December Food & Wine Column
Press Cafe
5000 Clearfork Main St.
http://www.trailhead1848.com/
Olivella’s Pizza – Village at Camp Bowie
6333 Camp Bowie Blvd.
http://olivellas.com/
Funky Town Donuts
1000 Eighth Ave.
http://www.funkytowndonuts.com/
Cantina Laredo
530 Throckmorton St.
www.cantinalaredo.com/
After four years of preparation, chef and owner Felipe Armenta Jr. of The Tavern on Hulen and Pacific Table in University Park Village will be opening his newest creation, Press Cafe, at the new Clearfork Trailhead by the end of December.
Alongside Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, the Trailhead should be a magnet for those in search of fitness and healthy lifestyles. Armenta’s new venture will be serving breakfast, lunch and dinner and making the most of its coveted riverfront address. The layout will include indoor seating, a trail-side patio and rooftop seating in the upstairs bar area, which is open-air, offering peaceful river views. The owner is putting on the finishing touches and hopes to be open for business by the third week in December.
Armenta said, “This will be the smallest of my three restaurant menus. We do not have a wood-burning component at Press Cafe, so presentations will feature more sautéed and broiled items like filet of sole and salmon.” Locally famous for his deconstructed salad creations, Armenta plans an heirloom vegetable salad featuring seasonal diced vegetables tossed in a lemon vinaigrette. “Our morning crowd can bike in for some Avoca coffee and grab one of our from-scratch baked items like a freshly baked croissant filled with spinach, and then get right back on the trail,” he said.
OLIVELLA’S PIZZA COMING
TO CAMP BOWIE LOCATION
With three locations in Dallas, Olivella’s Neo Pizza Napoletana is set to open its first Fort Worth location on Camp Bowie Boulevard in the former Jake’s Hamburgers (formerly Tim Love’s Duce) location. The recipes go back generations, with a Godfather-like heritage. It is proud to have been “started by the third-oldest pizza family from Naples, Italy.” Trianon Pizzeria in Naples opened in the 1920’s, and co-owner Salvatore Olivella is a descendant of that family. What else makes it unique? Olivella’s is one of only a handful of pizzerias in the world that serves two very distinct original styles of pizza: Southern Italian (or Neapolitan) and Northern Italian (also known as Roman style). Co-owner Charlie Green said, “You will taste the difference in our house-made mozzarella and imported tomatoes.” Due to construction delays, the opening is expected in January or February.
FUNKY TOWN DONUTS GETS
NEW PERMANENT ADDRESS
You know that modern-looking red building going up near the corner of Eighth Avenue and Rosedale Street? That will be the brand-new permanent address of Funky Town Donuts. It will be next door to a Jimmy John’s in that same building, which also backs up to Fire House Subs and Starbucks on the same corner – that’s a lot of subs in one square block. Owner Brandon Moors said, “The 600-square-foot space will be our actual storefront. We will house our kitchen in there as well, so it will be more of a grab-and-go shop with limited seating in the front and on the sidewalk. We are hoping to open in early February.” In the meantime, you can also get your Funky fix at Stir Crazy on Magnolia Avenue every Saturday as well as in the soon-to-be expanded and redesigned Leah’s Sweet Treats on Camp Bowie Boulevard beginning in December.
SALSA FUEGO ES NO MÁS
Sadly and unexpectedly, Carlos Rodriguez closed Salsa Fuego in November after just six months in his newly renovated location on Alta Mere Drive near the Benbrook traffic circle. Rodriguez also canceled plans for his Fuego Burger concept, which he had intended for the original location a few doors down; it is now set to become The Dive Oyster Bar instead by early December. Restaurateurs Robbie and Yvonne Turman, who also own Oscar’s Pub and The Mule nearby, have tapped Josh Rangel, a former sous chef at Jon Bonnell’s Waters Restaurant, to serve as executive chef.
CANTINA LAREDO DEBUTS
3 WISE MULES OF CHRISTMAS
If you need a respite from your Christmas shopping, stop in at Cantina Laredo and enjoy the launch of its Three Wise Mules (special twists on a Moscow mule). Just in time for the festive downtown season, these tasty treats will be available for $12 each. Each of these new cocktails is topped with sparkling ginger beer. Choose from the classic mule made with Absolut vodka and fresh lime juice, the mezcal mule featuring Los Amantes Joven mezcal with prickly pear syrup, muddled jalapeño and lime juice, or the Mexi-mule with Espolón Blanco tequila, fresh grapefruit juice, agave nectar and lime juice.