City of Ate from p19 items to give them a unique flavor. The chili cheese tots are also great to munch on as you sip beers on the patio of Oak Cliff Brewing Co., but if you’re living both the vegan and the sober lifestyle, HopeBoy’s also offers signature beverages: the Big Meach and the Purple Sip. The Big Meach is a mango and peach flavored tea and the Purple Sip is a butterfly pea flower tea with ashwagandha and sweetened with agave ($6 each). “I think each and every week we’re building momentum, and that keeps me hopeful,” Alexander says. “I just want to spread this vegan food all over the city of Dal- las, man. I have people say ‘I’m coming from Fort Worth’ or ‘I’m coming from McKinney’ or ‘I’m coming from Waxahachie.’ I’m grateful for the opportunity to be here in Oak Cliff, and people are willing to even travel with gas be- ing $4 a gallon.” Over the next five years, Alex- ander wants to be able to go mo- bile with HopeBoy’s before opening a brick-and-mortar store and eventually a franchise. Alexander has been out of the drug dealing game and is committed to righting his wrongs of the past. Now, an avid churchgoer and a pur- veyor of vegan cuisine, Alexander aims to be an example to those wanting to turn their lives around after emerging from a dark place. “I did so much dirt in Oak Cliff and South Dallas,” Alexander says. “I think this is my avenue that God has given me to start healing my community ... whether you believe in God or you don’t, the reality is, you have to have hope for some- thing to turn around. And if you don’t have the mindset or the heart to hope for anything, you’re gonna stay in a dark place.” HopeBoy’s Kitchen, 1300 S. Polk St. (Oak Cliff ). Open 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. ▼ OPENING AND CLOSINGS SQUARE PASTA G 20 20 GRAFFITI PASTA IN DENTON IS NOW OPEN IN THE OLD HOME OF J&J’S PIZZA BY DANIEL RODRIGUE raffiti Pasta on the square in Denton has big shoes to fill. For 24 years, the previ- ous tenant, J&J’s Pizza, was a reli- able place to grab a slice of pizza, and the basement below, Ol’ Dirty Basement, was a DIY concert den that became a place of local-music legend. Last summer when they announced they were closing be- cause of a rent hike, there was a bit of a panic in the square. Now a new restaurant has opened. Graffiti Pasta, which still boasts some of the previous ten- ant’s window art, is a vibrant ode to Denton and pasta. Graffiti cov- ers nearly every visible wall, bench and table — other than an original stone wall, which is still un- touched. We stopped by each night dur- ing their first week of business and received a hearty greeting and at- described as fresh spinach spa- ghetti in the pesto sauce. The Graffiti Meatballs arrived from the kitchen steaming hot swimming in house-made mari- nara. “It’s delicious, and I’m not a big meatball eater,” Kathy Brown, a patron sitting at the bar during one of our visits said of the Graffiti Meatballs and the Banksy’s Baked Ziti. Brown manages a cafeteria handling the booking. Their online calendar has more details. The website notes that for now they’re only open for dinner ser- vice but plan for normal business hours to run from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. with the kitchen closing a 10 p.m.; the bar will serve drinks until 2 a..m. Check their Facebook page for updates before heading out. Graffit Pasta, 118 W. Oak St. (Denton) Graffiti Pasta opened in J&J’s Pizza’s old location in Denton. various drinks such as iced coco- nut milk with espresso, taro peach gum latte and coconut water with rose and tea, but we were there for the jelly. The jelly is a coconut-flavored gelatin, opaque and jiggly, but defi- nitely not your great aunt’s Jell-O dessert. It’s served either in a jar that is about a cup in size ($8-12) or in a whole coconut ($10-12). Both can then have fruits and sweets added. In the jar such selections in- clude fresh-cut mango coconut jelly, papaya coconut jelly, dark chocolate and Oreo coconut jelly, and toasted caramel durian coco- nut jelly. If you decide to get it served in a whole coconut, your choices include the whole coconut jelly trio (coconut pudding, coco- nut meat and toasted coconut flakes), coconut jelly with Oreo and mochi ball and coconut jelly with purple sticky rice, mango and rice ball. We wanted to try both types, so we opted for fresh-cut strawberry coconut jelly in a jar and the coconut trio in a whole co- conut. We waited about 15 minutes for them to be prepared, and when they were ready Jiang apologized for the wait. First of all, the glass jars are cute Daniel Rodrigue tentive service from Jon Harwell at the bar. A-ha’s “Take on Me” called our attention to two of the large flat- screen TVs above the bar that play through a mix of ‘80s and ‘90s