Thursday, June 04, 2015

Eating high on the hog

Seems that food has been much on my agenda the last few days--I must quickly qualify that it's due to the opportunity to visit with good friends while eating out. But I want to give a shout-out to a few Fort Worth restaurants where I've enjoyed really good meals.
Years ago, when I moved to Fort Worth, there were two stars in the restaurant world--the Swiss House and The Carriage House. If you wanted a fancy dinner, those were where you went. Oh, there were satellites--Mac's House, for one. But the restaurant world was limited, and both those stars are now gone and sadly missed. Used to be when I walked into the Carriage House, they looked at me and said "Dover sole and spinach." I liked that sense of familiarity which is sadly missing in most restaurants now.
Today Fort Worth is bursting with great opportunities for dining--from well-known places to out of the way smaller ones you'd never find if someone didn't tell you. Just a general impression--those in So7, the residential/commercial area grown up along 7th Street, tend to be more chains. But the most interesting are to be found along eclectic Magnolia Street.
My friend Jean and I had lunch yesterday at Fixtures, on West Magnolia but far to the east. The menu is absolutely enticing and puzzling at the same time--want peanut butter and jelly? Just when I said we should have brought Jacob with us, she pointed out that it was jalapeno jelly. Or fried bologna sandwiches? (I gave up bologna years ago!). But I had a heaven-sent single scallop on a bed of pureed sweet potatoes with a beet/barbecue topping. Wonderful. And we split an order of beet fries--I think I've described them before but they are really roasted nuggets of beet, dipped in light cornstarch and flash fried. Served with aioli and pepitas. So good! Jean had a kale salad. In spite of its popularity, I just don't warm to kale. No matter, there are other things on the men, like tomato skins with house-smoked salmon and goat cheese. And several friends have loved the spaetzle.
Last night my restaurant adventurer friend Betty and I went to the Bite City Grill--tucked away in the back of the complex that used to be Montgomery Ward's. I ordered chopped lobster salad. Now most chopped salads are just that--really chopped. This had large chunks of lobster and avocado, good greens, and delightful creamy dressing. Betty had shrimp tacos but she always delights in ordering shrimp in front of me because I'm allergic. She says that's not the reason--she truly loves shrimp, but I still think she gloats a bit.
Tonight I had dinner with friend Mary V. at Pacific Table, our really sophisticated seafood place. She had the scallop salad, and I have to say they get scallops just right--crisp and brown on the outside and soft inside. I had crab cakes, intending only to eat one and take the other home--but I ate them both. They were all crab, no filler, and served with a great caper/aioli sauce.
I've gained weight lately though I tend to eat lightly, but I comfort myself that none of the meals above were excessive or fattening. My physical therapist tells me I'm building muscle, and that might account for the weight gain. I'll go with that, because at my age I really want to enjoy food.
Stay tuned for weekend cooking activities.

No comments: