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YOUR LEGENDARY EXPERIENCE AWAITS
FORT WORTH’S NEWEST ENTERTAINMENT DESTINATION
Located in the heart of the Fort Worth Stockyards, Hotel Drover, an award-winning, 200-room Autograph Collection® Hotel by Marriott, focuses on simple pleasures and genuine hospitality. Just steps away from the beautifully restored Mule Alley and Stockyards National Historic District, experience a thoughtfully curated collection of restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, artisan shops, legacy retail brands, and much more.
VOLUME 25 ISSUE 06
72
Marie Antoinette
Amphibian Stage is on the trend of the fashion revolution underway, bringing the edgy opulence of Marie Antoinette to life — starring the breathtaking Allison Pistorius as the Queen of France.
83
Best of Fort Worth
The readers have deliberated and delivered their verdicts on these gems in Fort Worth in the categories of Beauty and Wellness, Food and Drink, Home and Garden, Nightlife and Entertainment, People and Culture, and Shopping and Service.
: know
: live
14 Buzz
Opal Lee, honored as Fort Worth Inc.’s Person of the Year, achieved her life’s work when Juneteenth was made a federal holiday last year, but at 95, she still has much work left to do.
20 Calendar
We like big bugs and we cannot lie. Oversized insect sculptures crafted with various combinations of forest materials are on display at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
24 Fort Worthian
D. Wambui Richardson, the artistic director of Jubilee Theatre, had an epiphany at age 11 after watching “Into the Woods,” becoming “enthralled with wanting to tell stories that aren’t always about the ‘happily ever after.’”
28 History
To Russian Anna Geniushene and Ukrainian Dmytro Choni, the war in Ukraine is close to mind, but they are only armed with the love conveyed through the beauty of the classical music at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
38 Books
Tina Howard of Leaves Book and Tea Shop gives us three recommendations for a little summer reading, including Ambergis by Josh Hickman, whom she engages in a Q&A.
44 Excerpts
“When riding in the Alzheimer’s car, the turns are sharper, the slopes are steeper, and the loop-theloops come when you least expect them. You have to brace yourself … a lot.” An excerpt from Brace Yourself.
46 Style
There is symmetry in funky patterns in Funkytown, right? That’s the approach of Travis Schmidt’s Chaparral Golf Co., whose idea for an apparel store was born in Las Vegas, but it didn’t stay there.
52 Travel
Need to get away? Fuller’s Folly River Ranch is an ideal spot for the needed attitude adjustment. And it’s just over there … in Weatherford.
the fort etc. :
snaps
58 Restaurant News
Chef Stefon Rishel and Trident Restaurant Group have taken a dramatic detour with their new concept, Tre Mogli Cucina Italiana. However, it’s buono, says foodie Malcolm Mayhew.
128 The Colleyville Woman’s Club threw a partaay to celebrate good deeds. The Double Down for Good fundraiser at the Hurst Convention Center included casino gaming, dinner, wine, and dancing.
CLOSE
152 Darah Hubbard caught a perfect glimpse of the tentacles of Mother Nature’s burst of fury as Fort Worth’s new City Hall watches.
The Truth About Cats and Journalists
It’s June, that time of year when baseball’s the only game in town and the magazine’s readers and editors go through the painful process of whittling down all the city’s amazing restaurants, bars, yoga studios, and other boutiques to select the best of the best. It’s also the time of year when I write an editor’s letter detailing the painful process and apologize to the hundreds of phenomenal people and businesses we no doubt failed to honor.
But, to commemorate the aforementioned baseball season, I’m going to throw a curveball. This year, I’m going to tell a positive story about the city as it relates to my profession: journalism.
I was recently at a function — a nondescript event where people were dressed in business casual — where a fellow journalist, when speaking to a group of nonjournalists, talked about journalism. She said, and I’m paraphrasing: “Journalists work long hours, and the pay is terrible. But at the end of the day, everybody hates you.”
I can’t attribute this to my journalist friend. In fact, I don’t know to whom I should attribute it. I’ve heard this funny quip in one form or another for a few years now. I cannot, however, say I heard it before or during my years while earning my bachelor’s degree; I otherwise would have heeded such a warning.
Thing is, I’ve always assumed the above to be true — or at least I thought it to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. You see, journalists have the strange tendency of being both narcissistic and self-deprecating at the
Brian Kendall EXECUTIVE EDITOR
same time, so we revel in such resentment aimed our way.
I only recently, after hearing my friend tell the joke, realized the joke is not true. At least, for me. While I can’t speak for other editors at other publications in other cities, Fort Worth has never made me feel “hated.” Sure, like everyone in this world, I’ve gotten a few things wrong, dropped the ball, and been called out on errors. But, never have I felt any “lesser than” for being human in my job.
Granted, we’ve done only a few hard-hitting features that could offend some. But, I don’t suspect this is the reason I’ve escaped this era of abhorrence toward journalists with my head fully attached and blemishfree. I think I have the good people of the city to thank for that.
Fort Worthians, whether westsiders, eastsiders, ranchers, or near southsiders, are rarely judgmental or scathing in their critique. In the words of Nigel Tufnel, the friendliness factor in this city is turned up to 11. While it may sound saccharine, when it comes to honoring the best, I think we need to tip our hat to y’all, Fort Worthians.
Eric Nelsen, the recipient of this year’s best actor/performer (page 108), might have said it best: “I fell in love with this town. I am obsessed with the people, the history, the culture, the energy, and everything about it. I fell head over heels with this city.”
Touché, Mr. Nelsen.
Corrections? Comments? Concerns? Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas. com.
Why Fort Worth Is the Best City in Texas
Women and Their Cars
The Oral History of a Painting at the Kimbell
ON THE COVER: Inspired by old record labels, we made our Best Of cover into a collection of greatest hits — the hits of Fort Worth. Expertly designed by Jay Wise and Zac Saathoff of Jay&Zac Design Co., we printed the label at Redstone Visual Impressions and placed it on an old LP provided by Record Town.
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Let’s Chat
A few words from our readers
Fun fact, Chewbacca (aka Peter Mayhew) is buried in Azle, TX
Clifton McKinney
Is he eating Solo … Han Solo?
Audie
Black
EDITORIAL
ART
*Funkytown … way more fitting in this case. Jeriat Gillum
Burleson’s own! Now it’s time to bring that awesome craft beer experience to Burleson. Good job!
Juan Mendoza
CORPORATE
DIGITAL
CONGRATULATES
CLASS of 2022
FROM HERE
These colleges and universities listed represent the institutions where 93 FWCD seniors have been admitted.
FLY HIGHER 135 COLLEGES
to date where students were admitted
$14.2+ MILLION in scholarships and awards
$2.6+ MILLION in scholarship
Abilene Christian University
American University
Appalachian State University
Arizona State University
Auburn University
Austin College
Austin Community College
Baylor University
Belmont University
Blinn College
Boise State University
Boston College
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Centre College
Chapman University
Clemson University
College of Charleston
College of the Holy Cross
College of William and Mary
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Creighton University
Dallas College
DePaul University
Drake University
Drexel University
Eastern Michigan University
Furman University
George Mason University
George Washington University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Hendrix College
Houston Baptist University
Houston Community College
Howard University
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Lewis & Clark College
Louisiana State University
Loyola University Chicago
Marist College
Marymount Manhattan College
McMurry University
Miami University
Michigan State University
Mississippi State University
New York University
North Carolina State University
Northern Arizona University
Occidental College
Ohio State University
Ohio University
Oklahoma State University
Oregon State University
Pace University
Pennsylvania State University
Pepperdine University
Purdue University
Randolph-Macon College
Rice University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Sewanee: The University of the South
Southern Methodist University
Southwestern University
St. John’s College
Stephen F. Austin State University
Stony Brook University
Tarleton State University
Tarrant County College
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University at Galveston
Texas Christian University
Texas State University
Texas Tech University
Trinity University
Tulane University
University of Alabama
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, San Diego
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Colorado Denver
University of Denver
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Hawai’i at Mãnoa
University of Houston
University of Houston-Downtown
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Kansas
University of Kentucky
University of Maryland
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Michigan-Flint
University of Mississippi
University of Missouri-Columbia
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Texas
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
University of South Carolina
University of St Andrews
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at Tyler
University of Tulsa
University of Utah
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Wake Forest University
Washington and Lee University
Washington College
Washington University in St. Louis
Whitman College
Yale University
Institutions listed in red indicate where one or more senior(s) will attend.
Opal Lee Honored by Fort Worth Inc.
Her life’s work complete, Opal Lee at 95 is anything but done, with dreams still to achieve.
BY JOHN HENRY
Perhaps no one ever in Fort Worth — maybe all of America — has bookends on the journey of life quite like the immeasurable Opal Lee, a titan of 21st century civil rights, better known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth.
Consider: As a 12-year-old girl, Opal watched as a white mob burned down her family’s home on Annie Street. At 95, she was the guest of the White House, a witness to an act of history that she worked so tirelessly to see happen.
The man who led that mob isn’t but a lonely gravesite somewhere. His last remaining victim has carved out a place for herself in American history.
“She’s been fighting for what’s right all of her life,” says Frederick Gooding, an associate professor of African American history in the John D. Roach Honors College at TCU, as well as a Ronald E. Moore Professor of Humanities. “All of her life she has had to deal with trauma. Think about it. The home is the bedrock of building wealth in this country, and someone burns down your home. That’s a traumatic event. And for hundreds of people to say we don’t want you in this neighborhood. All [her father] was trying to do was live the American dream just like everyone else.
“But to take that trauma and turn it into triumph, to never stop walking the path, and this never-say-die spirit. She never let go of a vision of reconciliation, truth, and justice. She’s never let go of that. In many ways, she
represents, for me, the quintessential American.”
For the second year, our sister publication, Fort Worth Inc., has honored a single Fort Worthian with the title Person of the Year. The honor is bestowed on an individual who has demonstrated a significant contribution to making Greater Fort Worth a better place to live and work with emphasis placed on their contributions over the past year. This year, the honor goes to Opal.
Opal’s decades-long campaign for Juneteenth to be recognized as a federal holiday became reality last June when President Joe Biden, with Opal in attendance, signed the bill making Juneteenth the 11th federal holiday to be celebrated every June 19 forever on.
“We’re blessed to mark the day in the presence of Ms. Opal Lee,” Biden said that day. “You’re incredible. Hate never stopped her. Over the course of decades, she has made it her mission to see that this day came.”
Later in the year, a Congressional delegation, led by Fort Worth Democrat Marc Veasey, recognized Opal for a dedication to the cause of civil rights and racial equality by nominating her for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Also, this past year, she published a children’s book titled Juneteenth, dedicated, she said, to all the children of the U.S. who need to be made aware of their history. As important was news that Fort Worth would be home to a to-be-constructed National Juneteenth Museum in the Historic
Southside. When she was at the White House, Biden wrote her a check for $6.19, which is part of the campaign to raise funds for the museum. All who want to contribute can make a check out for $6.19 or $60.19 or $600.19. Or whatever resembles 6/19.
There is much more to know about Opal Lee than her walk across America to raise awareness for Juneteenth, all the while gathering 1.5 million signatures, in her 89th year. She since had gathered 1.5 million more signatures, a total of 3 million, she says, when the White House called her last year with an invitation.
At 95, Opal still has dreams, and they’re all on this list she has mentioned three or four times. It’s a list as long as a child’s at Christmastime, she says. None of them, other than perhaps the fix on her home, have anything to do with her.
Opal has some property around town that she wants to make housing for homeless, including a trailer in her own backyard that she used as a storage shed. She cleaned it out and envisions making it into two living quarters. She has two other lots that she wants to do the same, except she is intrigued by the idea of the shipping containers that builders are using to make homes. In Texarkana, she owns a property that used to be in her family. She wants to make a park of that.
Opal has thought about the prize that comes with winning the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s about $1 million. All of those projects for the homeless have a place in the would-be proceeds.
Less known as well about Opal is the work she does quietly from her home. Not far from her house is Opal’s Farm, where produce is distributed to the hungry through food banks, including the one she started at her church, Baker Chapel AME Church, which she has been a member of since 1937, two years before the attack on her family’s home.
The great news is that Opal Lee isn’t finished yet. She lives to make a difference in the present and thinks about the future. Even at 95.
“I keep telling them, I’m just a little old lady in tennis shoes getting in everybody else’s business,” Opal says. “And having a damn good time doing it.”
A Night with Paul at Dickies
The lyricist of Liverpool brings fabled singing and songwriting to Dickies Arena.
BY JOHN HENRY
Anoted vegetarian placed a visit to the cowman’s paradise on a Tuesday night, though Paul McCartney was anything but out of place in an intimate setting.
Perhaps it’s the broccoli that keeps Sir Paul, a British royal in every sense of the word except birthright, so energized — and bloody good, by God.
A month shy of his 80th birthday, the lyricist of Liverpool returned to Fort Worth to take us through a journey of seven decades of his fabled singing and songwriting, gifts from another realm that keep on giving and giving, in front of adoring fans at Dickies Arena who for more than 2 1/2 hours hung on his every note like a frog on a fly while he hopped around on a variety of instruments, with little effort from tool to tool.
Many paid a princely sum for the privilege to see him, with tickets on
Tuesday going for more than $5,000 in marketplaces where it’s hard to tell if the law of supply and demand or the law of the underworld has jurisdiction. Yet, it was difficult to locate an empty seat.
The appearance was his first stop in Funkytown since 1976 when he dropped by for the kickoff of the historic “Wings Over America” tour, McCartney’s first show in the U.S. since the breakup of the iconic Beatles.
The show was the fourth stop on the current 12-city “Got Back” tour.
McCartney intermixed his celebrated lyrics and melodies with great storytelling of his life as a performing artist, as well as a member of one of the greatest bands in Western civilization.
“Hello, Fort Worth,” he greeted an enthused crowd. “We’re going to have fun tonight. Let’s go.”
McCartney regaled the audience
with timeless Beatles pieces, including opening the night with “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Among the others from the catalog were “Got to Get You into My Life,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” “Love Me Do,” “Ob-La-Di, ObLa-Da,” “Let It Be,” and “Hey Jude.”
“Blackbird” and “Lady Madonna” made return appearances from the set list of the show 46 years ago at the Fort Worth Convention Center (then the Tarrant County Convention Center). McCartney performed a song he wrote for his wife, Nancy, who was at the concert, “My Valentine.” The Wings were also well represented with “Junior’s Farm,” “Let Me Roll It,” “Band on the Run,” and “Live and Let Die.”
“Live and Let Die” was accompanied by a pyrotechnics display seemingly unseen since Mrs. O’Leary’s cow in Chicago, circa 1871. Sitting in the front rows came with yet another ticket fee: eyebrows.
“I’ve Got a Feeling,” off the Let It Be album, was part of the most touching moments of the show.
Apart for more than 50 years on stage, McCartney and John Lennon — considered by many to be one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in rock ‘n’ roll history — were together again as a duet, thanks to Peter Jackson, the director of the critically acclaimed documentary series “Get Back.”
Jackson, through the miracle of technology I wouldn’t understand even if you fed it to me in the form of TX Whiskey, was able to separate Lennon’s vocal track on “I’ve Got a Feeling” so that McCartney could sing to it. Behind McCartney was footage of Lennon performing his parts.
Earlier in the show, McCartney performed “Here Today,” a song in the form of a letter he wrote to Lennon after his death in 1982 that describes their complex relationship.
As for this Beatle, the speculation that goes with entering your ninth decade of life includes retirement. Or does it?
“We’ll see you next time,” he said as he took a final bow and departed.
PHOTO BY CRYSTAL
A Second Chance
Historic Fort Worth nominates nine properties for entry into the annual Most Endangered Places list.
BY KELSEY SHOEMAKER
Fort Worth is full of mothballed buildings that look ripe for demolition. But, through another monocle, such buildings may be worthy of salvation. As Historic Fort Worth releases its annual list of Most Endangered Places, nine buildings and properties might get a second chance. Among the properties nominated is a 1920s building that once boasted a 2,000-seat auditorium and housed the Ku Klux Klan. Designed by Earl Glasgow, its features are hard to miss with a highpeaked parapet and motifs of arches. The building served as the KKK headquarters, housed membership, and is located just across the Trinity from the city’s courthouse.
“Part of historic preservation is recognizing what something was, and what something is, and perhaps recognizing what it might become,” executive vice president of The Projects Group, John Stevenson, says. “It seemed to be falling apart and waiting to be swept aside with the development of Panther Island. But, swiping away this history would be another step in hiding and maintaining systemic racism and oppression. Its demolition could have been used to suggest resolution and closure to the trauma caused and spread by what took place in this building. But letting or making a building fall down does not heal violence.”
The nonprofit organization, Transform 1012 N. Main Street, purchased the building earlier this year to convert the structure into The Fred Rouse Center for Arts and Community Healing. Its namesake honors the memory of Fred Rouse, a Black meatpacking-plant worker in Fort Worth who was lynched by a White mob in 1921. The new purpose of the building hopes to return resources to the communities that were marginalized and targeted for violence by the Ku Klux Klan. Some features include meeting spaces for equity and membership training, services for underserved communities, and spaces for artists.
Other properties nominated include the Garda Park built in 1910, the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena built in 1968, a candy company factory built in 1906, the Berry Theater built in 1940, the William Coleman House built in 1930, and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church and Parsonage built in 1929.
“I hope that people see the enthusiasm around younger generations that can support a future for the buildings that they can represent,” executive director of HFW, Jerre Tracy, says. “Lots of preservation groups have endangered lists because the conversation is what really changes the future for a building. People are very creative when they know there’s a need.”
» Chef Tim Love Announces First Slate of Shows for Tannahill’s
Local restaurateur and celebrity chef, Tim Love, can add yet another credential to his name: music venue owner. The new venue, Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall, is set to open its doors this fall on East Exchange Avenue in the Stockyards’ Mule Alley.
Love, who named the venue after his music-loving son, partnered with Live Nation to bring a venue that curates to artists and concertgoers alike.
“There’s one thing that makes artists happy is when they get to the venue and they’re kind, cater to you, and give you great food and a great cocktail,” he says. “It’s our goal at Tannahill’s to be the No. 1 hospitality to the fans, on the tour, to anyone in the world, and I’m excited about that.”
In addition to music — because, you know, it’s owned by a chef — the venue will also offer an extensive cocktail and food menu that includes grilled oysters, bologna sandwiches, and smoked baby back pork ribs.
During a big Thursday afternoon Stockyards shindig, Love announced the first slate of music acts that will grace Tannahill’s stage.
The diverse lineup includes the likes of rap star Ludacris, ’70s soft rockers Foreigner, local boys Green River Ordinance, indie artist Futurebirds, and many more.
The venue’s first artist is slated to be country duo Muscadine Bloodline, who will perform Oct. 1.
*Please visit each event’s website for information on COVID-19 protocols.
JUNE 1
Dog Days of Summer
Starting this month, MUTTS Canine Cantina invites you and your dog to enjoy an all-day “Yappy Hour” every Wednesday through September with delicious drinks for you and cool ice baths for your furry friend.
MUTTS Canine Cantina 5317 Clearfork Main St. muttscantina.com 817.377.0151
JUNE 2 – 18
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Each year, Thirty of the world’s best piano talent vie for gold at the annual Cliburn competition at TCU and Bass Performance Hall.
Bass Performance Hall 525 Commerce St. cliburn.org
817.738.6536
THROUGH JUNE 26
FOCUS: Jamal Cyrus
Catch the final few days of Jamal Cyrus’ site-specific exhibition that explores the forgotten, ignored, or fragmentary accounts of Black American Southern culture.
The Modern Art Museum 3200 Darnell St., themodern.org, 817.738.9215
JUNE 3 – 26
Marie Antoinette
Enjoy a contemporary take on the legacy of former French Queen Marie Antoinette.
Amphibian Stage
120 S. Main St. amphibianstage.com
817.923.3012
JUNE 9 – JULY 3
Into the Breeches
All of the actors have gone off to war, but as always, the show must go on. Watch what happens when an all-female cast attempts to produce Shakespeare’s “Henriad.”
