Rendering courtesy of Prince Concepts
The PS1200 project features a public park, live/work dwellings, offices, and retail space, designed around eight Quonset huts.
Following the success of three Spiral Diner locations, founder Amy McNutt is bringing two new vegan concepts, Maiden and Dreamboat Donuts, to the PS1200 development currently under construction at 1200 Sixth Ave.
Maiden aims to provide patrons with an intimate fine-dining experience, featuring a full bar and only about a dozen tables.
“We want it to be a comfortable but romantic setting that’s going to be, hopefully, a very elegant experience for tender-hearted people,” McNutt says.
Although McNutt and her team from Spiral Diner are still early in the planning process, they hope to provide a tasting menu with six courses served over two hours.
“There’s just certain things, certain menu items you can’t accommodate in a diner setting,” McNutt says.
In collaboration with her team, McNutt hopes to expand on the progress made at Spiral by building a more challenging menu to showcase what’s possible using modern techniques and vegan ingredients.
“We use a lot of creative cooking techniques at Spiral, but with Maiden, we’ll just have complicated plates that take time,” she says. “So there will be lots of little flourishes and details that just take time. We want every plate to look like an edible work of art.”
Meanwhile, Dreamboat Donuts will put a vegan twist on the traditional doughnut shop experience. McNutt plans to offer guests a wide variety of fun flavors, normal fan favorites, coffee, and savory breakfast sandwiches, but the menu remains hypothetical.
“[We want] to show people you can get these amazing flavors — you can get these decadent treats without using animal ingredients,” McNutt says.
Dreamboat Donuts will be located in a 400-square-foot space, just across the breezeway from Maiden, with a park in between the buildings.
“[Dreamboat Donuts] will be more of a grab-and-go situation,” McNutt says. “But there will be lots of opportunities to take a seat outside in the park and sit down with a coffee and doughnut and take your time.”
McNutt and her team opened Spiral Diner almost 19 years ago and have been toying with the idea of expanding for a while now.
Before COVID-19 impacted the U.S., McNutt looked around at preexisting spaces. Nothing fell into place until nonprofit Near Southside, Inc. introduced her to Philip Kafka, president of Prince Concepts — the company overseeing PS1200’s development.
Being able to work alongside Kafka and the construction team was a major factor in choosing PS1200 as a home for Dreamboat Donuts and Maiden.
“Philip has been a great person to collaborate with, and they kind of won us over,” McNutt says.
The project’s convenient location behind Spiral Diner’s Fort Worth restaurant will allow Maiden's and Dreamboat Donuts' opening to go more smoothly, McNutt says. “We can have a little stronghold right there. It makes sense for just functioning, kind of side-by-side like that.”
With construction still in the early phases, McNutt says it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact opening date but is hoping for early 2022.
