Sam and Gabby Lopez had the résumés for a traditional path. Both trained at The Culinary Institute of America. Both put in time at The French Laundry and Bouchon Bakery. Then they left corporate kitchen jobs in Chicago in January 2022, moved to Sam’s hometown of Denton and opened a food trailer.
They called it Insurgent, and it’s finally getting walls. The husband-and-wife chefs are opening their first permanent restaurant at the Dallas Farmers Market in late October, in the space at 920 S. Harwood St. that last housed Caribbean Cabana.
If you’ve never made the drive to Denton, here’s why this matters. Insurgent has spent four years collecting hardware on the food truck circuit. It won Most Unique Food at the 2023 Eighter From Decatur Food Truck Challenge. In 2024 it took Grand Champion and the $10,000 prize at the Food Truck Championship of Texas. Last year it came back and won Best American Cuisine.
The trailer menu never settled into one cuisine, and the Lopezes like it that way. They cook from what Texas farmers and ranchers bring them, change the menu with the season, follow whatever has their attention that week and try to waste nothing.
The Farmers Market space gives them room they never had in a trailer. The plan calls for shareable and plated dishes, a chef’s tasting counter, reservation-based tasting dinners through the year and after-hours supper clubs. Gabby will turn out rotating pastries and desserts, and the drinks list leans toward natural wine and beer. Alec Sanders joins them as executive sous chef.
Longtime fans can relax. The Koji Fried Chicken Sandwich is making the move to Dallas, and the trailer will keep doing pop-ups and events after the restaurant opens.
The Lopezes have said the trailer was always meant as a stepping stone. They’d been watching for a bigger space for a while, and the Farmers Market put them next to the farmers and ranchers they buy from, in front of a whole new set of diners.
You don’t have to wait until late October for a first taste. Insurgent is popping up at The Shed at the Dallas Farmers Market this Saturday, Sept. 26, and again on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or until they sell out. Admission is free.
They’re bringing the sandwich that won the Texas championship, the Shaved Prime Rib Sandwich, stacked with house-made buttermilk dressing, red wine-braised cabbage and onions, garlic butter and jus. They’re only making a limited number each day, so get there early. Sam and Gabby will be working the line, and it’s a good chance to meet them before the doors open for good.
The opening date and first menus will show up first on Insurgent’s Instagram, so that’s the account to follow.
