With a Facebook post that began, “Well the cat is out of the bag!!! I am excited to announce that I will be the Executive Chef/GM of a brand new concept opening in Fort Worth,” Chef Kalen Morgenstern of Tillman’s Fort Worth, announced that she will be serving up their final dinner service in just a matter of weeks, on August 22.
Morgenstern’s title going from Chef de Cuisine to Executive Chef/GM is not all that is changing. This will not be Tillman’s 2.0. The brand new concept from owners Sara Tillman and Todd Fiscus will be both modern and updated. They plan to launch FW Market + Table in October.
“We would like to clear up some confusion! We are not changing ownership. It will be an entirely new concept and remodeled space, but remain under the same ownership as before,” the Tillman’s Facebook page notes.
The restaurant side will be now be considerably smaller. It will be more of a white-table cloth bistro without a trace of the former dramatic Tillman’s Roadhouse. Fans can expect an entirely new menu to be unveiled, with Morgenstern’s classy take on Texas seasonal fare at the forefront.
On the market side of things, where the giant bar used to be, you will find a deli case stocked with refrigerator basics and pantry staples as well as a selection of prepared items to-go. Locals can swing in for coffee or fresh-squeezed juice on their way to work in the morning. This should prove a popular idea in the mixed-use area where the restaurant’s loft-living neighbors have been looking for that missing piece of the neighborhood market in the overall West 7th concept.
As you recall, Ryan’s Grocery tried and failed on Magnolia by planting an upscale “Roy-Pope-esque” gourmet market smack dab in the middle of the mostly Bohemian, shabby-chic, granola-eating, Birkenstock-wearing neighborhood (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It was simply the wrong fit. But, the West 7th demographic is entirely different, packed with young, urban, professionals, who should embrace FW Market + Table with open arms.
www.tillmansroadhouse.com/index.html