Fond

I really appreciate what Fond is introducing to the growing neighborhood of Downtown Dallas. In the midst of corporations deciding whether or not to invest in office space and real estate investors converting office spaces into luxury residences, Fond is bridging the gap between being a business lunch stop or the locals' daily culinary obsession. The Food, Selection, Quality, Service, Staff, and Chefs merge to create a pure breath of fresh air. The Dallas foodie crowd is hard to please, but this restaurant is the kind of place where you can tell them exactly what you prefer - and they will make it happen. From what I've noticed, if you leave here disappointed, you may be the problem. Fond needs to be your everyday neighborhood spot, where you take your friends, family, and colleagues to show them the Best of Dallas. This is what we've all been waiting for.

Having been an avid supporter of Frank., I was so excited to see Jennie Kelley was opening a restaurant with her SO. We went to one of the Fond AD dinners, Love Language, and boy, was it wonderful. Eight courses of some of the most inventive, flavorful food with stories that enhanced the experience. We were greeted with an amuse bouche of gnoccho fritto with guanciale along with a glass of bubbly. As we enjoyed, we walked around and took in the ambiance of the restaurant. We don't live nearby and haven't had a chance to visit the restaurant for normal business hours, and the atmosphere was cozy and inviting. The guests were all sat together at one very long table, similar to Frank. Once we were seated, we started on the main courses: Course 1 Beef Heat Tartare, Course 2 Smoked Scallops with Crispy Pancetta, Course 3 Thrice Cooked Steak-fry with Roasted Onion, Course 4 Mezcal Passion Fruit Sorbet, Course 5 Garlic Soup (one of my absolute favorites), Course 6 Spaghetti "Meatball" Bolognese with Mozzarella and Arrabbiata Sauce, Course 7 Lamb Neck Pierogi, Course 8 Chocolate Covered Strawberry with Pistachio & Pop Rock Crumble. With each course, the hosts gave us the background of how they developed the recipe, what the food meant to them, and encouraged feedback and discussion. The guests we sat near were all fantastic, and we really enjoyed discussing this experience with along with sharing recommendations for other events. Overall, highly recommend this dining experience and hope to be able to making it one day during normal business hours to try out their daily menu, especially that pizza I hear so much about

My husband and I stopped by Fond on Monday night before a hockey game to enjoy their aperitivo hour. We knew the place had opened months ago because we'd followed Frank Underground years ago and saw the buzz about the new restaurant downtown, and it did not disappoint!Parking was a breeze (and there's complementary validation in the lot beneath the building), and the restaurant's entrance was very easy to find. Fond is a very cute space and I really liked the ambience while we perused the menu and figured out what we wanted to order. We ended up getting three apps (the carrot, the octopus, and the fried olives), as well as the Better Half pizza to split and soft serve at the end. All three apps we tried were quite delicious: the olives had an excellent brininess and paired well with the roasted garlic aioli, the roasted tri-color carrots were perfectly cooked and the bed of whipped goat cheese + honey was delicious, and the octopus was probably the most deliciously flavored and textured version of the dish that we've had in quite some time. Highly recommend all of those items!The Detroit-style pizza was also excellent. Loved the crispy, pillowy crust, and the flavors of the tart sweet vodka sauce, the salty sausage, and the slight bitterness of the broccoli rabe blended super well. We didn't manage to finish all of it, but our pizza leftovers reheated well in the toaster oven and were still delicious on the second day.And we couldn't resist grabbing a cup of the soft serve to finish! The olive oil and Maldon salt toppings were truly inspired; I feel like I may have to do that whenever I eat ice cream at home from now on. We'll be back for their NYE communal dinner and can't wait to experience that journey! Looking forward to returning for other items on the menu as well as hopefully coming for a sandwich at lunch hour some day.

Really good Detroit style pizza, but feel free to skip the appetizers on the menu, they weren't great. We tried the bone marrow and the carrots and both were just okay. Now that pizza?? Veryyyyyyyyyyyy good. Felt authentic to Detroit except for the fact that it was a circular pie and not a rectangle. Will definitely be back!

