Ramen News

Ramen restaurant with small but ambitious menu lands in downtown Arlington

Arlington, get ready for Ramen.

Photo courtesy of DFM

Ramen is coming to downtown Arlington. A promising new ramen restaurant called Kintaro Ramen will open at 101 E. Abram St., on the street level of a new residential building at the corner of Mesquite Street, on the site of the former Arlington Public Library.

Kintaro is from Han Le, who is opening his first restaurant and says he's excited to be part of the downtown Arlington neighborhood.

"Arlington is a city undergoing much growth and revitalization," Le says in a statement. "I believe this is the perfect time to bring a new concept to add a little culinary diversity to that part of town."

The menu is small, but offers well executed bowls at an approachable price point.

Ramen will be available in three versions:

Tonkotsu. A silky, luscious tonkotsu broth inspired by the Fukuoka pork broths and cooked for 48 hours to extract all the flavor from the bone, cartilage, and marrow.
Chintan. A full-bodied chintan broth inspired by the Tokyo whole chicken broths blended with a selection of dry fish and soy sauce. The chintan broth will be completely pork free.
Miso. A miso broth with pork and chicken and koji red miso tare.

They'll also have a ramen special that changes every month, starting in April.

Le says their goal is to stay true to the flavor by limiting the toppings available to each broth.

"We are not looking at creating a build-your-own or catch all ramen, but instead to cater a unique flavor experience," he says.

His goal is to be on a level with what he believes are the area's better shops including Hinodeya, Ichigoh, and Marufuku.

In addition to ramen, they'll do gyoza filled with pork; chicken karaage; steamed chashu buns; and seaweed salad.

There are two entrees: panko-crusted pork chop with steamed rice, and Nikujaga short rib like a stew with potato, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms, served with shirataki noodles.

There are two desserts: matcha green tea ice cream with Fruity Pebbles, and creme brulee.

They'll also serve sake and Asian beers.

They'll be open daily for lunch and dinner, with late hours Thursday through Saturday until midnight and hope to open in mid-February.

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Hotel News

Restaurant at chic new Fort Worth hotel reveals menu by Top Chef

Courtesy rendering

Bar and lounge at Nobleman Hotel in Fort Worth.

A new hotel restaurant opening in Fort Worth will bring back a name familiar to local diners: The restaurant is Duchess, opening in The Nobleman Hotel, 503 Bryan Ave. in Fort Worth’s Southside neighborhood in 2025. The chef is Casey Thompson, a former DFW chef who rocketed to fame after she appeared as a contestant on Top Chef.

Thompson is especially familar to Fort Worth, since she helped launch Brownstone, a restaurant that opened in 2010 in Fort Worth's West 7th district where she served as a consulting chef for a year.

The Nobleman Hotel is the distinctive development from Bedford Lodging in which a new-construction hotel will be wrapped around the historic No. 5 Fire Station, built in 1911. The restored fire station will serve as the heart of the hotel and will also be home to Duchess, with an architecturally prominent façade and approachable menu that represent a significant addition to the local dining scene.

Food
Bedford Lodging president Jeff Blackman enlisted consultant chef Thompson — who started out at The Mansion Restaurant in Dallas — to concept the menu and source an executive chef, to be named at a later date.

Chef Casey Thompson Casey Thompson at a DIFFA event in 2016. Photo by Shana Anderson

According to a release, the restaurant will feature New American cuisine with a Texas influence including steaks, pasta, and seafood.

Starters will include blue crab toast, tuna tartare, beef carpaccio ciabatta, snapper crudo, and crispy chicken croquettes.

Entrees will include red snapper with clams and butter beans; ricotta gnocchi with truffle butter; and a fried eggplant schnitzel with a poblano chimichurri.

Three steak options will include filet, ribeye, and New York strip, with an array of sauces.

Sides will include hand-cut fries with tarragon aioli; baguettes with pan drippings; and a homey side of spinach with black-eyed peas.

One stand-out feature will be the “Bowl of Red” — beef boar and beer chili with accoutrements, served in a silver tureen with choice of Fritos or buttered koji rice.

Design
The 56-seat restaurant will feature warm tones, banquettes, flooring changes, and details such as firemen’s pulley systems and brass fittings, keeping the history of the space alive. The entry will feature a welcoming portal on the first floor of the fire house to the bar and dining room.

The patio will be a continuation of the restaurant space with outdoor dining and vignettes of lounge furniture for smaller bites.

The Nobleman Hotel, a Tapestry Collection by Hilton concept, will open in early 2025, with 121 guest rooms and 32 extended stay suites with kitchenettes — pairing modern amenities with a historic façade, anchored by the original No. 5 Fire Station.

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