Latest Dish: Max’s Wine Dive heads to So7

Celestina Blok

Restaurant Reporter

Home cooking gets classy with the opening of Max’s Wine Dive this month in the So7 development. The Houston-based chain, which also has locations in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, touts a mantra of “fried chicken and champagne? Why the hell not?” The restaurant is anticipated to open by late August at 2421 W. Seventh St., just next to Barcadia and behind Chuy’s. Executive chef Stefon Rishel, formerly of Sisu Uptown Resorts in Dallas, will lead the kitchen and offer a menu of Kobe beef hot dogs, beer-battered fish and chips and shrimp and chorizo-grits, all intended for pairing with wines from Max’s extensive selection. Bottles will be available for retail sale as well. Plan to visit for dinner Monday through Sunday and for brunch and lunch Friday through Sunday.

Ryan’s Fine Grocer closes Just before its six-month anniversary, Ryan’s Fine Grocer and Delicatessen at 815 W. Magnolia Ave. shuttered its doors Aug. 4 after a three-day store clearance event. The highly anticipated grocery store and deli was opened in February by brother and sister chef duo Hunter and Brittany Ryan, both French Culinary Institute graduates. The 5,000-square-foot space offered high-end specialty groceries, dry-aged beef and a deli menu of fine dining fare, including a $28 lobster roll. “This is something we thought the neighborhood needed and something we thought we could do well,” Brittany Ryan said in January, just prior to Ryan’s opening. “It’s loosely based on the concept of a New York neighborhood bodega where everyone has their little corner store. You go there, you know everyone, and you pick up what you need. That’s essentially what we’re trying to do.” Prior to opening their namesake grocery store, Hunter and Brittany Ryan gained food and beverage experience while working at LightCatcher Winery & Bistro in Fort Worth. Hunter also worked at Eddie V’s in Fort Worth and Brittany at restaurants in New York City. The two come from the same family that the historic south Fort Worth neighborhood Ryan Place is named for.

- FWBP Digital Partners -

Salsa Fuego will move while launching Fuego Burger Tex-Mex gem Salsa Fuego, located at 3520 Alta Mere Dr., is recognized for its monstrously messy burgers as much as its chile rellenos, tacos and enchiladas. Now owner Carlos Rodriguez will transform the four-year old restaurant into Fuego Burger after he moves Salsa Fuego into the former location of Red Dragon Chinese Buffet (formerly Peony Chinese Restaurant) at 3500 Alta Mere Dr. The move will add 150 seats to Salsa Fuego’s current seating capacity of 48. “We need more room,” Rodriguez said. “We’re tired of losing business because we don’t have enough seats.” Fuego Burger will offer beer, wine, wings, tacos and Tex-Mex-inspired burgers like the guacamole burger, the Fuego burger with roasted green chiles, and the sloppy Jose, with spicy chipotle barbecue. Salsa Fuego was recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the top five Mexican restaurants in Texas in 2010. Expect the expanded Salsa Fuego and new Fuego Burger to be open by November.

Cowboy Chicken coming to Fort Worth Chicken is the star at Dallas-based fast-casual chain Cowboy Chicken Wood Fire Rotisserie, which is preparing to open its first Fort Worth location at 4972 Overton Ridge Blvd. As the restaurant name indicates, chickens are rotated and cooked over a hickory wood-burning fire, which is visible to diners. The brand, launched in 1981, is recognized for its twice-baked “potaters,” tomatillo sour cream-topped chicken enchiladas, rotisserie chicken tacos and hot peach cobbler. “Wild West” sides include baked sweet potatoes, fried okra, black-eyed peas and pan seared “campfire” veggies. Cowboy Chicken has seven locations across Dallas, Collin and Denton counties. Lunch, dinner, delivery and catering services will be offered. Blood & Honey gets bottled Revolver Brewing’s popular Blood & Honey wheat ale, brewed with blood oranges and local honey, is now available by the bottle. Find it at Central Market, Whole Food and Total Wine & More first, followed by Kroger, Goody Goody, World Market and independent beer and wine stores in the coming weeks. Visit the Granbury brewery (5650 Matlock Rd.) every Saturday afternoon from noon-3 p.m. for live music, beer tastings and tours.