The temperatures were high and the bustlines were low at the charity Grand Opening Event at Brownstone this past Saturday. The cocktail event sponsored by Fort Worth Magazine benefited the Halo Society and gave Fort Worth their first peek at Brownstone. This new restaurant in the W7 development will have Season 3 Top Chef Fan Favorite, Chef Casey Thompson, running the kitchen.
With few details trickling out since the announcement that Top Chef runner-up Casey Thompson would be in charge of the kitchen it was exciting to take a look at the space and taste some samples firsthand.
My first peek at Brownstone was literally that, a wall of windows lines the kitchen and you can see the goings-ons of the kitchen right from the sidewalk. I was taken aback when I saw Chef Casey herself scurrying around in the kitchen.
Inside the atmosphere seemed light and airy with a few traditional touches. The bar area was the most populated spot of the evening and unfortunately by the time we arrived they had run out their signature cocktails. Nevertheless, with wine in hand we set out to get a few samples.
Samples seemed to run out as quickly as they came out of the kitchen. I heard rumors of empanadas but I never saw or tasted one. We did manage to try a few things. We enjoyed our first sample of tender pork on top of peppers. Some of the waitstaff didn’t seem too familiar with the items but this is pretty typical during the launch of a restaurant. We managed to snag a blueberry cheesecake shooter that was also quite tasty.
The rest of the evening all that seemed to be passed around were fried chicken livers. I have to confess I’ve never had chicken livers but fried and with the spicy dipping sauce they were alright.
I look forward to enjoying the full dining experience at Brownstone soon which promises Southern inspired cuisine. Brownstone’s original concept unique to Fort Worth make it a refreshing stand out in the midst of new restaurants imported from Dallas. Chef Casey joins the ranks of Ellerbe’s, Cafe Modern, Bonnell’s, and Tillman’s in sourcing local and regional ingredients to include in her dishes. She earns extra points in my book for supporting The Cowtown Farmer’s market. According to Chef Casey’s blog, Brownstone is now open, other reports say June 18th (best to call first).
Brownstone
840 Currie Street
Fort Worth
817.332.1555
Tuesday – Sunday from 5PM
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the great mention. The 18th is correct. Casey is so busy and with the pre-opening we thought we’d better just get the message out. Thanks for clarifying and we look forward to seeing you!
Dear Brownstone, I have never written a review on a restaurant in my life but my experience tonight was horrible and I think sometimes there is so much activity in the kitchen that sometimes, you don’t know what’s going on up front so here goes.
First the hostess was well, not there. She spent the time up front walking around doing I’m not sure what other than pulling down her apparentlytoo short skirt. There were not enough menus?? We were told we would have to eat at the bar, which we did while several tables were empty. Our waiter was unattentive although it looked like he was bartending at the same time. Our food took…over 50 minutes to come out. The menu, well, it’s just not my taste, I know it’s the new way to set a menu but, it was just an odd mixture of things that just didn’t appeal to me. We did order, the four of us agreed that the food was just not good. However being that I was not found of the menu, my opinion was already tainted. So, the service was horrible, the menu I just couldnt’ find anything that wowed me, and the food was too expensive and I expected more. I know these are harsh words but I want you to succeed. You have a fabulous look to the restaurant, a great location and I loved the patio. These are all good. I love that you are a new restaurant taking a chance in Fort Worth, I am just telling you this instead of just never coming back. Hope this helps in some way.
I went to Brownstone last night and I had a mixed experience. I called ahead for reservations, but when I got there they couldn’t find my name. It turned out to not be a big deal as we waited only 15 minutes, but my wife and I were still disappointed.
The space was nice. Everything looked nice. My only complaint of the building itself were the stone floors that made it a bit noisy. The servers were pretty attentive. It did take us a while to get our food, though I blame that on the kitchen. The place was busy but not completely full. I got the feeling the kitchen was still trying to sort itself out.
The menu had about 8 starters/appetizers and 5 entrées. We took the server’s advice and order a sausage and biscuit appetizer. The biscuits were pretty plain but the sausages (venison I think) were very good. It also came with strawberry jam, but it felt a little like breakfast instead of a snack which is what I think appetizers should be.
For our main course, I ordered the chicken stuffed chicken and my wife ordered the Kobe cheeks. Both came with corn grits. My wife like the grits, but I wasn’t impressed. The chicken stuffed chicken was white meat stuffed in dark meat. I thought the dark meat was much better than the white meat, but I usually prefer dark to light anyway. My wife’s Kobe cheeks were excellent and the best food item we ordered that night.
We also ordered a glass of wine each which brought the total to ~ $75. All in all, I feel like the restaurant has potential, but is still working out the kinks. Strangely, the appetizers looked more enticing than the main courses. It seemed like you could have a better meal if everyone in your party ordered an appetizer and shared with each other instead of ordering a main course. It would be cheaper as well.
Brownstone seems to be swinging for the fences and trying to be a unique dining experience not a typical high end restaurant. Its neighbors, Tillman’s and Bailey’s may have something to do with that. I feel like they are still finding their way a bit. There is enough potential there that I will probably give them another try in a few months.