By Natalie Lozano Trimble
Photography by Thanin Viriyaki
Jett Mora left L.A. to become the Executive Chef at Cafe Modern in 2021 and says it was a no-brainer. “It’s one of the coolest dining rooms you’ll ever see anywhere in the world.”
Mora, who started as a cook with Wolfgang Puck Catering 16 years ago, has been at the helm of the restaurant since the company reopened it inside the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
“Creativity is all around us, and having that translate to the dining room and the food and the menu is part of the allure of this place,” he says.
To commemorate 2022’s special exhibit, “Surrealism and Us: Caribbean and African Diasporic Artists since 1940,” Cafe Modern featured Caribbean-style dishes influenced by where the artists were from.
The Korean food scene in Mora’s hometown of L.A. inspired a new brunch dish, gochujang chicken and waffles, which he says is emblematic of the Asian-American experience.
The method, not just the ingredients, makes this dish Korean, he says. The chicken is first blanched at a lower temperature to get it cooked through, then it’s fried at a higher temperature for a final crisp.
The first step comes much earlier: slicing and salting cabbage to make kimchi in-house with his team. “It’s a labor of love,” Mora says. “You have to start early, and then you let it ferment for weeks or months if you can.”
Brunch, which recently expanded to include Saturday mornings, also features steak Benedict, Monte Cristo and a Wolfgang Puck classic, Chinois Chicken Salad.
On Easter Sunday, guests can select ingredients for baked egg bowls, similar to Shakshuka, which chefs will bake in pizza ovens on the patio. A grilled kebab station will also give diners more time to see the chefs in action.
Increased interactions between the chef and the guest are intentional. It’s an extension of the open kitchen concept, which was popularized by Wolfgang Puck, Mora says, to bring the kitchen into the dining room. This allows guests to experience more and chefs to hear what diners enjoy.
“You don’t always have the opportunity to give the guest a plate of food hand to hand,” Mora says.
It’s one reason he likes this month’s Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival. Mora has participated since April 2021 — a month before Cafe Modern reopened — and greets guests while handing them a small taste of Cafe Modern’s fare.
Having executive chefs on site is a key part of the event. FWFWF Director Julie Eastman says it ensures the quality of the food reflects the restaurant’s standards, and connecting directly with chefs gives guests a memorable experience.
Hospitality, Mora says, goes beyond how you treat your guests to how you treat your colleagues, up to and including sharing resources when the need arises. They’ve borrowed heat lamps for a special event and loaned out plates. “In Fort Worth, we’re all looking out for one another,” he says.
The locals, from his colleagues to guests he’s gotten to know, have made staying long-term attractive. “We bought a house maybe 6 months ago,” he says. “Now we can call Fort Worth home.”
Cafe Modern is now open for brunch Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant serves lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with dinner service on Friday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m.
You can try the gochujang chicken and waffles from Cafe Modern at the Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival’s Sunday morning event, The Big Brunch. Tickets are available at fwfwf.org/festival.
Find the recipe for Cafe Modern’s KFC Korean Fried Chicken and Gochujang Waffles here.