Eat & DrinkFeaturesRadar: Dining Out

DINING OUT

By guruscottyNovember 23, 2020December 29th, 2020No Comments

Dining Out

By MEDA KESSLER and JUNE NAYLOR

SAVE THE DATE

Wine Dinners

Make reservations early, as seating at in-house events is limited due to COVID-19 considerations.

Next Bistro | 3-5 p.m. Dec. 5
Enjoy this Prohibition Repeal Day celebration with a tasting from Redoux Wine, a distributor of wines from California, Oregon, Washington, Argentina, New Zealand and Europe. Food and wine, $49. 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 8 Sample sparkling wines at Bubbles & Bites (pricing to be announced). 5003 Colleyville Blvd., 682-247-0358, nextbistrotx.com

Cadillac Wines/Magdalena’s | 6 p.m. Dec. 9
Enjoy a wine-pairings dinner party at Magdalena’s as chef Juan Rodriguez creates a menu to match pours; pairings and price to be announced. Reserve at orders@magdalenastx.com, 817-989-4435 or email jodi@cadillacwines.com. 502 Grand Ave., Fort Worth

38 & Vine | 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10
Enjoy a virtual tasting with DAOU Vineyards. Package options from the Fort Worth wine bar include bottles of wine, cheese and charcuterie and gifts from the Paso Robles winery. Go to thirtyeightandvine.com for more information.

Grace | Dec. 22
Chef Blaine Staniford reprises his Feast of Seven Fishes, the traditional Christmas seafood dinner with wine pairings (time, menu and price to be announced). 777 Main St., 817-877-3388, gracefortworth.com

IN THE WORKS

Maria’s Mexican Kitchen

The former Hoffbrau space along the Trinity River facing the Fort Worth Zoo continues its total transformation as restaurateur Felipe Armenta puts the finishing touches on his menu at the upscale restaurant and bar honoring his late mom, a native of Guanajuato. Armenta and designer Kellye Raughton (she owns Maven on Camp Bowie Boulevard) collaborated on the interior look, which includes lacquered wood paneling, Venetian plaster and custom colored tiles. There is seating for 150 indoors at the bar and tables, and several more outdoor dining spaces are on the landscaped patio. Maria’s will serve brunch, lunch and dinner.

1712 S. University Drive, Fort Worth, mariasmexicankitchen.com

Omar Flores is opening two restaurants in Southlake, the first being Whistle Britches. Expect fried chicken, biscuits and more from the Southern-inspired menu.
Photo by Mark Graham

Whistle Britches

Dallas chef Omar Flores is launching not one, but two concepts in Southlake Town Square, with Whistle Britches opening first and Muchacho Comida Tex Mex opening later in 2021. In December 2019, Flores, Alec Marshi and Alec’s father, Sammi, tapped Southlake for a third location of the Southern-inspired Whistle Britches. This past July, they announced that they also were opening the second location of their Southwestern hit, Muchacho, in the same mixed-use center. Flores already has established himself on the Dallas dining scene with a pair of James Beard nominations. The trio settled on Town Square for their first Tarrant County sites after considering several Fort Worth locations, including Mule Alley. “The opportunity to open both Muchacho and Whistle Britches in the same development was too attractive to pass up,” says Flores. The Southlake Whistle Britches menu will be anchored by customer favorites such as fried chicken, biscuits, sweet corn hoecakes with sorghum and homemade jellies. “It’s the kind of food you’d find at grandma’s house on Sunday afternoons,” Flores says. “As the concept evolves, we’re moving to expand to a more Southern menu with more variety. But I’m not sure anything will be more popular than our Whistle Britches sandwich.” Here’s why: You get a two-handed buttermilk biscuit stuffed with fried chicken, pepper jelly and honey butter.

Whistle Britches, Southlake Town Square, 1230 Main St. (formerly Hopdoddy), whistlebritcheschicken.com (instagram.com/whistlebritcheschicken)

Roy Pope Grocery

Construction and remodeling are now in full swing at the landmark grocer in Fort Worth’s Westside. The renderings for the new design by Jack Sanders of Austin give us a small glimpse at what’s to come. Sanders, an architectural designer, is a Fort Worth native whose parents are Roy Pope customers. Sanders is a graduate of Auburn University’s Rural Studio, an innovative design-build architecture program that has its students complete a project that benefits low-income communities. One thing that has been completed on the project is a new custom-built 500-gallon offset smoker from Mill Scale Metal Works in Lockhart, the go-to craftsmen for many pitmasters in Texas.

2300 Merrick St., Fort Worth, facebook.com/roypopegrocery

Rendering courtesy of Jack Sanders

Fort Brewery & Pizza

The brewpub’s new location is under construction in a 25,000-square-foot facility west of downtown Fort Worth off White Settlement Road. Plans include a spacious outdoor patio with a retractable roof and an expanded beer and wine menu. They will remain at their current location at 1001 W. Magnolia Ave. until the move, which is scheduled for April 2021.

2737 Tillar St., Fort Worth, fortbrewery.com

Jon’s Grille

Busy chef Jon Bonnell has acquired the space that once housed The Hop, a landmark Fort Worth food-and-music hangout on Berry Street near TCU. Jon’s Grille will be Bonnell’s burgers and barbecue homage to the much-missed burger joint called Jons Grille, which used to be located on University in the spot now occupied by Dutch’s Hamburgers. Look for an opening in fall 2021.

