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CRAIG CAVILEER RETURNS TO THE STOCKYARDS / HOW JON BONNELL FACED, FOUGHT, AND BEAT CANCER

The City's Magazine

It’s

PIE NOON 10

Pizzerias Taking Cowtown's Pie Game to a Whole 'Nother Level

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FEATURES OCTOBER 2026 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 10

28 Slice City

Though pizzas were maybe once Parmesan-covered gold dust in Fort Worth, consider us short on the cheesy discs no longer. From Neapolitan to tavern-style pies, here’s your guide to 10 of the newest pizza artisans bringing us into the limelight.

42 Stockyard Stewards

Craig Cavileer, the developer whose fingerprints are all over the reborn Stockyards, is back in the game in the Fort Worth’s historic district with business partner Kayla Wilkie-Kinne.

48 The Chef Who Couldn’t Taste

Perhaps few have experienced sensory loss to the degree of Jon Bonnell, whose cancer diagnosis temporarily stripped him of arguably his most crucial sense — a well-trained palate.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

DEPARTMENTS OCTOBER 2026 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 10

70 THE FORT 12 City Dweller

The Sid Richardson Foundation once again drops off a lofty check, this time made out to Fort Worth ISD.

16 Calendar

At last, a few of Fort Worth’s long-awaited fall events have arrived. We can feel the temperatures dropping.

18 Fort Worthian

Midori Clark, the ever-so-welcoming face among the shelves of the Fort Worth Public Library.

20 Art & Culture

Catrina Fest: The fusion of a Miss Universe Pageant, fashion contest, and Day of the Dead celebration all rolled into one.

22 State Lines

Waxahachie: pop. 50,090.

24 Cowhand Culture

Allegedly, Cowtown has its fair share of roguish spirits haunting about.

26 The Reverie

A big-time rare-earth manufacturing company and a multinational automotive corporation make for a “magnetic” partnership.

75 Home

A treehouse for the kids that is fully furnished, equipped with running water and Wi-Fi, and has nearly anything else one could possibly need in a dwelling among the saplings.

CHOWTOWN

75 16

70 Dining

Lovers of steak and fries rejoice over Fort Worth’s newest restaurant centered around the delectably combined concept.

ETC. 118 Dream Home 122 Snaps 128 Close

+ 57 Healthcare Professionals Special Advertising Section

83 Project Profiles

Special Advertising Section

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

EDITOR’S LETTER

My First Dinner

owner/publisher hal a. brown president mike waldum EDITORIAL executive editor brian kendall fort worth inc. editor john henry associate editor kenzie johnson contributing writers teresa gubbins, malcolm mayhew, michael h. price, shilo urban copy editor sharon casseday

iven how much my family would frequent Pizza Hut — those being the days of the sit-down Pizza Huts with fountain drinks, an all-you-can-eat salad bar, and, if you were lucky, a sole arcade game — it’s not surprising that my first memory of eating out with my family is at a Pizza Hut. I recall we’d keep our order pretty basic. We were a thin-and-crispy crust kind of family that liked pepperoni. We’d occasionally venture outside the box and get mushrooms and black olives, but I recall such sophistication coming during my teen years. And we wouldn’t dare venture into Stuffed Crust, P’Zone, or oven-baked pasta territory. My parents would use a fork and butterknife (they did have legitimate silverware at these dine-in Huts) to cut the pizza into little bite-size squares for me and my older brother. I remember my dad warning us about the dangers of the hot, stringy cheese and relaying a story about the first time he ever tried pizza and burned his lip. While I don’t recall being traumatized by scalding-hot cheese, in a very un-kid way, I wasn’t the biggest fan of pizza. Ever since my first recollected dining experience, pizza was always sold to me as the bee’s knees of all things culinary — perhaps second only to ice cream in the hierarchy of delectability. Yet, my palate found its combination of savory cheese, spicy pepperoni, and sweet marinara sauce — at least at Pizza Hut — to be less than appetizing. While I would eventually come around to enjoying a solid pie — though perhaps not as much as Teresa Gubbins and Malcolm Mayhew, who managed to pen over 5,000 words on the topic for our cover feature — even in my strange, indefensible disgust, those moments in the red booths sharing a meal with my family are some of my fondest memories. Even in my revulsion, this Italian staple still managed to leave a positive impression. Long live pizza.

Brian Kendall

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

ON THE COVER: Photographed by Thanin Viriyaki at Ozzi’s Pizza off Altamesa Boulevard, we enlisted the help of Jason Ruiz to carry the 10 boxes from the 10 pizzerias featured in our cover story, which you can read on Page 28. Don’t worry, Jason’s arms weren’t overly strained, as the boxes were empty.

NEXT MONTH

2026 Dream Home at Aledo River The City’s Poetry Charity Guide

CORRECTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS? Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas.com.

DIGITAL EDITION: The virtual editions of both current and previous issues are available on our website. Flip through the pages to read more about the great city of Fort Worth by visiting fwtx.com.

ART creative director craig sylva senior art director spray gleaves contributing ad designer jonathon won contributing photographers olaf growald, thanin viriyaki ADVERTISING advertising account supervisors gina burns-wigginton x150 marion c. knight x135 account executive tammy denapoli x141 territory manager, fort worth inc. rita hale x133 account executive patrick mccune x158 senior production manager michelle mcghee x116 MARKETING director of digital robby kyser marketing manager corinn crippin audience development manager mackenzie marler events and promotions consultant victoria albrecht CORPORATE chief financial officer charles newton operations manager kaitlyn lisenby founding publisher mark hulme CONTACT US main line 817.560.6111 subscriptions customerservice@fwtexas.com

Fort Worth Magazine (ISSN 1536-8939) is published monthly by Panther City Media Group, LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Periodicals Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Panther City Media Group, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Volume 29, Number 10, October 2026. Basic Subscription price: $29.95 per year. Single copy price: $4.99

As Authentic as the Communities We Serve We know the streets, the schools, the neighborhoods, and the people – because this is home to us, too. Our advantage isn’t just data; it’s real relationships and local insight that help you move smarter and feel confident every step of the way. Authenticity isn’t just a word – it’s how we do business.

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The Roundup: Stay in the know as our editors wrangle the week’s best stories about the people, places, and ideas shaping Fort Worth. Delivered Thursdays ART OF THE DRESS

Chowtown: From barbecue to burgers and beyond, our weekly dining digest serves up fresh and original stories for Fort Worth foodies. Delivered Fridays

FWTX.com/culture/alana-kay-fortworth-designer-cowtown-ball

While not there to witness, we can imagine the jaws that dropped when local artist Alana Kay strutted through the entrance of the inaugural Cowtown Ball Style Show in a dress handcrafted from 1,200 yo-yos — flower-shaped fabric often associated with quilts. This digital article chronicles Kay’s painstaking, 130-hour-long undertaking to complete her showstopping dress in time for the swanky event.

