candleliteinnarlington.com
Glad to report that local chef Alex Drury has launched a pop-up series after the abrupt closing of Tre Mogli, the swank Italian restaurant where Drury was chef de cuisine. Under the name Kiyomi Street Food, he’s hosting weekly pop-up events every Wednesday night at The Down ‘n Out and every Friday night at Lottie’s, focusing primarily on Asian cuisine. Some of his recent menu items have included coconut fried rice, adobo pork steamed buns, and the dish du jour these days, freshly made dumplings. A little more randomly, Drury is also hosting pop-ups at Jackie O’s Cocktail Club. The 30-year-old chef is from Missouri, but he’s been in Fort Worth for years, cooking in a wildly dissimilar variety of restaurants — Piattello Italian Kitchen, Wishbone & Flynt, and Tokyo Cafe, among them — that exemplify the wide swath of his talent. He’s someone to watch in ‘24, that’s for sure. Get info on his pop-up events here: instagram.com/kiyomistreetfood.
So many great restaurants have closed recently, including one of my absolute favorites, Da Crab Trap, a small mom-and-pop seafood boil spot in far south Fort Worth. Good news is, husband-and-wife owners Terrence and Daisey Shields have started a food truck and are continuing to serve many of the Low Country-inspired dishes for which their restaurant was known, such as seafood mac and cheese, fried catfish, and combo boil platters with shrimp and some of the biggest crab legs I’ve ever seen. Follow them on the socials to see where they’re serving. instagram.com/dacrabtrap.official
The historic Candlelite Inn in Arlington has launched a new lunch menu aimed at cheapskates like me. Ten lunch plates, all priced at $10. Dishes include grilled chopped steak, pork chops, chicken cannelloni, chicken Parmesan, manicotti, cheese enchiladas, and a Mexican salad. Most come with a side or two. The specials are available 11 a.m.–2 p.m., Monday-Friday. If you haven’t been to Candlelite Inn, consider this an inexpensive way to give it a whirl. The eclectic menu and old, old, old, old-school atmosphere truly make it a one-of-a-kind place. 1202 E. Division St., Arlington. candleliteinnarlington.com
Popular Vietnamese restaurant Four Sisters: A Taste of Vietnam, which closed in 2022 after a four-year run on South Main, has found a new home in Mansfield. Owner Tuan Pham reopened his family-run restaurant in a strip mall space at 3806 E. Broad St. A Fort Worth native who cut his teeth in the local restaurant scene at Shinjuku Station and Tokyo Cafe, Pham named the restaurant after his four sisters, two older and two younger, and strives to recreate the traditional Vietnamese dishes his mother made for him when he was growing up. Menu items include crab fried rice, shaken beef, and scratch-made pho. foursisterstx.com