Stage West 821 W. Vickery Blvd. stagewest.org 817.784.9378
JUNE 18
I Am Juneteenth Festival
Juneteenth FTW is partnering with Panther Island Pavilion to host this year’s Juneteenth Festival that was created to celebrate local activists and recognize the empowering force of freedom across the community.
Panther Island Pavilion 395 Purcey St., 682.738.6055 juneteenthftw.com
JUNE 16 – JULY 4
Concerts in the Garden
The city’s signature summer event is back with an incredible concert lineup, offering everything from the music of The Eagles to John Williams’ celebrated “Star Wars” score.
Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. fwsymphony.org
817.665.6000
JUNE 20
2022 TEX Gala
Dress to the nines and walk the red carpet at the Texas Rangers’ annual charity event benefiting A Heart for Kids. All tickets require a charitable contribution.
Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation
Globe Life Field 734 Stadium Drive Arlington mlb.com/rangers/tickets/ events/texgala 817.533.1972
JUNE 21 – 26
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
Originally set at the turn of the 20th century, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “OKLAHOMA!” has been reimagined to represent the modern day. Tap along to your favorite tunes, but be sure that it’s nothing like you’ve experienced before.
Bass Performance Hall 525 Commerce St. basshall.com 817.212.4280
JUNE 23
Alastair Greene
Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Alastair Greene is taking to the stage at Fort Brewery & Pizza. There is no cover charge to attend.
Fort Brewery & Pizza 2737 Tillar St. fortbrewery.com 817.923.8000
JULY 1
Rod Stewart & Cheap Trick
The two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame singersongwriter Rod Stewart is stopping in Fort Worth for one night only as part of his first North American tour in four years.
Dickies Arena 1911 Montgomery St. dickiesarena.com
817.502.0053
JULY 2
Foam Glow 5K
Forget your traditional race day and prepare to be blasted by different color glow-in-the-dark foam as you dart along the course.
Texas Motor Speedway 2492 Petty Place foamglow.com
JULY 2
Them Dirty Roses
Self-dubbed the “quintessential American rock band,” four Alabama-born musicians are bringing their Southern sound to Fort Worth as part of their three-month-long tour.
Tulips FTW 112 St. Louis Ave. tulipsftw.com
817.367.9798
JULY 4
Fort Worth’s Fourth
Grab your family and friends to gather along the banks of the Trinity and watch Fort Worth’s largest fireworks show of the year. While you wait, enjoy festival food, drinks, and live music at Panther Island Pavilion.
Panther Island Pavilion 395 Purcey St. fortworthsfourth.com 817.698.0700
THROUGH JUNE 12
Big Bugs
Stroll through the oversized insect sculptures crafted only from various combinations of whole trees, cut green saplings, dry branches, and other forest materials at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3200 Botanic Garden Blvd., 817.463.4160 fwbg.org
We combine value, design and quality into bath and kitchen faucets that stand the test of time.
Posh Solus Pull-down Kitchen Faucet
Posh Solus Single Handle Lavatory Faucet
Posh Solus Widespread Lavatory Faucet
D. Wambui Richardson
BY JILLIAN VERZWYVELT
Artistic Director, Jubilee Theatre
PHOTO BY CRYSTAL WISE
Everyone has a story, and D. Wambui Richardson is making sure they get shared.
The New Orleans native knew he wanted to be an artistic director by the time he was 17. By the time he graduated college, he’d successfully held many roles running the gamut that made him familiar with almost every facet of the industry and laid the foundation for his current position as the artistic director at Jubilee Theatre.
“During my undergrad at Dillard University, I had a very strong mentor who instilled in me that before I could direct, I had to learn all of the other crafts,” Richardson says.
FIVE QUOTES HE LIVES BY
1
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
– Frederick Douglass
2
“Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move.” – Ossie Davis
3
“If I am a cup maker, I’m interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.”
– Denzel Washington
4
“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.”
– T. D. Jakes
5
“You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”
As an artistic director, Richardson is responsible for overseeing all aspects of production and making sure that everything runs smoothly. Sometimes that involves stepping in as the swing or implementing extra precaution to protect his performers against COVID-19. Whatever the case may be, the show must go on.
And Richardson applies that age-old mantra beyond the theater.
After watching “Into the Woods” at 11 years old, Richardson recounts that he “became enthralled with wanting to tell stories that aren’t always about the
‘happily ever after’ because not everybody gets to live that way. But you can take lessons from your struggles.”
Richardson’s life hasn’t always been easy, but every hardship helped him define what he wanted to be. And he’s been fortunate to have supportive family members surrounding him along every step of the way.
The relationships Richardson has with his family have inspired two independent projects.
The first is From Father to Son, a collection of monologues inspired by what he has learned by being a father himself as well as the conversations he wished he could have shared with his own father.
“It’s meant to be all of the things we, as men, want to tell our sons but don’t,” Richardson says.
The second is a musical adaptation of the 1975 film “Mahogany.” As a kid, Richardson couldn’t help but see the parallels between the protagonist of the film and his mother because both made significant sacrifices to follow their dreams.
For as long as he can recall, Richardson has sought to be a storyteller and encourage conversation.
“Jubilee Theatre has been a blessing to me and to the community for creating a space where people’s voices have a place to be heard and explored.”
1. Richardson and Managing Director Christie Howard getting in the spirit for Jubilee’s “If Scrooge Was a Brotha.” 2. At Dillard University, Richardson found family in his fellow theater majors. 3. Richardson attended the award ceremony for Jubilee’s inaugural Gold Golf Tournament last June. 4. Richardson and Managing Director Christie Howard were up bright and early to market Jubilee on “Good Morning Texas.” 5. Richardson celebrated Jubilee’s “Hoodoo Love,” performed early last year, with members of the cast.
– Shirley Chisolm (politician and first African American woman to seek the nomination for president.)
The International Language
To Russian and Ukrainian competitors at this year’s Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the mother tongue is music.
BY JOHN HENRY
Somewhere in the footnotes of history was a philosopher — the name escapes — of apparently good taste, who concluded after a life of thought and experience that music was a damned fine thing for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which because it diminished the “beast in men.”
No one lived that reality quite like the estimable Van Cliburn, who quite literally turned the Cold War warm with a maestro’s touch that left even Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, a bowling ball of a man, in awe of the Texan’s talent and personality.
“From the reception I received, I think there’s a bit of Texas in the Russians, and I told them so,” Cliburn said as he stepped off a plane in New York mere weeks after winning the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958. With a rendition of Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto in the finals, he wowed everyone in sight, turning him instantly into classical music’s Elvis, including, but not limited to, the fawning, screaming, adoring fans and all the rest of it.
It was a triumph of the transcendence of art and music, of the soul, and for understanding between East and West, capitalist and communist.
“They are really sensitive, and they really love music, and that doesn’t mean only Russian music,” Cliburn concluded.
Since 1962, pianists from all parts of the world, including Russia, have traveled to Fort Worth to take part in The Cliburn International Piano Competition, which again opens this month with 30 participants seeking one of the most coveted prizes in their art.
For 60 years, the quadrennial competition has met its creed of sharing classical music with the largest possible international audience, which has grown through the development of the streaming video. The event runs from June 2-18 at the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU and Bass
Anna Geniushene
Performance Hall downtown.
This year, The Cliburn opens under circumstances it never has before seen in its 60 years. Officials are set to welcome 15 Russian and one Ukrainian competitor, all of whom have not a thing to do with the open hostilities of a hot war between Russia and Ukraine begun by Napoleon le petit, the Russian despot with a Soviet streak and runaway hubris, who rather than strength has shown the world his hand, and it’s a 2-7 offsuit.
The war Vladimir Putin started could very well turn out to be his Waterloo. That determination is unknown, but however the conflict is resolved, it will likely go down as a noted example of the terrible waste of war in terms of human and economic treasure.
“I believe music is an international language as the history of arts also confirms,” says Anna Geniushene, one of the 15 Russians competing. “Our world is giving us a lot of opportunities: You might change your religion views, city of living, occupation, gender, passport, but you cannot change your birth country.
“We all are the victims of the situation, and sadly, we cannot stop the chaos; however, we might speak out
and spread the word around. I would really like to share my music, and this remains to be my priority during any kind of activities in the world.”
Mere moments after the first shots were fired, anything resembling a Russian bear was sent to the back of the line or banished from it altogether.
The Tchaikovsky Competition, itself, received expulsion papers. The World Federation of International Music Competitions voted to exclude it from membership, effective immediately, with the caveat of not supporting blanket sanctions and discrimination against all Russians.
“In the face of Russia’s brutal war and humanitarian atrocities in Ukraine, the WFIMC as an apolitical organization cannot support or have as a member, a competition financed and used as a promotional tool by the Russian regime.”
The World Federation of International Music Competitions, founded in 1957, is a network of more than 110 internationally recognized organizations dedicated to identifying the most promising young talents in music. The Cliburn is a member.
That all could be a mistake. Isolation restricts the impact a guy like Cliburn
could have inside the country. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
At the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary, Alberta, Geniushene, 31, was one six Russian pianists who had their invitations revoked in April. Two others are also Cliburn competitors, Elizaveta Kliuchereva, 23, and Sergey Tanin, 27. None of them have made any single statement in favor of their government’s aggression, all the victim of anti-Russian reactionary sentiment sweeping the globe.
“We had discussions about it, and we had to evaluate the potential consequences on [the pianists], their families, and the Cliburn reputation,” says Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO. “We decided, first, not to ban Russian competition because they have nothing to do with these crazy policies of this tyrant. And most of them are not living in Russia. Many are already living here in U.S., Germany and [elsewhere in] Europe. Some of them have also been publicly against the war. It’s pretty dangerous in their case because they have family in Russia. This [Russia] is not a democracy. You have to be careful.”
The Cliburn, Marquis adds, is an artistic organization, not a political organization. Politics is not their job. “There’s a lot of people who can do that way better than we do.”
I’ll take his word on that.
Ultimately, the decision The Cliburn made was inspired through the one man himself, its founder and exemplar, Van Cliburn.
“Especially for us, we were founded by this man’s legacy who in 1958 won the Tchaikovsky in Moscow in the Cold War,” Marquis says. “Van Cliburn himself brought people together through music. He was never talking about politics, but music; the love of music and how it can bring people all over the world together. Yes, we were born from this inspiration that music can bring people from all boundaries together, and we should not ban or discriminate on these premises.”
In Moscow in 1958, it was assumed — fait accompli – that a Russian, most
Vadym Kholodenko
likely 29-year-old Lev Vlassenko, would win gold at the Tchaikovsky Competition. That was until Cliburn, then 23 years old and an honors graduate of Juilliard, where he studied with Rosina Lhevinne, took his turns. Cliburn’s career was in reality trending downward heading into the competition. He went to Moscow at the urging of Lhevinne, with hopes of reinvigorating a stalled career.
It worked better than anyone could have hoped, particularly considering the possibility that there would be dynamics not in his control. Could judges award not only a non-Russian gold, but an American? Americans were the guys on the opposite side of the spectrum of super powers, the bitter enemy in the post-WWII era who raced for nuclear supremacy and a vessel into space.
In a dictatorship, the dictator decides. One of the judges, pianist Emil Gilels, went to the country’s minister of culture, who went to the very top. Khrushchev said he would not intercede, telling his minister of culture that if Cliburn were the best, then so be it.
The most recent authority of the event is the account of author Nigel Cliff, author of Moscow Nights: The Van Cliburn Story.
“The moment the young American with the shock of flaxen curls sat before the piano, a powerful new weapon exploded across the Soviet Union,” Cliff wrote. “That weapon was love: one man’s love for music, which ignited an impassioned love affair between him and an entire nation.”
A New York Times writer, who witnessed it all, wrote, “The Soviet public celebrated Cliburn not only for his artistry but for his nationality. Affection for him was a safe expression of affection for America.”
Khrushchev even fell in love, greeting the Texan and soon to be the adopted son of Fort Worth with the warmest embrace. “Why are you so tall?” the premier asked. “Because I’m from Texas,” Cliburn responded. Cliburn traveled all across Soviet Union in the weeks after the
competition giving concerts.
It was all the tentacles of circumstance, a love of music, that universal language that simply transcended the differences and even the hatred. Cliburn had no ambition to be any sort of éminence grise, though he found himself in the role of diplomat again in 1987 as a guest of the Reagan White House, asked to play for a Reagan-Gorbachev summit, which he did.
He returned to the states in 1958 to a hero’s welcome. As big as Elvis? Perhaps bigger. Did Elvis ever receive a ticker tape parade in New York City with 100,000 people lining the streets to get a look? No. Cliburn’s popularity wasn’t the only thing that soared like the coming Apollo missions. So, too, did his career. Sales of his recordings peaked, and demands for his time increased tenfold. His recording of Piano Concerto No. 1 was the first classical recording to sell more than a million copies.
“He loved people,” Marquis says of Cliburn, “and he loved sharing what he had with a large audience.”
Life for the winner of The Cliburn International Piano Competition will change instantly. That is the impact of the competition.
One of the 30 selected is Dmytro Choni, a native of Kyiv, born in Ukraine 28 years ago. He discovered the piano at 4. Choni earned a bachelor’s degree from the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy
of Ukraine under the guiding hand of Yuri Kot. He moved to Austria in 2015 to study with Milana Chernyavska at the Kunstuniversität Graz.
Choni is a prizewinner at nearly 20 international competitions, including firsts in six of those.
One of his countrymen won The Cliburn, and recently Vadym Kholodenko, a native of Kyiv who was cheered on like a rock star during performances, won in 2013. (His life later encountered tragedy with the death of his two young children in Benbrook.)
“It’s an honor to be part of the competition,” says Choni, who has collaborated with renowned orchestras, such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, RTVE Symphony, Seongnam Philharmonic, Ukraine National Symphony, Liechtenstein Symphony, and Dominican Republic National Symphony Orchestras. “I was following The Cliburn for many years. I watched some documentaries about the past editions of the competition, and I’m very happy to take part myself this year.”
Choni’s preference is not to talk about the war or, at least, dwell on it. He has said in the past that his music has been a refuge from the turmoil in his mother country, though he told Fort Worth Magazine that “music can bring peace to people’s souls. It’s very valuable.”
“I let my experience be reflected
Dmytro Choni
in the music I perform, when appropriate,” he says. “Playing piano has always been a kind of therapy for me. Now it is especially relevant.”
The performance “reflects the inner world of a performer,” he goes on. It’s important to find a balance, but “personal emotions definitely enrich the music.”
Geniushene is a fourth-generation Muscovite, born on New Year’s Day 1991, just as the final countdown of days on the Soviet Union, a demise that would be complete by Christmas of that year.
“As a Russian-born and Russiantaught pianist, I was raised in adoration of the Tchaikovsky Competition, the very central event of the country,” she says. “I had a Soviet-printed book describing in details of the musical path of Van Cliburn and his further continuation of conquering the world as a top-ranked pianist.
“I was very lucky to study with a teacher who attended the very first auditions and heard Van Cliburn live at that competition. Relying on her words, it was an unforgettable experience.”
Not surprisingly, considering the role classical music plays in the culture, Russians have done well at The Cliburn. Vladimir Viardo (1973), Alexi Sultanov (1989), Olga Kern (2001), and Alexander Kobrin (2005) have all won gold at The Cliburn. Nikolai Petrov captured silver in the inaugural Cliburn in 1962, as have Yakov Kasman (1997), Valery Kuleshov (1993), and
Maxim Philippov (2001). Mikhail Voskresensky won bronze in 1962.
Geniushene has been impacted significantly by the Russian invasion.
She has been living, she says, “between Russia and Lithuania for quite a long period of time.” Lithuania, which already had no love for Russians based on a history of occupation and Soviet shadow governments, is especially now antiRussian.
Lithuania is Baltic Sea neighbor with Estonia, another former Soviet republic. Music played pivotal role in its eventual independence from the Soviets. Estonian national songs and hymns had been banned. However, as independence movements advanced, people began singing the songs publicly as an act of defiance. In time, the “Song of Estonia” festival that attracted 300,000 people to hear songs and independence leaders speak. The singing revolution ultimately won. Estonia gained her independence in 1991, the same time Ukraine did.
“We have made a decision to completely relocate,” she says. “The views in Lithuania are quite radical so I cannot make any public performances or have a proper job. Actually, I am still having some problems with practicing, but I am so glad to have at least an electric keyboard at my rented apartment.
“The majority of my friends are outside Russia already. My family, however, is still there as they do not have any type of visas to move on. I wish they could be with me.”
Geniushene, a graduate of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2015, made her recital debut in 1998 in the small hall of the Berlin Philharmonic at 7 years old.
Throughout her blossoming career, she has performed in major venues
around the globe, including the Town Hall in Leeds, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Museum of Arts in Tel Aviv, the Konzerthaus ‘Neue Welt,’ Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and Sala Greppi in Milan. Being part of The Cliburn “family” is a “dream” opportunity, says Geniushene, who has a master’s with distinction and advanced diploma from the Royal Academy of Music in London.
“I came from a family of nonmusicians and had a lot of doubts on the subject of being a professional musician,” she says. She was instead planning to become a teacher. She works in the field of linguistics, she says. Geniushene has also been one of the elite Bicentenary Scholars at the Academy under Christopher Elton.
Cliburn officials don’t expect any activism at their sites with misguided protests against musicians. It’s not as if Putin or any other high-level official will be in town. Marquis says, however, that staff is prepared for any possibility. A conduct clause governs what competitors can do and say on stage.
Ultimately, the competition is about the artists. The entire experience is designed to ensure the musicians are put in the best position to generate their best music.
The musicians “have been practicing and working for this their entire life,” Marquis says. “This is the occasion. We don’t want to have them stuck in discussion. We want them to be in the best conditions, so they can play. That is the priority: to help young musicians.”
Says Choni: “I aim to share with the audience my personal view on the works I perform. I try to tell listeners a story and take them with me into the world of music for an adventure which will hopefully be unforgettable for both of us.”
The Sixteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will take place from June 2 – 18 at Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU and Bass Performance Hall. You can visit cliburn.org for the full competition schedule.
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Good Reads
Three stellar titles for your reading list as the temps heat up
BY TINA HOWARD
1Ambergris
By Josh Hickman
With humor and nods to classic literature like The Old Man and the Sea, Hickman turns the usual seafaring treasure hunt and belated coming-of-age story into an absurd and surreal satire which pitches man versus nature (and everything else), while humorously stressing the eternal warning: Be careful what you wish for.
2Cloud Cuckoo Land
By Anthony Doerr
From the acclaimed author of All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Cuckoo Land is three stories from three different eras connected through time by a singular book containing the story of Aethon, a boy who longs to be turned into a bird so he can fly to a utopian paradise in the sky. A beautifully written novel exploring the magic of storytelling and childlike wonder.
3Making Numbers Count
By Chip Heath and Karla Starr
A clear, practical guide to turning clinical statistics into a story that is compelling and understandable from business professor and academic guru Chip Heath and award-winning journalist Karla Starr. This book will help you communicate numbers more effectively while imparting some interesting knowledge along the way.
5 QUESTIONS: JOSH HICKMAN
1 Tell me a little bit about yourself. I was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in South Texas and Dallas. I lived and worked in Hollywood for 14 years before returning to Dallas three years ago. I’ve worked a variety of jobs, including bartender, actor, film festival judge and organizer, filmmaker, musician, artist, and private investigator. I have five published comic novels, and I am currently working on my next book. Additionally, I’ve been busy painting, performing music, and I am a caregiver for my elderly mother. 2 What is the most enjoyable part of the writing process for you and why? Writing is always a learning experience. The
research and writing process always introduces something new to one’s brain. It’s an intellectual and creative exercise as well as being an emotional expression and release. I love the research, but I also love creating humor in what seems like an increasingly humorless world. Making someone think and laugh at once is a reward in itself. 3 What drew you toward writing comic novels and where do you find inspiration? I started four serious novels — mostly thrillers — but I never finished any of them. I played around with humor and jokes — which has always come naturally to me — for about 10 years. After reading and re-reading a few comic novels, I decided to try my hand at writing one. The words flew out so fast I could barely get them down on paper fast enough. It was then I realized I had finally found my niche. I find my inspiration in real world events, human behavior, hypocrisy, historical events, and my own life experiences.
