Allison V. Smith
Audio By Carbonatix
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the fate of some of Dallas Farmers Market’s small vendors was uncertain. Thankfully, many were still able to pivot to online, carryout and home delivery. Although stocks and bonds seem to be a huge concern in the midst of this economic downfall, Dallas favorite Stocks & Bondy is coming in hot with its second location.
Stocks & Bondy is the creation of chef Joanne Bondy, whose previous experience includes working as the sous and pastry chef at The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel and executive chef at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. She’s also a breast cancer survivor and came up with the idea of Stocks & Bondy while she was going through chemotherapy treatments.
“Being a chef, I wanted to feed my friends who would come by and visit,” Bondy says. “I realized that my go-to was braising and roasting meats, chicken, seafood and vegetables. My favorite part of the process was making stocks and soups. I thought, ‘If I enjoy making stocks and soups at my worst moments, then why not create a business that I could enjoy to create great moments for others, a staff and myself?'”
Bondy then worked on a business plan and held it near to her heart, in hopes of launching a business of her own one day. In 2014, at the age of 55, she founded Stocks & Bondy and opened a booth in the Dallas Farmers Market.
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With Stocks & Bondy, she strives to eliminate the three B’s typically used to make stocks – bouillon cubes, boxed broths and concentrated bases – in order to create healthier products.
“As time passed in my career, I have seen the increase of tubs of paste used in upscale restaurants to create their stocks,” Bondy says. “This bothered me, so I also created Stocks & Bondy to revive a lost art and improve nutrition for healthy cooking.”
Chef Joanne Bondy
Allison V. Smith
At Stocks & Bondy, shoppers can purchase a selection of collagen-rich bone broths, including lemon-lavender and lemon-basil oolong. They can also purchase culinary commodities, such as beef, chicken and vegetable stocks, as well as beef demi-glace and organic pork lard. Yogurt and vegan soups are also available for purchase.
Last month, she opened Stocks & Bondy’s second location at a Sundrops Vitamins & Nutrition store in East Dallas. While this isn’t an ideal time to open a new shop or restaurant, Bondy is enjoying the new location.
“The space was easy for me to build out and to create my dream kitchen,” Bondy says. “It didn’t come at a good time financially, but what the heck? I’d rather keep trying than give up and not know what we could have done. A big plus is that Sundrops customers and Stocks & Bondy customers have an appreciation for the things that we both take pride in: high-quality products, service and an environment for our staff to shine through and be proud of.”
During this time, Bondy and her team have worked hard to pay their staff and support local farmers and ranchers. Bondy, however, thinks more people should take into consideration the problems that smaller businesses are facing.
“No one considered that we small folks don’t have accountants to handle the hours of paperwork while we are sweating bullets to pay our staff, grocery bills, rent and the many expenses that small businesses quietly navigate through,” Bondy says. “We also had to swallow the realities of our landlords receiving thousands of dollars while never cutting their tenants a break. I think COVID-19 has been a reality check for how greed has gotten us to this point and especially how local government is hands-off to small business needs.”
Bondy enjoys drinking stocks before she goes to bed or when she doesn’t have time to eat. When she does have time to cook, some of her favorite dishes to cook are lobster bisque, French onion soup and mushroom soup.
Times are tough for small business owners, but Bondy is persevering. Every setback she’s faced she uses as learning experiences.
“In business,” Bondy says, “Stocks & Bondy will always have priorities: respect, hard work and integrity. … We have chosen to take difficulties and turn them into a positive culinary and small business journey. We are looking forward to whatever comes our way and the opportunities that blossom in the future. We love what we do.”
Stocks & Bondy, located inside Sundrops Vitamins & Nutrition at 4306 N. Central Expressway (East Dallas). Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
