Ice cream news

Ice cream shop with adorable rubber ducky theme to open in Fort Worth

S'mores sundae

Photo courtesy of Duck Duck Scoop

Fort Worth ice cream truck Duck Duck Scoop - known for its rubber ducky-topped sweet treats - is taking the big next step: Opening a permanent location in north Fort Worth, at 5801 Golden Triangle Blvd. #106, in a newly built addition to a shopping strip.

Owner Lori Cuadros, who runs the business with her teenage son Ben, says they're planning to have it open this summer, when they'll be scooping sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream by the scoop, embellished with their trademark collectible rubber ducks.

UPDATE 11-2-24: The restaurant marked its grand opening on November 2.
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“We came up with the rubber ducks as something easy, washable, and collectible,” Cuadros says. “People do collect them in so many different ways with Duck Duck Jeep and Duck Duck Cruise. We thought that would be such a fun thing.”

The menu features sundaes in nearly a dozen creative flavors such as apple pie, s'mores, banana pudding, and peaches & cream. Priced at about $10, they're an indulgence and fun to share. Their Circus Sundae, for example, has two scoops of cotton candy ice cream, topped with frosted circus cookies, circus bark, whipped topping, two cupcakes, a strawberry wafer, and a rubber duck.

They also offer at least a half dozen decadent milkshakes at $9 each, plus ice cream by the scoop, served in a cup or waffle cone. They use ice cream supplied by Blue Bell, Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream, and Blue Bunny, plus Italian ice from Rosati Ice.

They first launched the food truck in summer 2022 after relocating from California during the pandemic.

“We were trying to find something else entrepreneurial that we could do, and we both love ice cream,” Cuadros says. “So we said, ‘You know what, let’s open up an ice cream truck. That sounds fun.’ And so that’s what happened.”

They keep a weekly schedule of popups, including regular appearances at Fort Worth-area high schools - Ben is a junior at Boswell High School - as well as public and private events.

They'll keep the food truck rolling after the shop is open, although they'll will take a hiatus to get the storefront running smoothly.

The space is long and narrow, with room for about 16 seats, plus an ice cream-shaped bench for photo opportunities. The walls will be painted a cute pink, and the rubber ducks will be housed in big, clear tubes at the front counter.

“We’re very focused on fun,” Cuadros says. “The design for our store is very Instagram-able, and people just love rubber ducks.”

ice cream food-trucks desserts openings

Hotel News

Restaurant at chic new Fort Worth hotel reveals menu by Top Chef

Courtesy rendering

Bar and lounge at Nobleman Hotel in Fort Worth.

A new hotel restaurant opening in Fort Worth will bring back a name familiar to local diners: The restaurant is Duchess, opening in The Nobleman Hotel, 503 Bryan Ave. in Fort Worth’s Southside neighborhood in 2025. The chef is Casey Thompson, a former DFW chef who rocketed to fame after she appeared as a contestant on Top Chef.

Thompson is especially familar to Fort Worth, since she helped launch Brownstone, a restaurant that opened in 2010 in Fort Worth's West 7th district where she served as a consulting chef for a year.

The Nobleman Hotel is the distinctive development from Bedford Lodging in which a new-construction hotel will be wrapped around the historic No. 5 Fire Station, built in 1911. The restored fire station will serve as the heart of the hotel and will also be home to Duchess, with an architecturally prominent façade and approachable menu that represent a significant addition to the local dining scene.

Food
Bedford Lodging president Jeff Blackman enlisted consultant chef Thompson — who started out at The Mansion Restaurant in Dallas — to concept the menu and source an executive chef, to be named at a later date.

Chef Casey Thompson Casey Thompson at a DIFFA event in 2016. Photo by Shana Anderson

According to a release, the restaurant will feature New American cuisine with a Texas influence including steaks, pasta, and seafood.

Starters will include blue crab toast, tuna tartare, beef carpaccio ciabatta, snapper crudo, and crispy chicken croquettes.

Entrees will include red snapper with clams and butter beans; ricotta gnocchi with truffle butter; and a fried eggplant schnitzel with a poblano chimichurri.

Three steak options will include filet, ribeye, and New York strip, with an array of sauces.

Sides will include hand-cut fries with tarragon aioli; baguettes with pan drippings; and a homey side of spinach with black-eyed peas.

One stand-out feature will be the “Bowl of Red” — beef boar and beer chili with accoutrements, served in a silver tureen with choice of Fritos or buttered koji rice.

Design
The 56-seat restaurant will feature warm tones, banquettes, flooring changes, and details such as firemen’s pulley systems and brass fittings, keeping the history of the space alive. The entry will feature a welcoming portal on the first floor of the fire house to the bar and dining room.

The patio will be a continuation of the restaurant space with outdoor dining and vignettes of lounge furniture for smaller bites.

The Nobleman Hotel, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton concept, will open in early 2025, with 121 guest rooms and 32 extended stay suites with kitchenettes — pairing modern amenities with a historic façade, anchored by the original No. 5 Fire Station.

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