Visit FWTX.com/newsletters or scan the QR code below to sign up for Fort Worth’s best local newsletters

FOR THE GRAM

Where the city looks as good as it reads

125 YEARS OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY FWTX.com/culture/125-years-public-library

The day before the 25th anniversary of 9/11, we spoke with Peter Matthews, a Fort Worth resident and current editor-in-chief of Firehouse Magazine, who was at Ground Zero when the North Tower began to collapse. In a digital feature, we share Matthews’ harrowing story and the haunting photos he captured. FWTX.com/news/sept-11-oral-history-photographer

Comin’ Up: ArtsGoggle, the Near Southside’s annual art festival that turns Magnolia Avenue into an open-air mall, gallery, cafeteria, and concert venue rolled into one, returns Oct. 24. And rest assured, we’ll have plenty of pre-, post-, and day-of content to give no-shows a lifetime’s worth of FOMO. Follow our Instagram @FWTXmag

FOLLOW YOUR DREAM … HOME Touring for the 2026 Dream Home in Aledo River, which you can read more about on Page 118, kicks off in November. But if magazine articles aren’t enough to whet your appetite, give our dedicated website a visit and our Dream Home Instagram a follow. @dreamhomefwtx | 2026dreamhomealedoriver.com

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

On Oct. 17, the Fort Worth Public Library will celebrate 125 years as a Cowtown cultural institution. As we inch closer to the landmark birthday, keep an eye out for an in-depth retrospective of the library’s 125-year history and its place in Fort Worth life. You can also learn more about library director Midori Clark on Page 18. VIP AT DFW

FWTX.com/culture/dfw-airport-private-luxury-terminal-ps

Writer Shilo Urban really took one for the team when she experienced all the opulence of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport’s recently opened Terminal PS. With individual suites stocked with plush chairs, mini bars, and complimentary champagne and caviar, the ultra-luxury, private terminal serves as a reprieve from the chaos of DFW’s normal terminals. Shilo got the inside scoop, and all we can do is read along. HONEY, POUR ME ANOTHER

FWTX.com/culture/Texas-mead-festival

While the Texas Mead Fest has been around since 2012, Sept. 19 marked the first time North Texas played host to the annual gathering. According to Veronica Costelo of Southwest Festivals, prior honey wine celebrations drew 600 or so attendees, making the 5,000 who attended the 2026 Texas Mead & Music Festival at Waxahachie’s Scarborough Faire a record turnout. We attended and had plenty to report back.

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OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

THE FORT PEOPLE TO KNOW THINGS TO DO PLACES TO GO

BRINGING CATRINA TO LIFE

What began as artist Miguel Martin’s tribute to his late mother has grown into Catrina Fest, a dazzling Día de los Muertos spectacle of towering costumes, music, marigolds, and remembrance in Sundance Square.

WHAT WE’RE WRITING ABOUT THIS MONTH:

On Page 12 The Sid W. Richardson Foundation gifts the Fort Worth ISD $1 million for new security technology. On Page 16 What to do in October. On Page 18 Midori Clark got to the Fort Worth Public Library as fast as she could. On page 22 Waxahachie: The Gingerbread City where the Victorian era stands still. On Page 24 The ghosts of Fort Worth. On Page 26 Fort Worth is making American rare-material great again.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

THE FORT

by John Henry

CITY DWELLER

A Secure Investment

The Sid Richardson Foundation hands over a $1M grant to Fort Worth ISD, geared toward helping the school district pay for next-generation security technology.

he Sid W. Richardson Foundation has awarded a $1 million grant to Fort Worth ISD to help pay for new security technology across district campuses and athletic facilities. The grant will fund the acquisition and deployment of next-generation security technology intended to strengthen the district’s ability to deter, identify, and respond to potential safety concerns. “Student safety is the FWISD’s highest priority. The Sid Richardson Foundation is honored to support Fort Worth ISD’s efforts to invest in best-inclass technology to ensure the district stays on the leading edge of school safety,” Pete Geren, president and CEO of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, said in a statement. Geren also currently serves as president of the FWISD School Board.

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

Aside from the bestowed grant itself, there’s also a lesson here for Fort Worth ISD students. No student should graduate from the district without knowing who Sid W. Richardson was because his life is a good lesson in perseverance. Born in Athens in 1891, Richardson made $3,500 trading cattle while still in high school, attended Baylor University and Simmons College — eventually called Hardin-Simmons — for about 18 months, then left school and went to work in the oil business. He became an independent oil producer in Fort Worth in 1919, but success did not come in a straight line. In fact, the foundation calls his fortunes “erratic.” The key characteristic: He never quit. Probably got discouraged; got over it. Richardson accumulated wealth

and lost it several times during the 1920s before becoming firmly established as a millionaire in the 1930s. From Fort Worth, he built interests in oil, ranching, refining, and other businesses and eventually became one of the wealthiest men in America. And he’s still giving away the fortune. In 1947, he established the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, ensuring that the fortune he spent decades building would continue supporting Texas schools, hospitals, and other organizations long after his death in 1959. The district said the technology improvements are part of its broader effort to maintain safe and secure environments for students, educators, staff, and families.

Strange Bedfellows Fort Worth Zoo acquires both prey and predator with the return of zebras and a record hatching of rare gharial crocodiles. by Kenzie Johnson and Brian Kendall

he Fort Worth Zoo has added two new species to its already extensive menagerie — species, we’ll note, smartly housed in separate enclosures. In September, the Zoo announced the acquisition of two new zebras and a record hatching of critically endangered gharial crocodiles. In regard to the infant crocs, the Zoo has brought its juvenile gharial population from five to 13 in one season, solidifying its place as the only institution in North America to have produced multiple offspring of the gharial four years in a row. “It’s very rewarding to have

another year achieving the healthy hatchings of these unique and vulnerable crocodiles,” says Vicky Poole, associate curator of ectotherms at the Zoo. “Every successful hatch gives our team another opportunity to refine our techniques and deepen our understanding of this remarkable species. The knowledge we gain through this work is an important part of the Fort Worth Zoo’s contribution to gharial conservation that we can share with our partners around the world.” Perhaps one of the few — if not the only — crocodilians considered cartoonishly cute even in a full-grown state, the gharial has a distinct pencil-thin snout. Its protruding and pointy schnoz is unlike that of any other crocodile, allowing the gharial to skillfully hunt and eat fish. The species’ endangerment is reportedly due to habitat destruction, pollution, and river fragmentation, making survival in the rivers of India and Nepal increasingly difficult. The newest hatchlings will remain behind the scenes for the time being as they continue to develop. Once deemed ready to move, they’ll one day join the previous juvenile gharials hatched at the Zoo in the indoor habitat within the Zoo’s herpetarium, Museum of Living Art — or better known as, simply, MOLA. According to a press release, the Fort Worth Zoo credits its recent four

years of breeding success to more than 15 years of work diversifying and growing the gene pool. The zoo first built its adult gharial habitat — designed to serve as a “love shack,” for lack of a better term — in 2010. While the gharial crocodiles are not a brand-new species to the Zoo, the zebras — on the other hoof — are relatively new. The Zoo had been without the striped tenants since 2021, though the five-year zebra hiatus is now officially over, thanks to the move-in of two juvenile males. The pair, half brothers named Hercules and Pegasus, reside in a renovated rhino habitat where the Zoo constructed a new barn designed to comfortably house the animals. Before the departure of the Zoo’s zebras to make way for the Predators of Asia & Africa habitat, which opened in June 2023, the African equids were a fixture at the Fort Worth Zoo for nearly a century. “After their departure in 2021, we realized just how much our guests missed their presence in the park,” executive director of the Fort Worth Zoo Michael Fouraker said in a press release. “We knew we needed to find a way to bring them back.” Hercules and Pegasus are now on view at the Zoo — a relatively safe distance away from the gharials, just in case the reptiles ever decide to swap their fish diet for a more substantial main course.

Around Cowtown in 8 Seconds A smattering of things you might’ve missed

1. Back on Track: Six Flags Entertainment Corp., head of Five Flags Over Texas, announces it will move its corporate headquarters from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Arlington in 2027, rightfully returning the beating heart of the franchise to where it all began in 1961. 2. A Distinguished Dean: The Fort Worth Chamber taps Dr. Rachael Capua — vice president of external operations and dean of Tarleton State Fort Worth, also hiply referred to as “Dr. Cap” — as its 2026 Young Professional of the Year. 3. Auspicious Ram-ification: Venerable Texas Wesleyan, the oldest university in Fort Worth, has been invited to apply for membership in the Lone Star Conference, beginning the Fort Worth university’s transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. That’s gonna be a helluva time, that Lone Star Conference in Fort Worth. 4. Taking up the Mantle: The Amon Carter Museum of American Art finishes up its yearlong search, naming Robert Stein as the new executive director. Stein — labeled as quite the innovative technologist — will step into the shoes of former executive director Andrew J. Walker beginning Nov. 9. 5. The Kimbell’s Newest Tenant: Samson and Two Philistines — a bronze sculpture from 1624, while Catholics and Protestants were engaged in hand-to-hand combat — is now permanently on view in the Kimbell Art Museum’s Louis I. Kahn Building. The work of Italian Baroque artist Stefano Maderno represents the scores of Philistines the biblical Samson vanquished with the literal jawbone of a donkey. Don’t mess with donkeys. 6. Battle of the Brawns: Fort Worth Oktoberfest hosted the first regional final for Steinholding, sending the strongest-armed man and woman to the Texas State Championship during New Braunfels’ Wurstfest on Nov. 15. Winners will then advance to the National Steinholding Championship in Cincinnati. I can smell the brats from here. 7. A Drop-In From a Dignitary: Former First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Worth Oct. 7 in honor of local legend Opal Lee’s 100th birthday. Presented by the National Juneteenth Museum, the event invites the erstwhile White House hostess for a two-hour chat at the Fort Worth Convention Center. 8. Qualified Jurors: Movie producers Michael and Angelique De Luca have been selected to serve as judges for “The Silent Cut,” an inaugural national film-themed exhibition. The exhibition opens Sunday, Oct. 25, as part of Fort Works Art. It will continue through Jan. 9, running concurrently with Fort Worth’s Lone Star Film Festival, Nov. 4–11.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

THE FORT

Reexamining Hogan

Rethinking Hogan

by Jeff Miller

CITY DWELLER

Rethinking Hogan

Author and psychiatrist says tap the brakes on conventional wisdom about Ben Hogan.

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

attributed Hogan’s emotional cocoon to the childhood trauma of his father’s suicide in 1922. When Ben was 9 years old, Chester Hogan — who didn’t live with the family after being institutionalized for mental illness — shot himself at the family home on Hemphill Street. Esteemed golf author James Dodson wrote in his 2004 Ben Hogan: An American Life: “The pivot point that explains everything about the man, from his relentless search for technical perfection to his fanatical need for absolute privacy … all evolved from the same terrible family tragedy that shaped every aspect of his life after age 9.” Grubbs writes: “It’s plausible that some of Hogan’s personality characteristics and behaviors were influenced by his father’s death, but this cannot account for all of Hogan’s traits and tendencies. In my years as a child psychiatrist, I’ve not encountered a patient whose traits and tendencies are wholly explained by one childhood event.” Years of dogged research by Grubbs and his assistants unearthed what he considers evidence bolstering his stance. Ben and his older siblings — sister Princess and brother Royal — were involved in the youth group at Allen Avenue Baptist Church. Ben was among the seventh graders at Carroll Peak Elementary School recognized for athletic achievement, and he participated in a city musical competition. Soon after he took up golf at Glen Garden Country Club on the city’s southeast side, the 16-year-old was giving les-

James H. Grubbs

im Grubbs was hitting balls in the converted McKinney barn that renowned golf instructor Hank Haney turned into a golf laboratory more than 30 years ago, lessons that helped Grubbs — winner of Fort Worth’s City Boys Championship as a teen in 1965 — qualify for the 1992 USGA Amateur Championship at Muirfield Village in Ohio. There was another significant takeaway from the instruction. Haney convinced Grubbs, a practicing adult and child psychiatrist since 1978, to combine his profession with his passion — to work with golfers on mastering the mental aspect of the game. Grubbs published the three-volume set The Golfing Brain 2017-24. His latest literary work embraces a specific aspect of Grubbs’ golfing devotion — fascination with Ben Hogan, the Fort Worth icon. In his recently self-published Rethinking Hogan, Grubbs applies his expertise to counter what he considers flawed explanations for certain intriguing aspects of the Hall of Fame golfer’s life that have been dissected even after Hogan’s death in 1997 at age 84. Simply put, Grubbs says: “Things that had been written were just off.” What greatly set Hogan apart from other golfers was an almost maniacal focus to the game, both in practice and during tournament play. An offshoot of that resulted in Hogan shutting out the world around him, including playing partners. At best, he was considered aloof; at worst, he was thought rude. Multiple biographies have

James H. Grubbs sons at the Majestic Theatre. Grubbs likewise writes that Hogan’s famously intense practice regimen and tendency to ignore those around him came from his ability to hyperfocus, not from trauma. According to previous authors, Hogan reluctantly endured those aspects of his personality. Grubbs writes that Hogan embraced them, enjoyed the seemingly endless hours of hitting balls and shaping different shots. “It was not a task for him,” Grubbs says. Hogan eventually also recognized that his existing within that personal shell on the course led to a level of intimidation that he valued. Grubbs has lived in Austin since 2010 and will make a private appearance for the breakfast club at Hogan’s beloved Shady Oaks Country Club on Nov. 11.

Rethinking Hogan is available in hardback, paperback, and Kindle via the website rethinking-hogan.com. Jeff Miller has been a journalist in the DFW area since 1987, spending 21 years with The Dallas Morning News and then serving as a contributing writer and/or editor for ESPN.com, The Athletic, and other organizations.

CALENDAR

October

23-25

2-4

Cowtown’s pride and joy — the Texas Rattlers, of course — return to Dickies Arena for their annual PBR Teams home stand, bringing three days’ worth of watching cowboys log some serious flight time. Dickies Arena pbr.com

In support of her third solo album, Lost Weekend, Phoebe Bridgers will be performing to a sold-out crowd at Dickies Arena — just without much proof after the fact, as every single stop on the international tour has a no-phones policy for the most immersive, lived-in concert experience. Dickies Arena dickiesarena.com

PBR Rattler Days

2-18

‘Rapunzel! Rapunzel! A Very Hairy Fairy Tale’ A returning veteran in Casa Mañana’s production vault, the fairy-tale musical comedy features exactly what you’d expect: an endangered princess, a prince whose name quite literally includes the word “Handsome,” and hair — lots of it. Casa Mañana Theatre casamanana.org

4-Jan. 17

‘Photography’s First Century’ Surprisingly, the Kimbell has never had a photography exhibition. That is, until now, as the museum celebrates the bicentennial of photography’s invention with more than 150 photographs from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Kimbell Art Museum kimbellart.org

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

Phoebe Bridgers

Miranda Lambert The country music star has picked the backdrop of Fort Worth’s famous honky-tonk as the venue for her release show of her new disco-country album Crisco — which will be unleashed into the hands of eager fans just four days prior to her Billy Bob’s appearance. Billy Bob’s Texas billybobstexas.com

9-11

23-25

Boo at the Zoo Free with general admission or membership, Boo at the Zoo features live entertainment, animal shows, and treat stations for the kiddos to secure their promised sugar rush in a family-friendly setting — plus, as per usual, nearly 7,000 animals to ogle. Fort Worth Zoo fortworthzoo.org