4 What have you read recently that you would recommend and why? I read nonfiction almost exclusively. I would recommend Dr. Gad Saad’s The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense. It’s very revealing on many events and behaviors going on ideologically presently in this country and others. I also recently read Scotty Bowers’ Full Service and Tom O’Neill’s Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, both great on gossip and societal intrigue.
5 What is next on the horizon for you? I’m doing a final edit on my new book, Songs in the Key of H: Tales of Irony and Insinuation, which is a collection of short stories. It’s a little heavier on social and political allegory than my previous books, though perhaps subtly so. I’m not really a political writer or one that directly comments on topics of the day, but this book verges on such subjects, especially if one reads between the lines. I also didn’t concentrate solely on laughs. Some stories are funny, others are more meditative. As for my next book, I’m still mulling over several funny ideas.
Tina Howard, along with her husband, Todd, is the owner of Leaves Book and Tea Shop on St. Louis Avenue in the Near Southside.
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Holding on to hope and faith in the face of early-onset Alzheimer’s
BY KATHE AMBROSE GOODWIN
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 12
“Brace Yourself”
Cars on the roller coaster of life can range from the comfortable and secure to the cramped and rickety to everything in between. When riding in the Alzheimer’s car, the turns are sharper, the slopes are steeper, and the loop-the-loops come when you least expect them. You have to brace yourself . . . a lot. Experts say the onset of dementia occurs many years before the diagnosis. Observing his behaviors, I know this was true with Steve. I remember when he worked himself into a frenzy simply over a missing cell phone charger. Another evening, he angrily hurled an object across the room with little regard for what or who might be in the way . . . It hit me in the head. Shortly before his diagnosis, when he was again berating me for something or other one day, I snapped, “You are not going to do to me what your father did to your mother!” That was not my proudest moment. Of course, I was referring to my father-in-law’s bizarre behaviors, which were brought on by Alzheimer’s and literally stressed my mother-in-law to death. I did not
grasp then what I understand now about this cruel disease. And I was unaware Steve had it. All I was certain of was that these were not the behaviors of the man I married nor of the man our family, friends, and colleagues knew him to be. Did I make my share of mistakes? Without a doubt . . . and more than my share. As they say, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” What I didn’t know about Alzheimer’s disease at the beginning could fill a book and certainly has filled many. I’ve read some of them, trying to become a better caregiver. And I did learn over time. Still, challenges often presented themselves precisely when I forgot to use what I knew. Plus, there were occasions when Steve did not respond in textbook fashion. Only the Lord’s guiding hand kept us from getting offtrack and derailing completely.
Along the way, I met many Aha! moments, those welcome times of revelation and clarity. With them came plenty of Huh?, Uh-oh!, and Oh no! moments, plus the blessing of a few times that can only be described with a good-humored Ha-ha!
The Huh? moments were generally a guessing game of verbal charades
as Steve increasingly lost his ability to find the right words—specifically, nouns.
About ten minutes from home, on our return trip from Pearland, we stopped at a favorite café and picked up two boxed lunches to go.
As we continued our drive, Steve asked, “How do we open the boxes?”
“Do you mean our lunch?” I asked.
“How do we get to the boxes? The boxes for Friday and Saturday.” He was becoming restless.
Finally, it dawned on me. We were approaching home, where his world now revolved around his television. The “boxes” were the rectangles of the television guide timetable in the newspaper where he obsessively spent hours underlining and circling all the shows he wanted to see. He was anxious about what he could watch over the weekend.
A month later, our travel agent friend was meeting with me in our kitchen to finalize our Hawaiian vacation plans.
Steve interrupted us, asking impatiently, “So how do I manage?”
We were puzzled. Manage what, exactly?
“The schedule,” he said. “It’s in a box.”
Aha! This time I understood. “Oh, you’re talking about the TV! We can work that out,” I tried to reassure him.
But like so many things, that “we” became “I” when he no longer could comprehend when his favorite shows aired, how to record them, or how to find and play back what had been recorded.
Fortunately, we got a little break from all that in Maui.
Unfortunately, in addition to those involving verbal charades, there were countless other Huh? moments to come. Steve desperately wanted an extremely expensive analog watch, when he could no longer tell time. He wanted the newest, best-selling novel, when he had lost most of his ability to read. And, of course, he wanted the most updated television device avail-
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able, when he could no longer learn how to use it.
As the name suggests, Oh no! moments were the most troublesome.
On a crisp, cold February afternoon, Steve and I met Angela and a friend of hers at a restaurant for a late, leisurely (or so I hoped) Saturday brunch. We had not had a good, long visit with our daughter since Christmas, and although her friend was temporarily living in our guesthouse, we seldom got the chance to chat with her.
Our server was refilling our glasses when Steve started looking nervously at the watch he habitually wore. I was certain he could no longer read it correctly. On numerous occasions, I had asked him if he would like a digital watch, and always his answer was an emphatic “No!”
“Honey, is there somewhere you need to be?” I asked when his foot began tapping impatiently.
With a roll of his eyes, he answered, “I have to go.”
“Where do you have to be?”
“Four o’clock,” he responded.
“What happens at four?” I wanted to know.
Repeatedly, he poked at his watch and replied in exasperation, “Four o’clock. Soccer. Soccer comes on at four.”
“Well, Steve, it’s only two thirty. We have plenty of time to be home by four.” I reminded him that our house was only ten minutes away. “Can’t we just enjoy each other a little while longer?”
“I’m leaving now!” he announced.
“We don’t even have the bill yet, and the car is valet parked. How are you going to get home?” I asked in a foolish attempt to reason with him.
“I’ll walk!” he said as he stood, put on his coat, and rushed out the door.
I quickly paid the bill and called for my car. As I drove up and down the
surrounding streets looking for Steve, I called 911 from my cell phone. The police dispatcher on the line advised me to go home and see if he showed up there.
Meanwhile, Angela in her own car followed the route she assumed he would take and, thankfully, found him three blocks from our house.
“Get in the car, Dad,” she said, and he did.
From that day forward, whenever Steve wanted to leave, we left. As much as possible, I determined to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. I may have been the caregiver and decision-maker, but the disease was now in charge. Time to brace ourselves for an even wilder ride.
Our roller coaster’s unanticipated twists and harrowing curves eventually led us to a memory care facility.
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 18 “Goodness, Grace Us!” We had turned another proverbial corner in the progression of the disease. And although there were dips in the road behind and ahead, there were high points as well.
Some bits of language that were
not yet tossed in the word salad bowl were savored for a long time. “I love you!” Steve said easily and often, not only to me but also to his favorite members of the staff. Occasionally, I was on the receiving end of “You’re so beautiful, Mama!” He affectionately began calling me “Baby Girl,” a name that stuck and brought smiles to the care team’s faces, as well as to both of ours. Many times, he proclaimed to them, “Kathe is my life!” In those few, precious words, not only was I reminded of his devotion to me but also of my profound responsibility as his wife.
On many visits, I would search the halls for my husband only to find him happily engaged in chair kickball, patiently attempting to paint a flower on canvas, or outside on the patio enjoying an ice cream social. The activities staff truly did their best to engage Steve in every possible way. I also learned to bring my own brand of entertainment. Sometimes it was in the form of food—a yummy, chopped barbeque sandwich here or a delectable piece of Black Forest cake there. Regularly, I took one of the scrapbooks I’d made following our trips to Alaska, Italy, and Hawaii to share with my old travel companion.
It didn’t matter how many times we looked at them—for Steve, each time was like the first. In addition, I created a special photo book, featuring pictures of his family spanning six decades. It included some priceless, old black-and-white photos, as well as newer color ones of Steve with his brother, parents, grandmother, our children, and me. The cover read Steve Goodwin: This Is Your Life, and every time I showed it to him, I guarded it with my own. It was too precious to lose.
Dr. Mitch Conditt
Oral Appliance
Like Father Like Son
A new line of golf apparel, Chaparral Golf Co., is dressing up generations.
BY BRIAN KENDALL
It was a trip to Las Vegas that planted the seed in Travis Schmidt’s mind to start a clothing line aimed at golfers and their sons. While preparing for his vacation to the Strip that would include a round of golf, Schmidt noticed something amiss with the golf shirt selection at his disposal.
“I wanted to find a shirt, you know, that kind of had that Vegas vibe,” Schmidt says. “I wanted something that had a little bit of personality.”
He didn’t want the typical pinstripes or checkers or houndstooth or argyle. Schmidt was after something, well, wild.
After perusing the world of online shopping for days on end, Schmidt came to the realization that he simply wasn’t going to find a shirt with a fun/ edgy pattern that would meet his price point. This is when the gears started turning.
“I was thinking, ‘Where are these cool Texas shirts? Where are the shirts that have a little bit of personality, not only for me, but for my sons, too?’”
The answer to his questions became Chaparral Golf Co., an online store where one could find funky patterns at a reasonable price for both fathers and sons. The idea was there; he just needed some funky patterns.
As fate would have it, Schmidt happened to have a couple of graphic design buddies, Jay Wise and Zac Saathoff, who both work as graphic designers at Alcon — a billion-dollar Swiss medical company specializing in eye care products.
The three — who all happened to be Texas Tech grads — had a lunch meeting over burgers at Grumps, where Schmidt would pitch his idea for a clothing line to Wise and Saathoff.
“We all enjoy golf. We all have sons,” Saathoff says. “[Schmidt] was wondering if we had any interest and what it might take to get the idea off the ground. Interestingly enough, Jay and I had discussed a couple years prior wanting to do something in the apparel industry.”
Initially, the partnership was meant
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to be Wise and Saathoff designing shirts while Schmidt paid them for their services.
“Eventually, we said, ‘Hey, not only do we want to design for you, we want to be part of this.’ So, we both invested,” Saathoff says. “We also wanted to come on as marketers. We’ve got some ideas and ways we might be able to expand this moving forward.”
The three landed on some designs that were toeing the line between edgy, sophisticated, and uniquely Texas.
“We wanted to hit something right there in the niche,” Wise says. “We all kind of lean into the Texas thing a little bit. We got a list together of some shirts that we would want to wear. Travis came in with some ideas, as well, and Zac and I designed them.”
The trio named each shirt on their website — there are currently six adult and youth patterns available — after a Texas town. The Bulverde features a vibrant cactus pattern; the Pecos, a bandana look; the San Jacinto, a concoction of Texas clip art; and Marble Falls, a zigzag of blue bonnets.
“It’s no secret there are some Texasinspired things within our shirts,” Wise says. “We created the patterns
and designs that we like, and then we’d come up with a name that related back to a place in Texas. For instance, Pecos is where the first rodeo in America was. So that’s why we went with a Western bandana for that shirt.”
Even the name, Chaparral, is Texasinspired. According to Schmidt, the three initially chose the name simply because it was one that no one else in the apparel industry had. And, on further inspection, it also tied into their Texas motif.
“We kind of randomly fell upon it, and the name really stuck,” Schmidt says. “There’s no real reason for it. It just sounded cool, and nobody else had it.”
The website, chaparralgolfco. com, has been live since November 2021, which launched only a few months after their initial meeting at Grumps. And, while they’re happy making shirts on the side of their other projects (work, parenting, and golf), the dream would be to grow Chaparral to a point where it’s their full-time gigs.
“I think about it every day,” Schmidt says. “What if I was able to wake up, go to the warehouse, pack a hundred orders, and then go play a round of golf? That sounds like the dream.”
Chaparral Golf Co. founders Travis Schmidt, Zac Saathoff, and Jay Wise pose with their sons during a high stakes game of mini golf in matching golf shirts.
Weatherford’s Fairy Tale Getaway
Just a hop and skip from the Fort lies Fuller’s Folly River Ranch, a spot fit for a king … of Rivendell.
BY BRANDI ADDISON
Green grass and blooming wildflowers covered the rolling hills of a local 350acre forest ranch as we drove in for an overnight getaway on a spring afternoon.
Despite living in Weatherford most of my life, I never knew this hidden gem awaited on the other side of my hometown until recently. It’s not surprising to learn that many locals haven’t heard of it, as it’s so submerged into nature.
From our home: 10 miles west on Interstate 20, another six miles down the hills and around the curves of
Old Dennis Road, through a gate on to the property and a second gate with a special passcode sent via email, and then another mile eastbound on the ranch before we reached our destination. As I said, it’s simple to miss if you don’t know it’s there.
Founded in 2016, Fuller’s Folly River Ranch is the creation of Fort Worth investment advisor Bill Fuller, whose family quickly became a friend of ours through our shared love for nature. Known cattle ranchers, his father purchased the large property on the southwest edge of
Weatherford nearly 60 years ago.
But when he acquired it recently, he knew he wanted to create a haven for visitors to immerse themselves and find harmony in nature.
“I think really all it takes for people to come away appreciating and loving nature is to actually get close to it,” Fuller says.
When planning for a trip to the river ranch, visitors have their choice between a traditional early-1900s farmhouse, a luxury safari tent, and an impressive two-story treehouse.
The eastern edge of the ranch meets the Brazos River, where guests can float, kayak, and swim while the center of the property houses a barnyard with goats, chickens, and their beloved donkeys, Sugar and Dennis. Guests can schedule a visit to help feed the ranch’s barnyard friends.
They also boast the only fairy forest in Parker County, noting that it’s important to respect the fairies’ paths, and they encourage visitors to build new homes for them.
Fuller has, undeniably, redefined camping with his unique stays.
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“We’re becoming an urban society, so this is my part in planting the seed,” Fuller says.
The Hobbit Treehouse little red wagon waited at the edge of the parking lot, ready to carry our family’s luggage down the long boardwalk to the Hobbit Treehouse. My 18-monthold daughter ran through the greenery, past a tree that was partially hollowed as a reading nook and past several gnomes placed along the pathway.
A large wooden porch wrapped around the entire home, which hovered 15 feet over the edge of a small creek. Beneath, a monstrous wooden table — which could sit, at least, a dozen — swung from the main fixture.
Walking into the Hobbit Treehouse was walking into a fairy tale. Proved by the dozens of visitors who left a similar note in the guestbook, there’s no other way to describe it besides “magical.”
The cottagecore-style venue was covered in remnants of an enchanted forest — butterflies, moss, fairy figurines, and mushrooms. A tall wooden bookcase ladder from the living room led to a loft with two bunks and a queen-sized bed. Plus, there’s another private room downstairs next to the living room, with a bed whose warmth was that of a cloud.
The small kitchen — with an ornate woodland chandelier — was prepared with all the tools we needed to make homecooked meals. And large windows brought the outdoors inside, allowing us to admire the beauty of nature from every inch of the property.
As I showed my family around, my husband was impressed when he learned that I could control the waterfall that flowed into the nearby creek. It was a trick Fuller had taught me just a few days prior when I went to learn more about the property.
“If you concentrate hard enough, you can actually imagine water pouring into the creek,” Fuller tried to convince me before he discretely turned on a timer to the waterfall. A few moments passed before the water came out, but we were already
engrossed in our next conversation.
“Whoa! What just happened with the water?” I had asked Fuller a few weeks earlier. He responded that I concentrated hard enough, so it worked.
Later that evening of our family stay, we spent several hours on the patio, heated by the fire table, and beneath the full moon as we sat in the hot tub, which overlooked the calm woods. Surrounding us, nothing but the bright stars above, a visit from the barn cat who wanted to cuddle, and a complete, utter stillness. We toasted with a glass of champagne to such a festive evening.
The sound of singing birds and a barnyard rooster ready for his day woke us up in time for sunrise. As I brewed coffee and prepared pink heart-shaped vanilla waffles for our daughter, I felt graced by the most perfect adventure.
Sundancer on the Brazos Our return to Fuller’s Folly — at the Sundancer on the Brazos — was just as much a treat.
The same silence welcomed us as we approached the stairs to the luxury handmade safari tent, though a few weeks had passed, so everything was a little bit greener and livelier than our visit to the treehouse.
We climbed the wooden stairs to the tent, which Fuller had delivered from South Africa, and saw a large buffalo skull by the front door. He said he discovered it at the river several years ago and estimates that it’s about 150 years old, from when the Comanche tribes lived on this land.
A large porch wrapped around the tent, overlooking a creek (and another hidden waterfall). Made of a thick canvas exterior, Fuller says they “insulated the heck out of it” with wooden walls and flooring inside.
Opening the door to the safari tent was an immediate welcome that provided such a warm comfort. Fuller decorated the space with Southwestern-style pieces and antiques from local shops. Cowhide rugs laid across the floor, while a wooden trunk in front of the couch held a handful of board games.
Large windows that open directly to the outdoors placed us directly among the wildlife, and we fell asleep to the trees shuffling around us.
During our stay, we spent our evening outside, appreciating the nature that surrounded us. We sat for hours in the hot tub, which is one of the only wood-fired hot tubs in the nation. We also invited Fuller and his new bride to share stories with us about the property.
“What I really love about the tent is that you really feel like you’re part of the forest,” Fuller says.
The History of Fuller’s Folly It’s not only Fuller that recognizes such a ubiquitous specialness in this property. In fact, Fuller’s Folly has garnered a lot of attention for several movie and television producers.
Most notably, a Nickelodeon reality TV show “Dude Perfect” and the United Kingdom-based cooking show “The James Martin Show” filmed a segment on his property. The river ranch also served as the backdrop for a scene from “The Old Man and the Gun,” starring Robert Redford and Tom Waits, and was considered for the filming of “Yellowstone.”
But beyond the unique haven that Fuller’s created for several to enjoy, he is proud of the rich history that his land claims.
“When they were building a pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico, they hired geologists to walk the entire pipeline to make sure they didn’t destroy any ancient sites,” Fuller says. “When they came through here, they had to reroute the pipeline three times because of ancient land.”
Among some of the artifacts discovered: a hand cream and electric iron dating back to the 1930s and an arrowhead that Fuller estimates about 5,000 years old. He said he also discovered petrified wood, from tens of thousands of years ago, and petrified coral from when the earth was underwater millions of years ago.
“It’s one thing to know the history,” Fuller says. “But it’s another thing to have the evidence in front of you.”
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Three’s Company
An excellent new Italian restaurant, Tre Mogli, marks a change of pace for Fort Worth’s Trident Restaurant Group.
BY MALCOLM MAYHEW
The moment you walk into Tre Mogli Cucina Italiana, the new Italian food concept from Fort Worth’s Trident Restaurant Group, you’re likely to forget this is coming from the Trident Restaurant Group.
The restaurant company that includes Fort Worth chef Stefon Rishel has made a name for itself by developing bustling, jubilant, and colorful concepts — Wishbone & Flynt on South Main and Parker County Ice House in Aledo — that feature chefinspired takes on American classics.
At Tre Mogli, the restaurant’s interior colors and overall vibe are more subdued — walls are painted black and blue, punctuated by occasional splashes of gold. Lights are dimly lit. Couples cozy up to one another at intimate two-tops. A lighted staircase leads guests to a second floor, where there’s additional seating, an auxiliary bar, and cool lounge. It’s definitely a change of pace for Rishel and business partners Kyle Bryson and Wallace Owens.
“We want every restaurant we launch to be different, to say something new,” Rishel says. “What we don’t want to do is repeat ourselves.”
They certainly haven’t with Tre Mogli, which finds the group taking on classic Italian food, a style of cuisine they haven’t touched before. They’re not reinventing the wheel, Rishel says; they’re simply turning it their way.
“Everything is made in-house, down to the bread,” he says. “There’s one type of cheese we don’t make here, but that’s it. Everything else here is made by hand daily, from the bread to the pastas to all the sauces. We thought if we’re going to open an Italian restaurant, we’re going to do it right.”
The menu includes a halfdozen pastas, ranging from a fantastic bolognese made with a mix of pork, beef and veal, to a pomodoro with stewed tomatoes and basil, to a superb cacio e pepe bucatini.
Entrees include an artfully presented pork chop, its bone protruding upward from the plate; chicken Parmesan; a built-for-two 36-ounce prime porterhouse; and a trio of salads: a Caesar, caprese, and antipasto.
Many of the entrees are served as both individual dishes and in larger, family-style portions.
The restaurant marks a dramatic departure from the group’s other restaurants not only in concept but in operation: This is the first Trident restaurant in which Rishel didn’t develop the menu.