mu- sic videos. There’s also a colorful nod to Back to the Future II dis- played behind the bar. Small jars on the bartop contain silverware, fancy paper napkins and chop- sticks. The menu is based on owner Anthony “Tony” Morel’s Sicilian grandmother’s recipes, with some modern embellishments. “She taught the family how to cook,” Morel explains between plating dishes and running plates to tables. “I never met her, but I learned the recipes.” The menu is still expanding and evolving with a couple of items be- ing added and replaced during the first couple of weeks of service. A butter and herb bread knot, which wasn’t printed on the menu nor of- fered when ordering the first cou- ple of days, was added later in the week. We were prepared to hype the Tortellini al Denton, which during the first week was a tasty cheese tortellini in a creamy pesto sauce topped with fresh-cut basil. By the next week, the tortellini was gone and replaced with Pasta al Denton and is “picky and hard to please,” but she planned to return for an- other meal soon. In fact, we spot- ted her on a return trip Thursday. One standout dish was the Cal- abrese Caprese with heirloom cherry tomatoes, smoked mozza- rella balls, calabrese chili oil, fresh- cut basil and house-made pesto finished with a drizzle of balsamic reduction. The pesto and chili oil combine for a fiery explosion of flavor that will have you craving another bowl. We also recommend the Side- ways Mac Attack, which is made with cavatappi (corkscrew) noo- dles smothered in a house-made Italian cheese sauce and topped with a blend of cheeses and herbed panko topping. This may be our new favorite mac and cheese in town. Graffiti Pasta has a dozen canned and bottled beers to choose from, including the Italian staple Peroni. The wine menu in- cludes a brut, prosecco, a few whites and reds, all sold by the glass ($5-11) or bottle ($20-50). Harwell boasts of a “gnarly” classic Negroni and Black Walnut Man- hattan. As for the music scene down below, it’s in progress. The first concert is scheduled for May 7, ac- cording to Don D’Amico, who is ▼ FIRST LOOK FOLLOWING SOME SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ, COCONUT PARADISE NEEDS HELP (LITERALLY, THEY’RE HIRING). BY HANK VAUGHN JUST JELLIN’ C oconut Paradise, inside the 99 Ranch Market at the George Bush Tollway and Old Denton in Carrollton, opened around Easter and is still in its ex- tended soft opening stage. They serve up some flavorful sweetness in the form of coconut jelly, and word of mouth and various Face- book pages have created enough of buzz that it’s extremely busy. In fact, there is a help wanted sign near the counter that states “Ur- gent Hiring: full/part time.” Not just hiring, but urgent hiring, and the crowds that were there the Saturday we visited would attest to this. Owner Hanyue Jiang was man- ning the register along with three or four other very diligent workers who were trying their best to serve everyone these heavenly Asian delicacies in a timely and efficient manner. There was a line to place the order, which was good in that it allowed us to peruse the menu and attempt to understand exactly what was being served. They have and have the Coconut Paradise logo printed on them and come with a screw-top lid. This treat was visu- ally pleasurable with colorful, firm and just ripe strawberries sitting atop the coconut jelly. Again, the coconut jelly is sort of a cross be- tween gelatin and pudding and not too sweet. In fact, there was a sugar cane pump on the counter in case you wanted it sweeter, but we did not find this necessary. Bonus: you get to keep the jar. The coconut trio in the whole coconut was visually interesting. The jelly was creamy with just the right amount of sweet- ness, which was topped with a layer of lightly toasted coconut flakes. The coconut meat could be scraped off the sides and eaten separately or together with everything else in one complete power coconut scoop. Evidently, they will offer to scrape the meat out for you if you have trouble doing so. All in all, def- initely worth any wait, and we’re sure that will get shorter as they work some of the kinks out during this soft opening. We’d still like to try the bird’s nest drinks, and if we try enough of the jarred jellies, we might eventually have enough jars for a six-person place setting at home. Reminds me of the free glasses one would get with a fill-up of gas at Sinclair back in the day, but much tastier. Coconut Paradise located inside 99 Ranch Market (Carrollton) 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday & Tuesday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Friday & Saturday MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 MAY 19–25, 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