‘The Classical Style’ Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn are at the heart of this comedic opera from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, where the legendary composers appear as characters portrayed by the Cafritz Young Artists of Washington National Opera and backed by a stunning orchestra led by music director Robert Spano. Bass Performance Hall fwsymphony.org

Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering & Western Swing Festival Red Steagall — one of the most well-spoken cowboys you’ll find in any holler around — puts on a heck of a festival in the Stockyards, now celebrating cowboy culture for its 35th year with red dirt music, a chuckwagon race, a ranch rodeo, and impressive cowboy poetry. Fort Worth Stockyards redsteagallcowboygathering. com

31-Aug. 15

‘The Modern’s Collection in Ten Acts’ Though already part of the Modern’s collection, this newly organized exhibit brings some of the museum’s favorite pieces together (as well as a handful of newly acquired artworks) through 10 various Acts, each portraying a different theme or idea to mull over. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth themodern.org

Oct. 24

ArtsGoggle The single-day art festival along Magnolia Avenue showcases the art scene of Near Southside — and beyond — through paintings, photography, ceramics, and other mixed-media at art booths and pop-ups for browsing and purchasing. Various locations | artsgoggle.org

photos provided by Kimbell Art Museum // Billy Bob’s Texas // Bass Performance Hall // ArtsGoggle - Casey Kleeb

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THE FORT FORT WORTHIAN

Midori Clark

Director of the Fort Worth Public Library By Brian Kendall Photo by Olaf Growald

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

CAMERA ROLL

1 2

5 1. Midori Clark, left, with her parents and Clifford the Big Red Dog. 2. Clark; Sherry Knight; Jana Hill; HSE graduate, Javier Rodriguez; Sylvia Quinones; and Myriam Hernandez at 2026 FWPL high school equivalency graduation ceremony. 3. Midori Clark at groundbreaking for the Sendera Springs Library. 4. Councilmember Macy Hill, Midori Clark, Councilmember Michael Crain, Assistant Director Michele Gorman, and Branch Manager Shawn Goforth at Clifford Crossing Library ribbon cutting. 5. Clark with colleagues on Library Worker Appreciation Day.

t’s not a stretch to assume most librarians — or, at least, people with a library-adjacent job — are fans of things like puns, palindromes, and alliteration. So, it wasn’t a total mind-twist when Midori Clark, the director of the Fort Worth Public Library, answered my first question with, “I grew up in a bicultural, biracial, bilingual household.” Born in Japan and growing up speaking Japanese before English — and city hopping like her family was in witness protection (they weren’t, we don’t think) — Clark finds these experiences to be a godsend for her work at the library and not all that unique for Fort Worth. “I think it’s a really common experience for Fort Worthians to have a blended culture,” Clark says. “[My upbringing] helps me think about being a newcomer to an area and how we make that experience welcoming for people. You don’t have to be new to this country, you can be new to this community. We still want you to have a great experience when you come through the doors at Fort Worth Public Library.” After all, Clark is fairly new to Fort Worth herself — though she admits her time here has felt simultaneously like five minutes and 50 years — having accepted her current position with the Fort Worth Public Library in early 2024. Before arriving in Cowtown, Clark was director of community relations for the Pueblo City-County Library District in Pueblo, Colorado, and later served as library and cultural services director in Aurora, just outside of Denver. An impressive resume for someone who didn’t start pursuing a career in library science until after chasing a lifelong dream of reporting the news on TV. Though she studied journalism at the University of Southern California and would get an on-air job with affiliate stations in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, she soon realized her personal values weren’t aligned with these professional goals. “At that point, I saw an ad in the newspaper for a marketing and PR job

at the local library [in Pueblo],” Clark says. “I didn’t know that was a job. Nobody had ever told me you could use your skills to help people find the services and programs offered at the public library.” Beating out 200 other candidates for the job, she’d spend the next 15 years working for the Pueblo Library District. “Pueblo actually reminds me so much of Fort Worth,” Clark says of the high-desert city of 100,000 residents. “I think there are many, many parallels, and moving [to Fort Worth] felt like an extension of what I was already used to.” Two-and-a-half years into her tenure, Clark is at the helm of the public library system during a period of rapid growth — both in terms of population and in interest in library services. Despite assumptions that smartphones and digital entertainment have diminished a library’s relevance, Clark points to the opposite trend in Fort Worth. As the Fort Worth Public Library prepares to celebrate its 125th anniversary on Oct. 17, the system has recorded more than 4.3 million checkouts over the last year, a historic high, and over 131,000 people attended library programs, a 16.7% increase year over year. “Fort Worth is a city of readers,” Clark says, “and no one is going to tell me any different because the numbers clearly show that.” There’s also plenty ahead. A new library is coming to Northwest Fort Worth in early 2027, and a site has been purchased for a new downtown library — a project Clark calls the most important of her 25-year career in library administration. “It’s not very frequent you get to dream alongside the community and build a brand-new downtown library,” Clark says. “I think that is part of what makes this job so fun — the opportunities always feel infinite.”

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

T H E F O R T A R T & C U LT U R E

celebration, and somewhere in the crowd, a man in red is smiling at the scene that he brought into being. “I feel so proud,” says Miguel Martin, who ignited the idea for the festival half a decade ago. “I combine a Miss Universe pageant with a fashion show and a Catrina contest.” A self-taught artist, Martin couldn’t stop creating if you tied both hands behind his back. He does papier-mâché, painting, photography, clay, video, costumes, hats, and more. Martin’s larger-thanlife Catrina sculptures command the showroom with their bony beauty.

Who Is Catrina?

by Shilo Urban

Bringing Catrina to Life How artist Miguel Martin transformed a tribute to his late mother into a larger-than-life celebration.

keletons in extravagant dresses swish into Sundance Square Plaza, their outfits festooned with marigolds, monarch butterflies, and empty-eyed skulls. One woman is a piñata come to life; others evoke Aztec warriors and the Virgin of Guadalupe. Many costumes carry photos of lost loved ones.

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

They are all La Catrina, a captivating symbol of Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) — and they’re vying for a $5,000 prize for the best costume at Fort Worth’s annual Catrina Fest. Judges scribble notes, and spectators lean forward for a better look. Mariachis and folklorico dancers add to the

The image of a skeleton woman wearing an elaborate hat first appeared in 1912. Drawn by José Guadalupe Posada for a satirical Mexico City newspaper, it mocked Indigenous women who adopted European fashions. Rivera’s portrayal of La Calavera Catrina, “the Dapper (Female) Skull,” transformed her from a social critique into a national icon. More glamorous than grim, she faces death with dignity and even a smile — and reminds us to do the same. “Día de los Muertos is something deep,” Martin explains. “It’s when we take the time to celebrate our loved ones. We clean their graves and put out flowers, we put out gifts, we pray. It’s a beautiful tradition.” Families create ofrendas, or altars, for their departed kin with photos, marigolds, and favorite foods. “My outfits are about my mom,” says Martin, whose mother passed away 12 years ago. “Her favorite color was red, so my outfits are always red.” Martin’s eyes well up as he talks about how much she loved cardinals, which appear on his costumes alongside red roses and red feathers. “My mom is no longer here, but she’s still always there for me. She’s always around.”

