This Week in Gluttony

These are the 5 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Shake things up with sober sips at Funky Picnic's Dry Bar pop-up.

fortworth.culturemap.com

Winter is officially here but restaurants and bars are heating things up with hot happenings. Make reservations for a popular communal wine dinner, a brisket-smoking class at a brewery, or a limited seating cocktail pairing dinner. Participating in Dry January? There’s a pop-up just for you.

Thursday, January 18

FnG Eats Wine Dinner
Keller dining destination will host two communal wine dinners this week, and one is already sold out. Snag reservations for Thursday’s ($80 per person, plus tax and gratuity) and enjoy four courses paired with an array of Italian and Spanish wines. Menu highlights include carne asada empanadas, braised short rib, and orange polenta cake. Dinner begins at 7 pm.

Friday, January 19

Dry Bar Pop-Up at Funky Picnic Brewery & Cafe
Inspired by Dry January and the rising demand for zero-proof cocktails, the Near Southside craft brewpub has launched a mocktail pop-up experience called Dry Bar. The pop-up takes place in The Back Room, where patrons can visit from 5–9 pm for non-alcoholic cocktails like the Mocaccino Martini, a sober twist on the espresso martini, Mule Love This Too, made with apple butter, lime juice, and ginger beer, and I Know That She’s Pretty, made with pink lavender water, lemon juice, and angostura bitters. The pop-up, which runs on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of the month, also feature an interactive build-your-own-mocktail bar where bartenders can help guests select glassware, garnishes, and more.

Saturday, January 20

BrisketU at Keyworth Brewing Co.
North Richland Hills brewery will host a brisket-smoking session with the experts from Backyard Pitmasters. Learn how to work a pit like a pro, from selecting the beef to slicing the end product. The class is $94 per person ($84 for additional participants) and begins at 12 pm.

Sunday, January 21

Fort Worth Veg-Fest
All-vegan food festival and market, sponsored by Belenty’s Love and Vida Café, will take over the Southside Bar & Party Hall at 342 S. Grove St. from 12–5 pm. Admission is free.

Kevin2 Pop-Up Dinner at The Usual
Guest chef Kevin Martinez of Tokyo Café will collab with featured bartender Kevin Kiowski to present a four-course menu paired with cocktails at this longtime W. Magnolia Ave. craft cocktail bar. Drinks will feature Worthy Park Rum, Estancia Raicilla, and Park Cognac. The dinner is $75 and there are two seating times: 5:30 pm and 8 pm.

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Breakfast News

White Rock Cafe in North Richland Hills is a breakfast & lunch gem

White Rock Cafe

A family-owned cafe is serving Mexican eats and coffee in North Richland Hills: Called White Rock Cafe, it's located at 7640 NE Loop 820 #110, in North Hills Village, in a former event space called Eventfully Yours, where it opened in May.

Not to be confused with White Rock Coffee or White Rock Lake, White Rock Cafe is named after a location in Oaxaca, Mexico — Rosa Blanca — and the ancestral hometown of sisters Jenny and Stephanie Pantoja, who own the restaurant with their cousin Kevin Nazario.

"It's where my father grew up," Jenny says. But she and her sister and her cousin all grew up in NRH.

“We decided to open in North Richland Hills because even though we live on the edge of Fort Worth, we kind of grew up here and are familiar with the people," Jenny says. “That’s why we decided this would be the perfect community to open a breakfast place.”

Their menu ranges from Mexican breakfast to comfort food to burgers and chicken-fried steak. There are all your bacon-and-egg-and-pancake combos with choice of potatoes or grits, but there are also crepes, topped with berries, and a Mexican Benedict, featuring an English muffin topped with grilled red onions, green peppers, seasoned chorizo, poached eggs, avocado, and Hollandaise sauce.

They also have a coffee program including brewed coffee, espresso, white coffee, hot chocolate, and hot teas.

White Rock CafeWhite Rock Cafe

Lunch has a homey home-cooking vibe, including a daily special with dishes like chicken fried steak and pot roast with two sides and Texas toast for only $8. There's a perfect California club with crisp bacon, red tomato slices, and fresh Romaine on toast, neatly trimmed, for $10; and that DFW classic combo of grilled cheese sandwich served with tomato-basil soup.

Prices are low, topping out at $14 for chilaquiles. They're open every day from 7 am-3 pm.

Jenny works in a surgery program most days when she’s not at the restaurant. She got her start working at a breakfast restaurant and grew to appreciate the hours and the culture, inspiring her and her family to open this breakfast cafe of their own.

It's a friendly, tidy place, with black vinyl booths and a lovely mural on the wall that summons the Mexican area for which it is named.

“My father used to work at a Cracker Barrel and other breakfast places, then he had the dream of opening his own place,” Jenny says. “That was the same for me too."

breakfast openings