RADAR

Enchiladas Olé

Chef-owner Mary Perez and Enchiladas Olé hope to make the move to their new Fort Worth location by the end of February. The former Revolver Taco space gets a refresh with a bar on the upper level and a large dining room with communal tables. Perez, who not that long ago was selling her fresh sauces at grocers such as Central Market, dishes up her version of Tex-Mex along with some specialty dishes including her scratch-made molé, pictured at left. Follow @enchiladasole on Facebook for updates. 2418 Forest Park Blvd., Fort Worth, 817-984-1360, enchiladasole.com.

American Revelry

The space is beautiful, the outdoor patio is inviting and the food is worth the drive to Burleson. A new development that backs up to a picturesque green space, The Standard at Chisenhall has attracted tenants such as Lux Machine, a popular Fort Worth hair salon, and Dough Boy Donuts (coming soon). Revelry chef Eric O’Connor worked at Fort Worth’s Winslow’s Wine Cafe and helped open HG Sply Co. in Cowtown, so expect to see a good number of healthy offerings on the menu, which features modern and familiar classics. O’Connor also creates a three-month rotating regional menu with signature dishes from a particular state/region. Allison, his wife, is the Revelry pastry chef. We like the big booths in the back, and there’s also bar seating. Go for lunch, dinner or weekend brunch. 279 W. Hidden Creek Parkway, Burleson, 817-484-6553, americanrevelry.com.

Crumbl Cookies

Southlake got a Crumbl late last year, and the Fort Worth franchise opened shop late January. The first thing we noticed on our initial visit: The cookies are really big; if they had a serving size, we’d say “easily feeds four.” (The cookies are more typical in size for big catering orders.) Everything is baked in-house; flavors rotate weekly, and the featured cookies are on display to help you make a selection; iced sugar cookies and the milk chocolate chip are always available. Make an in-store purchase, have cookies delivered locally (typically noon to midnight) or ship them nationwide. 1516 E. Southlake Blvd., 817-601-8162; and the Left Bank development, 2300 W. 7th St. (next to Hopdoddy), Fort Worth, 682-285-2798; crumblcookies.com.

The Meat Board

Part butcher shop, part lunch counter, this retail spot offers lunch (stake out the patio in good weather) from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Enjoy the signature beef tenderloin sandwich topped with crumbled blue cheese on a kolache bun, a New York strip French dip, a double cheeseburger and a fancy 44 Farms hot dog topped with chili and barbecue brisket sandwiches from Joe Riscky’s Barbeque (Joe also is consulting on the lunch menu). The home cook should check out the premium cuts of beef, lamb, veal, bison, pork, chicken and seafood. The in-house butcher can customize special orders. Packaged side dishes, charcuterie boards, a nice wine and beer selection, condiments, meat rubs, olive oils and cooking tools round out the inventory. Have questions? Ask the helpful staff. The Meat Board is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 6314 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, 844-693-6328, themeatboard.com.

Stellini Trattoria

Open in a new mixed-use development called Aura Four44, Stellini is close to the Trinity Metro train station, a bonus for anyone wanting to enjoy lunch or dinner in Grapevine. Chef Ted Reemtsma turns out everything from housemade ricotta drizzled with a honey balsamic, to thin crust pizza and homemade pasta, including a seasonal dish using a wild boar ragout. The sleek space features a large bar, also available to diners, and cozy booths. Two small patios flank the front door and feature sliding windows to give them more of an al fresco ambiance in nice weather. 400 E. Dallas Road, Grapevine, 817-410-1010, facebook.com/stellinigrapevine.

Harvest Hall, the European-style food hall inside Grapevine’s Hotel Vin, announced four of seven restaurants who’ll be serving guests when the project opens later this year. Arepa TX-Latin Kitchen from Dallas, Spuntino-Bites of Italy from Loveria in Colleyville, Chick & Biscuit from Grapevine’s Mason & Dixie and Fort Worth’s Four Sisters-A Taste of Vietnam are all family-owned and operated. Harvest Hall also will have two bars and a live entertainment venue. 815 S. Main St., Grapevine, harvesthall.com.