Strong as a Tree Martin grew up in Mérida, Mexico, with three brothers and an alcoholic father. When Martin’s father left, his mother started working two jobs to

make ends meet. “I remember my mom leaving early in the morning and coming back late, sitting with her swollen feet up, so tired,” he says. “My mother was always doing the best for us, working hard, as strong as a tree. I admire her for that — I see her as my hero.” This love is what inspires Martin to make his Catrina statues. “I have a lot of respect and admiration for women, so my sculptures are always women.” He eventually moved to Texas, where he met Hernandez and bought a house in Arlington with tall trees and a grassy lawn. Using discarded vinyl scraps from the sign company he worked at, Martin crafted giant aliens and spaceships and hung them from the trees. The neighbors loved it, so he created different themed-decorations every Halloween: ghosts, then zombies — then Día de los Muertos. Martin went all out with 14 Catrinas, a cart-pushing churro vendor, a skeleton dog and girl, a bride and groom, children breaking a huge piñata, and cascades of orange flowers. He began experimenting with papier-mâché, and his spectacle grew more elaborate and refined every year. By 2021, tour buses and news teams were showing up. But times were tough for Martin, whose income had been hit hard by the pandemic. “I was thinking we would lose the house, lose everything … I was so worried.” He stood up to go outside and opened the back door — and just then, a cardinal flew down and landed beside him. “I got goosebumps. I said, ‘I know, Mom. Right? Everything’s going to be fine.’ Then I felt so relaxed, because I knew something good was coming. My mom was taking care of me. “A week later, this fancy car stopped in front of my house, and this guy in a fancy suit came up and knocked on my door.” He said he represented the Bass family. Sasha Bass was hosting a Día de los Muertos dinner at her Sundance Square gallery, and she wanted to rent Martin’s Catrina sculptures. He wound up making new Catrinas (in three

weeks) for the party and attended in full costume with Hernandez, which sparked a friendship with Bass and led to the opening of Colección Mexicana.

A Vision of Catrina Fest Martin and Bass were walking together through Sundance Square Plaza in 2022 when he mentioned how perfect the space would be for a Catrina contest. Bass was intrigued, and Martin’s vision tumbled out: costumed Catrinas in a runway-style show, a massive altar, mariachis and marigolds and papel picado streaming from the trees. “She said, ‘That sounds good. Do it — and if you need something, let me know.’” But Martin wanted to do it himself. “I was so nervous, but at the same time, I was so happy because I really wanted to do this festival,” he says. “I knew the results were going to be beautiful — I was already picturing it all in my head.” Martin poured his heart and soul into his creation — and by festival day, he had lost 14 pounds. The hard work paid off. Catrina Fest was a hit and would return the following year — and this time around, he and Hernandez asked for help. They still manage the Catrina contest, while Sundance Square handles the music, vendors, and altar — and bumped up the first-place prize to $5,000 (plus $3,000 for second and $2,000 for third). “Everybody can compete. I don’t care if it’s a young person or an old person, a woman or a guy. I don’t care if they’re tall or short. I want it to be fair for everyone.” Most contestants craft their own costumes, often with help from family and friends. “This is not stuff that you buy at the store,” says Martin, who asks each contestant to explain their outfit’s significance. “I’m looking for something that really represents Día de los Muertos.” Like Martin, many wear costumes in honor of lost loved ones. Now in its fourth season, Catrina Fest attracts visitors from all over. “We have a family that comes from Oklahoma every year. They all dress up;

they all paint their faces. They’re not even Hispanics, and that’s what I love the most.” Everyone can celebrate Día de los Muertos whether they’re Mexican or not, Martin says. “I don’t want people to think it’s cultural appropriation. Don’t worry about it. Do it, do it for us. It makes us happy.” “Every year it’s growing, and the outfits are getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” says Martin. As the Catrinas stroll around Sundance Square, the crowd cheers, and the music plays — look up into the trees, and you may just see a brilliant red cardinal enjoying the show from above.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

T H E F O R T S TAT E L I N E S Ellis County Courthouse

by Shilo Urban

Waxahachie, Texas Population: 50,090

haunting beauty descends as dusk falls on Waxahachie’s Victorian neighborhoods, each oak-cradled mansion whispering a silent story of generations past and long-forgotten secrets. Less than an hour southeast of Fort Worth, this former cotton and cattle town is called the Gingerbread City for its storybook Victorian houses. More than 170 still stand, each a unique work of art with distinctive elements like elaborate lacework trim, wraparound porches,

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

and asymmetrical design. Stainedglass windows glow like watchful eyes; steep gables and fairy-tale turrets conjure an air of Gothic mystery. Waxahachie’s remarkable preservation efforts mean that entire streets remain intact from the turn of the 20th century, creating a true stepback-in-time feel. Filmmakers have flocked here for decades. The town has appeared in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and in dozens of feature films, including 1967s “Bonnie and Clyde” and 1984s

“Places in the Heart.” Its centerpiece is the castle-like Ellis County Courthouse, an ornate edifice adorned with dramatic arches and enigmatic carved stone faces. It’s surrounded by dozens of restored buildings, including the three-story Ellis County Museum, an impressive red-brick landmark built in 1889 as a Masonic Lodge. Peruse local history exhibits inside and pick up selfguided tour maps of nearby Victorian homes and film sites. If you prefer your tours with tingles down your spine, book a ghost tour to the town’s allegedly haunted sites, such as the Odd Fellows Building and the rumor-stained Rogers Hotel (no longer a hotel). You have two options: Waxahachie Haunted History Tours focuses on true tales of historical gunfights, murders, and brothel lore; Haunted Hachie leans into paranormal investigation with ghost-hunting equipment like electromagnetic field detectors. Now that you’re in the mood for the macabre, head to Munster Mansion — a meticulous, full-size replica of the residence from the iconic 1960s sitcom, “The Munsters.” Built by two superfans, it features authentic set pieces and recreated props from the TV show. See Grandpa’s electric chair, the rotating secret passage, and the grand staircase that opens to the hidden lair of the family’s fire-breathing pet dragon. You’ll need to book a guided tour in advance if you want to explore the mansion. Find further oddities at Webb Gallery, a downtown shop that doubles as a cabinet of curiosities with a hard-to-

describe collection of folk art, vintage carnival memorabilia, and artifacts from secret societies. And if you’ve never seen a $5,000 or $10,000 bill, pop into the Money Museum in the lobby of the Citizens National Bank of Texas. Waxahachie’s offbeat diversions continue at Oddfest on Oct. 3, an eccentric art festival/street party that’s a fun way to kick off the spooky season. Costumes are encouraged. Enjoy live music and local craft beer as you shop for creepy handmade dolls, taxidermied animals, and vintage Halloween décor. Costumes are also welcome at Scarborough Renaissance Faire, Waxahachie’s signature shindig and an epic celebration of creativity that takes place from April through May each year. This autumn, however, the Ren Faire is turning into Scarborough’s Hollow: an immersive, family-friendly fall fantasy festival set in an enchanted village. Drink mead, meet woodland creatures, watch wacky stage shows, and embrace the whimsical magic of the season. From the oddities to the ornate architecture, the Victorian romance to the autumn revelry — delightfully weird Waxahachie casts a spell that will linger long after you leave.

