Bianco pizza from Modmarket

Bianco pizza from Modmarket

The new fast-casual healthy restaurant Modmarket opens in Preston Hollow Village at the end of January — along with several other eateries new to Dallas.

The Denver-based chain already has locations in our northern suburbs. A recent trip to the Plano restaurant offered a preview of what we can expect in our neighborhood.

The main philosophy behind Modmarket is simple, clean, whole foods. Some of the seasonal menu caters to health nuts, while some of it leans more toward traditional restaurant food, says co-owner Anthony Pigliacampo. The two most popular dishes illustrate both sides of that. There’s the Superfood salad made with spinach, kale, quinoa pilaf, carrots, almond, red grapes and feta with a champagne vinaigrette; and the steak sandwich, made without heavy sauces and additives.

“Those are the yin and yang,” Pigliacampo says.

The supply chain doesn’t allow every ingredient to come from local, organic sources, he says, but they do what they can. For example, right now, the restaurant is taking advantage of Texas’ great winter citrus season. Whether local, organic or neither, Pigliacampo makes sure the producers are reputable

There are several breakfast dishes, sandwiches, soups and home-style plates. The menu also offers about eight different brick-oven pizzas made in-house. It takes two days to make the crispy, whole-grain dough from scratch. The prosciutto pizza (somewhat unexpected at a fast-casual restaurant) is made with arugula, pears and Gorgonzola.

The Thai chicken sandwich, which is actually more akin to the Vietnamese banh mi, tastes as authentic as some of Dallas’ revered Asian-food restaurants, with a slightly different peanut-mango dipping sauce.

Most items are under $10, making it a reasonable option for those who dine out often. And you can’t beat the $2 Tiamo organic wine by the glass. It’s poured from a tap, making it cheaper to serve and eliminating the bottle waste.

You’ll find calorie counts not only on the menu but also on your receipt when you leave.