17 June 22 - 28, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents it’s a side effect of being a small business tucked away in the suburbs. But the more likely explanation is that locals have just done a really great job at gate-keeping their favorite morning-time pastries. Ollio started out as a small farmers’ mar- ket booth at the Frisco Fresh Market in 2019. It’s the brainchild of Sri Lankan- American Golda Sumpon, who left her full- time IT job to pursue her lifelong passion for baking pastries. The booth started off with a limited menu of croissants, macarons and other French pastries. But hundreds of local petitions and long lines later, Sumpon racked up the courage to open her own brick-and-mortar storefront in The Colony. We first made a visit when Ollio opened its doors to the public in June 2021. Almost two years later, we checked back in. It was no sur- prise to us that the lines haven’t disap- peared. Scents of baking pastry dough, cara- melized butter and freshly whipped creams engulf you as you enter the store. That classic bakery smell is something that Sumpon takes pride in. “Everything is made from scratch here in the bakery,” she says. “From our fillings to our pastry dough, all our ingredi- ents are made in- house. That’s what makes it smell — and taste — so good.” The standard pastry menu hasn’t changed either. The classic almond crois- sants that Ollio is known for still line the bakery’s shelves, stuffed generously with an almond cream filling and topped with crunchy sliced almonds. Ollio’s colorful macarons have also remained a menu signa- ture, filled with a light buttercream in fla- vors like lemon, pistachio and chocolate. But much on the menu has evolved. The popularity of her signature almond crois- sant, for example, recently pushed Sumpon to get creative with the standard recipe. Ol- lio now serves different iterations of the cus- tomer favorite, including both berry-cream and chocolate-flavored spins on the classic almond. She also added savory flavors to the crois- sant selection, hoping to capture the palates of customers without a big sweet tooth. Sun- dried tomato, spinach and ham are just some of the specialty ingredients that you can now find baked into Ollio’s buttery croissants. “It’s been a learning curve,” Sumpon ad- mits. “I’ve really made the effort to talk to more customers, so I can get their input and see what people like. I think it’s definitely working.” Sumpon tells us Ollio’s lines have only gotten longer since opening. Especially during 8 a.m. rush hour, you might find yourself in a line of hungry patrons, all aching for a bite of Sumpon’s flaky crois- sants or a lick of her signature macaron filling. The lines are no surprise. Pastries are filled with not only fresh fruit com- potes and Chantilly creams, but a whole lot of passion too. “This is my calling,” Sumpon says. “Hon- estly, I’m putting more hours into this than I did in my corporate job.” But it’s clear that she’s content where she is. “Not once do I regret choosing this pas- sion over IT. This isn’t just about me any- more. My husband, my family, and even my three kids are really involved in the bakery. It’s turned into a real family business in the truest sense of the word. And I love every day of it.” Ollio Patisserie, 7552 Main St., The Col- ony. Tuesday – Saturday, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. ▼ FIRST LOOK STANDING ON ITS OWN NORTH DALLAS GETS A CHARMING AND TASTY NEW SPOT WITH ONĒSAN DIM SUM AND SUSHI . BY ANGIE QUEBEDEAUX O nēsan Dim Sum and Sushi is a chic Asian restaurant on Inwood Road in North Dallas. It’s been open for about a year now in the spot that was for- merly the home of East Hampton Sandwich Company. The owners of Onēsan [Oh-nee-sawn] also own the neighboring Republic Texas Tavern. The concept started as SevenWoks, an Asian-fusion delivery-only place that originally operated out of Republic’s kitchen during the pandemic. Based on the response from the neighborhood, it evolved into its own standalone restaurant. It’s an inviting place from the moment you approach. A covered outdoor patio connects to the main bar through a large window that’s open when weather is nice. The patio is cleverly separated from the restaurant’s neighbors at Village Burger Bar and Howdy Homemade Ice Cream by a wall of neatly trimmed greenery, which helps drown out the sound of the 50-plus kids who are usually running amok at those establishments on any given evening. Step inside and you’ll find yourself in a more sophisticated but casual dining area. The bar is adorned with Japanese art and custom murals, and the traditional sushi bar seats eight if you like to watch the sushi chefs. The lighting sets a dim and intimate mood, and the music adds a touch of flair without drowning out conversation. We visited during happy hour (Tuesday through Saturday, 4–6 p.m.), so we in- dulged in a smorgasbord of dishes both on and off the happy hour menu. If you’re there for happy hour, you can score select traditional rolls, dim sum, craft cocktails and wine for $7 each. This is a steal consid- ering the same dishes outside of happy hour range from $8 to $15. We kicked off our feast with the obliga- tory order of spicy edamame. You can go traditional with sea salt, but we opted for the spicier version with a garlic Szechuan and Fresno chili sauce. It was packed with flavor, hitting that sweet spot of savory with a little kick. Next were sesame hoisin meatballs. These tender beef and pork meatballs were served in a flavorful ginger scallion glaze. With our appetites in full swing, we set our sights on the wild mushroom Rangoon, which came with five crispy and crunchy bites served atop a Szechuan chili and spicy mustard sauce. The filling was a bit of a surprise: more of a wild mushroom cream cheese sauce than a filling, but still tasty. Our final happy hour plate was the hot and sour beef dumplings, beef-filled pockets of love served with a spiced black vinegar sauce. This was our favorite dish on the happy hour menu. Even though our stomachs were saying otherwise, we couldn’t resist exploring more from the main menu. The Katana Crunch ($19) caught our attention and ended up stealing the show. The presenta- tion of this dish is spectacular. It’s served with five bite-sized pieces of crispy fried rice tucked neatly into a wooden box, ac- companied by a bowl of spicy tuna, shisho and avocado and a soup spoon filled with a spicy ponzu. It was a DIY adventure for as- sembling the perfect bite. To wrap up our feast, we indulged in salmon and sweet shrimp nigiri. We’ve eaten a lot of sweet shrimp along the way, and the sweet shrimp at Onēsan was incred- ibly fresh with a perfectly crunchy fried shrimp head. We wanted to try more dishes, but we had reached the limit. Guess that means we have the perfect excuse for a re- turn visit. A few of the dishes we missed but will be on our hit list for next time include the crispy “monkey” balls, which are coconut rice balls with a spicy carrot ginger puree and Thai basil oil ($9). We saw several other guests in the restaurant enjoying these. Also on the list is the shrimp and lob- ster shumai ($18) and the char sui glazed ribs ($16). And hold on to your chopsticks, be- cause Onēsan has a special seasonal menu available on weekends. We accidentally got a peek at it when our waiter handed us what he thought was the happy hour menu, but it includes unique offerings like hairy crab, cherry salmon, snow crab and pork shumai, live scallop tiradito and golden eye yuzu honey. Onēsan, 12300 Inwood Road. Tuesday – Wednesday, 4–9 p.m.; Thursday – Saturday, 4–10 p.m.; Sunday, 5–9 p.m.; closed Monday. Anisha Holla It’s been two years since Golda Sumpon quit her IT job to follow her passion for pastry-making.