Instead, he graciously left it in
BY CRYSTAL WISE
PHOTO
Chef Stefon Rishel
the very apt hands of Alex Drury, a 27-year-old chef whose resume includes stints at Wishbone & Flynt, Tokyo Café, and Piattello Italian Kitchen. In addition to Piattello, another contemporary Italian restaurant, Drury worked at several mom-and-pop Italian joints in his hometown of St. Louis, refining his skills each step of the way.
“That’s how I got my start, at these small, family-run Italian restaurants in St. Louis,” he says. “There are actually a lot of Italian restaurants in St. Louis, and I think I worked at all of them.”
For the dishes at Tre Mogli, Drury is taking a less-is-more approach, letting the quality of the food speak for itself.
“I keep things as simple as possible,” he says. “Nothing complicated, just classic Italian dishes done the right way. My goal is to highlight the few ingredients we use and make them shine.”
Drury has been in Fort Worth seven years, long enough to befriend many of the area’s best-known chefs. Kevin Martinez hired him at Tokyo Café. He was one of the opening chefs at Piattello and the executive chef at Deep Ellum Funkytown Fermatorium. For a while, he worked with Dave Hollister at Wild Acre on Camp Bowie. It was Hollister who connected him to Rishel, who hired him as a sous-chef at Wishbone.
“I soon discovered his talents, and let me just say, he blew me away, especially when he started making pastas,” Rishel says. “When it came time to open our Italian concept, I knew I wanted him for the job.”
Located next door to Wishbone & Flynt, Tre Mogli takes over a South Main space that dates back to 1905.
“It’s been a million different things,” Rishel says. “A car dealership, a textile development company. A banker was
using it in 1980 when it caught fire. It hasn’t been in use since then.”
This was the second time Trident looked at the space. “Originally, we were looking at it for Wishbone,” Rishel says. “But we don’t try to fit concepts into spaces. We let the spaces dictate to us what concepts will work, and when we looked at it for Tre Mogli, we could tell it was the right vibe.”
The restaurant’s name translates to “three wives,” a nod to the trio of wives married to the trio of Trident partners.
“They put up with so much,” Rishel says. “Long hours, so much stress, especially when we open a new place. And for the past few years, it’s been go, go, go trying to get concepts off the ground. So, this is our way of thanking them for everything they do.”
Tre Mogli Cucina Italiana, 401 S. Main St., tremogli.com
Meatball
Alex Drury and Stefon Rishel
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Family Gathering
The rebirth of Paris Coffee Shop, the iconic, decades-old restaurant in the Near Southside, is a true family effort.
BY MALCOLM MAYHEW
For many generations of Fort Worthians, Paris
Coffee Shop has been more than a coffee shop. Since opening in 1926, it has become one of the city’s cultural landmarks, especially for families, who pass it down, one generation to the next, like a family photo album.
That’s one of the reasons why Mona Owens jumped at the chance to work at the revamped Paris Coffee Shop, which is slated to reopen in late May. In spring 2020, her son, Chris Reale, announced he and his business partners, well-known restaurateur and chef Lou Lambert and developer Mark Harris, were going to buy and revamp the historic restaurant.
Like many in Fort Worth, Owens had a strong connection to Paris — so much so that she wanted to be a part of its rebirth.
“That was one of my father-in-law’s favorite restaurants,” she says. “We would meet him and his family there regularly.
I love that so many generations of people go there, and they pass it on to the next generation, and so on. When I heard Chris had put in a bid on it, I told him my husband and I wanted to be a part of it. I told him, ‘We’d love to run it for you guys.’”
Chris didn’t hesitate, quickly hiring his mother and stepfather Ryan Owens as general manager and front-of-house manager, respectively. Lifelong restaurant workers, Mona and Ryan have worked together, side by side, in some of Fort Worth’s most prestigious restaurants, including Grace, Waters and Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, where they met.
Together, they’ll help oversee the operations of the resurrected diner. Chris and his two business partners, who also purchased and remodeled Roy Pope Grocery, have redone nearly every component of the restaurant, from the plumbing to the electricity to the bathrooms and kitchen area.
“The bones didn’t need to be replaced; they were solid,” Owens says. “But there’s all new cabinetry, new stools, new booths, a new counter seating area. Everything you remember about Paris is still there. It’s just new and fresh, with a bit of a modern twist.”
Earlier this year, the removal of the large exterior mural, painted in the early 2000s by local artist Bo Powell, that faced Hemphill caused a minor ruckus among preservationists — and those who consider themselves to be preservationists. Reale said the mural had to go due to a combination of interior leakage the wall suffered, the extent of the electrical work that ran along the wall, and the mural’s overall poor condition.
But as a result, the exterior now better resembles the restaurant’s original look. The mural has been replaced by a period-correct letter font designed by another local artist, Sarah Ayala, who also designed many of the interior fonts and
Chris Reale
logos, such as those for the pie board and restrooms, which also echo the original fonts used by the restaurant.
The iconic blue sign that hangs above the entrance has been given a makeover, too. “They were going to leave it the way it was, but it was very rusted out,” she says. “It’s from the original location and was made sometime in the 1930s. They gave it a fresh coat of paint to make it look like it did when it was made. Eventually, they’ll redo the neon, too. It was important to Chris and his team to make everything look like it did when it first opened.”
Longtimers will recognize most of the staff, including the servers, most of whom will be returning.
The menu, too, will feature most of the dishes regulars know and love, plus a handful of new additions. At breakfast, Paris’ Greek and Denver omelets are back, along with chickenfried steak, sirloin steak or pork chops with eggs, biscuits, grits and/or hashbrowns. Other breakfast dishes include huevos rancheros; smoked brisket breakfast tacos, buttermilk pancakes; Belgian waffles and brioche French toast; or a Dutch Baby with lemon butter and berries. Calorie-watchers can get the new power grains bowl, a fruit plate with mint and honey, or fresh granola.
At lunch, blue plate specials will rotate daily and feature fried chicken, meat loaf, pot roast, chicken and dumplings, and fried catfish. Other lunch entrees will be a mix of old favorites and new dishes: beef enchiladas, a BLT, Salisbury steak, pan-roasted redfish, and chicken-fried steak with pepper cream gravy.
Lighter options will consist of a lemon Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, and a pesto hummus with grilled pita and fresh veggies.
And, of course, there will be pie.
New for the restaurant will be Saturday and Sunday brunch, as well as evening hours. Owens says the restaurant is hoping to launch both dinner and brunch service in early June; there will also be a bar area.
The current team of owners purchased the coffee shop from longtime owner Mike Smith in spring 2020. Smith’s father bought the restaurant from founder Vic Paris in 1929. Mike took over operations in 1965 and moved it to its current location, a former Safeway grocery store, in 1974; the diner was originally located at 614 W. Magnolia Ave.
For the past few months, leading up to Paris’ return, Mona Owens has immersed herself in the restaurant’s history, researching the many photos that once hung — and now hang once again — on Paris’ storied walls.
“I think that’s been the greatest part of this adventure — learning so much about this restaurant and its history and its place in Fort Worth’s history,” she says. “Some people don’t know about the massive flood in Fort Worth in 1949 until they see the photos of it at Paris. It really is more than a restaurant. It’s a piece of Fort Worth history.”
Paris Coffee Shop, 704 W. Magnolia Ave., facebook.com/ParisCoffeeShopftw
Beast Mode
Here’s what you should order at The Beast & Company, the hot new global cuisine restaurant in the Near Southside.
BY MALCOLM MAYHEW
Recently opened on the Near Southside in an historic 1940 building parked on Magnolia Ave., The Beast & Company is one of the city’s most ambitious new restaurants. A joint venture between owner Dustin Lee and chef Michael Arlt, the restaurant serves imaginative dishes based on the business partners’ globetrotting travels: North African marinated olives, lobster bisque with a Thai twist, Japanese milk rolls, and among other dishes, Asian-style deviled eggs dabbed with miso and toasted nori. The Beast & Company’s global cuisine may be new to some foodies. Here, then, are the restaurant’s top five must-try dishes.
Meat & Potatoes This 32-ounce rib-eye is a real beauty, its inside perfectly cooked medium rare, its skin skillfully charred. It wears a crown of gremolata, a zesty Italian sauce made with lemon and parsley. On the side comes a huge bowl of Yukon potato puree. Obviously, this a dish meant to be shared. Or else you gotta be really, really, really hungry.
Eggplant dumplings What one might consider to be an appetizer is an entrée here. With three dumplings, there’s a lot to eat and enough variety in each bite — charred eggplant, pan-seared bok choy, lemongrass sambal, in a coconut broth — to constitute the dish’s entrée status. All veggies, to boot.
Pork collar Cut from the shoulder portion that runs from the neck to the tip of the loin, pork collar is a well-marbled, rich cut of pork popular in Europe but still looking for a foothold in the U.S. While it’s often grilled, The Beast and Company braises it, ensuring a tender-to-the-touch texture.
It’s worth getting just to try the housemade scallop ravioli and seared foie gras sauce.
Redfish Courtbouillon This Creole soup dish was inspired by Arlt’s experiences working in a restaurant owned by famed Cajun chef Emeril Lagassé. In addition to sauteed redfish, the dish features smoked mussels, white beans, mustard greens, all perfectly layered in a saffron broth.
Buttermilk tart The old “save room for dessert” adage should be taken seriously here, or else you’ll miss out on one of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. Cut like a slice of pie, a seemingly simple buttermilk tart is full of vivid flavors: An addictingly buttery crust gives way to an irresistible housemade blueberry jam. Wash it down with a dollop of house whipped cream, and you have this summer’s best dessert.
The Beast & Company, 1010 W. Magnolia Ave., thebeastandco. com
ê Specializing in English riding instruction.
ê Training, lessons, and horse boarding.
ê All ages and levels of experience welcome.
ê Summer camps for children.
ê Birthday parties, community events.
ê Horse shows and special events.
Conveniently located in the historic Randol Mill Valley off I-30 and Eastchase Parkway. Trinity River Farm & Equestrian Center | 8375 Randol Mill Rd. Fort Worth, Texas 76120 | www.trinityriverfarmtx.com | 817-683-5610
Bits and Bites
Fort Worth has finally landed a location of BB.Q Chicken, a Korean fried chicken chain whose namesake dish takes two days to make. It recently opened in the TCU area on W. Berry, in the space originally occupied by Café Brazil, then by Taste-N-See Chicken and Waffles. The company was founded in 1995, then launched in the U.S. in ’14, and there are now more than 2,000 locations worldwide. It took a while for Fort Worth to get one; there are already locations in Arlington and Carrollton. The chicken is served in traditional pieces or in the form of wings or strips. There are multiple flavors: spicy, honey garlic, soy garlic, and others. According to the company’s website, cooking the chicken is a long, arduous, two-day process. It’s so complicated, in fact, the company has its own cooking school in South Korea. 2880 W. Berry St., bbdotqchicken.com
The area in and around Asia Times Square, the monolithic retail and restaurant hub in Grand Prairie, continues to grow. Among the new tenants is 7 Leaves Café, a standalone coffee/tea/boba spot; it’s located directly in front of Asia Times Square. The menu includes 17 different hot and cold coffees and teas like Green Thai Tea, a sweet and creamy milk tea made with a jasmine tea blend; Mint Sereno, made with fresh mint, cream, and brown sugar; traditional Vietnamese Coffee; and Japanese Matcha Soy Tea, a sweet mix of matcha and soy. 7 Leaves is an international chain, but the Grand Prairie location is a franchise run by two first generation Vietnamese Americans, Tony Nguyen and Danny Bui. It’s their third 7 Leaves location and ninth franchise concept under their Kemeno Group business name. 2609 W. Pioneer Parkway, Grand Prairie, 7leavescafe.com
Ober Here, the Filipino food truck whose Spam and rice dish is one of the best bites of food we’ve taken over the last year, has opened its brick-and-mortar location on the ground floor of the Near Southside building that also occupies Wabi House. Ober Here will soon be joined by at least two more tenants, which will turn the space into a food hall. The extra leg room means Ober Here can expand its menu a bit. We noticed a new item already: an ube-flavored cookie stuffed with flan. Lord, yes. 1229 Eighth Ave., facebook.com/eat.oberhere
Restaurant news written and compiled by Malcolm Mayhew. You can reach Malcolm at malcolm. mayhew@hotmail.com or on Twitter @foodfortworth.
We understand you have a lot of choices when choosing a contractor. Why are we different? Why choose us? We are a big company with a small custom approach and we believe communication and transparency are keys to success in this industry. We have the ability to start emergency projects same day or we can start larger design builds with a CAD or 3D design and work towards your ultimate goal. In addition to our landscape construction we specialize in turf maintenance programs. We are already working on projects near your home or work, and we would love to be part of your dream. Our roots are deep in Fort Worth and we plan to leave our footprint in many outdoor projects and maintenance contracts.
PRINT IS MEMORABLE.
Print creates an emotional connection.
Print builds relationships.
Physical material is more “real” to the brain, involves more emotional processing, is better connected to memory, with greater internalization of ads—all important for brand associations. (FORBES)
PRINT IS MEMORABLE.
Print creates an emotional connection. Print builds relationships.
Physical material is more “real” to the brain, involves more emotional processing, is better connected to memory, with greater internalization of ads—all important for brand associations. (FORBES)
(Marketing Sherpa, 2017)
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Earrings, Lisa Nik, $2,940, Bachendorf’s Ring, Lisa Nik, $3,360, Bachendorf’s
Delicious Decadence
Afashion revolution is pulsing on the biggest stages across the world, and this month we are taking note. Whether you’re swimming in saturation or reclaiming old-world decadence, you’ll find the style that makes you feel like a queen. Our special June feature puts an infamous style icon on full display — with a modern twist. From the fashion stage to Amphibian Stage, this Fort Worth theater is right on trend bringing the edgy opulence of Marie Antoinette to life — starring the breathtaking Allison Pistorius as the Queen of France.
Marie Antoinette on stage, June 3 – 26 amphibianstage.com
Stylist Holland Sanders
Photographer Crystal Wise
Model Allison Pistorius
Hair and makeup artist Aston Evada at Novak Hair Studios
Stylist assistant Evan Michael Woods
Production assistant Ivy Lopez
Wigs by Laura Anderson Barbata
Cakes by Sarah Ayala
Sheer shirt, $58, Esther Penn
Dress, $108, Esther Penn Necklace, Lela Sadoughi, $295, Neiman Marcus
Earrings, Lela Sadoughi, $125, Neiman Marcus
Shoes, Kanna, $255, Stanley Eisenman
Purse, Esther Penn, $48, Esther Penn
Feather top, La Marque, $275, Neiman Marcus
Cupcake, Judith Lieber, $3,371, Neiman Marcus
Bracelet, $15,500, Bachendorf’s
Earrings, $15,000, Bachendorf’s
Gold diamond necklace, Norman Silverman, Bachendorf’s
Yellow gold diamond pave station necklace, $7,300, Bachendorf’s
Yellow gold pave link 18-inch necklace, $18,370, Bachendorf’s
Freshwater pearl tassel necklace, $13,200, Bachendorf’s
Necklace with diamond ball clasp, Bachendorf’s
Ring, Gregg Ruth, $11,670, Bachendorf’s
Earrings, $13,640, Bachendorf’s
Top, Hunter Bell NYC, $395, You Are Here
Dress, Rococo Sand, $658, Neiman Marcus
Shoes, Cult Gaia, $458, Neiman Marcus
5 Ways to Enhance Your Outdoor Space for Summer Entertaining
Interior designer, Tori Rubinson, shares practical steps to help you create an outdoor venue that fits your lifestyle.
Renowned Fort Worth interior designer, Tori Rubinson, provides simple steps to help fellow Fort Worthians create practical and tasteful outdoor spaces suitable for summer entertaining. “Your outdoor space is an extension of the interior of your home,” Rubinson shares. There are endless possibilities to improve your backyard to make it a functional part of your life.
When it comes to designing your space, Rubinson brings it back to the basics. “The first thing we do is ask our clients ‘How do you see yourself using this space?’” Rubinson shares. She factors in landscaping, layout, and usability of the area. It’s important to make realistic design decisions that correspond with the lifestyle you’re looking to cultivate.
Now, without further ado, here are the five ways Rubinson says you can enhance your outdoor space for entertaining:
1
Invest in smart outdoor appliances
Outdoor appliances can truly transform how you entertain and use your backyard. Rubinson recommends a few of her favorite appliances that she uses in her outdoor living area. “We have a beverage fridge so the kids can grab waters, Gatorades, and juice boxes,” Rubinson says.
You might also consider an ice machine for the purpose of entertaining. “I feel like nugget ice makes your drink so much more
enjoyable,” she says. A few other suggestions include a trash can pull-out as well as a high-end powerhouse grill. “You can really cook an entire meal outside on The Link,” Rubinson shares.
2
Choose durable countertops
Durable countertops for preparing food make all the difference when preparing and serving a meal outdoors. You might also consider an outdoor sink for quick cleaning.
3 Outdoor furniture
Furniture is a key ingredient when creating an outdoor space. Choose pieces that feel livable and inviting, and coordinate fabrics with the tile or backsplash you’ve selected.
4 Lighting
Lighting sets the ambiance and tone for any setting, and fixtures don’t have to be boring just because it’s outdoors. “We did really fun outdoor lighting — it’s both functional and beautiful,” Rubinson says. The lights you choose will elevate and enhance the vibe you’re looking to establish.
5
Location of the outdoor kitchen
Rubinson’s final tip involves the location of your outdoor entertaining area. If possible, “you want it to be easily accessible from the main kitchen and the bathroom,” she says. If you plan on preparing food indoors, this is a game-changer — it keeps the path from the kitchen to your entertaining area as short as possible. You might also consider incorporating tableware storage so dishes and utensils stay within reach.
Tori Rubinson creates inspiring spaces that are as comfortable as they are beautiful. This Texas-based interior designer works on a wide range of high-end residential and commercial projects throughout Fort Worth. To contact her directly, email: ToriRubinson@gmail.com.
NOTHING BUT THE HITS
Take this record for a spin to get in tune with the best this city has to offer. From the Stockyards to Stop Six, the tracks on this collection of greatest hits fully embrace the funk, the cow, and the panther.
FOOD AND DRINK THE GREATEST HITS
NIGHTLATEEATS
Fort Worth is proud of its homegrown talent – and that extends to bars and restaurants. We’ll gladly, proudly snub an out-oftown eatery or drinkery in the name of waving the 817 flag.
EDITOR PICK Delray Cafe at Nickel City
Exceptions do exist. A prime example is the Nickel City bar on South Main and its food-serving accompaniment, Delray’s Café. Both are Austin transplants, but both have been warmly welcomed by Fort Worthians.
Chalk it up to the bar’s laid-back, unpretentious atmosphere – chatty, loud, fun but never - what’s the best way to describe what it’s not? - oh, but never West Seventhy. It’s a nicer, more handsome, betterdressed Black Dog Tavern, if you recall the muchmissed downtown spot, a place to drink, either in peace or surrounded by your loudest friends. Their signature frozen drinks are dynamite, to boot.
What makes Nickel City even better is Delray’s Café, which isn’t a café at all. It’s a bumble bee-colored food truck permanently parked right outside the bar; it’s open until 2 a.m. nightly. Patrons can order food from a server and have it delivered inside or simply order at the truck and eat at a communal table outside; you can also do call-in orders.
