Crystal Wise
Chefs Lanny Lancarte II and Jesus Garcia launched their respective concepts earlier this year when COVID-19 was keeping diners out of restaurants. Garcia’s spot, Kintaro, is at 6916 Camp Bowie Blvd., while Lancarte’s Eat Fajitas operates out of his popular health-conscious restaurant, Righteous Foods, at 3405 W. Seventh St.
Lancarte’s ghost kitchen employs its own delivery drivers, and orders are placed online or by phone. For Kintaro, customers place orders through a third-party app, such as DoorDash or Uber Eats.
“So many people just aren’t ready to go back into restaurants yet,” says Garcia. “This is a good way to keep people fed while keeping the costs of running a restaurant down.”
Kintaro, a spinoff of Garcia’s recently opened sit-down restaurant in Arlington of the same name, specializes in sushi and ramen — the two cuisines for which Garcia, founder of Oni Ramen and onetime executive chef at Little Lilly Sushi, is best known. His menu includes a dozen varieties of sushi, small plates such as squid salad and braised pork belly, and three types of ramen.
Lancarte’s ghost kitchen has been in the works for nearly two years, long before COVID-19 became a part of our vernacular.
“With a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old, my wife and I ordered out a lot,” he says. “And knowing how food trends had been moving and how viable on-demand dining was becoming, it seemed like the timing was right to start something like this.” When COVID-19 overcame the city, he put the project into high gear.
Lancarte’s menu includes four types of fajitas — sirloin, chicken, combination, and veggie — made for two or four people. Each order comes with rice, sour cream, beans, and grated cheese. Additional sides include housemade chips, queso, guacamole, and salsa. For dessert, there are churros and popsicles from Melt Ice Creams.
There’s also beer, wine, and margaritas made with fresh lime juice and agave nectar.
“A lot of restaurants are offering to-go options but not a to-go experience,” Lancarte says. “We want this to be more than just food delivered in clamshell containers. Everything is freshly made and presented attractively. We want this to be as close to restaurant dining as possible.”
Eat Fajitas, eatfajitas.com
Crystal Wise
A Taco Joint Sequel The long-empty restaurant space that once housed Peony Chinese Restaurant and was a momentary home to Salsa Fuego finally has a new tenant.
Jorge’s Taqueria II opened recently in the spacious building at 3500 Alta Mere Drive, near the Benbrook traffic circle. As the name implies, this is the second location of owner Jorge Alvarado’s self-named taco joint. The original, at 6701 East Lancaster, opened five years ago. The success of that restaurant led Alvarado to open the new spot.
Alvarado’s signature item is tacos al pastor, street-size tacos stuffed with marinated pork freshly shaved from a vertical rotisserie. Other menu items include carne asada, tortas, burritos, ceviche, and burgers. Alvarado has a history with the building: He was a cook there when it was Peony. “I was just a kid, but I knew back then that I wanted to open a restaurant,” he says. “And I knew I wanted to open it here.” facebook.com/jorgestaqueriatx
Crystal Wise
Marcus Kopplin Dons the Toque at Clay Pigeon There’s a new face in the kitchen at Marcus Paslay’s Americana hotspot Clay Pigeon. Fort Worth-based chef Marcus Kopplin was recently hired as the restaurant’s chef de cuisine. The 32-year-old Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef has worked in some of the city’s most high-profile restaurants, including Cannon Chinese Kitchen, Winslow’s Wine Cafe, Shinjuku Station, and Paslay’s Italian spot, Piattello. claypigeon.com
As for Paslay’s long-awaited third restaurant, Provender Hall, he says he’s hoping to open it early July. The upscale comfort food restaurant, located in the Fort Worth Stockyards’ burgeoning Mule Alley, was days away from opening when COVID-19 struck, forcing him to hit pause. Paslay says he’s now hoping to open in time for the July 4 holiday. provenderhall.com
A Far North Gem Far north Fort Worth is very, very lucky to be home to newly opened Del Campo Empanadas, a family-run empanada shop at 10724 North Beach St. Run by Andrea Cacho and Leo Gigante, who originally hail from Buenos Aires, and their children, the charming cafe offers a dozen permanent and rotating varieties of the pastry turnovers in both sweet and savory options, such as broccoli and corn, Argentine-style beef, chicken, spinach, and banana-Nutella. Ask for an extra side of the addicting chimichurri sauce. delcampoempanadas.com
Restaurant news written and compiled by Malcolm Mayhew. You can reach Malcolm at [email protected] or on Twitter @foodfortworth.