Along the Gingerbread Trail

Historic Downtown

Explore Waxahachie Savor: Craving classic Italian comfort food? Check out John’s Place, a new restaurant inside the historic Rogers Hotel, and indulge in dishes inspired by the chef’s Sicilian and Genoese family recipes. Rogers Hotel is also home to The Emory Bar & Kitchen, known for its refined cocktails, bacon-wrapped shrimp, and Black Angus tenderloin. Polished and sophisticated, it’s a natural choice for date night. For something casual, Fresh Market Coffee offers light lunches in a former train depot, complete with a red caboose. Hit up the British-style College Street Pub for tasty fish and chips or drop by Dove’s Nest for its flavorful ABC Spread appetizer: a blend of almonds, bacon, and cheddar served with crunchy crostini and strawberry-jalapeno jam. Shop: Many people visit Waxahachie just for the shopping; the walkable downtown is packed with 40-plus independent boutiques and antique stores selling books, jewelry, apparel, décor, modern Western wear, handmade bath products, and eclectic gifts. One of the newest shops is the Wandering Bookstall, which carries affordable children’s books and curiosity-sparking toys like dinosaur excavation kits, geodes, fossils, shark teeth, clay science sets, and sensory jars. Another newcomer is Sweet Peas Boutique, a vendor mall for local makers. Start your antique hunting at the three-story mall, With Willing Hands, and don’t miss Waxahachie Architectural Salvage if you’re into stained glass and oneof-a-kind relics.

Homes in June and the Crepe Myrtle Festival in July. Snooze: Built by a rich cotton merchant in 1915 as a wedding gift to his bride, The English Merchant’s Inn is a beautifully designed B&B with Anglophilic décor and global antiques collected by the world-traveling owner. Discover charming rooms with fireplaces, canopy beds, footed tubs, and private patios — all on picturesque Main Street, just a few blocks from the courthouse. Across the street is another Victorian mansion-turned-luxury B&B, The Chaska House & Cottages. Each room is inspired by a literary figure: Shakespeare, Hemingway, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Perks include frameless glass showers and oversized whirlpool tubs.

How to Get There: It’s less than an hour from Fort Worth to Waxahachie. Take I-35W south to I-20 East, then take the exit for US-287 South toward Corsicana/ Waxahachie. Follow US-287 for about 23 miles until you reach Waxahachie.

Enjoy: Waxahachie is big on events. In addition to Oddfest and Scarborough’s Hollow, autumn brings Farm Heritage Day (Oct. 4) to Ellis County Rural Heritage Farm with hayrides, live animals, and interactive farm activities like corn shelling and butter churning. On Oct. 24, the Crossroads of Texas Country Festival showcases 200 booths of Texan artisans and food vendors around Waxahachie’s courthouse square. You’ll also find Bethlehem Revisited in December, a walk-through biblical village, plus the Gingerbread Trail Tour of

Historic Train Depot

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

T H E F O R T C O W H A N D C U LT U R E : T H E L A R G E R - T H A N - L I F E C H A R A C T E R S O F O U R C I T Y The Jett Building

by Michael H. Price

Hairy Haunts of Cowtown

A city with a history as vast and colorful as Fort Worth is bound to have a few ghosts, phantoms, and spirits in its midst.

pparitions, apparently, appear to Fort Worth at the most inopportune opportunities. The back-country old-timers characterize such phenomena as “haints.” A standard bit of conventional wisdom argues that “Seekers after mystery haunt strange places.” But familiar locales are just as likely to yield reports of wraiths and hobgoblins, as the instances

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following will demonstrate.

The Jett Building The antiquated Jett Building at 400 Main St. also is known as the Chisholm Trail Building on account of Richard Haas’ three-story exterior painting of a 19th-century cattle drive. Houston-based ghost-chasers Allan Turner and Richard Stewart

address the address’ ghostlier fortunes in the anthology Transparent Tales (1998), starting with service early in the 1900s as headquarters of the city’s electric-tram utility. Later on, the property housed a bookstore, a video-rental shop, and a variety of restaurants. “Unverified reports say it was the site of a suicide in the 1940s, or perhaps a murder,” write Turner and Stewart. “Regardless of what possibly happened ..., it has proved a less than happy home for some of the businesses that have occupied it ....” Although the Jett harbored a reputation of ghostly possession, Dallas-based restaurateur Mike Leatherwood was unaware of such legendry when he took charge of the Jett in 1994 to open an expansion into Fort Worth. Leatherwood opened two cafés in succession at the site, only to find them failing within months. “Things were so slow that these hauntings were a topic of daily conversation,” Leatherwood recalled. “There was always something happening.” While exploring the third story as a likely storage space, Leatherwood braved a crooked wooden stairway to find a pitch-black interior, with boarded windows: “I had a really eerie feeling, like someone was watching me. Finally, I flipped the switch, and these really ancient lights flickered on. It was just a feeling, but it was weird.” The next day, Leatherwood’s associate, Bill White, returned in an agitated condition from a third-floor errand. “He said we had to get out of there,” said Leatherwood, “and when I asked him why, he said he had an extremely uncomfortable feeling of having been watched ... I hadn’t told him anything about my experience.” The partners visited a nearby eatery, where a bartender told them of the Jett Building’s legend. A day before the formal opening, Leatherwood was preparing decorative touches, working past the midnight hour. He heard footsteps

from above. He followed the sound to the third floor but found no one prowling about. Upon opening, a new employee complained of an intense chill around the stairway: “He was the only one who felt it,” Leatherwood said, “but we could see the goosebumps.” The waiter turned in his resignation upon learning of the purported haunting. A manager was working past closing time on one occasion when she heard a crashing noise on a floor above. Mounting the ground floor from her basement office, she found the sound issuing from the second story. Upstairs, she found the noise had moved to the third level and its storage rack for wine glasses. Said Leatherwood: “She stood there watching as the wine glasses crashed one by one to the floor.” A visitor explored the property alone and returned to describe a wonderful view of Main Street from the third floor. On a subsequent tour with Leatherwood, the visitor found the topmost windows boarded. A visBarber’s Books

The Lake Worth Monster

iting photographer produced a new snapshot of the exterior, showing the upper windows uncovered, with a woman peering out of one window. In the eeriest of the Jett encounters, a waitress in a uniform-changing room heard laughter from a neighboring stall. “She peeked through the cracks to see who was in there,” said Leatherwood. “It was empty.”

Barber’s Books Not far west within the downtown area, along Eighth Street, sits the Barber’s Books building, known for its inventory of rarities. The first spectral encounter for one long-term operator, Brian Perkins, occurred during the 1960s — a sound of running up a stairway, with no evidence of a runner. Perkins chronicled such outbursts of weirdness into the 1990s. Lights would flash from an unoccupied upstairs room, and the sound of pages flipping, as if someone were thumbing a book, issued from around a stairway. Perkins’ son, Brian, resided for a while on the upper floor and reported similar impressions of an intrusion without palpable signs of any intruder. “I’ve decided that I believe in ghosts,” he said. “It’s apparent that it has no intention to do any harm... I think we definitely are hosts to a benign ghost.”

The Lake Worth Monster Said to inhabit the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge, just outside Fort Worth, the Lake Worth monster has been described as a goat-man hybrid varmint, furred and scaly, with clawed appendages. Reports of sightings in 1969 provoked the belief. Newspaper reports included one in which the whatsit leapt from a tree onto a vehicle, and another in which it lobbed an automobile tire at a group of people. Purported photographic evidence encouraged investigations, but no such trace could be found. Campfire stories abounded, nonetheless, and Hip Pocket Theatre’s founding playwright, Johnny Simons, based a dramatic fantasy on the fables. The photographer who had captured the image, Allen Plaster, explained eventually that he believed the sighting had been a prank: “Whatever it was, it wanted to be seen.” Anonymous confessional reports since 2005 have supported the prankish explanations, but the cryptid researcher Craig Woolheater has held that the Lake Worth monster is an “undiscovered, uncatalogued primate species that walks on two legs.” As the wise old saying would have it: “Go figure.”