Developed by owners Travis Tober, Craig Primozich, and Brandon and Zane Hunt, the menu is made up of bar food staples but done with style and vivid flavors. They
call their burgers “sliders” but ignore that; they’re big enough to be burgers. They’re inspired by the current smashburger trend and feature thin patties, American cheese, pickles and grilled onions, served on good, thick bread. Elsewhere on the menu, wings are not the puny sort; they’re hefty and flavorful. A good side to go with them: cheese curds, which are absolutely perfect, their sheaths of batter giving way to a mouthful of unapologetically gooey cheese. Followers rave of the fried bologna sandwich, too, and the crinkle cut fries. If you don’t mind a mess, get the Midwest-inspired “loose hamburger": ground meat served in a hot dog bun and slathered with mustard, onions, and chili. Opened two years ago in a historic 1925 building in the ever-growing South Main district, the Fort Worth location of Nickel City is a nearly mirrorimage spinoff of an awardwinning Austin bar of the same name, although the FW location is considerably larger. The Austin location has won rave reviews, from Esquire to Eater, and it, too, has a Delray’s, with a similar menu. Next time you’re in Austin, remember: it’s open late, too. Nickel City and Delray’s Café, 212 S. Main St., nickelcitybar.com
Appetizer Dish
READER PICK
Calf Fries at Riscky's Steakhouse risckys.com
EDITOR PICK
Venison Tartare at Provender Hall provenderhall.com
Asian
READER PICK
Banh Mi Viet banhmiviet.co
EDITOR PICK
V's House vshouse.net
BBQ
READER PICK
Brix Barbecue brixbarbecue.com
EDITOR PICK
Smoke-A-Holics BBQ smoke-a-holicsbbq.com
Breakfast
READER PICK
Our Place ourplacerestaurants.com
EDITOR PICK
Vickery Boulevard Cafe vickerycafe.com
Brunch
READER PICK Toro Toro torotorofortworth.com
EDITOR PICK
Tinie's Mexican Cuisine tiniesfw.com
Burger
READER PICK
El Luchador at Chop House Burger dfwi.org
EDITOR PICK
Dayne's OG Burger at Dayne's Craft Barbecue daynescraftbarbecue.com
Burger Joint
READER PICK
Kincaid's Hamburgers kincaidshamburgers.com
EDITOR PICK
Zonk Burger zonkburger.com
BYOB
READER PICK
Cafe Bella cafebellaftw.com
EDITOR PICK
Nonna Tata nonnatata.com
Catering
READER PICK
Magdalena's magdalenastx.com
EDITOR PICK
Carpenter's Cafe and Catering carpscafe.net
Coffee/Tea
READER PICK
Black Coffee blackcoffeefw.com
EDITOR PICK
Cherry Coffee Shop cherrycoffeeshop.com
Comfort Food
READER PICK
Drew's Place Soul Food Restaurant drewssoulfoodfw.com
EDITOR PICK
Nana's Kitchen nanaskitchenftworth.com
Craft Beer
READER PICK
Maple Branch Craft Brewery maplebranchbrew.com
EDITOR PICK
Neutral Ground Brewing Company ngbc.beer
Craft Cocktail
READER PICK
Salted Pecan Old Fashioned at Blackland Distillery blacklandfw.com
EDITOR PICK
Pam Minick at Sidesaddle Saloon sidesaddle-saloon.com
Dessert
READER PICK
Spicy Peanut Butter
Cookies at Sugar Brown's Sweet Treats sugarbrownst.com
EDITOR PICK
Grand Marnier Sweet Soufflé at rise nº3 risesouffle.com
Doughnut/Kolache/ Beignet
READER PICK
Dusty Biscuit Beignets thedustybiscuit.com
EDITOR PICK
Mousa Donut mousa-donut.business.site
Food
Truck
READER PICK
Lolas Cuban Food lolascubanfood.com
EDITOR PICK Ober Here oberhere.com
French Fries
READER PICK
Chop House Burger chophouseburger.com
EDITOR PICK
Dragon Fries at The Cookshack thecookshack.com
Fried Whatever
READER PICK
Hot Chicken Tenders at The Cookshack thecookshack.com
EDITOR PICK
Fried Pickles at Emmy's Smokehouse emmyssmokehouse.com
Frozen Treat
READER PICK
Melt Ice Creams melticecreams.com
EDITOR PICK
Cow Tipping Creamery cowtippingcreamery.com
Grab-n-Go
READER PICK meyer & sage meyerandsage.com
EDITOR PICK
The Table - Market & Culinary Studio thetablemarket.com
Healthy Bite
READER PICK
Righteous Foods eatrighteously.com
EDITOR PICK
Local Foods Kitchen localfoodskitchen.com
Hole-in-the-Wall
READER PICK
Paris Coffee Shop pariscoffeeshop.net
EDITOR PICK
Los Asaderos losasaderos.com
Italian
READER PICK
Cafe Bella cafebellaftw.com
EDITOR PICK
il Modo ilmodorestaurant.com
New Coffee Shop
EDITOR PICK
Casa Azul Coffee
Independent coffee shops freely flow on the east, west, and south sides of Fort Worth; only a few have ventured into the city’s north side.
Among them is newcomer Casa Azul Coffee, opened last year by Joseph and Anette Landeros at 300 W. Central Ave., where the storied Sammy’s Restaurant stood.
The usual coffeehouse drinks are available, from lattes to cappuccinos.
But there’s a heavy Latin influence that makes the spot unique to Fort Worth’s coffee scene.
The house specialty, for instance, is Cafe de Olla, a blend of drip coffee and cinnamon sweetened with a cane sugar syrup made from Mexican brown sugar cones, called piloncillo. Other odes to Latin culture include latte flavors such as horchata, mazapan, and tres leches.
Casa Azul also serves pastries from nearby Esperanza’s.
“The north side of Fort Worth really needed its own coffeehouse,” Joseph says. “I know there are other coffee shops on the north side, but they cater to tourists. We want to cater to the neighborhood.”
The coffeehouse’s name translates to “blue house,” and that’s exactly what Casa Azul is: an old house updated in a bright shade of blue.
“We took a lot of inspiration from Frida Kahlo's Blue House in
Mexico City,” he says. “When you drive by it, you can’t miss it; you can’t forget it.”
This is the couple’s first foray into the food and beverage world. Joseph says he worked in the public affairs realm for years, while Anette is president and CEO of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“I’d been wanting to open a coffee shop for years,” Joseph says. “When this space opened up, we decided to take a chance and do it.”
Built in 1940, the multi-room, 2,000-squarefoot bungalow is best remembered for two separate stints housing Sammy’s Restaurant from 1971 to 2008.
Joseph says he hopes Casa Azul will make its mark on the neighborhood, like Sammy’s did. The coffee shop has hosted several community events, including an artisan market. In April, Artes de la Rosa and Adam Werner, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art’s manager of community teaching programs, came together at the coffee shop to create a new mural that paid homage to wellknown California artist Oree Originol.
“I want it to be more than a coffee shop,” he says. “I want it to be a gathering space for the community."
300 W. Central Ave.
Italian EDITOR PICK
il Modo
When il Modo opened last year in downtown, on the ground floor of the thennew Kimpton Harper Hotel, we couldn’t help but wonder how the modern Italian restaurant would fare. More to the point, we were afraid that you, Fort Worth, might not dig an Italian restaurant that didn’t act like an Italian restaurant. But with its more contemporary, sometimes edgy, approach to Italian fare, romantic atmosphere and five-star service, il Modo has become one of the city’s most popular restaurants.
The restaurant’s initial success can be partially attributed to the masterful dishes put out by executive chef Matt Williams.
Williams has since departed, but he left the kitchen in deft hands –those of Greg Pawlowski, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York. The Detroit native spent eight years working for the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, sometimes side by side with the celebrity chef.
"Wolfgang,” says Pawlowski, “knows how to take good cooks and turn them into good chefs.”
After nearly a decade with Puck, Pawlowski, 40, headed to to Dallas to work at hotels such as the Westin Dallas Stonebriar, then to Fort Worth, where his first taste of the city was the Worthington. A few months later, the gig at il Modo opened.
The restaurant had
already established itself for its housemade pastas and lively steak and seafood dishes, all made with seasonal ingredients. But little by little, Pawlowski began to make the menu his own. Earlier this year, he expanded it to include breakfast and weekend brunch.
In June, Pawlowski unveiled his summer menu, which includes an expertly cooked swordfish with asparagus, wild mushrooms, English peas and an addicting porcini sauce; housemade risotto with bay scallops; a satisfyingly rich rabbit pappardelle; and a rigatoni made with dry aged beef.
Pawlowski also made good on the restaurant’s initial promise to offer pizzas.
“Pizza’s kinda my thing,” he says. “I’ve probably made more pizzas than anyone could ever eat in their lives.”
His expertise becomes clear after you bite into one of his housemade pies, whose crusts are the ideal combo of soft and chewy. There are three pies from which to choose: wild mushroom, pesto and goat cheese; margherita; and a rotating chef’s special. 714 Main St., ilmodorestaurant.com
Craft Beer
READER PICK
Maple Branch Craft Brewery
Stuart and Allyssa Maples have shared a love for craft beer since they were college sweethearts at TCU’s Neely School of Business. They’d find themselves at home most weekends while Stuart worked eight- to 12-hour days developing the perfect home brew recipe or visiting Funkytown’s most notable breweries, hoping to discover their new craft beer favorite.
While a lot of work went into developing their passion, Allyssa says it truly began about a decade ago when Stuart tried his first sip of craft beer from Sierra Nevada, a brewery in Chicos, California. From then forward, he put his feet in the mud and won dozens of home brew competitions with his personal brews, including first place for his American Brown Ale at the 2018 Bluebonnet Brew-Off, the largest single-site home brew competition in the world.
“He just had this hilarious thought process and went from ‘Oh, I love this beer’ to ‘I think I can make this kind of beer,’” Allyssa says. “It really takes a rare person to make that jump, but it’s exactly what he did.”
And after about seven years refining their concept, the couple brought Maple Branch Craft Brewery to an ivy-covered warehouse formerly owned by legendary interior designer Joseph Minton.
Though it opened in
October 2020 — when COVID-19 numbers escalated — Maple Branch Craft Brewery quickly became a sanctuary for beer lovers who preferred to distance themselves from others. Modeled after German biergartens, the 7,000-square-foot outdoor concept was the perfect safe haven.
Formerly a parking lot, the biergarten was a labor of love that they brought to life — with beer lovers, occasional wildlife, and newly planted bur oaks, live oaks, and, of course, maples to coincide with their namesake.
“We really love nature, so a big thing for us was planting the trees in our biergarten,” Allyssa says — adding that they also wanted to be able to incorporate their name into the business without it being too pushy. “That’s also how he came up with ‘Maple Branch.’ We just kind of want people to branch out.”
On any given day, Maple Branch has at least 20 beers on tap, though the number is usually higher. Her personal favorite is Monkey Business — a 5.4% ABV Hefeweizen, which recently won silver in the Texas Craft Brewers Competition. Stuart says they’re all his favorite. 2628 Whitmore St., maplebranchbrew.com
Late Night Eats
READER PICK
Paco's Mexican Cuisine pacoscuisine.com
EDITOR PICK
Delray Cafe at Nickel City nickelcitybar.com
Margarita
READER PICK
Eat Fajitas eatfajitas.com
EDITOR PICK
Chimy's chimys.com
Mediterranean
READER PICK
Olives Mediterrean Grill olivesmediterranean.com
EDITOR PICK
Hedary's Food Truck hedarysfoodtruck.com
New Coffee Shop
READER PICK
Love Local Coffee & Art Shop lovelocalcoffee.com
EDITOR PICK
Casa Azul Coffee casaazzulcoffee.com
New Restaurant
READER PICK
La Onda la-onda-restaurant.business.site
EDITOR PICK
il Modo ilmodorestaurant.com
Patio Dining
READER PICK
The Bearded Lady thebeardedladyfw.squarespace. com
EDITOR PICK
Àtico aticoftworth.com
Pizza
READER PICK
Pizza Verde pizzaverdetx.com
EDITOR PICK
Pizza Zapasta pizzazapasta.com
Pop-up
READER PICK
Hot Dang Coffee
EDITOR PICK
ByWasonga bywasonga.com
Queso
READER PICK
Mercado Juarez mercadojuarez.com
EDITOR PICK
Maestro Tacos maestrotacos.com
Salsa
READER PICK
Crack Salsa cracksalsa.net
EDITOR PICK
Los Asaderos losasaderos.com
Sandwich
READER PICK
Billy Jenkins Beef at Wild Acre Brewing wildacrebrewing.com
EDITOR PICK
TMB's Signature Grilled Steak
Sandwich at The Meat Board themeatboard.com
Sandwich Shop
READER PICK
Bodega South Main bodegasouthmain.com
EDITOR PICK
The Colossal Sandwich Shop colossalsandwich.com
Seafood
READER PICK
Waters Texas waterstexas.com
EDITOR PICK
Coco Shrimp cocoshrimp.com
Service
READER PICK
Wishbone and Flynt wishboneandflynt.com
EDITOR PICK
Paris 7th paris7th.com
Steakhouse
READER PICK
Wicked Butcher wickedbutcher.com
EDITOR PICK
The Capital Grille thecapitalgrille.com
Sushi Restaurant
READER PICK
Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar
EDITOR PICK Tokyo Cafe tokyocafefw.com
Taco Shop
READER PICK
Guapo Taco
EDITOR PICK
Los Taco H's lostacohstx.com
Tapas/Shareable Plates
READER PICK
Tinie's Mexican Cuisine tiniesfw.com
EDITOR PICK La Onda la-onda-restaurant.business.site
Tex-Mex
READER PICK
The Original Mexican Eats Cafe originalmexcafe.com
EDITOR PICK
Joe T. Garcia's joetgarcias.com
Vegan/Vegetarian
READER PICK
Belenty's Love Mexican Vegan Restaurant
EDITOR PICK
Pizza Verde pizzaverdetx.com
Vietnamese/Pho
READER PICK
Banh Mi Viet banhmiviet.co
EDITOR PICK
Four Sisters foursistersfw.com
Wine List
READER PICK
Thirty Eight & Vine thirtyeightandvine.com
EDITOR PICK
Ellerbe Fine Foods ellerbefinefoods.com
Winery
READER PICK
Cowtown Winery cowtownwinery.com
EDITOR PICK
Dove Ridge Vineyard doveridgevineyard.com
Taco Shop
READER PICK
Guapo Taco
During a recent lunch rush at Guapo Taco, owner Angel Fuentes is, literally, a oneman show.
One of his employees called in sick, and when your kitchen is usually comprised of two people, well, there goes half your staff. Left to fend for himself, Fuentes spends the shift bouncing from the counter to the grill, taking orders while he’s making orders, a spatula in one hand, a cup of pozole in the other. He’s the cashier, the cook, the table busser and the dishwasher, all at the same time.
“I’ve had a lot of these days,” he says with a laugh while making an order of birria tacos, one of Guapo Taco’s must-get items. “I’m used to it.”
A day like this, a day spent in the weeds, perfectly illustrates Fuentes’ tenacity. Fuentes was once co-owner of the muchloved Mariachi’s Dine-In, a gas station taqueria, just east of downtown. The building’s ragged looks masked the high-quality food that Fuentes and business partner Ashley Miller were producing.
But last spring, the two went separate ways: Miller moved Mariachi’s to the west side, while Fuentes stayed behind, contemplating what he was going to do next — go back into his previous job as a computer programmer or continue pursuing his real love, cooking.
Luckily for Fort Worth, he chose the latter, revamping the old Mariachi’s space into a new taqueria called Guapo Taco. Many of the menu items from Mariachi’s remain, including the incredibly popular — and absurdly delicious — birria tacos, made with shredded beef cheek and a mix of melted mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheese and served with onions, cilantro, and a cup of consommé.
Other items include street tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and other Mex-Mex and Tex-Mex standards, all of which are available in vegan and meat-based variations.
Texas Monthly recently took note of Guapo Taco with a story that cast a spotlight on Fuentes’ green chicken pozole.
Guapo Taco is your quintessential gas station taqueria. You order at the counter, then grab a seat at one of the few tables. The dining area offers ringside seats to the characters who float in and out of the gas station. Next to the seating area are a couple digital gaming machines that always seem to be occupied.
“I wasn’t sure what would happen after Mariachi’s, but I knew I wanted to keep cooking," Fuentes says.
"I had a feeling I should keep doing it here.” 301 S. Sylvania Ave., facebook. com/guapotacofw
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Sip, Taste, Pour
NIGHTLIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT THE GREATEST HITS
DANCEFLOOR
READERPICK CURFEW
As owner Bryan Lee puts it, at Curfew, there’s literally a disco ball for everyone to dance under. And, it’s true, it’s clear they pulled out all the stops for the dance floor, which is packed with disco balls, fog machines, and great beats. But, what makes it even more special is the diverse clientele you’ll find swaying to the jams well past midnight.
As you walk up to Curfew, patrons are greeted by two things: a bouncer and Zoltar, who will naturally tell you your fortune. The Zoltar façade gives Curfew a bit of a speakeasy vibe, but it’s also there to tell you that this is not your normal dance club. Bougie precedence and judgments that might come with many dance clubs are thrown out the window, and in the basement of the iconic Tower in downtown Fort Worth, you’ll find a dance club that’s inviting and manages to be uniquely Fort Worth.
The club doesn’t mince words when they tell customers — via a neon sign that adorns the walls — “Don’t Dallas my Fort Worth.”
“There’s no pretentious,” Lee says. “There’s no bartender that’s not gonna serve you because of the way you look or something like that. There’s no dress code — none of that kind of stuff where a business can tell people who can or can’t have a good time.
“And that’s what’s so
special about [Curfew]. That’s why our mission statement is just to provide a great customer experience. And we do that through cocktails, through music, and through seating.”
The club has had to evolve over the course of the past couple of years, and it’s since carved out a nice niche in downtown.
“We opened up during COVID,” Lee says. “We initially ran it as a restaurant because that’s what people had to do to be open at the time. So we put a pizza program in place, and what’s now the dance floor was covered in lunge seating.
“Fast-forward, and what we started to see was all that energy from people at home, being locked up, and people just wanted to forget about everything. So, when it came to rebranding, our goal was to provide a place for people to come and be themselves. Whether they came after a hard day at work or on the weekend — it was a place to leave all your troubles at the door.”
Lee says they have a few announcements coming that no doubt will be of interest to their loyal customers. And, asked whether Curfew is a speakeasy, Lee replies, “Ask Zoltar.” 350 W. 5th St., curfewbar.com
Live Music
EDITOR PICK
Tulips
Whether we like to admit it or not, voids exist in Fort Worth. Like all cities, there remain certain things the city, as it currently stands, isn’t equipped to provide its residents. One such void that perpetuated after the turn of the century was a solid music venue that could attract diverse, genre-defying, nationally recognized artists. Sure, the city’s racked up plenty of stages for country cover bands, but trendier artists had no place to call home. Tulips has filled this void.
Like air conditioning on a sweltering summer day, Tulips provided relief to a massive city starving for a good live music scene. Acts that would hit up the Austin/Houston/ Dallas triumvirate would routinely skip Fort Worth. Now, artists like Guided by Voices, Wavves, Shaky Graves, Ezra Furman, and Shannon and The Clams see Cowtown as a city with a killer music venue and an enthusiastic audience to boot. Add a couple more spots like Tulips, and Fort Worth just might replace Dallas as North Texas’ requisite stop for hip musicians.
Tulips opened its doors just a couple years ago — at the height of the pandemic — when there was a legitimate fear mass gatherings and live music were going the way of the dodo. But the venue remained defiant, much like the boxer that adorns the south wall of
the building — a mural painted by local artist Ariel Davis. The boxer in the painting is owner Jason Suder’s grandfather, a five-time Golden Gloves winner who also serves as the establishment’s namesake — tulips were his favorite flower.
While Jason appreciates the plaudits of our magazine naming his business best music venue in Fort Worth, he sees Tulips as a space that promotes more than just music; it promotes culture. Jason can casually run through the dozens of artists Tulips has showcased over the past two years, including featuring murals by local artists Mariell Guzman, Jana Renee, and Shasta Haubrich, just to name a few. Tulips also regularly partners with ArtTooth to serve as a gallery space and hosts exhibits for local artists.
From country to rap to podcasts to food trucks, every week, Tulips provides a diverse and intriguing lineup of activities.
