This week in gluttony

These are the 6 best food drink events in Fort Worth this week

How 'bout a toast to Grapefest.

Photo courtesy of Grapefest

Oktoberfest events are starting to pop up around town, and this week features a five-course German-themed dinner is paired with beers. Also on the list is the return of Grapefest along with a tony wine dinner, charity chicken wing cook-off, and a brunch board pop-up at a local wine bar. It’s also the 103rd birthday of one Tex-Mex institution, which is celebrating with some freebies.

Wednesday, September 15

El Fenix 103rd Anniversary
The Dallas-based Tex-Mex institution will celebrate its 103rd birthday at all 15 DFW locations with some giveaways. The first 103 customers at each outlet will receive a complimentary cup of queso with an entrée purchase and be entered to win free El Fenix for a year. At the downtown Dallas location, guests can enjoy live mariachi music and Mexican dancers, margarita and ranch water samplings, and special guest appearances by members of the Martinez family, who founded the Tex-Mex institution more than a century ago.

Chateau Montelena Tastemaker Dinner at Ruth’s Chris
The downtown Fort Worth steakhouse will host a five-course wine-pairing dinner featuring famed California Chardonnay producer Chateau Montelena. Menu highlights include crispy chicken confit, stuffed pork tenderloin, filet au poivre and Sicilian almond cake. Dinner is $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and will start at 6 pm both Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Thursday, September 16

35th Annual GrapeFest – A Texas Wine Experience
The largest wine festival in the Southwest is back, this year featuring non-stop live music on four different stages for four days. Headliners include 80s musical titans Berlin and Asia, along with AshenMoon featuring Garry Beers of INXS and Stray Cats’ Slim Jim Phantom. As for the wine, Texas wineries will be well-represented along with this year’s featured guest wineries: Napa Valley and South Australia’s Barossa Valley. Admission is free on Thursday. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, admission is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors (62-plus) and children 6-12.

Saturday, September 18

Wings for Wishes Cook-Off
Local charity A Wish with Wings will hold its first-ever Wings for Wishes chicken wing cook-off and fundraiser to support its mission of granting magical wishes for young Texans with life-threatening medical conditions. The event will feature individuals, restaurants, and community groups squaring off to determine who will be "Lord of the Wings," including Stone House Restaurant in Colleyville, Dirty Bones, Parker County Ice House, and more. Purchase tickets online ($25-$40) to sample a variety of wings and enjoy live entertainment. It all happens 11 am-3 pm at River Ranch Stockyards.

Sunday, September 19

ByWasonga presents Brunch at the Haus
The South Fort Worth wine bar will host cook and caterer Henry Abuto of ByWasonga (Wasonga is Abuto’s middle name) for Sunday brunch. Abuto’s artistic brunch boards will feature chicken and waffles. The board is $60 and feeds two, and also comes with a bottle of bubbly and juice for mimosas. The event will run from 10 am-1 pm, and reservations in advance are required.

Monday, September 20

Oktoberfest Beer Dinner at Funky Picnic Brewery & Café
The Near Southside beer and dining destination will host a five-course German-themed dinner paired with its own house-brewed beers. Menu highlights include house-made spaetzel, currywurst served with curry ketchup and duck fat-fried potato chips, roasted venison, and deconstructed Black Forest cake with Dr Pepper cherry sauce. Beer pairings will include the first pours of the brewery’s 2021 Prostoberfest. Seats are $75 per person and dinner begins at 7 pm. Note that tickets must be purchased by Friday. For a longer list of local Oktoberfests this fall, check out this story.

charity festivals wine news-you-can-eat

Doughnut News

Luscious doughnut shop Duck Donuts makes Fort Worth debut

Photo courtesy of Visit Addison

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A decadent new doughnut shop is coming to Fort Worth: Duck Donuts, a North Carolina-based chain known for serving doughnuts made to order, will open a shop at 6387 Camp Bowie Blvd. #A within the Ridglea Plaza Shopping Center in Fort Worth.

According to a release, the shop will open on Saturday December 21 at 7 am.

Duck Donuts opened its first locations in 2007 in the beach resort towns of Duck and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with the intention to create an oasis for vacationers. They're now headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and began franchising in 2013, with more than 150 locally owned and operated shops across 26 states and international locations. There was previously a DFW location in Addison on Belt Line Road that opened in 2020 but it did not survive the pandemic.

The Fort Worth shop is owned and operated by husband-and-wife Justin and Morgan Thomas.

“We are delighted to be opening in Fort Worth,” Justin says in a statement. “The community has been patiently waiting for us to open our doors, and now we cannot wait to sprinkle happiness to all with our warm, delicious and made-to-order doubhnuts.”

The 1,035-square-foot shop reflects the franchise’s reimagined design which gives a modern twist on their iconic beach theme and family-friendly atmosphere. Upon entering the store, customers are greeted by the aroma of warm, light vanilla cake doughnuts.

Customers can create their own combination by choosing from coatings, toppings, and drizzles, including traditional favorites such as chocolate icing with sprinkles and more adventurous creations such as maple icing with bacon.

Key to their appeal is the viewing area where children and adults alike can watch their doughnuts being made.

Many of their flavors have a beachy theme such as the Beach, a cake doughnut with vanilla icing dusted with cinnamon sugar; the Sunrise with lemon icing and raspberry drizzle; and the Beach Ball with vanilla icing, rainbow sprinkles, and chocolate drizzle.

They rotate in seasonal offerings such as the current lineup of mint-flavored flavors including chocolate icing with mint buttercream. The doughnuts themselves are limited to vanilla and chocolate cake; the flavors come primarily from icing.

In addition to doughnuts, the Fort Worth location will serve coffee, doughnut breakfast sandwiches, doughnut sundaes — in which a doughnut is topped with ice cream and syrup — plus frozen beverages and milkshakes.

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