Joyce Marshall
Like most restaurants in Fort Worth and beyond, Marcus Paslay’s recently opened Provender Hall — his stylish ode to comfort food — was greatly impacted by COVID-19. It was days away from opening this spring when COVID-19 spread across the city, forcing the chef and restaurateur to close the doors before they even opened.
Paslay used the downtime wisely. Staff members were trained in the art of working in a restaurant in a post-COVID-19 world. The dining area was reconfigured to meet social distancing requirements. Hand sanitizers were brought in, and deep-cleaning practices were adopted.
Joyce Marshall
Scott Lewis oversees kitchen operations at all of Marcus Paslay's restaurants.
“Not being able to open actually gave us an opportunity to better prepare ourselves for this crazy new world we’re living in,” Paslay says. “We now had enough time to train everyone and get the proper protocols put into place. That way, we would be ready to open when we felt the time was right.”
Joyce Marshall
Opened July 4, the restaurant is what Paslay calls a “Texas-style brasserie.” The menu focuses on Southern classics with a cheffy, Texas twist. Dishes include blackened shrimp and grits with a blistered tomato beurre blanc and smoked half chicken with chimichurri and grilled lemons. There are also steaks, chicken gumbo, smoked pork chops, oysters on the half shell, and sides that include cheddar-cheese grits and fried okra.
Joyce Marshall
“The menu is what I think of as Texas’ greatest hits,” says Paslay, a native of Arlington. “These are dishes that, as Texans, were all a part of our diets growing up. But we’ve played around with the recipes a bit. They’re still familiar and recognizable, but we’ve made them our own.”
Joyce Marshall
Paslay, who also owns Piattello Italian Kitchen and Clay Pigeon Food & Drink, is joined in Provender Hall’s kitchen by longtime Piattello chef Scott Lewis, who is now overseeing kitchen operations at all of Paslay’s restaurants. Overseeing front-of-house is Kellen Hamrah, who also now manages bar and service for all three restaurants.
Joyce Marshall
Provender Hall
The restaurant occupies a two-story loft; the open kitchen is on the first floor, the dining room on the second. Some of the building’s original elements remain, including early 1900s fire doors.
Paslay’s original idea for a Mule Alley restaurant was vastly different than the finished product.
“We knew we wanted to do something with smoked meats, so we tossed around the idea of doing a barbecue joint,” he says. “After we familiarized ourselves with the space, we realized straight-up barbecue wasn’t the answer. We kept the smoked meats but added other Texas classics. Now we feel like it’s the perfect restaurant for the Stockyards.”
122 E. Exchange Ave., provenderhall.com
