Celestina Blok
Fort Worth Business Press Food Correspondent
Come November, the former Lambert’s Steaks, Seafood & Whiskey space at 2731 White Settlement Rd., which has sat vacant with boarded windows for a year and a half, will be home to a new farm-to-table dining destination. Chef Marcus Paslay, an Arlington native and Culinary Institute of America graduate, will open Clay Pigeon Food and Drink, featuring a “from-scratch kitchen” where ingredients will be sourced locally as much as possible. “The more local I can do, the better,” said Paslay, who once served as executive chef at Dallas’ Neighborhood Services and recently wowed diners at a Fort Worth Food & Wine Festival Twenty at the Tower dinner this summer. “We’re looking to reach out to purveyors and see what’s out there. It’s something I’ve always been passionate about.”
Prior to cooking in Dallas, Paslay worked in kitchens in Alaska and Hawaii and helped open the Four Seasons in Vail. He returned to North Texas to cook for chef Gerard Thompson of Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose while envisioning one day owning his own kitchen. “I’ve lived all around the country but Fort Worth is home to me,” he said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to come back and open up a restaurant, so here we are.” Paslay said he’s been looking for more than a year to find “the right spot,” but when he came upon the former Lambert’s space, he fell in love with the location and the building, which was originally a gas station, then the kitschy Pedro’s Trailer Park. “It’s got a lot of character to it. I got attached to it pretty quick,” he said. “We’ll do a remodel, mostly on the interior, so that it has a different look and you don’t think it’s Lambert’s all over again.” The restaurant will be open for dinner, with lunch and brunch service to come sometime next year. Paslay says everything from breads, pastas and ice creams will be made in-house, and he’ll age and butcher his own meats. Diners can expect to find wild game features, but the restaurant won’t be game-focused. “The menu is going to be seasonal and will change quite a bit,” he said. As for the name Clay Pigeon, Paslay said there are several personal connections that led to the moniker. “I’m an avid sportsman and shooting sporting clays is a sport I enjoy. Plus squab, or pigeon, is one of my favorite things to eat.” Additionally, Paslay shares the middle name Clay with his father. “About seven years ago, we were shooting clay and I thought Clay Pigeon would be a great name for a restaurant,” he said. “It also kind of symbolizes taking a shot at something, and we’re certainly doing that.”
Downtown will set The Main Table Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. will set Fort Worth’s biggest outdoor dining table on Sunday, Sept. 8. The event, called The Main Table, features a steak dinner paired with wines from one of five participating downtown restaurants, including Del Frisco’s, Grace, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Grille and Reata. Each venue will serve a multi-course meal and guests can list their restaurant preference upon registration. The long table will sit in the middle of Main St. between Sixth and Ninth streets. Seats are $125 and in the event of rain, dinner will be honored at participating restaurants.
Del Frisco’s two-story patio is now open Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House now has a double-decker patio. Featuring a wraparound upper level terrace, which resembles a Bourbon St. balcony and captures views of both Main and Eighth streets, and lower level seating just outside the entrance, the outdoor spaces combine to add more than 50 additional seats to the restaurant’s dining capacity. Access to the upper level is via Del Frisco’s upstairs bar area.
Central Market adding beer bar Central Market Fort Worth will unveil a new 19-tap microbrew bar late August offering local craft beers, including varieties from Granbury’s Revolver Brewing and Fort Worth’s Martin House Brewing. Growlers, or jugs intended for filling with the brew and carrying home, will also be for sale in 32- and 64-ounce sizes. Revolver recently began bottling its Blood & Honey wheat ale, now for sale at Central Market, and will sell its Mother’s Little Fracker, High Brass and Bock via the new Central Market taps. Martin House Brewing’s new There will be Stout pretzel-infused beer will also be available