“Our goal is to continue to foster the concept of ‘welcome home,’” Jason says, alluding to the reader board sign that says “Welcome home” near the venue’s entrance. “If we are to be the space where the disparate sides of Fort Worth can come together to find common ground, it has to be home to everybody.” 112 St. Louis Ave., tulipsftw.com
Bar with Games
READER PICK
Stumpy's Hatchet House stumpyshh.com
EDITOR PICK
Free Play freeplayfortworth.com
Bar/Pub
READER PICK
The Rabbit Hole rabbitholefwtx.com
EDITOR PICK
Nickel City nickelcitybar.com
Dance Floor
READER PICK
CURFEW curfewbar.com
EDITOR PICK Ampersand ampersandfw.com
Family Outing
READER PICK
Fort Worth Museum of Science and History fwmuseum.org
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Zoo fortworthzoo.org
Festival
READER PICK
Oktoberfest Fort Worth oktoberfestfw.com
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Food and Wine Festival fortworthfoodandwinefestival. com
First Date
READER PICK
Blackland Distillery blacklandfw.com
EDITOR PICK
Bowlounge bowlounge.com
Girl's Night Out
READER PICK
Grand Cru Wine Bar grandcrumagnolia.com
EDITOR PICK
Pete's Dueling Piano Bar petesduelingpianobar.com
Happy Hour
READER PICK
Sidesaddle Saloon sidesaddle-saloon.com
EDITOR PICK
The Social House socialhousefortworth.com
Horseback Riding
READER PICK
Trinity River Farm & Equestrian Center trinityriverfarmtx.com
EDITOR PICK
Benbrook Stables benbrookstables.com
Hotel/Resort
READER PICK
Three Danes Inn threedanesinn.com
EDITOR PICK
Hotel Drover hoteldrover.com
Karaoke
READER PICK Voicebox Karaoke voiceboxkaraoke.com
EDITOR PICK
Poop Deck Bar & Grill poopdeckbarandgrill.com
Live Music
READER PICK
Panther Island Pavilion pantherislandpavilion.com
EDITOR PICK Tulips tulipsftw.com
Lounge
READER PICK
Thompson's Bookstore thompsonsbookstore.com
EDITOR PICK
Amber Room
wishboneandflynt.com/theamber-room
Movie Theater
READER PICK
Clearfork AMC amctheatres.com
EDITOR PICK
Coyote Drive-In coyotedrive-in.com
New Hotel
READER PICK
Kimpton Harper Hotel theharperfortworth.com
EDITOR PICK
Hotel Dryce hoteldryce.com
Place to Pop the Question
READER PICK
Proper propermagnolia.com
EDITOR PICK
The Japanese Garden fwbg.org/the-japanese-garden
Place to Take a Selfie
READER PICK
Mule Alley mulealleyfortworth.com
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Water Gardens
Place to Watch a Game
READER PICK
Buffalo Bros buffalobrostexas.com
EDITOR PICK
HopFusion Ale Works hopfusionaleworks.com
Trivia Night
READER PICK
Ice Cole's Craft Trivia
EDITOR PICK
Tall Bearded Guy Trivia at Funky Picnic Brewery funkypicnicbrewery.com
SHOPPING AND SERVICES
WESTERN APPAREL
EDITORPICK
TheBestHatStore
In 1995, Keith and Susan Maddox were heading to Billy Bob’s when they drove past a building for lease. They’d been considering selling cowboy hats, so they inquired about the building the very next day. The following March, they opened The Best Hat Store in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
What started as a small inventory of hats, stacked on folding tables covered in sarape blankets, has grown into a booming business. At The Best Hat Store, there’s over 7,000 hats to choose from, hand-shaped in-store for each customer by the best hat-shapers in the business.
Together, Danny Adams, Ryan McBride, Jace Savoie, and Andy Henson have over 50 years of experience shaping cowboy hats. The hats sold here are exclusively from the American Hat Company (made in Bowie, Texas), and every hat, whether felt or straw, begins as a blank canvas that’s open and flat.
“At the end, it looks nothing like when they start open and flat,” Susan Maddox said. “The next time you look, [the hat] is perfectly shaped to your face.”
Customers can flip through a catalog to find a style they enjoy, or they can scroll through The Best Hat Store’s Instagram feed to get a few ideas. Susan and Keith’s oldest daughter, Treasure, manages the store’s social media presence and public relations. Their youngest
daughter, Mercedes, helps with accounting.
Keith passed away in 2019, but his personality shines through their daughters, and his legacy lives on at the store.
What started as a mom-and-pop operation has become a destination for anyone who wants a cowboy hat. Many travelers have planned their trips to Texas around visiting the Best Hat Store.
“We recently had a guy come in who said, ‘Bear with me, I’m kind of picky, and it usually takes a long time to get my hats right,'” McBride says. “I got done shaping his hat in less than 10 minutes. He put it on and never touched it again. He said that’s never happened.”
Adams, McBride, Savoie, and Henson shape around 80 hats a day. On weekends, it’s normal to find a crowd of people in the store, laughing with one another like old friends, bonding over handshaped cowboy hats.
“When you buy a hat, you become a member to an exclusive club,” Adams says. “Not everybody has a cowboy hat. We call it the ‘hat factor.’”
Says Susan: “A cowboy hat is the most recognizable piece of apparel in the world. Anyone can put a pair of jeans and boots on, but when a person puts a hat on their head … they know that they have a presence.” 2739 N. Main St., besthatstore. com
Boarder/Groomer
READER PICK
House of Wag houseofwagdfw.com
EDITOR PICK
Camp Bow Wow campbowwow.com
Bridal Boutique
READER PICK
Birdie Bridal birdiebridal.com
EDITOR PICK
Elizabeth Scott Bridal elizabethscottbridal.com
Child Care/Day Care
READER PICK
The Play Space theplayspacefw.com
EDITOR PICK
Lena Pope Early Learning Center lenapope.org
Children's Boutique
READER PICK
Collins + Conley collinsandconley.com
EDITOR PICK
The Happy Lark thehappylark.com
Coworking Space
READER PICK
Ensemble Coworking ensemblecoworking.com
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Coffee Co fortworthcoffeco.com
Dry Cleaning
READER PICK
Fort Worth Family Cleaners fortworthfamilycleaners.com
EDITOR PICK
Kite's Custom Cleaners kitescleaners.com
Event Planner
READER PICK
Moxxie Concepts moxxieconcepts.com
EDITOR PICK
Melanie Tatum Events melanietatumevents.com
Event Venue
READER PICK
Artspace111 artspace111.com
EDITOR PICK
Brik Venue brikvenue.com
Eyewear
READER PICK
EYEWORKS eyeworksgroup.com
EDITOR PICK
Patrick Optical patrickoptical.com
Fine Jewelry
READER PICK
Kubes Jewelers kubesjewelers.com
EDITOR PICK
Bachendorf's bachendorfs.com
Florist
READER PICK
Brandi Chapman Floral
EDITOR PICK
The Flower Market on 7th theflowermarketon7th.com
Gift Shop
READER PICK
Love Local Coffee & Art Shop lovelocalcoffee.com
EDITOR PICK
Doc's Records and Vintage docsrecordsandvintage.com
Grocery
Store
READER PICK
Roy Pope Grocery roypopegrocery.com
EDITOR PICK
Neighbors House Grocery neighborshousegrocery.com
Insurance Agent or Firm
READER PICK
Knights of Columbus kofc.org
EDITOR PICK
The Elder Agency theelderagency.com
Liquor Store/Beer and Wine Shop
READER PICK
King's Liquor kingsliquor.com
EDITOR PICK
The Holly thehollyftw.com
Men's Boutique
READER PICK
817 Vintage Hype 817vintagehype.com
EDITOR PICK Rye 51 rye51.com
Outdoor Store
READER PICK
The Collective Outdoors thecollectiveoutdoors.com
EDITOR PICK
Sala Thai Teak Outdoor Furniture salathaistyle.com
Record Store
READER PICK
Panther City Vinyl panthercityvinyl.com
EDITOR PICK
Record Town recordtowntx.com
Sunless Tanning
READER PICK
Tan 2 Glow
tan2glow.com
EDITOR PICK
Cowtown Tanning cowtowntanning.com
Toy Store
READER PICK
The Happy Lark thehappylark.com
EDITOR PICK
Holocron Toy Store holocrontoystore.com
Travel Agent
READER PICK
Gulliver's Travel gullivers.com
EDITOR PICK
Marvelous Mouse Travels marvelousmousetravels.com
Veterinary Clinic
READER PICK
The PARC Vet theparcvet.com
EDITOR PICK
Arlington Heights Animal Hospital cowtownvet.com
Western
Apparel
READER PICK
Maverick Fine Western Wear maverickwesternwear.com
EDITOR PICK
The Best Hat Store besthatstore.com
Women's Boutique
READER PICK
The Worthy Co. worthy-co.com
EDITOR PICK
Shop Birdie birdiefortworth.com
Record Store
EDITOR PICK
Record Town
A cultural institution is defined as an organization (or business) within a culture or subculture that works for the preservation or promotion of culture. While the technical definition targets public and charitable organizations, those that qualify can be pretty broad. Given the definition, it’s no stretch to claim Record Town is a cultural institution.
Record Town, initially owned by the Bruton family, first opened its doors on University Drive in February of 1957. It remained there for 61 years and garnered a legion of devoted customers that included the likes of T Bone Burnett and Leon Bridges — two of Fort Worth’s most iconic members of the music industry. In fact, a young Burnett first heard the songs he would use on the soundtrack for “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” at the small vinyl shop.
A family-owned and -operated establishment, those who frequented the record shop during its days on University Drive will recall Sumter III — the oldest son and heir apparent of the Bruton family. According to Record Town’s current owner and longtime customer, Bill Mecke, Sumter would curate record selections for frequent customers. Mecke recalls Sumter would have multiple records of must-haves
and peculiarities that he surmised Mecke would like based on his buying habits.
“He’d say, ‘You don’t have to buy all this stuff; I just know what you like; and I found this for you,’” Mecke says. “But I’d always end up buying the whole stack.”
In 2018, with the shop looking worse for the wear and rent prices forcing a move, Mecke purchased Record Town with Tom Reynolds and moved the brick-and-mortar to the Near Southside.
“We actually feel like, for the future of Record Town, we’re in a better location,” Mecke says. “We think the Near Southside and South Main area has a better feeling to it; it’s got a great casual, communal feel to it.”
While the digs are new, Mecke wanted to make sure Record Town kept their staff with a nearlegendary encyclopedic knowledge of music, new and old.
Record Town currently employs two longtime music fans of near legendary status: Gerard Daily, who’s been with Record Town since 1974, and Michael (Cadillac) Johnson — so named by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons who once called Johnson the Cadillac of bass players. The name stuck. 120 St. Louis Ave, Suite 105, recordtowntx.com
ROOFING
PEOPLE AND CULTURE THE
GREATEST HITS
ACTOR/ PERFORMER
The Stockyards were transformed into a Hollywood backlot as stars rode into town, but actor and recently adopted Fort Worthian Eric Nelsen barely had to leave his backyard to get on set.
Nelsen recalls how he nearly fell out of his chair when writer/director Taylor Sheridan told him his first day of filming for his new show, “1883,” would be 15 minutes from where he lived. Nelsen has his wife, Sainty — who was born and raised in Fort Worth — to thank for introducing him to Cowtown. In 2020, the pair — who have two children —moved from LA to Fort Worth to be closer to her family and find a place to call home.
READER PICK Eric Nelsen
“I fell in love with this town in 2013,” Nelsen says. “I am obsessed with the people, and I am obsessed with the history, the culture, the energy, and everything about it. Of course, I fell even more in love with the city after moving here and being surrounded by all of the wonderful people. I truly think this city has the greatest people in the world.”
In the highly rated show, which serves as a prequel to “Yellowstone,” Nelsen plays Ennis, a young cowboy who serves as an escort of the wagon train that includes the show’s main characters, the Duttons. The handsome cowboy naturally becomes a romantic lead when he develops a relationship with one of the Dutton’s daughters.
The role, as it turns out, wasn’t much of a stretch for the Tony Awardwinning actor, whose family trained thoroughbred horses. It’s safe to say Nelsen had a grasp on cowboy culture before he ever put on the hat and boots for the show.
“This was my first show where my entire family was a fan of the project I was doing,” Nelsen says. “Taylor [Sheridan] can rope in any type of person to become his audience. People unfamiliar with Western backgrounds or people who don’t have any experience with cowboy culture or horse life, it doesn’t matter; he ropes them in. He creates this whole new fan base of cowboy-crazy fans who feel part of this Western world for the first time and love it.”
Once the show wrapped, industry zines and blogs started throwing Nelsen’s name around — his turn as Ennis received much praise and adulation. And the opportunity seems to have opened a few doors for the actor; he currently has three movies in the works — none which, sadly, take place in Fort Worth.
“The town has been so supportive of the filming process and so encouraging,” Nelsen says. "I truly think the whole state, but specifically Fort Worth, has opened its arms to me and embraced me. It’s just been the most incredible experience I’ve had.”
Actor/Performer
READER PICK
Eric Nelsen
EDITOR PICK
Dana Schultes stagewest.org
Art Gallery
READER PICK
Fort Works Art fortworksart.com
EDITOR PICK
DANG GOOD CANDY
Artist
READER PICK
Kristen Soble kristensoble.com
EDITOR PICK
Jana Renee janarenee.com
Athlete
READER PICK
Ronnie Baker
EDITOR PICK
Kristen Hemphill at TCU Rifle
Bartender/Mixologist
READER PICK
Jeremy Alderman at Proper propermagnolia.com
EDITOR PICK
Megan McClinton at Tricks of the Trade tricksbottleshop.com
Best Dressed
READER PICK
Mud Lowery mudlowery.com
EDITOR PICK
Tiffany Ortez Parish honeysucklerosevintage.com
Chef
READER PICK
Juan Rodriguez magdalenastx.com
EDITOR PICK
Victor Villarreal la-onda-restaurant.business.site
Comedian/Comedy Act
READER PICK
Four Day Weekend fourdayweekend.com
EDITOR PICK
Jonathan Yeager The Hypnomeister jonathanyeager.com
Country Club
READER PICK
Ridglea Country Club ridgleacountryclub.com
EDITOR PICK
River Crest Country Club rivercres-cc.org
Local Attraction
READER PICK
Fort Worth Botanic Garden fwbg.org
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Stockyards fortworthstockyards.org
Local Writer/Author
READER PICK
That Texas Couple thattexascouple.com
EDITOR PICK
Taylor Sheridan 6666ranch.com
Museum
READER PICK
John Wayne: An American Experience johnwayne.com/experience
EDITOR PICK
Amon Carter Museum of American Art cartermuseum.org
Musician/Music Group
READER PICK
Summer Dean summerdeanmusic.com
EDITOR PICK
Brandon Marcel brandonmarcel.com
Neighborhood/ Association
READER PICK
Near Southside nearsouthsidefw.com
EDITOR PICK
The River District riverdistrictfw.com
Nonprofit Event
READER PICK
Let's Play Bingo! Alliance for Children allianceforchildren.org
EDITOR PICK
Jewel Charity Ball jewelcharity.org
Philanthropist
READER PICK
Allan Saxe
EDITOR PICK
Todd Rainwater rainwatercharitablefoundation.org
Photographer
READER PICK
Edgar Miller Images edgarmillerimages.com
EDITOR PICK Joe Johnson
Radio PodcastPersonality/
READER PICK
The Funky Panther thefunkypanther.com
EDITOR PICK
On the Same Page Podcast onthesamepagepodcast.com
Service Organization
READER PICK
Catholic Charities of Fort Worth catholiccharitiesfortworth.org
EDITOR PICK a Wish with Wings awww.org
Social Media Influencer
READER PICK
Laura Lape lauralape.com
EDITOR PICK
Scotty Scott cookdrankeat.com
Up and Comer
READER PICK
Staci Danford thegratefulbrain.com
EDITOR PICK
Dr. Jared Williams drjaredwilliams.com
Art Gallery
EDITOR PICK
DANG GOOD CANDY
When you ask a layman or a non-ordained Fort Worthian about art in the city, he or she might point you toward one of the bevies of internationally recognized art museums that calls Cowtown home — the Kimbell, the Modern, etc. It’s not their fault that such institutions have become synonymous with art in this town — they are, after all, phenomenal showcases of worldrenowned geniuses. However, when one peels back the framed Monets and Michelangelos of this city, it’s not hard to find a vibrant and prolific community of local artists.
Jay Wilkinson, himself being one of Fort Worth’s most celebrated artists, opened DANG GOOD CANDY, a studio and gallery located in the heart of Sundance Square, as a way to showcase this community.
But, really, he never meant to become a gallerist. Wilkinson’s always been an outsider — initially showing his art via parties he’d throw in the Near Southside with his former partner in crime, the late Jeremy Joel.
“This was 10 years ago, and we didn’t have a lot of academic roads into galleries,” Wilkinson says.
Coming back to Fort Worth following a short stint in New York City — the pandemic brought him back — Wilkinson received a residency with the Bass family and
moved his studio into the space that DANG GOOD CANDY now occupies.
“It was such a beautiful space,” Wilkinson says. “I always liked showing artists, so I just kind of started the gallery. We built temporary walls, and I just started showing local artists I know and admire."
Wilkinson eventually branched out of his comfort zone and began looking for other artists whom he felt were doing interesting things. You’ll see a lot of Wilkinson’s tastes with the artists he curates — he admittedly enjoys humor in art.
“I love controversy. I love pushing the boundaries,” Wilkinson says. “I also think a lot about being in the middle of Fort Worth and wondering what might be good for the city to discuss.
“I like an outsider’s perspective and an outsider’s energy.”
DANG GOOD CANDY has already showcased such artists as Colton Batts, Kate Stipp, Gwen Meharg, Mike Lopez, and AHK.
Ultimately, Wilkinson says he doesn’t have aspirations to turn DANG GOOD CANDY into a “full institutional gallery,” as he puts it.
“I don’t want to represent any artists,” Wilkinson says. “I just want to be a step for them. I just enjoy playing host.” 402 Houston St.
Musician/Music Group
READER PICK
Summer Dean
One seasonal tour down — and fueled by jet lag — country artist Summer Dean returns to her home in Fort Worth.
Dean shined as a songwriter at an early age and started performing the moment she could, mostly singing in churches — her mother played the piano in church for 40 years. The first time Dean performed outside of a church was in junior high school, and before taking the stage, her father told her to hold onto the microphone stand if she got nervous. Dean remembers never once touching the stand but, instead, stepping off the stage and into the crowd.
“I performed for a while in college and then stopped,” Dean says. “I thought that maybe I’m not good enough. But then I realized, it’s better to just go for it. I’d rather go for it and fail than not even try.”
It wasn’t until Dean was 39 that she decided to quit her job and focus solely on her music career. A genre that defies classification, Dean attempts to describe her style as authentically old-school country. Regardless, it’s a specific and peculiar sound that speaks to both her and her audience.
“I’m trying to make sure I represent who I’m writing for,” she says. “There are women who come up to me after shows and talk about different songs I’ve written and what it means to them, so now I feel like
there’s a little responsibility with it. But it’s a welcome responsibility.
“You have to know how to express yourself, how you feel, how you worship, where your emotions go to when writing.”
After releasing her debut full-length album, Bad Romantic, last year, Dean recently finished a month-long tour along the Pacific Coast opening for Jesse Daniel. She hits the road again in August. Dean claims that when she’s on the road, her hometown of Fort Worth is always a conversation piece.
“Fort Worth is very supportive of me and they help,” Dean says. “I’m proud to be out there representing. I talk about it on stage all the time, and people come up after shows and ask for recommendations. They want to know where they should eat, what they should do, and that’s always fun.”
Dean went to school in Lubbock and moved to Dallas before settling in Fort Worth.