2905 W. Berry St., Fort Worth

Keith Hicks

The Rim Fort Worth

Chef Keith Hicks (formerly of Buttons) returns to Fort Worth with Rio Mambo restaurateur Brent Johnson, a partnership that began in the late 1990s at the long-shuttered Ellington’s in Sundance Square and which resumed last year at The Rim in Burleson. The two are revamping the former Taco Diner space — expanding the bar and adding three chefs tables in the kitchen — in the Waterside development. Look for Hicks’ signature chicken and waffles, shrimp Creole and pot roast.

5912 Convair Drive, Fort Worth, therimrestaurant.com

TABLE TICKER

Sam and Jennifer Demel, owners of 38 & Vine in Fort Worth’s Foundry District, bought out neighboring Craftwork Coffee Co. in November. Rechristened Trinity Coffee House, it continues to offer coworking spaces along with the coffee shop. Craftwork, which will still supply beans to the new owners, operates two other shops in Fort Worth and is expanding into apartment developments.

2700 Weisenberger St., Fort Worth.

In early November, Fort Worth restaurateur Lou Lambert, who has always wanted a coffee shop in Fort Worth, and his Roy Pope Grocery partners (developer Mark Harris, real estate broker Rodger Chieffalo, and Roy Pope operator-owner Chris Reale) revealed that they have the iconic Paris Coffee Shop under contract. Opened in 1927, it’s been a go-to breakfast-lunch place for many generations. Lambert promises to retain the diner feel and to keep longtime favorites on the menu. Look for an opening in late 2021. Meanwhile, you can continue to dine at the Paris and order one of their famous pies at least until the end of the year.

704 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth.

Across the street, construction is underway on a major redevelopment of the Magnolia/Hemphill corner, The 701 project. Look for changes to parking and the entrance to Shinjuku Station, 711 W. Magnolia Ave., all part of the ambitious mixed-use plan that includes a parking garage. Learn more at the701fw.com.

Fivi’s Kitchen, the Westside Fort Worth breakfast and lunch spot that served an exceptional cup of coffee along with its substantial meals, closed its doors in November after only four months in business. The owners cited the pandemic as the reason in a farewell thank-you note to its followers.

Dallas

By MICHAEL HILLER

OPENINGS

Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse

Boston-based chef and restaurateur Steve DiFillippo has opened his first Texas restaurant at Grandscape in The Colony. DiFillippo has steadily expanded the brand beyond its Boston roots since acquiring the original Davio’s restaurant 35 years ago. Like the Davio’s locations in Boston, Atlanta and Philadelphia, the two-story Grandscape restaurant focuses on hearty Italian dishes, grilled prime steaks, seafood, fresh pastas made on-site, burgers, pizzas and a variety of unique spring rolls such as cheesesteak, shrimp Cotija and chicken Parm, plus a combo of spinach and feta. .

5762 Grandscape Blvd., The Colony, 469-772-4810, davios.com

Chimichurri

Tacos Mariachi founder Jesus Carmona has teamed with Argentinian-born chef Ramiro Fernandez Pazos to open this new Argentinian-themed Bishop Arts restaurant and bar in the former Tillman’s Roadhouse space. The casual restaurant takes its name from the vibrant herb-and-garlic sauce served with grilled meats throughout Argentina. The kitchen here traces the same broad South American culinary map, serving grilled meats, empanadas, milanesas and Argentine pizzas.

324 W. 7th St., Dallas, 469-906-6098, chimichurribishoparts.com

Oak’d BBQ

Central Texas-style brisket, ribs and sausages are the stars here, slow-smoked over post oak in three Oyler Pits. The menu also loops in prime steaks, Duroc pork chops, wagyu brisket, two daily soups, made-to-order salads and side dishes such as bacon-cheddar biscuits and apple cider-spiked coleslaw. Guests can skip the line if they sit at the full-service bar and order from the bartender. Oak’d owner Clint Norton is a Dallas real estate developer whose brother owns The County Line barbecue company near Austin. Radio celebrity Kellie Rasberry Evans (of The Kidd Kraddick Morning Show) and her husband, Allen, are investors in this new full-service barbecue restaurant in Dallas’ Old Town Shopping Center. “We may be the only place in the world where you can order a plate of great barbecue, a slice of pie and a bottle of Caymus, Silver Oak or Pahlmeyer,” says Norton.

5500 Greenville Ave., Dallas, 214-214-6253, oakdbbq.com

Photo by Michael Hiller

Photo by Michael Hiller

Eataly Dallas

NorthPark Center announced in May 2019 the arrival of the Italian market-restaurant, and the Dallas Eataly Instagram page popped up Nov. 4 with a photo of the store and a “Ciao Dallas!” salutation. Hiring notices were posted on social media, and rumors of a December opening were confirmed last month via an interview in The Dallas Morning News with Eataly executives. If you’re not familiar with Eataly, think big. Really big. The biggest one is in Rome, clocking in at 170,000 square feet and occupying a former air terminal. Eataly made its debut in 2007 in Torino, Italy, arriving in America three years later with a splashy debut in New York City. Inside each shop, nicknamed a “culinary funhouse,” you’ll find everything typically stocked in a high-end grocer: meats, cheeses, fresh pasta, seafood, on-site bakery, wine shop, espresso bar and much more. The Dallas location includes two levels inside the shopping mall, plus a new dining room space on the third level. For updates, follow @facebook.com/EatalyDallas or on Instagram @eatalydallas.

NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway, eataly.com