Eat here! -amazing food-great ultra happy friendly service that genuinely love the food they are serving-this is Chef Jenny from Frank Underground's spot so if you ever experienced that, you need to be a regular here. -cool diner style decor and music makes the vibe very laid back and pleasant

This place is going to explode soon and rightfully so! Came for a quick lunch today after reading the review in D magazine. Weather was perfect so enjoyed the time walking downtown to this lovely building full of great foodie options. Service- OUTSTANDING! Our waitress was amazing and did her job exceptionally well plus had a great attitude.....so rare these days. We even met one of the owners and served by the chef. Top to bottom chef's kissAtmosphere- really great vibes, music, open floor plan full of windows. Cute patio area tooFood-Wow.The mortadella sandwich is everything described in the glowing article in D magazine. My BF is a big fan of that sandwich. He is Italian and is from NJ, so sandwiches are a pretty big deal. He was wow'd for sure! I was too! I had the Tower club with turkey and pork belly and deliciousness....amazing. We both enjoyed the lemon chicken orzo soup very much!! Highly recommend the soft serve and olive oil drizzle....trust, you be a convert too. Live a little Please go and try because locally owned delicious spots like this cool place are rare, and almost extinct downtown. Look forward to returning and trying the appertif hour which involves their pizza...all bread and dough is made in house. Another reason why this place is exceptional.....the head chef himself takes baking the bread seriously. Good bread is an art and essential in elevation of any kind involving a sandwich.GoTRUST Thank me later

The flavors stood out in every dish especially the soup. Great staff and location. The atmosphere is fun and modern but still warm.

What a wonderful restaurant! With their limited dinner hours during the week and no weekend hours as of now, spring break week (no traffic coming from the burbs!) was the perfect time to make the trek downtown on a Friday evening. Well friends, the trek was certainly worth it as I haven't come across an establishment that's so unique in their offerings in a long time [the last one was the now closed cry wolf :( we ended up ordering several items off their shared plates menu - Fried Olives - absolutely stellar and didn't even need the yummy dipping sauce to make it work! Tin Fish was not bad, they had a few options and we went for the spicy mussels (had a slight powdery note in the end). The Octopus was fantastic, perfectly cooked and the breadcrumbs were a nice touch without overpowering the protein. The Bone marrow was roasted to perfection and the mustard seeds sauce on the side was a nice touch but was certainly missing a bit of oomph if you ask me. Maybe a sprinkle of sea salt would have done the magic? The White beans and sausage was fantastic! The light broth had so much flavor to it, beans cooked perfectly and there was so much fennel flavor coming out of the sausage. Was a perfect dish for a cloudy/rainy day. We had high expectations for the carrot dish and I don't know if it was because it was rushed to our table because it was forgotten, it just felt okay. The goat cheese sauce on the bottom was very nice but the cook or seasoning on the carrots felt lacking. Bummed about this one as we had high hopes for it :( for our main dish, we got the pepp in your step and that was delicious and was devoured in no time. Our kiddo also seemed to really love the house made soft serve that day which was strawberry! Our server was also very knowledgeable with all the natural wines they serve (they only serve and sell natural wines here!!!) we enjoyed a superbloom rose which was a beautiful pour and had a lot of funk to it. They also sell any of their wines to go (20% off menu price) so we picked up several skin contact wines to prepare for summer. The owner was very helpful in helping us find some bottles that would appeal to our tastes. All in all we had a great time and can't wait to return again! Keep up the great work team!!!!

Fond is the rare combination of a great atmosphere as well as unmatched food to create a unique and unforgettable dining experience.In our world of restaurants being either "Instagram Friendly" with mediocre food or fantastic food with no character, they've been the arbiters of a spot that is gramable with incredible fare. Chefs Brandon Moore and Jennie Kelley have created a special space that is already, in just over a year of opening their doors, a Dallas staple.The service team is unmatched. Lindsay, Reagan, David and Francisco have all served me in one way or another. I've been more times than I can count and have never had a less than excellent experience.Their daily specials are something to set your calendar to. Their seasonal menu never disappoints. With the amount of options they have, you'd think that one would be a miss. To date, they've not had one. An obvious choice is the pizza with the Brussel Crowe topping my list of "must haves". Lesser known items on the menu such as the steak frites (seasonal) and the Jimmy's Sausage are also undefeated. If you're taste skews more towards the light end, the salads, tinned fish and The Carrot are spectacular. Their natural wine selection is the best in Dallas. It's obvious that hours of research go into each selection on the menu. Jennie, Brandon and the entire staff are incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to your choices and have always steered me down the right path. One of the few places that accommodates all; if a thick savory Detroit style pizza and a couple cocktails is your jam or a clean salad and a glass of wine is your journey, they've got you.From the greeting by their doorman when you walk in, to the friendliest of farewells that I've ever received on a Friday evening, Fond is one of the only place I recommend for an otherworldly Dallas night.

Great food! Perfect service. Relaxed - comfortable vibe. I'll be back many times and I am looking forward to each future visit.