Best Foodie Events

5 best food and drink events in Fort Worth during New Year's week

Make your own pasta at Il Modo

Il Modo

With New Year's this week, there is no shortage of tasty ways to celebrate. If you're looking for New Year's Eve dining, find those here. And the list of best brunch options for New Year's Day is here. But the rest of the week provides more opportunities to start 2025 by learning something new, be it how to make fresh pasta, Chinese dumplings, sip tequila, or shake up a mocktail for Dry January. Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 31

Barrel-Aged New Year’s Eve at Martin House Brewing Company
The riverfront brewery will host a day-time tasting featuring “cello” (or imperial ale based) drafts and limited cans. Flavors have been aging for 12 months and include peanut butter, strawberry banana, coconut, and apple pie. Non-barrel-aged cello flavors include maple, root beer, cheesecake, and bubblegum. Tickets are $66 and include a souvenir sherry glass, four Cello Toro cans (one per flavor), and four flight-sized pours of any cello. The party will run from 12–6 pm.

Thursday, January 2

Spirits of the West: Tequila, Mezcal, and Sotol Tasting at Bowie House
Saddle up to the bar at Bowie House for an immersive and educational tasting experience centered around agave and sotol spirits. The class is $66 and runs from 3–4 pm.

Pasta Making Class at il Modo
There are a few tickets left for il Modo’s first pasta-making class of the year. Participants will create fresh pasta from dough to the delicious end product. Tickets are $70, plus tax and a small fee. Add a welcome glass of bubbly and wine pairings with the end meal for $19 more. Class will run from 6–9 pm.

Saturday, January 4

Dim Sum at The Cookery
Learn to make a three-course dim sum dinner during this hands-on class at The Cookery. Menu items will include shrimp and bok choy wonton soup, tiger salad, pork and ginger pan fried dumplings, lo mein noodles with beef and broccoli, scallion pancakes with chili crunch oil, and Chinese egg tarts. Wine pairings are included in the $125 price. Class will run from 12–3 pm.

Dry January Cocktails at Central Market Fort Worth Cooking School
Just in time for health-conscience New Year’s resolutions, Central Market Fort Worth will host this mixology class dedicated to non-alcoholic cocktails. On the mocktail menu: French 75, Cranberry Spritz, All Day Margarita, and Winter “Rum” Cocktail. The class will also share insider's tips on setting up an all-inclusive bar with options for those who imbibe and those who refrain. Class is $55 and begins at 6:30 pm. Light bites included.

Dumpling News

Vietnamese cafe-market to open at new development west of Fort Worth

Hao's

Dumplings from Hao's

Fort Worth restaurateur Hao Tran has a new cafe and market in the works: Called Duong DeVille, it will open in a new development called Entrepreneur Park along 405 Jim Wright Fwy. in White Settlement. According to Tran, it's slated to open by late 2025.

Tran is the owner of Hao’s Grocery and Cafe, the Asian grocery store and cafe she opened in 2019 where she sells dumplings and other foodstuffs.

Tran, who was born in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. with her family after the fall of Saigon, says Duong DeVille will offer family recipes, noodles,

“It will be a full menu of Vietnamese dishes from different regions in Vietnam from the south and from the west, which is Hue,” she says. “We’ll have Asian-inspired mocktails, as well.”

And of course Tran’s popular dumplings, in options such as veggie, pork, or smoked beef cheek.

“I think they're so popular because it appeals to all age groups and transcends all cultures; it’s not anything extreme or too spicy, and it’s fun to eat,” she says.

Duong will also have a small market with offerings similar to Hao’s Grocery and Cafe, including sauces, meats, noodles, and pickled vegetables such as habanero pickles and pickled lotus rootlet.

It's going into a new development in White Settlement from by siblings Will Churchill and Corrie Watson Fletcher of Frank Kent Cadillac fame. Tran says she's known them for years, as they're both "very embedded in the community," and she's done a few events for them previously.

Churchill is co-owner of Heim Barbecue, which is relocating its restaurant in Burleson to Weatherford; as well as Fort Brewery, which just closed its cafe with a plan to focus on its brewing operation. According toFort Worth Report, he and Fletcher just took over four buildings along Jim Wright Freeway, which will also serve as a new headquarters for the Frank Kent Motor Company. They also plan to create a corporate and catering headquarters for Heim BBQ, from which they'll sell merchandise and frozen foods.

The 4,000 square-foot space designated for Duong DeVille will have space for the cooking classes that Tran hosts several times a month.

“I’m looking forward to offering a more full menu, a full bar, a mini grocery store and more space for classes, dinners, and events,” Tran says. “I’m limited in what I can offer in food now, but at the restaurant, I can offer a full menu.”