New place to 'Perch' downtown
With the addition of the new Frost Tower downtown comes a new opportunity to enjoy skyline views thanks to Perch, a contemporary Southern concept set to open this month atop the skyscraper’s Sky Lobby level on the 12th floor. The bar and restaurant promises a menu highlighting regional farmers and ranchers along with an outdoor patio that’ll provide unrivaled views of the city. Sneak peeks of the menu include a grilled flank steak sandwich with cilantro chimichurri, deviled eggs with candied jalapeños, and buttermilk biscuits with fried chicken and fig and onion jam.
There’ll be cocktails, too — and they’re already proven to be good. Perch’s bartending team won “fan favorite” at last month’s Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival Desserts After Dark cocktail competition for its concoction using local TX Whiskey. The drink incorporated multiple components, including a whiskey sour, a black cherry and habanero sangria floater, and a cinnamon and tequila-infused pineapple. Look for it on Perch’s cocktail menu to be called “It’s just one drink.”
Perch will also be open for grab-and-go breakfasts and coffee and tea. Wine lovers, take note: the full-service lunch and dinner destination is also set to offer a very robust wine program complete with wine lockers for those who wish to reserve them.
640 Taylor St., Fort Worth, www.perchfw.com
More at Fixe Southern House
Folks have been buzzing about the Austin-based eatery’s brunch since it launched at its Shops at Clearfork location in early April. (Those melt-in-your-mouth biscuits — made with pork, butter and vegetable fat — can now come doused with boudin gravy.) But don’t miss weekday lunch offerings, which include Fort Worth “hot catfish” with shaved apple, fennel, celery and blue cheese, and a seafood chopped salad made with Gulf shrimp, blue crab, marcona almonds and manchego cheese.
Happy hour is longer, too, running from 2 to 7 p.m. seven days a week. That means more time for $8 corn and crab hushpuppies and deviled eggs with smoked trout roe, and $7 cocktails like the smoked sazerac and barrel-aged Manhattan.
5285 Marathon Ave., Fort Worth, 682-707-3965, www.fixesouthernhouse.com
Brewed launches first cocktail menu
Brewed is ready for some spirited fun. After exclusively serving coffee, kombucha, beer and wine for five years, the West Magnolia Avenue coffee shop and restaurant launches its first cocktail menu this month. “Ten cocktail drinks and the opportunity to add a shot of your favorite spirit to any coffee or kombucha drink,” says owner Joey Turner. “It should be fun.”
Libations include a version of the classic old fashioned made with local TX Whiskey and Brewed’s coffee simple syrup, a hibiscus margarita made with fresh lime and orange juice and served in a hibiscus sugar-rimmed glass, and a different take on the French 75 called the French 817 made with Texas gin. Take note: the new cocktails are only $5 during happy hour Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m., and late night Friday from 9 to 11 p.m. “This is our first time to have a full bar,” says Turner. “We are so excited.”
801 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth, 817-945-1545, www.brewedfw.com
Clay Pigeon launches spring menu
Marcus Paslay is the still the chef and owner of the White Settlement Road dining destination, but new executive chef Bria Downey (formerly the sous-chef at Paslay’s other restaurant, Piattello Italian Kitchen) has been running his from-scratch kitchen since January. Now she presents her take on spring flavors with the launch of several new seasonal dishes.
Think beet and strawberry salad with horseradish goat cheese and pistachio vinaigrette, fried quail with Calabrian chile, and charred asparagus and mushroom flatbread with white truffle cream. Downey is sure to be busy on Mother’s Day, when Clay Pigeon will offer a four-course brunch for $50 per person. The first course is a shareable brunch board of cured meats, cheeses and preserves, and then patrons can choose their second and main course. (If Mom simply wants a burger, that’s an option, too.) Reservations are required.
2731 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth, 817-882-8065, www.claypigeonfd.com
Shinjuku Station celebrates with an adventurous dinner
When it comes to anniversary dinners at Shinjuku Station, nothing is off limits for the West Magnolia Avenue destination for authentic Japanese cuisine. The restaurant will commemorate seven years on Tuesday, May 8, with a seven-course omakase menu. The term means loosely, “I trust the chef.” Partner Casey Kha says the dinner is an opportunity to offer dishes that would otherwise be too time-consuming or difficult to prepare on a regular basis. “It's always our way of showing appreciation to our guests for their continued support,” he says.
