Crossroads Diner chef-owner Tom Fleming will open Chez Dip, “a killer French dip sandwich place” at Legacy Hall

“I’m opening a food stall at Legacy Hall,” says an enthusiastic Tom Fleming, the chef and owner of Crossroads Diner and the former chef at fine-dining restaurants Pappas Bros. steakhouse, Old Hickory Steakhouse plus long-shuttered Riviera and 214 Central.

Fleming tells EscapeHatch that he will open a from-scratch “killer French dip sandwich place” at Plano’s Legacy Hall food hall in mid-December that will specialize in French dip sandwiches. The shop will be called Chez Dip and offer a tight menu of turkey and roast beef sandos served with a bag of chips or housemade Béarnaise potato salad – “it’s the same potato salad that we served at Meat Fight and people loved it so much, we decided to put it on the Chez Dip menu, too.” says Fleming.

“We’re starting with two killer sandwiches, and then we’ll expand the menu from there,” Fleming says.

Both French dip sandwiches will be constructed from roast beef or turkey slow-cooked at Chez Dip, sliced then piled high on custom-baked fresh banh mi baguettes.

The turkey French dip ($7.25 small, $11.95 large) comes slathered with red pepper hummus, tomato-caper relish and piled high with shaved turkey breast.

The roast beef dip sando ($8.25 small, $12.95 large) takes a similar hefty approach, using schmears of roasted garlic aioli, smoked gouda cheese and pickled red onions.

“We’ll roast the meats where you can see them, then slice the turkey and roast beef right in front of you so know it’s fresh,” Fleming says. Some items (like the resto’s name) even come flourished with a random accent aigu.

Chez Dip is currently slated to open December 17 and will occupy the original Monkey Noodle space in Legacy Hall’s northeast corner – a spot most recently used by chef Tim Byres for a short-lived grab-and-go concept that quickly closed.