While Fort Worth's downtown revitalization over recent years has brought many fine dining options, as well as lots of great casual ones where you can enjoy a great meal before the opera, many of the quality spots are located in the outer reaches of the city (which is very spread out). In researching, I discovered that award winning chef JON BONNELL had set up his restaurant, BONNELL's FINE TEXAS CUISINE (www.bonnellstexas.com) about 10 miles from the city center where I am situated. I go there at 5:45pm in about 12 minutes by interstate from my hotel, making this an easy trip (perhaps not so easy during a weekday rush hour) and was back at the opera house downtown by 735pm! It was well worth the trip.
Located at the intersection of I-20 and Bryant Irvin Rd (#4259), little glamour greets you as the feel is truly roadside locale. Inside the lighting gets dim again (I guess this is a Texas thing?) as you make your way through numerous "rooms" divided by 8 foot high walls in the overall space twice this height. The walls have open space so you could reach through to a table nearby and hear conversation, but it serves as a nice dividing spacer. On these ledges are small children's cowboy boots filled with dried flowers. The walls have lots of wildlife photographs and high up on the ceilings you can spot Texas flags and art (cowboy and longhorn tapestries) as well as a huge elk head (this was over 12 points!); the chandeliers are made of elk horns as well. The reason for this is that Bonnell's is truly a game destination as you shall see.
The linens are clean and white and each place has a large thick brown leather serving plate, which remains until your main course comes. Few places in this area are dressy, and indeed, I felt overdressed in a suit jacket and pants (albeit no tie); well, it had gotten chilly and was 73 degrees all day! Some folks looked nice, but there were shorts, sneakers, and of course, several cowboy hats, as well.
I decided to start light and switched from my first leaning (the Venison Carpaccio with green peppercorn dressing) to a superb SHRIMP & REDFISH CEVICHE made with Farm Raised Texas RedFish and White Shrimp with Lime Juice, Tomatoes, Avocado, vey mild Chilies and Crispy Tortilla Strips with a perfectly round lime slice on the rim of the martini glass. It was ideal, and Chef Bonnell truly does stress TEXAS's wonderful local foods; almost everything on the menu is home
grown in the state.
The main courses were so varied from elk to mixed grill to venison loin to kangaroo (also local) to squab (from Europe; I think this was the only entree not from Texas) that it was very hard to decide. I opted for the signature dish of the restaurant: BANDERA GRILLED QUAIL from Diamond H Ranch with Jalapeno-Garlic Cream Sauce, Herbed Mashed Potatoes and Spicy Parmesan Cream Spinach, You can order the dish with one tiny bird for $21, or two for $26. Unless you are not hungry, the latter is the better deal without doubt. The delectable birds were grilled to perfection with crunchy seasoned skin that was divine. The jalapeno-garlic sauce was light, but quite spicy, but easily countered by the milder mashed potatoes. The spinach was not the creamy type we are familiar with from a steak house or the frozen food section, but whole leaves just sauteed and then dressed with a light cream and parmesan pieces; it was not real spicy at all, just divine. There was not a bit in this dish I did not enjoy and thrill over. The "bread" comes with the main courses here and is a small tray of warm puff- pastry like biscuit triangles that are each about three small bites. While buttery, flaky and delicious these were fabulous for wiping up the very little jalapeno-garlic sauce that remained after I finished the yummy birds.
I ordered a glass of WILLAMETTE VALLEY VINEYARDS 2007 Pinot Noir and it arrives in a large Schott crystal (albeit restaurant style) Burgundy glass that was nice. The wine was slightly intense and worked fairly well with the dish, but perhaps a slightly fuller bodied wine would have been better with the spices.
I had to look at the dessert menu which was indeed fun with many options including the Dublin Dr. Pepper Float (think root beer float with Dr. Pepper instead), but was immediately drawn to the TEXAS CHEESE PLATE with Berries and Crostini. The long narrow plate came with nine small tastes which was just perfect. The berries were tasty, but I skipped the buttery crunchy crostini as they really did not complement the cheeses which were all from local farmers in Texas:
Cociotta- a semi-hard cheese with a caraway flavor
Sage Derby-a very mild sage version of the semi-hard cheese
Blanca Blanca -a soft earthy cheese that was one of my favorites
Swiss--which was indeed as Swiss tasting as it gets
Smoked Gouda-a soft, tasty Texas version of the Dutch
Most of these cheeses were semi-hard, but ever so creamy in the mouth
Goat-a mild creamy one
Brie- a ripe very runny version that was also a delight but not too strong
Horseradish Cheddar -was the only one I did not like as it seemed to be lacking in both horseradish and that intense cheddar flavor
I love Blue-a mild blue that was soft and slightly creamy...a perfect finish to the meal.
The only problem of finding these delightful new places to dine is that each year I return for the Fort Worth Opera Festival, it is SO HARD to choose which ones to return to, and which new ones to try!