Sneak peeks from the $90 per person menu (which comes with wine) include tataki (or lightly seared) dry-aged Niman Ranch tomahawk steak topped with cured egg yolk and shiso pesto on a bed of miso pickled beets, and mini chirashi don (which is essentially “scattered sushi”) made with fish flown in from the Tsukiji fish market in Japan. There’ll be two seating times, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., and the restaurant will be closed for regular dinner service that evening. Reservations are required.
711 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth, 817-923-2695, www.shinjuku-station.com
Cowtown Unplugged provides a taste of Texas
Dinner for two, a concert, and a breakfast buffet, too? The Omni Fort Worth Hotel’s live music experience, Cowtown Unplugged: A Songwriter’s Showcase, might be one of the best tastes of Texas in town (and one of most under-the-radar). On Sunday, May 27, patrons can listen to the music of Fort Worth native Grady Spencer, Nashville songwriter Matraca Berg, and headliner Radney Foster in one of the hotel’s private ballrooms after indulging in a Texas-themed hors d’oeuvre reception.
The menu will include pecan-crusted chicken pops with Texas honey mustard, green chili pork croquettes with candied jalapeño aioli, charred corn and smoked chicken salad, and Texas pimento cheese cones with spiced walnuts. Some package options include a full pre-show dinner. (Don’t miss the dessert table inside the show. The red velvet whoopee pies will go fast.) All ticket packages, which start at $199, include overnight accommodations for two, two tickets to the show, and breakfast for two at Cast Iron restaurant, which will offer a Memorial Day breakfast buffet.
1300 Houston St., Fort Worth, 817-535-6664, www.omnihotels.com/CowtownUnplugged
Black Rooster to offer free coffee
A local bakery wants to remind folks to shop small, and it is doing so in a big way. When Starbucks stores across the country close for the day on Tuesday, May 29, to educate employees about racial bias — an announcement that followed uproar over the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia location — the Black Rooster Cafe will serve free coffee. That includes lattes, espressos, cappuccinos, and iced drinks of all sizes at all three Fort Worth locations. “Please remember to shop small and shop local next time you’re in the mood for a coffee, pastry, sandwich or beverage,” read the announcement via social media.
Black Rooster opened its third location next door to The Lunch Box on Camp Bowie Boulevard back in December. The bakery also has locations at 2430 Forest Park Boulevard and downtown at 910 Houston St. www.roosterbakery.com
Three tasty ways to treat Mom on Mother’s Day
▪ Make her (a healthy) breakfast-in-bed
The last thing some moms might want is to get dolled up for a high-calorie brunch. But breakfast in bed — that’s virtually guilt-free. It might be just the love language a health-conscience mama speaks. Barney Butter’s gluten-free chocolate almond butter ($9.99 for 10 ounces and $11.99 for 16 ounces), made with blanched roasted almonds, is brand new out of California and available now at Whole Foods. Little ones can give it to Mom with a big spoon and big bow, or slather it atop a pancake, waffle or even cinnamon roll dough for a not-too-sweet treat worth staying in for.
▪ Pour her a “mocktail” with probiotic water
Touted as the first-ever enhanced water made with vegan probiotics, Suja’s pressed probiotic waters ($2.99) provide a healthy dose of digestive benefits. They’re fairly new at both Super Target and Natural Grocer stores, and come in strawberry or raspberry. Pour some in a flute and top with sparkling water for a refreshing mocktail Mom will enjoy.
▪ Give her rose in a pretty bottle
American artist Ashley Mary was invited by France’s prestigious Chateau Minuty to use the winery’s iconic curvy-shaped bottle as her canvas. The result: a gorgeous limited-edition bottle design that any rose-sipping mom will adore — and possibly keep forever. Chateau Minuty M de Minuty Limited Edition 2017 ($23) is characterized by its dry yet vibrant mouth-feel, with notes of peach and candied oranges. Even more impressive, M de Minuty touts itself as the last winery in Provence to pick all of its grapes by hand. The stunning sipper is expected to arrive in high-end wine shops early this month.
This story was originally published April 30, 2018 10:43 AM.