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

THE FORT

by John Henry

T H E R E V E R I E : M U S I N G S , C O M M E N TA RY, A N D I N S I G H T S

Fort Worth Makes Rare Earths Great Again

or the better part of 10 years and then some, you might have heard something about making America great again. No need to bore you with the details. Well, there’s a part of the story that is playing out in Fort Worth, Texas. On a parcel in AllianceTexas, MP Materials — and a team of fascinating scientists — is doing work critical to the national interest by turning domestically mined rare earths into high-performance permanent magnets at commercial scale. MP’s Independence facility on Independence Parkway is a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing complex that takes refined rare-earth material produced at MP’s Mountain Pass mine and processing operation in California and converts it through the downstream steps necessary to make neodymium-iron-boron, or NdFeB, permanent magnets. Those steps include producing rare-earth metal, alloying it, making magnetic powder, sintering, machining, finishing, and testing the magnets. MP’s foundational partner in this venture is all too poetic. General Motors, one of America’s most venerable manufacturers that once defined America’s industrial power, will put the magnets to work in their EVs when MP begins sending them out later this year. It’s a match made in manufacturing heaven. Coming out of the pandemic and then the semiconductor shortage, GM began reassessing its supply chain strategy. Rather than focusing primarily on finding the lowest-cost parts globally, it shifted toward secur-

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

ing supply closer to where products are made after seeing how quickly a missing component could disrupt operations. It’s a “buy-where-you-build strategy,” says Shilpan Amin, GM’s global chief procurement and supply chain officer. “As we started mapping out what that means in the strategy, we realized there are some big gaps, and magnets and heavy rares were one of those,” Amin says. “We ran into MP and luckily had a common mindset.” Mountain Pass was discovered in 1949 by prospectors searching for uranium. Instead, they found what became the world’s largest known bastnäsite rare-earth deposit. Production began in 1952, and the site soon became a major source of europium for early color televisions. Many of the industry’s early rareearth separation technologies were developed there, and from the 1960s through the 1980s, Mountain Pass supplied much of the world. Investment later declined as ownership changed, and rare-earth production was ceded to China. A successor company invested nearly $2 billion in the site from 2010-14 but ran into financial and operational problems. MP Materials founder, chairman, and CEO Jim Litinsky led in acquiring the mine out of bankruptcy in 2017, when the mine had just eight employees, and rebuilt it into the foundation of a renewed U.S. rare-earth industry. “Because the site struggled for a long time and was underinvested in, there was this notion that the U.S. can’t compete in this sector,” says

Matt Sloustcher, MP’s executive vice president of corporate affairs. “Jim and our team took a very contrarian view, which was that if you look under the hood, the site’s actually amazing and could be the foundation once again for an industry in the U.S. And that’s been proven right, I think, beyond what anyone expected.” The city of Fort Worth gave MP Materials tax incentives to build its manufacturing facility as well as its business and engineering headquarters here in 2022. In addition, the company is in the process of building a mega complex on a 120-acre site in Northlake. It will encompass 1.2 million square feet. At full capacity, the company expects to employ upwards of 2,000 and churn out 1 million magnets a day. You read that right — a day. “Actually, more than a million,” Sloustcher clarifies. The federal government has been pushing to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign supply chains for strategic minerals used in defense systems, electric vehicles, electronics, and advanced manufacturing. The ChiComs represent the most acute national security threat to the United States, says U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, “yet we remain dependent on the CCP for critical minerals. MP Materials is building the infrastructure needed to undo that dependence.” The company has been the beneficiary of almost $95 million in federal contracts and incentives. In addition to GM, MP Materials will also produce rare-earth magnets for Apple using 100% recycled rare-earth elements. MP Materials is today the epicenter of America’s rare-earth revival, and it’s happening right here in Fort Worth. MP picked Fort Worth because “you can build in Fort Worth, and you can build fast in Fort Worth.” “At the end of the day, we’re in Alliance, which is obviously about Ross Perot’s commitment,” says Litinsky. “He’s a great patriot. We needed good partners like GM. Ross was an incredible partner from the beginning.”

The Jabroni at Cane Rosso

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

SLICE CITY

It’s been a long, lonesome road, but the pizza has really taken shape in Fort Worth over the last couple of decades, and these 10 pie makers are helping make up for lost time. By Teresa Gubbins and Malcolm Mayhew Photos by Thanin Viriyaki

ort Worth may not have a long tradition of great pizza like the Northeast or the West Coast, but it’s definitely making up for lost time. While the city has its homegrown favorites, North Texas historically came up short on good pizza, as it lacked the critical mass of Italian immigrants who could impart their culinary skills on the local food scene. But now Fort Worth has better pizza than it ever has before, from all sorts of unexpected purveyors: from an exBBQ team to a chef who learned the trade in New York to a native of Italy who helped start the revolution. Pizza’s watershed moment began in the 2000s when Neapolitan-style emerged as a major trend — kickstarting a change in the perception of pizza, both locally and across the U.S. Before Neapolitan came along, pizza was frequently relegated to the category of cheap eats: pies with tasteless cardboard crust topped with canned black olives and mushrooms to be consumed post-soccer game or as a budget group lunch at the office. Neapolitan pizza, a style that originated in Naples, Italy, was radically different, featuring a chewier, more flavorful crust and fewer toppings, with an eye toward proportion and balance. North Texas started to see this style in the 2000s, with debuts by local pioneers such as Cane Rosso and Olivella’s,

slinging perfect Neapolitan-style pies. Suddenly, there were pizzas with exotic toppings like prosciutto, Calabrian chiles, and truffle mascarpone, strewn over a chewy golden crust, with burned edges singed by fire adding an irresistible burnt-marshmallow glow. The pandemic also had a hand, inspiring a country-wide reunion with carbs and helping nudge cowboy country into a deeper embrace of artisanal pizza, with diners and chefs taking the cuisine more seriously as a platform for creativity and excellence. The pizzerias now opening across Fort Worth may not all be Neapolitan, but most are using gourmet toppings, and most importantly, recognizing that true greatness in pizza lies in the crust. The magic word in better pizza crust is fermentation — i.e., the process of allowing dough to sit for a spell after it’s mixed. When pizza dough is put aside to ferment — usually between 24 and 72 hours – it adds a complexity to the crust’s flavor with notes of toast, popcorn, smoky char, and sour tang. Fermentation also improves the texture; some even think it makes pizza easier to digest. Cheers to the pizza madness in Fort Worth and the great pies we get to try.

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OZZI’S PIZZA Walk into Ozzi’s Pizza and you walk into a pizzeria that feels far removed from Fort Worth: the phone incessantly ringing, to-go boxes stacked high like Jenga blocks, and chef Asdren “Ozzi” Azemi churning out pie after pie alongside a tight-knit crew in a space barely larger than a living room. It feels like a neighborhood pizza shop plucked straight off a Manhattan street — which is precisely what Azemi spent a decade in New York learning to create. Operating out of a tiny strip-mall space on Altamesa Boulevard in far Southwest Fort Worth, the shop is run more like a craft barbecue restaurant than a standard pizza joint: When the day’s limited dough runs out, that’s it — no more pizza. This small-batch approach has only boosted demand for Ozzi’s New York-style pies. Critics have taken note, too: Fort Worth Magazine named Ozzi’s the best new pizzeria earlier this year in its annual Best Of issue.

