Malcolm Mayhew

1 month ago | fwtx.com | Malcolm Mayhew

Before Marcus Paslay opened a string of hugely successful restaurants in Fort Worth, becoming one of the city’s most well-known chefs. Before Molly McCook helped popularize the farm-to-table aesthetic through her culinary wizardry at her Near Southside restaurant Ellerbe Fine Foods. Before Felipe Armenta paired with Graham Elliot. Before our city’s current culinary stars illuminated the scene, there were pioneers.

1 month ago | fwtx.com | Malcolm Mayhew

Bridging the gap between the fine dining of yesterday and today is Tim Love, whose groundbreaking Lonesome Dove restaurant — the first of many restaurants he would open in Fort Worth and beyond — put a high-end spin on wild game, barbecue, Mexican food, and other beloved Fort Worth cuisines, blazing a path for so many of our new and up-and-coming chefs. It’s hard to imagine what Fort Worth’s culinary scene would be like without Tim Love.

1 month ago | fwtx.com | Malcolm Mayhew

For over three decades, the Albanese family has been a cornerstone of Fort Worth’s fine-dining scene. Generations of local diners fondly remember the family’s string of local restaurants: Ruffino’s, Fizzi, Ciao, Red Door Bistro, among them. The last one standing in their empire, many will argue, is their finest.

1 month ago | fwtx.com | Malcolm Mayhew |Michael Thomson

Michael Thomson won his first food award before he could even drink — well, legally. “I was just a kid living in Florida at the time and listening to the radio one day,” he says. “All of a sudden, this radio station announced a recipe contest. Every 15 minutes they’d announce an ingredient, and you had to figure out the dish. I figured out that it was seven-layer bars and called in and won. My prize consisted of a ladies’ razor and a box of tampons.” Ah, Thomson’s first taste of success.

1 month ago | fwtx.com | Malcolm Mayhew

Today, with Fort Worth’s culinary scene thriving, it’s not at all unusual for a local restaurant to gain regional or even national attention. But in the ‘90s and early 2000s, such accolades were harder to come by. Local media outlets like the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Fort Worth Weekly always waved the flag for our city’s restaurants, as did Texas Monthly. Beyond Texas’ borders, though, our city’s restaurants rarely registered on the national culinary radar. Exceptions existed, though.