“I moved to Fort Worth and felt like I was woven right into the denim of the town,” Dean says. “I’ve always felt completely comfortable here; I’ve lived in other cities and never belonged. I’m grateful to have been embraced by the city. I’m not going to leave. I’ll always come back home to Fort Worth.”
summerdeanmusic.com
BEAUTY AND WELLNESS
THE GREATEST HITS
CBD STORE
READER PICK Thrive Apothecary
This is a fairly new category. After all, the decades leading up to the turn of the century weren’t particularly kind to the hemp and marijuana industries. Let’s face it, we’re not that far removed from documentaries like “Reefer Madness.” While laws have no doubt relaxed, the bigger win is the cultural acceptance of cannabis (hemp and marijuana are technically the same species) as a plant that offers numerous health benefits. A business like Thrive Apothecary, whose target demographic is people over the age of 45, would have once been the most taboo shop in town. Today, its parking lot is routinely full of sedans and SUVs. Co-founded by husband-and-wife duo of Trey Phillips — a former sergeant in the Fort Worth Police Department — and Dr. Lisa Gardner, Thrive opened its doors five years ago — a forerunner to the wave of CBD stores that started popping up more rapidly throughout the city. But what separates Thrive Apothecary from others is its knowledge and vast product selection — which includes its own line of products that are of exceptional quality. Lisa, who’s a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and a licensed medical marijuana doctor in the state of Texas, has also been one of the region’s leading CBD advocates, having appeared in numerous publications as a subject matter expert — present publication included. Located next to the
popular wine bar 38 and Vine, over the past few years, Thrive Apothecary’s small brick-and-mortar has become a staple of the Foundry District. The shop offers various products and services that highlight the numerous benefits associated with CBD and cannabis in general. Products include creams, sprays, and gels for hair, skin, and body; edibles; Delta-8 and Delta-9; inhalers, and even products for your pet — oils, shampoos, edibles, and skin care. Similar to humans, studies show pets that are given a daily regimen of CBD showed significant improvement in pain relief and overall quality of life.
The store’s most popular products include Delta 8 and Delta 9, both THC products that are derived the hemp plant (not marijuana), and neither requires a prescription. However, six months ago, with Gardner a fully licensed medical marijuana doctor, the store began seeing clients — those who might have ALS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, epilepsy, or any one of the qualifying conditions — in need of medical marijuana cards. The store offers physician appointments with Gardner who can write prescriptions for those who qualify. Customers who want to get evaluated just need to visit thrivemedicalcannabis.com. 212 Carroll St., Ste. 120, thrivemedicalcannabis.com
Beauty Salon
READER PICK
Whistle and Sway whistleandsway.com
EDITOR PICK
Novak Hair Studio novakhairstudios.com
CBD Store
READER PICK
Thrive Apothecary thrivetx.com
EDITOR PICK
CBDistrict Health & Wellness cbdistrictwellness.com
Dance Studio
READER PICK
Artistic Motion Dance Academy amdacademy.net
EDITOR PICK
To the Pointe Dance Academy tothepointe-fw.com
Day
Spa
READER PICK
Spavia spaviahulencenter.com
EDITOR PICK
CRAVE Medical Spa cravethespa.com
Dental Care
READER PICK
Justyna Laska, DDS drlaska.com
EDITOR PICK
Art District Dental www.artdistrictdental.com
Esthetician
READER PICK
Vanity Room Waxing Boutique vanityroombeauty.com
EDITOR PICK
A Nurse's Touch Spa anursestouchfortworth.com
Facial
READER PICK
Ageless Perfection
Skin Care Studio agelessperfectionskincare. skincaretherapy.net
EDITOR PICK
Milk + Honey Spa milkandhoneyspa.com
Fitness Program
READER PICK
Camp Gladiator campgladiator.com
EDITOR PICK
Pure Barre purebarre.com
Holistic Health and Wellness Center
READER PICK
Active Spine and Sport Therapy activespineandsport.com
EDITOR PICK
The Wellness Center of Fort Worth wellnesscenterfw
Manicure or Pedicure
READER PICK
Chandelier Nail and Brow Bar
EDITOR PICK
Southern Chic Nails southernchicnails
Massage
READER PICK
Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa handandstoneovertonpark.com
EDITOR PICK
The Serenity Room theserenityroomdayspa.com
Men's Barbershop
READER PICK
Mend Barbershop
EDITOR PICK
Fort Worth Barber Shop fortworthbarbershop.com
Organic Food Store
READER PICK
Walnut Creek Farms walnutcreekfarmtexas.com
EDITOR PICK
Natural Grocers naturalgrocers.com
Personal Trainer
READER PICK
Noel Trevino
EDITOR PICK
Tripp Miller rx4lifemovement.org/about-themovement
Yoga Studio
READER PICK
Chameleon Yoga
EDITOR PICK
Soul Sweat Hot Yoga soulsweatyoga.com
Personal Trainer
EDITOR PICK
Tripp Miller
Personal trainer, exercise physiologist, expert anti-ager, life coach – Tripp Miller does it all. No wonder the fitness pro won Best Personal Trainer.
The Fort Worth native, who works out of Goss Fitness, a boutique gym located at Mont-Del Plaza off Southwest Boulevard, shared some of his time, and secrets, with us.
FW: How long have you been a personal trainer?
Tripp Miller: Working in a gym setting, about eight. I’ve been in the fitness world since 2005. I started out teaching yoga. I got my master’s in exercise physiology about six years ago. I also teach kinesiology at Tarrant County College.
FW: What is exercise physiology?
TM: It’s basically the study of exercise – the biomechanics of it, which is how the body moves. Then there’s the physiological side – what's underneath the skin, what’s in your cells, how they work and they react to the environment and to the foods you eat and to your sleep patterns. What I do is take exercise physiology a step further by also teaching my students about anti-aging – how to keep the body feeling better for longer as we age.
FW: How old are you?
TM: 42.
FW: Ha, I thought maybe 22.
TM: Anti-aging — I’m telling you, it works.
FW: Really? I just turned
50, so everything hurts. But actually, I haven’t felt good since, like, 1998.
TM: I hear that all the time. “I just turned 40,” “I just turned 50,” “I’m in all this pain.” Pain doesn’t mean you’re getting older. It means something’s wrong. I help people structuralize their lives — how they exercise, how and what they eat, their mental outlook. We can all be 90 years old and kicking ass and taking names. I specialize in reducing pain in people’s bodies. I use an FDA-approved infrared laser for muscle pain and trigger point therapy, as well as specific mobility drills to get people out of pain permanently.
FW: How do you keep your students on track?
TM: Part of my job is to be your life coach. If we start working together, you can call or text me any time during the day and, if I’m available, I’ll help you.
FW: I write about food. I feel like I’m a lost cause.
TM: I love to cook. I’m a self-proclaimed chef, so I get it. I’ve been obese. I still have the stretch marks on my side and belly. It’s all about self-regulation, and I can help with that. Tripp Miller can be reached at Goss Fitness, 6445 Southwest Blvd., Benbrook, gossfitness.com
Best Methods for Weight Loss
Who can offer the best help?
The professionals at SciFit Center provide an all-encompassing program that incorporates personalized nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle consulting to ensure effective and sustainable results.
Health and fitness practitioner Dr. Bryce Calvillo, and nutrition expert Angela Calvillo, offer a collective approach towards weight loss, fitness and wellness by integrating the most up-to-date technology, philosophies, and methods, to give you the most effective results possible.
What’s the best approach for weight loss?
The key to successful weight loss is finding something that’s not only effective but, more importantly, sustainable. Progress comes
with consistency and trying to be too strict is only going to lead to failure.
Specializing in weight loss, aesthetic transformations, and overall health and wellness, SciFit’s program is tailored to every individual. Everyone is given a completely original and personalized approach that’s formulated specifically for your schedule, lifestyle, preferences, and goals. Whether it’s losing weight, becoming healthier, or toning up, the SciFit program provides exactly what you need.
What’s the best way to stay accountable?
SciFit Center’s all-encompassing program includes weekly one-on-one appointments with SciFit professionals. They address all the components of a healthy lifestyle including nutrition, exercise, stress management,
proper sleep habits, hormonal balance, musculoskeletal health, and balancing healthy habits while still enjoying the foods you love.
The weekly consultations help you stay accountable as well as provide constant guidance and education throughout your entire program. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach, and SciFit helps you discover the unique methods that work best for your body type. The frequent appointments allow our team to understand your body and teach you exact ways to get the results you need.
What’s the best technology to assist in weight loss?
SciFit Center takes a new age approach toward weight loss, fitness and wellness by integrating 3D Body Scanning, Food Sensitivity, and DNA testing.
The program includes routine utilization of the Fit3D Body Scanner to monitor your progress and keep you motivated throughout the journey. The technologically advanced body scanner will provide you with the most accurate body composition data such as body fat percentage, muscle mass, and anatomical measurements. With this useful tool, the SciFit team will tweak your program to give you maximum results.
Unlock the power of genetically specific programs through SciFit Center’s lab testing services.
DNA and Food Sensitivity Testing reveals food sensitivities, how your body metabolizes certain foods, and which exercise methods are most effective for your particular genetic makeup. This takes out the guesswork and allows you to do exactly what benefits you the most.
Modernized Weight Loss
Dr. Bryce Calvillo, Health & Fitness Specialist Angela Calvillo, BS, Nutritionist
HOME AND GARDEN THE GREATEST HITS
DECORHOMESTORE
RiosEDITORPICKInteriors
Sometimes, when a building is deconstructed, the wood panels and doors are thrown away. Or, the pieces are reclaimed and used for one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture. For customers looking for rustic, hacienda, Southwestern-style furniture with a history, there’s no better place to go than Rios Interiors.
From weathered wood to leather, iron, and turquoise, Natividad Ríos, president of Rios Interiors, knows how to integrate a variety of materials (such as old church doors from Mexico) into unique pieces of furniture that stand out in any home — or hotel. Many of the pieces that guests see in Hotel Drover’s rooms are custom designed by Ríos, as is the beautiful Veranda Bar found on the patio outside of 97 West.
Rios Interiors Showroom is located in the Stockyards, a short walk from Hotel Drover. The 20,000-square-foot showroom is filled with unique pieces that are designed by Ríos, who creates seasonal lines of furniture as well as custom pieces. A large majority of his custom work, and what’s seen in the showroom, is handcrafted in Mexico.
“I work with the most skilled craftsmen,” says Ríos. “Combined, they have hundreds of years of experience. They are families who pass the trade from generation to generation.”
Ríos, who is from the central part of Mexico, works directly with talented craftsmen who bring his designs to life.
The pieces he creates are not only well-made and handcrafted, but reasonably affordable for quality hacienda, Southwestern furniture.
No matter which room customers are looking to furnish, they can rest assured that Ríos will help them create or find the perfect piece to accent their home. Pieces from Rios Interiors showroom can be shipped directly to customers’ homes, and if someone wants to create a custom piece, Ríos has an eye for putting materials together that will stunningly fit their taste.
“I see beauty in every piece of material,” says Ríos. “With a little bit of creativity, you can make any piece look like a million dollars.”
Rios has been creating beauty at Rios Interiors for over 20 years. He first envisioned opening his own business while working at Martinek Design Studios, and in 1999, he brought Rios Interiors to the Dallas Farmers Market. Eight years later, he opened his store in the Fort Worth Stockyards and has remained a staple there.
“To other people, Rios Interiors might be a big furniture company, but in reality, it’s still my baby,” says Ríos. “I feel like it’s a small thing that I need to take care with. To me, [Rios Interiors] is something very personal. I’m always looking to make something different that touches other people’s lives.” 2465 N. Main St., riosinteriors. com
Plant Shop
EDITOR PICK
Ephemera Terrariums!
From the sidewalk of Magnolia Avenue, hundreds of plants, succulents, and cacti can be seen covering the large windows of Ephemera Terrariums. Although it may be otherwise, it isn’t your everyday plant shop.
Initially founded in Brooklyn, the quaint store — located in the heart of Near Southside — combines plants, terrariums, and comics.
“On paper, it sounds strange, this combination of things,” says co-owner and co-founder Frank Garcia, who opened the business with his wife, Suz Reyes, in 2014. “But I knew that if we could just put it in front of people, that they’d support the vision.”
Although called Ephemera — which describes objects that can only be enjoyed in short term, such as memorabilia and letters — the lively plant shop contradicts its namesake with a welcoming atmosphere and products that can be loved for a lifetime.
While the cozy plant shop does sell several rare and “luxury” plants, the shop also offers easy-togrow tropical plants for those who require more accessible options. Plus, it encourages more people to bring plants into their home as they work to cultivate their green thumb, Garcia says.
“We really try to make it accessible to people who haven’t really gotten into plants yet,” Garcia says. “We explain what’s going
on with the plant, how to care for it, and how to provide long-term plant support.
Garcia says Ephemera Terrariums isn’t just for plant lovers, however, but fosters a euphoric delight for almost everyone who walks in. For him, a perfect day for everyone would include a visit to Ephemera for make-it-yourself terrarium classes between shopping at Panther City Vinyl and a meal at Spiral Diner.
“I’ve seen plenty of people walking in skeptical,” Garcia says. “You know, they’re not there for themselves but because someone else brought them. But everybody always leaves with a smile.”
Along with the plants they sell, Ephemera has quickly grown since opening the business eight years ago and recently was voted the best plant shop in Fort Worth.
“We started in a very, very small space at the front window, which we still have — that little less than 10-by-10 space,” Garcia says. “But you know, we both put work into it every day, and we made it here. We also couldn’t have done it without the support of our customers and the whole community around us. 1208 W. Magnolia Ave., Ste. 106, ephemeraterrariums.com
Fencing
READER PICK
Magnolia Fence and Patio magnoliafenceandpatio.com
EDITOR PICK
Buzz Custom Fence buzzfence.com
Flooring
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Bottega Design Gallery bottegadesigngallery.com
EDITOR PICK
Vintage Floors vintagefloorstx.com
Homebuilding/ Remodeling
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Trinity Design and Build trinity-build.com
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Heritage Homes yourheritagehomes.com
Home Decor Store
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Park + Eighth parkandeighth.com
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Rios Interiors riosinteriors.com
Home Repair Service
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HDP Construction Services constructionhdp.com
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Fort Worth Home Repair fortworthhomerepair.com
Interior Design Firm
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Chelsea Morgan Designs chelseamorgandesigns.com
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Tori Rubinson Interiors torirubinsoninteriors.com
Interior Designer
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Susan Semmelmann at Susan Semmelmann Interiors semmelmanninteriors.com
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Traci Darden at Elements of Design elementsofdesignllc.com
Landscape Design/ Yard Care
READER PICK
First Cut Lawn Services firstcutlawnservices.com
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Mean Green Lawn and Landscape meangreenlawncare.com
CRAVE Medical Spa – Fort Worth’s Premier Med Spa, focused on nonsurgical rejuvenation and transformation of the face and body. We were founded with a goal to allow your inner beauty shine through, slow the appearance of the natural aging process and provide the most supreme aesthetic patient care. We work diligently as a team to resolve your aesthetic concerns with your face, skin and body and find the best possible solution. Our staff is devoted to making your entire experience at CRAVE Medical Spa as beautiful as you are. We offer treatments in a relaxing atmosphere to always ensure your comfort. We personally understand the relationship between your appearance and self-esteem, our goal is to consider your beauty as our business.
Double Down for Good
Colleyville Woman’s Club
CWC held its Double Down for Good fundraiser April 29th at the Hurst Conference Center. Highlights of the enjoyable evening were lively casino game play, exciting live and silent auctions, the popular wine pull, a tasty dinner, and dancing to the live band, Good Question.
Proceeds from the fun evening will benefit dozens of local charities and provide student scholarships. Colleyville Woman’s Club is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization composed of a dedicated group of DFW residents who improve the community through volunteer service and charitable fundraising, all while enjoying fun activities and each other’s friendships. Visit us at c-w-c.org.
Patti & Chuck Irwin
Sonya Hood, Hal Cree, Sue Cree
Mark & Kim Harrison
Hal Hardister, Zoe Kirby
Jeannie O’Neil, Deidre Hardister
Mike & Karen Deakin
PHOTOS BY CAROL WOLLIN
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Cinderella Ball
Boys & Girls Clubs in Arlington
Emily Hill became the 2022 Miss Cinderella on April 16. All of the candidates raised $861,091 for the Boys & Girls Clubs in Arlington. The runners-up were Madeline Spain, Ellerie Saxon, Lauren Backman, and Hadley Worsham. Emma Northcutt was awarded the Carol H. Zimmer Award and Addison Gardner was awarded the AOA Community Service Award. The scholarship winners were Isabella Reneau, Gabbi Webb, and Addison Gardner.
Gabby Webb, Emily Porter, Isabella Reneau
Linda & Dan Dipert, Karmyn Pompa, Jayton Skari
Emma Northcutt, Yujung Jones
Front Row L-R: Healey Walker, Karmyn Pompa, Gabby Webb, Yujung Jones, Miss Cinderella 2021 Francesca Brown, Lauren Backman, Dylan Salisbury, Addison Gardner Back Row L-R: Stella DeLoach, Hadley Worsham, Madeline Spain, Emily Porter, Isabella Reneau, Caroline Hodges, Ellerie Saxon, Claire Hall-Maxwell, Emma Northcutt, Ryley Chambers, Elizabeth Kline, Emily Hill, Sophie Shayman
Miss Cinderella 2022 Emily Hill
Urology Partners of North Texas is UPGrading Patient Care in Fort Worth
Construction crews hustle to knock out a punch list that’s the only thing keeping Urology Partners of North Texas from welcoming patients into its new, state-of-the-art facility slated to open this summer in Fort Worth.
Nestled along Chisholm Trail Parkway at Oakmont Blvd., the innovative center will house the Fort Worth branch of Urology Partners of North Texas (UPNT), along with its sister companies Surgical Centers of North Texas and Texas Cancer Specialists. Each will boast their own dedicated wing. Everything in the 37,000-square-foot space has been meticulously designed to reflect UPNT’s core tenet: physician-led, patient-first care.
Urology Partners of North Texas includes:
Harrison “Mitch” Abrahams, MD
Jeffrey Applewhite, MD
Jerry Barker, MD
Richard Bevan-Thomas, MD
Keith Bloom, MD
Tracy Cannon-Smith, MD, FPMRS
Paul Chan, MD
Lira Chowdhury, DO
Ly Chu, PA
Weber Chuang, MD
Adam Cole, MD
Soon, patients will receive expert treatment for everything from leaky bladder and prostate cancer, to kidney stones, erectile dysfunction, pelvic prolapse and other urologic ailments. It’s the culmination of an ambitious dream that’s been on a fast-moving train.
Just over three years ago, 19 doctors (including longtime Fort Worth residents and urologists) decided to disentangle themselves from corporate medicine and reclaim the mantle of physician-led care. While the prospect of breaking away was daunting, they knew what they were in for. After all, they’d done it before.
Patrick Collini, MD
Zachary Compton, MD
Adam Hollander, MD
Troy Houston, PA
Patrick Huddleston, MD
Justin Tabor Lee, MD
Wendy Leng, MD, FPMRS
Tony Mammen, MD
F.H. “Trey” Moore, MD
Blake Neeley, PA
Geoffrey Nuss, MD
Christopher Pace, MD
Kaitlyn Pizzini, PA
Jason Poteet, MD
Andrew Sun, MD
Scott Thurman, MD
James Clifton Vestal, MD
Keith Waguespack, MD
Diane West, MD
Amanda White, PA
Michael White, PA-C
Keith Xavier, MD, FPMRS
*As of March 2022
The Seeds of Patient-First
All through the early and mid-2000s, a tight-knit team of North Texas physicians set about building an enviable model of care. At its core was a rare health-care organization—rare because the physicians owned it. They served in its top leadership positions, sat on its board, established all of its policies, and made all the management decisions. They did it all according to one guiding precept: always do what’s best for the patient. Their singular focus fueled a nimble, can-do culture that delivered on their promise of patient-centered care.
“We were always thinking, ‘How can we ensure the highest patient satisfaction? How can we maintain the highest levels of safety?’ Our organization was the metroplex leader in those areas for many years,” says Mitch Abrahams, MD, UPNT partner and medical director. “We were the leader because we had doctors making those decisions.”
Under their physician-led model, they pioneered one of the nation’s leading robotic surgery programs. They created centers of excellence to treat prostate cancer, pelvic prolapse, incontinence, men’s health issues and more.
“We decided to build on that success and once again create a practice where we could put all our skills, ideas and intense patient focus to work,” UPNT managing partner Patrick Collini, MD, states simply.
Building a Better Healthcare Experience
Fort Worth Bona Fide
When UPNT partner Wendy Leng, MD, FPMRS, moved her family to the growing city in 2012, she was surprised to find that she was the first and only woman urologist in Fort Worth. She still remains one of the few subspecialists certified in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. “Patients tell me, ‘I searched high and low for a woman urologist.’ At UPNT, we’re all here to serve women and their urologic needs,” she reveals. “After all, women have urinary tracts too.” Together with new UPNT partner Lira Chowdhury, DO, the two spearhead the UPNT Fort Worth Incontinence Center of Excellence.
