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Samantha Marie Photography
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Samantha Marie Photography
Chef Michael Arlt
When Fort Worth restaurant business partners Jeff Payne and Jason Cross started working on a new restaurant concept, the first thing you may have expected them to do was, actually, the last thing they wanted to do.
In a plot twist no one saw coming, the co-owners of Cousin’s Barbecue have embarked on an unexpected journey: The Mont, a fine-dining restaurant in far west Fort Worth.
There is meat on the menu, to be sure — quite a bit, in fact. A 20-ounce rib-eye, Wagyu beef tartare, a burger if you sit in the bar, a New York strip. But there’s not a sliver of pork belly, a single rib, or a slab of brisket to be found.
“You know what’s funny? I was chatting with my sister-in-law, and she had told her friends we were opening a new restaurant,” Cross says. “And what’s funny is, she said her friends got excited when they found out it wasn’t going to be barbecue.”
That was affirmation, Cross says, the two were on the right track. On a hill that overlooks Interstate 20 near Montserrat, they have created an exquisite dining experience that is far removed from the world of barbecue.
The menu, rather, is decidedly New American. In addition to the aforementioned meat dishes, highlights include duck served two ways, roasted breast and a fried thigh; roasted monkfish tail with truffle vinaigrette; a double long-bone pork chop; and a rotating, housemade pasta.
The showstopping dish is, without a doubt, the Irodori Wagyu tomahawk — a 42-ounce cut of beef from a crossbreed of Wagyu and Black Angus cattle.
“In terms of steaks, there’s really nothing else out there like it,” Cross says. “It’s rich, buttery, tender. We may be the only restaurant in Texas to serve it.”
Small plates include decadent lobster hush puppies with truffle aioli and deviled eggs topped with caviar. Lighter choices include red snapper ceviche and scallops with butter-lemon sage.
Samantha Marie Photography
Chef Michael Duff
The restaurant marks a return to Fort Worth for Michael Arlt, former executive chef at Beast & Co., a shortly lived but forward-thinking global cuisine restaurant in the Near Southside. Arlt, the culinary director for Around the Fire Hospitality, brought aboard Michael Duff, formerly of Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, as executive chef.
“You’ve got this group of hopelessly devoted foodies,” says Cross, who spent years working in Fort Worth’s Tex-Mex scene before joining Payne at Cousin’s. “We all come from different backgrounds and bring something unique to the table. So, as far as the menu is concerned, the sky’s the limit.”
Designed by Fort Worth architectural firm Maven, the 7,400-square-foot space has a sophisticated, midcentury vibe — a handsome, groovy blend of rich mahogany wood, plush leather seating, and gorgeous chandeliers crafted by Fort Worth-based Stage Works.
Plans for Cross and Payne to deviate from barbecue have been in the works for years.
“The idea to do something different, something other than barbecue, is a conversation Jeff and I have been having for a long, long time,” Cross says. “We started talking and making plans, and then the world turned up on its end. Fortunately, we were able to get through COVID, and after we did, we regrouped and started putting together a plan.”
That plan also includes Beverly’s Downtown, a forthcoming elevated Mexican restaurant opening later this year in the basement of the historic Hogan Building at 901 Houston St. Cross says he’s hoping it’ll open by the end of the year.
“We still love barbecue, of course,” he says. “But we also love other types of food. The city’s growing and its palate is, too. We see these restaurants as opportunities to show people what else we can do and what else Fort Worth can do.”
The Mont, 4729 St. Amand Circle, themontfw.com