Malai Kitchen Southlake

Chef/owner Braden Wages has enlarged his popular Asian restaurant with the addition of a spacious dining room filled with windows inside and out. Diners have a view of the new brewery filled with metal kegs and gleaming stainless tanks, which will allow Malai to triple its craft beer production. In the dining room, sliding doors are available to create a private space for large parties or special events. Jones Baker Interior
& Architecture, who designed the original space, created a stylish room that complements the existing restaurant. Park Village, 1161 E. Southlake Blvd., 817-251-9141, malaikitchen.com.

Pinch of Salt Pastries

Gluten-free but all the taste No wonder this Southlake bakery’s business is booming. Abby Dumont, owner-chef of Pinch of Salt Pastries, has perfected her gluten-free, vegan goodies, including the “royal” cookie — a chocolate chip-macadamia-coconut creation. Five years after starting her custom baking business from a Southlake commercial kitchen — with a focus on gluten-free (and sometimes dairy-free and/or paleo-friendly) bakery goods that contain less sugar — Dumont’s reach extends way beyond her original farmers market and wholesale business. And she and her team of seven now produce pastries for more than a dozen coffeehouses, from Fort Worth, Grapevine, Keller and Southlake to Flower Mound, Frisco and Dallas. Individuals now can pick up orders at the Southlake kitchen. Pumpkin streusel bread and lemon blueberry pound cake are popular items from a long list of cakes, pies, bars and cinnamon rolls. For Valentine’s Day, Pinch of Salt offers mix-and-match breakfast boxes of doughnuts, muffins and scones, and dessert boxes of cookies, brownies and cupcakes (think dark chocolate cherry with salty caramel). Both are priced at six items for $21 or 12 for $40. Find Pinch of Salt Pastries on Facebook for menus and ordering deadlines. 280 Commerce St., Southlake, 832-798-0965, or order via pinchofsaltpastries.com, which also lists coffee shops where the pastries are served.

Cat City Grill

Celebrates 10 years A decade is, for some restaurants, a lifetime. Martin Thompson would know; he has seen cafes come and go since he opened Cat City Grill on West Magnolia Avenue in February 2010. Mostly, he’s been impressed at how the scene has grown in that 10-year stretch. “Fort Worth has become a foodie city with an educated palate,” Thompson says, noting that this elevated shift in tastes means people like him have to work harder all the time. Choices weren’t so abundant when Thompson and fellow restaurateur Vance Martin, owner of Lili’s Bistro a few blocks down, opened Cat City Grill. The partnership dissolved a year later, but Thompson gained a new wingman of sorts in 2011 with the hiring of chef Osman Suarez. The two worked together downtown at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, where Thompson was chef for 13 years. Today, Thompson works front-of-the-house but keeps his culinary skills sharp by collaborating with Suarez on quarterly menu changes and creating special event menus. Between frequent catering jobs, Thompson keeps the 100-seat restaurant busy with monthly wine tastings and pairings dinners to suit a market ever savvier about wine selections. Thompson points to noteworthy changes in the wine palate: “Ten years ago, I couldn’t pay someone to order rosé; now I can’t have too many on the list.” Steaks remain a big seller at dinner — from a filet to the rib-eye and flat iron au poivre with a cognac demi-glace — as does osso buco, which Thompson says is too popular to ever rotate off the menu. Comfort dishes include meatloaf (made from rib-eye trimmings) and chicken-fried steaks. Lobster po’boys and Reubens are go-tos at lunch. Brunch is a hit, as well. “Keeping it fresh and affordable has been important,” says Thompson, who marvels at how quickly a decade has passed. “It’s been the blink of an eye. To still be here, when some others aren’t, is humbling.” Cat City Grill Open for lunch daily, dinner Monday-Saturday and brunch Saturday-Sunday;
1208 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth, 817-916-5333, catcitygrill.com.