As Goethe once encouraged, “Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid.” When UPNT opened its new practice in April 2019, it fielded a flood of non-stop calls the very first day—a testament to the high regard patients have for this group of docs. Today, the practice counts 29 physicians and six physician assistants among its ranks. For its Fort Worth docs, creating a patient-centric care facility in their hometown is deeply personal.
“We live in this community. We raise our families here, and we’re honored to care for the people in this community,” affirms UPNT Partner Jeffrey Applewhite, MD. He’s lived and treated patients here for two decades. “Urology lends itself to long-term patient relationships, which is very gratifying. I think relationships are at the very core of Fort Worth, and they’re certainly the core of Urology Partners.”
to help patients live longer, more meaningful lives.
As one of the most experienced minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic surgeons in Fort Worth, UPNT partner Scott Thurman, MD, is a second-generation Fort Worth urologist. So is UPNT partner Adam Hollander, MD, who learned early about the importance of exemplary patient care when he first accompanied his father on hospital rounds at the age of four. With a double fellowship in robotic surgery and complex kidney stone disease, he’s honored
“It’s incredible to have a patient say, ‘You saved my life,’ — especially when your practice is focused on prostate and kidney cancers,” Thurman explains.
UPNT partner Trey Moore, MD, admits he’s been practicing so long that he now treats several generations of the same family. He’s well known for his deep roots in Fort Worth. In fact, Moore has just been named a trustee of his alma mater, Texas Christian University, a role he says is the fulfilment of a “lifelong dream.” Before accepting the
Patrick Collini, MD, and Adam Hollander, MD, confer about a case.
Lira Chowdhury, DO, follows up with a patient after her treatment.
Wendy Leng, MD, FPMRS, explains stress incontinence to a young woman.
A prostate cancer survivor sends thanks to Jerry Barker, MD.
appointment, he was an assistant professor at the university’s medical school. He also serves as vice chief of surgery at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest and is on the board of Project Access Tarrant County (PATC), an organization that provides much-needed healthcare to the county’s uninsured and working poor.
Infusing Personalized Care with a Personal Touch
By 2020, another beloved Fort Worth physician, Jerry Barker, MD, had taken note of UPNT’s autonomous, patient-first commitment to excellence. As the only Fellowship trained radiation oncologist in Tarrant County*, Barker is a lifeline for patients battling advanced and complex cancers. Along the way, he’s treated many UPNT prostate cancer patients. The two teamed up to form Texas Cancer Specialists.
“Our team is devoted to a compassionate, truly personalized approach that delivers precise, state-of-the-art radiation treatment for the most challenging cancers,” Barker notes. “But just as important, we’re a place of optimism, hope and comfort.”
Connecting with people so intimately has nurtured rare insights into 360-degree patient care.
“If you listen to the patient long enough, really listen, they’ll tell you how you can help them,” Chowdhury reveals. “Letting the patient talk, making sure they’re heard guides good patient care.”
probably be sitting in a chair feeling sorry for myself. I love that man,” says a man struggling with BPH.
“Another doctor told me my bladder was dead,” recounts one man. “I thought I’d have to wear a catheter for the rest of my life until Dr. Leng told me, ‘Your bladder is still trying to work. I’m very optimistic for you.’”
“Dr. Thurman is an angel on this Earth. I do not have enough words to express my gratitude,” writes a woman diagnosed with a kidney tumor.
A New Level of Comprehensive Care
The Oakmont facility is designed to reinforce all that good will. “It’s the culmination of what we’ve been building for the last few years,” Applewhite notes. “We’ve very methodically and very strategically focused on what patients truly need.”
“There are studies that show the average physician interrupts a patient 30 seconds into their visit,” adds UPNT partner Jason Poteet, MD. “I want to hear my patients tell their story in their own words before I begin asking questions.”
“It’s also understanding the patient’s family, background and culture—all the things that can influence a patient’s view of their disease,” Applewhite adds.
“All those conversations go a long way toward building trust and a bond that can last many years,” Poteet notes.
You only have to spend a few minutes perusing the comments on the UPNT Facebook page to understand why their approach has fostered such deep patient loyalty.
“Dr. Moore cares for you like he’s a friend. If it wasn’t for him, I’d
When it opens, patients will discover an easy access, one-level facility with ground parking that allows them to walk right in the front door without the hassle of a parking garage or navigating a big campus.
“There’s no question where anyone needs to go,” Moore adds. “One doorway leads to comprehensive care. Anything a patient needs urologically will be here. This facility reflects the cutting edge of urologic science. Not to mention the amazing camaraderie among all the physicians and staff members. With
an expert roster of subspecialists under one roof, we can handle a broad range of urologic problems. We can do labs. We can do many surgeries right here. A future onsite pharmacy will provide even more convenience.”
Along with a commitment to high-quality urologic care, there is heightened accountability, too. “I like to tell patients, if you have a problem with some aspect of your urologic care or supplies, please let us know and we’ll take care of it,” Leng says. “Because it’s us—we’re running the practice.”
“We have so many ideas about ways we want to deliver more comprehensive, more affordable patient-focused care,” Dr. Collini adds. “This is just the beginning.”
Photography by Paul Moseley
Trey Moore, MD, listens to a young patient.
Jeffrey Applewhite, MD, discusses treatment with a patient.
Scott Thurman, MD, reviews patient notes with scribe Carolina Segura.
FOCUS Family Lawyers
They stand by you through the hard times. They guide and support you from the beginning to the end of the divorce process. They are some of Greater Fort Worth’s brightest, most sought-after family law and collaborative law professionals, and they have purchased space to show you how working with them in your time of need will benefit you.
The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine.
Law Office of Gary L. Nickelson
Gary L. Nickelson
Chris Nickelson
CONCENTRATION: The firm is uniquely qualified to handle the most complicated matrimonial cases in trial or appellate courts throughout Texas. CERTIFICATION: Gary L. Nickelson is board-certified in Family Law through the State Bar of Texas. Chris Nickelson is boardcertified in Family Law and Civil Appellate Law through the State Bar of Texas. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: Gary has been the chair of the Family Law Section of the State Bar, president of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers – both the Texas Chapter and national organization and is a former director of the State Bar of Texas. He is also a diplomate in The American College of Family Trial Lawyers, which is by invitation only and limited to 100 Family Law attorneys nationwide. Chris is past president of the Tarrant County Bar Association, Appellate Section, and is a past chair of the Family Law Council of the State Bar’s Family Law Section. Father and son are frequent authors and lecturers for the State Bar and other organizations. HONORS: Gary holds many prestigious awards and has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer,” a Thomson Reuters business, as published in Texas Monthly magazine since 2003. Chris has been named as “Texas Super Lawyer,” a Thomson Reuters business, in the Super Lawyer issue published in Texas Monthly since 2014. Gary and Chris have won the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas’ highest and most prestigious award, The Dan Price Award, in 2003 and 2013, respectively. EXPERIENCE: Gary has handled family law cases exclusively over 40 years. His experience allows him to handle all types of family law cases throughout Texas. Chris, a 22-year attorney, clerked in El Paso Court of Appeals, appeared as an attorney in many of the appellate courts in Texas, and is an accomplished family and appellate law attorney.
Law Office of Gary L. Nickelson
5201 W. Freeway, Ste. 100 • Fort Worth, Texas 76107 817.735.4000 • Fax 817.735.1480 garynickelson.com
SPECIALTY: 100% Family Law. CERTIFICATIONS: McClure Law Group’s Founder and CEO, Kelly McClure, is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: Repeatedly recognized as Best Law Firms 2022 by U.S. News & World Report and as Best Lawyers over the last decade. HONORS: Managing Partners Kelly McClure and Francesca Blackard and Partners Brandon Joseph and Kate Mataya have been recognized as Top Attorneys in Fort Worth and Texas Super Lawyers. APPROACH TO LAW: McClure Law Group sets the standard for divorces, custody matters, property disputes, and pre- and post-marital agreements. McClure’s attorneys provide a white-glove approach in Tarrant County and surrounding counties with an in-house CPA-family lawyer and appellate attorney. They are known for their meticulous preparation, attention to detail, and genuine compassion when executing individualized solutions for their clients. WHAT SETS THEM APART: McClure Law Group’s financial acumen, tax law skills, state-of-the-art forensic accounting, research strategies, extensive trial experience, and collaborative law knowledge equip the team to zealously advocate for their clients’ positions. From the simplest divorce to the most complex business and property cases, their seasoned attorneys help minimize the financial and emotional tole a divorce can have on a family. PICTURED: Kate Mataya, Brandon Joseph, Kelly McClure, and Francesca Blackard. McClure Law Group
SPECIALTY: 100% Divorce and Family Law. AWARDS/HONORS: Super Lawyers 2022; Fort Worth Magazine Top Attorneys 2021; MartindaleHubbell Platinum Client Champion Award 2022; Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated 2022; Lawyers.com Client Distinction Award. PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: We provide custom-tailored legal solutions to help clients achieve their goals. We pride ourselves on communicating with clients in a timely manner and working together to develop a case strategy. When your family is at issue, having a lack of control is a terrible feeling, one we do not want for our clients. WHAT SETS THE FIRM APART: We are a team of attorneys with over 75 years of combined experience. Our eight attorneys focus their practice areas exclusively on family law, primarily in Tarrant County. Two of our attorneys are board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. When you hire our firm, you’re hiring a team ready to stand by your side and protect what is important to you — your family and financial future. FREE ADVICE: Filing first has many advantages in litigation. If you have made the decision to proceed with a divorce or family law case, it can be highly advantageous to file first. PICTURED: Kelly Hollingsworth, Jessica Temple, Constance Mims, Bryan Ballew, Andrew McAlester, Tim Alexander.
700 N. Carroll Ave., Ste. 170 Southlake, Texas 76092
817.900.8330 Fax 817.900.8339
Mims Ballew Hollingsworth, PLLC
Ballew Hollingsworth, PLLC
O’Neil Wysocki, PC
SPECIALTY: Family Law. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: Michelle O’Neil and Michael Wysocki are both Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. AWARDS/HONORS: O’Neil – Texas Super Lawyer; Top 50 Women Lawyers in Texas; Top 100 Lawyers in Texas. Wysocki – Texas Super Lawyer, 2014 – 2022. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: Tarrant County Bar Association; Denton County Bar Association APPROACH TO LAW: O’Neil Wysocki is a firm of litigation attorneys who advocate zealously for their clients. While we still settle many cases, when a case is not ripe for settlement or settlement is not in our client’s best interest – we fight and net results. WHAT SETS THEM APART: O’Neil Wysocki knows Family Law. And everyone in Family Law knows O’Neil Wysocki, also known as the “OWLs.” Considered among the Top Lawyers in Texas, Michelle May O’Neil, Michael D. Wysocki, and David Wynne are the real deal and “The Wise Choice” in divorce and child custody litigation. They are in trenches actually fighting for their clients, which is hard to find these days. PICTURED: Michelle May O’Neil, Senior Shareholder; Michael D. Wysocki, Managing Shareholder; David W. Wynne, Managing Partner, Fort Worth Office.
O’Neil Wysocki, PC 2630 West Freeway, Ste. 218 Fort Worth, Texas 76102 817.332.2202 Fax 817.332.2316 OWLawyers.com
SPECIALTY: Family Law. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: Sarah – B.A., Texas Tech; J.D., Texas Wesleyan; Board Certified in Child Welfare Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Lori – B.S., TCU; J.D., Texas Wesleyan. Daniel – B.B.A., ACU; J.D., Texas Wesleyan; Board Certified in Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization. AWARDS/HONORS: Lori and Sarah – Texas Rising Star, Super Lawyers (2019-2022); Top Attorney in Family Law, Fort Worth Magazine (2017-2021). Daniel – Texas Rising Star, Super Lawyers (2012-2020) and Super Lawyer (20212022). MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: Sarah and Lori – TCFLBA, TCBA and Tarrant County Bar Foundation, Life Fellow. Daniel – TCFLBA and Fellow, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. WHAT SETS THEM APART: We take the time to understand your unique situation and explain the law so you can make the most informed decision possible. We know that sometimes family law matters require aggressive action in order to deliver results, and we aren’t afraid to take action when necessary in order to protect your rights. FREE ADVICE: Don’t take family law advice from your friends or family. Lean on them for emotional support but get legal advice from an experienced attorney. PICTURED: (left to right) Lori E. Dally, Daniel P. Webb, and Sarah C. Seltzer.
Seltzer, Dally & Webb, PLLC
6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ste. 340 Fort Worth, Texas 76116*
106 S. Jones St. Granbury, Texas 76048
817.887.9206
YourTexasFamilyLawyer.com
*Principal Office
Seltzer, Dally & Webb, PLLC
FOCUS FAMILY LAWYERS
Jackson, Landrith, & Kulesz, PC
SPECIALTY: Family Law, Real Estate Law, Business and Commercial Transactions, Immigration, Personal Injury, Wills, Trusts, and Probate. EDUCATION: Brent McMullen – Texas A&M School of Law, JD. David Kulesz – Baylor University School of Law; Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. AWARDS/HONORS: McMullen – Rising Star, Texas Super Lawyers Magazine; “Top Attorney,” Family Law, Fort Worth Magazine. Kulesz –Texas Super Lawyer; “Top Attorney,” Family Law, Fort Worth Magazine; past president, Tarrant County Family Law Bar Association. PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: We are a clientcentered firm, offering practical, cost-effective solutions to legal problems. WHAT SETS THE FIRM APART: Jackson, Landrith & Kulesz, PC has been serving Tarrant County and its residents with high-quality legal services for the last 45 years with more than 100 years of combined legal experience. FREE ADVICE: Speak to an attorney before making any life-changing decisions. PICTURED: Brent McMullen.
Jackson, Landrith, & Kulesz, PC
601 W. Abram St. • Arlington, Texas 76010 817.226.1100 • jlkattorneys.com
Family Law Firm of Donna J. Smiedt, PLLC
SPECIALTY: Board Certified Family Law. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: B.A., SMU; J.D., SMU School of Law; Board-Certified by State Bar of Texas in Family Law. HONORS/AWARDS: Texas Super Lawyer; Arlington Family Law Attorney of the Year; Top Attorney, Family Law, Fort Worth Magazine GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT: Being sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. APPROACH TO LAW: We strive to provide the highest level of legal expertise tempered with an empathy and understanding of the great emotional toll that clients are experiencing in their family law cases. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Experience, excellence, and empathy. PICTURED: Donna J. Smiedt.
Family Law Firm of
Donna J. Smiedt, PLLC 3216 W. Arkansas Lane Arlington, Texas 76016 817.572.9900
djs@smiedtlaw.com arlingtondivorces.com
We are looking for those entrepreneurs whose vision, creativity and integrity have made Fort Worth the premier place to do business.
Fort Worth Inc.’s Entrepreneur of Excellence (EOE) Awards showcase and honor the contributions of exceptional entrepreneurs in several industry categories:
Commercial Construction
Give Back
There’s nothing more rewarding than giving back and making a difference in the lives of people in this great community. As the city’s magazine — which has the eyes and ears of some of Fort Worth’s most affluent and philanthropic citizens — we feel a responsibility to give back to the people of the city that is our namesake, which is why Philanthropy is one of our core values.
Every year, Fort Worth Magazine sponsors more than 100 charity events, which range from luncheons to black-tie galas. The following promotional section is devoted to these charities and their fundraisers. We invite you to consciously peruse and consider lending a helping hand by either making a donation or attending these events.
JUNE 2
Small Business Summit 2022 Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
JUNE 4
Cowtown Summer Soiree Creel Family Philanthropies
JUNE 4
Party with Paws 2022
Humane Society of North Texas
JUNE 10
Man and Woman of the Year 2022 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
JUNE 30
Young Professionals Summit 2022 Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce
in partnership with presents
Salute to America’s Armed Forces
August 20, 2022
The Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel
7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
The Worthington Renaissnace hotel in Fort Worth will soon be the place to be! Meals On Wheels and Bell have teamed up to host a special fundraising event paying tribute to America’s armed forces. The program honors the branches of the United States military for their service to the country and our local community. This patriotic salute includes a seated dinner, USO-style entertainment and a lively dance band. The fun continues with live and silent auctions, and much more! Don’t miss out, see you on August 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m.!
For sponsorship information or to reserve a table, visit mealsonwheels.org/salute or contact Benjamin Diez at 817-258-6414 or benjamin@mealsonwheels.org benjamin@mealsonwheels.org.
GIVE BACK
Thanks to our sponsors:
Crew of USS Fort Worth with Meals On Wheels client, Harold.
THANK YOU
Your generous support made The Cigar Smoker extraordinary!
WITH A $3.94 RETURN FOR EVERY $1 SPENT, A FULL SO% HIGHER THAN THE $2.63 AVERAGE ROI FROM DIGITAL DISPLAY AND MORE THAN DOUBLE THE $1.52 FROM DIGITAL VIDEO.
Gold Award Girl Scouts Change the World
Gold Award Girl Scouts are change-makers. They have changed the world, changed their lives, and earned the most prestigious award in Girl Scouting.
To earn the Gold Award, a Girl Scout identifies an issue in their community, drafts a plan to address a root cause, and leads a team of volunteers to implement it. When the project is complete, the Gold Award Girl Scout and their team have made a sustainable impact on the world that continues to last beyond their involvement.
Congratulations Gold Award Girl Scouts!
Sani Ali Books and Blankets
Catherine Bergan Teen Librarians
Courtney Brecheen Order Up Literacy
Lynda Clayton Not One More: A Mission to Eliminate Youth Suicide
Gabby Comer “Be Prepared” for Any Weather Emergency
Abigail Dickinson Rockets for Kids
Keira Honig Middle School Mental Health Sanctuary
Mattie Kleespies Repair at Heavenly Care
Erin Mann Shelves for Christ’s Haven
Abigail Newlon Paramount Playground Update
Rose Poldson Fill the Room
Samantha Wren Uganda Pen Pal
Aubrey Gray Using Social Media to Raise Awareness for Rare Disease
(Nielsen Catalina Solutions, 2015)
RIVER RANCH FORT WORTH 6:00 P.M.
with an opportunity to give
Providing inclusion with a focus on abilities over disabilities through the partnership of a horse.
Numbers don’t lie. Fort Worth Magazine and Fort Worth Inc. reach more social media users than any other publication in the city. Our dedicated digital staff works diligently to bring an added value to advertisers by delivering your message directly to our readers. We bring Fort Worth to your fingertips.
Lightning travels at a speed of 270,000 miles per hour. While this represents only .04% the speed of light (670,000,000 mph), it would still take a mere 55 minutes to travel to the moon if one were to ride a bolt of lightning. So, to capture such a speedy object, that’s patience, precision, and a whole lotta guts — it’s a risk being in the middle of the storm. This photo, taken by photographer and musician Darah Hubbard, brilliantly captures a looming storm over Fort Worth’s new City Hall. Darah’s shot some photos for the magazine before, so be sure to give her photography (@itsdarah) and band (@thecityawaits) Instagram accounts a follow.
So you’ve snapped a cool pic of the city. We want to see it. Tag your photos on Instagram with #fwtxmag. The winning image will get published on this page — so hit us with your best shot. main line 817.560.6111 | subscriptions 800.856.2032 | website fwtx.com
@itsdarah
PHOTO BY DARAH HUBBARD
We Drive the Difference:
¡ Triple Crown Lincoln Promise which includes:
- 2 years of oil changes, tire rotations, & multipoint inspections.
¡ Triple Crown Lincoln Valet Service which includes:
- Online or over the phone sales purchase and delivery
- Service pick-up and delivery
Family Owned and Operated since 1986. We tailor the purchase experience to fit your needs, not ours; because we don’t just want to sell you a vehicle, we want to build a relationship and become your trusted advisor for all purchases and service. Family owned and operated. Purchase online or in-store and deliver to your doorstep. New state-of-the-art showroom coming soon.
When you offer the most attention-getting, envy-inspiring cars, you must live up to them every day. Which is why we treat luxury drivers to a dazzling experience, with lavish amenities and truly personal service.
