Local 556 is a union that repre- SOUTHWEST AIRLINES WILL ALLOW PASSENGERS TO IMBIBE AGAIN STARTING FEB. 16. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS outhwest Airlines announced last week it will soon allow passengers to imbibe when they want to get away. THE DALLAS- BASED CARRIER STOPPED SELLING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES TWO YEARS AGO IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE PANDEMIC. sents more than 15,000 flight attendants at Southwest Airlines. They condemned the decision on Friday saying it’s unsafe and irresponsible to resume alcohol sales. From a Facebook post, “We have ada- mantly and un- equivocally informed man- agement [of Southwest Air- lines] that to do this prior to the mask mandate being lifted is contrary to their prior statements and will potentially in- crease customer non-compliance and mis- conduct issues.” In December 2021, the U.S. Justice De- partment had to step in due to an uptick in unruly passengers. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed his staff to priori- tize the prosecution of federal crimes com- mitted on planes and at airports due to increasing attacks by passengers. Just last week the chief executive of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, asked in a letter to Garland for a no-fly list for unruly pas- sengers. Mochinut in Plano blends mochi and doughnuts for a chewy deep-fried treat. According to the Federal Aviation Ad- ministration, in 2019 there were just 146 in- vestigations initiated by unruly passengers; in 2020 it climbed to 183. In 2021 the num- ber jumped to more than 1,000, with 350 en- forcement actions taken. The Wall Street Journal just released their airline rankings for 2021. Southwest Airlines lost its title spot in 2020, falling to third. The ranking includes on-time arrivals, for which the Dallas-based carrier ranks seventh, canceled flights, extreme delays and — my personal nightmare scenario — two-hour tarmac delays for which South- west was first, meaning it had the fewest. (JetBlue had the most, followed by Ameri- can Airlines which was second worst of the nine major carriers.) Here’s hoping you didn’t shred your drink coupons that expired in 2020 or 2021 because Southwest says they will honor those through the end of 2022. Southwest will serve beer, wine, vodka, whisky and te- quila. Remember, passengers can be denied boarding if they appear intoxicated at the gate. Also, while passengers can carry small, sealed containers of alcohol on board, they cannot open and drink alcohol on the plane. Only the airline can serve pas- sengers. American Airlines still does not offer al- coholic drinks in the main cabin but does al- low it in first and business class. There’s no word yet on when they will open the bar to everyone. 15 15 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 FEBRUARY 17–23, 2022