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Running a slice shop in Fort Worth marks a return to Azemi’s home and roots. He comes from a prominent local restaurant family whose string of past and present eateries includes Ruffino’s, Fizzi, Ciao, Piola, and Picchi Pacchi. Learning the business alongside his father, Franco Albanese, and his uncle, Bobby Albanese, he worked his way up, eventually becoming executive chef at Ruffino’s. After getting his feet wet in his family’s kitchens, Azemi left Texas to study at the French Culinary Institute in New York, where he trained under James Beard winner Bradford Thompson — now a close friend and collaborator. Working in various New York kitchens and pizzerias for more than 10 years, Azemi honed the mechanics of what makes a great pie. That background, paired with guidance from culinary heavyweights like former Restaurant Daniel baker Mark Fiorentino, directly shapes Ozzi’s pies, which are available whole or by the slice. Rather than rushing a standard dough, Azemi

uses a high-hydration poolish method that ferments over a 72-hour cycle before hitting the oven. “A lot of people think New York pizza is just fast food, but the dough requires serious patience,” Azemi says. “Our poolish ferments for 12 hours and takes three days total before we bake it.” The resulting 18-inch pies feature crisp, sturdy crusts topped with combinations ranging from classic cup-and-char pepperoni to creamed spinach, finished with fresh basil, Pecorino Romano, and extra virgin olive oil. The undercarriage holds its structure with just enough spring and elasticity to give eaters the ultimate New York slice experience: the classic street-slice fold. “I wanted to bring an authentic shop back home to Fort Worth but do it with the same level of care you’d find in a finedining kitchen,” Azemi says. “We keep things small and focused so we can make sure every single pie that goes out the door is done right.” PIE TO TRY: Ozzi’s pepperoni pizza is loaded with cup-and-char pepperoni that curls and crisps into savory, oil-filled cups. You may never go back to plain ol’ flat pepperoni. INFO: 6249 Altamesa Blvd. | ozzispizza.com

FELINA You can hear what makes Felina’s pizza different. The Near Southside restaurant’s Roman-style pies arrive thin and crisp, their crusts sturdy enough to hold their shape but light enough to produce an audible crunch with each bite. That sound, says chef and co-owner Alessandro Salvatore, is central to his pizzas. “You should be able to pick up a slice and hear that crispness when you bite into it, especially in the crust,” Salvatore says. “For me, that texture is one of the things that immediately transports you to Rome.” Felina, the second Fort Worth restaurant from brothers Alessandro and Alfonso Salvatore, opened earlier this year on Bryan Avenue, steps from their first, Bocca Osteria Romana. While Bocca introduced diners to traditional Roman dishes, the lively, tavern-inspired Felina zeroes in on another part of the city’s food culture: pizza. Specifically, the brothers draw inspiration from pizza tonda, the round, thin, and crispy pizza found throughout Rome — a sharp contrast to Neapolitan pizza and its softer, puffier crust. “There are already concepts making

very good Neapolitan-style pizza, and we didn’t want to open another restaurant doing our version of something Fort Worth already has,” Alessandro says. “Roman pizza gave us a chance to offer something different and much more personal to me.” His father’s family is from Rome, where Alessandro also lived for several years. Nailing the signature crunch meant sweating the details. At the heart of Felina’s open kitchen is an Italian Marra Forni oven fitted with volcanic stone, selected for its ability to deliver the heat and consistency the pizzas require. The restaurant also uses imported Italian flour and San Marzano tomatoes and makes its mozzarella in-house. The nine pies range from the Forma Roza, with Italian sausage, rosemary, and potatoes, to the All Choked Up, with artichoke, lemon, ricotta and tomatoes. Most max out at three or four toppings. “Restraint is harder than excess,” Alessandro says. “You can put 10 great ingredients on a pizza and still end up with a bad pizza because none of them have room to speak. “We’re not trying to tell people that Roman pizza is ‘better’ than

another style,” he says. “We’re trying to introduce Fort Worth to another expression of what pizza can be.” PIE TO TRY: La Felina pairs rich house ragu with smoky roasted poblano crema, fresh mozzarella, and golden raisins for an unexpected touch of sweetness. INFO: 401 Bryan Ave. | felinatx.com

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SOUTHSIDE CELLAR The Near Southside isn’t exactly short on good pizza. Between South Main and the surrounding neighborhood, you can find plenty of spots nerding out over Neapolitan crusts, dough fermentation, and regional styles. Southside Cellar is cutting its own path. A neighborhood fixture since 2020, the South Main craft beer bar and bottle shop built its pizza menu with one primary goal: pairing it with what’s in your glass. “We’re looking at pizza through the lens of a beer bar rather than trying to become a pizzeria,” says co-owner Ben Walter, who runs the Cellar with partner Shawn Howell. “We have 30 taps and a bottle shop full of some of the best beer from all over the globe, so I’m thinking just as much about what you’re drinking with a pizza as what’s going on top of it.” Adding food felt like a logical step as the business evolved from a bar and bottle shop into a neighborhood hangout. Walter and Howell wanted a menu that fit the place’s easygoing, come-one/come-all vibe. “Pizza is communal, approachable, and doesn’t require us to turn the Cellar into something it isn’t,” Walter says. The resulting pies, also available by the slice, defy easy categorization. Walter points to a New York influence in the thinness and foldability but describes the style as “New Haven-pub” — crisp on the bottom, sturdy enough to hold easily, with a chewy crust. The dough is made in-house and given time to ferment, developing flavor and texture before the pizza reaches the oven. “Time itself is an ingredient,” Walter says. “We want the crust to actually taste good on its own, not just be a vehicle for toppings.” And there’s no hulking imported or

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wood-burning pizza oven at work here. Southside Cellar uses a commercial convection pizza oven, relying on its dough, ingredients, and recipes to give its half-dozen or so pizzas their character. “Fort Worth has some really talented people making pizza right now, and I don’t think we need to pretend we’re trying to out-pizza all of them,” Walter says. “Our lane is making really good food that belongs at Southside Cellar.” PIE TO TRY: Start with the Cluckwork Orange: chicken, funky Gorgonzola, and sharp red onion over a slightly fiery housemade Buffalo sauce, finished with a cooling drizzle of ranch. INFO: 125 S. Main St. | southsidebeercellar.com

ONE TRICK PONY PIZZA TAVERN The story of One Trick Pony Pizza Tavern feels a little like a parable: The king and queen of barbecue turn in their smokers and trade them out for pizza peels instead. That BBQ royalty would be married couple Travis and Emma Heim, who left their eponymous barbecue chain two years ago, bidding farewell to Fort Worth’s favorite cuisine. Now they’ve returned to ride the pizza wave with this casual new concept in the former Hot Box Biscuit Club space. At One Trick Pony, they’re specializing in tavern-style pizza, a pie with a crackercrisp crust that has surged in popularity in recent years. Tavern-style pizza originated decades ago in Chicago, where taverns would serve cheap (or free) pizza, cut into cocktailnapkin-sized squares to make for easy snacking while drinking beer. It was hardly a foodie item – just a basic crisp crust with tomato sauce, cheese, and barely-there toppings like crumbled sausage or canned mushrooms. The crust on a tavern pizza is made

with an uncomplicated dough, containing little to no yeast. Less yeast creates the pizza’s signature dry cracker-like crust, preferable because it can better survive a night sitting on the counter. Travis, who had become obsessed with pizza in recent years, noticed Fort Worth did not have a tavern-style place and began to experiment, making hundreds of pies over many months, tweaking his recipe until he’d devised a crust that had rise but was also crispy. When he and Emma viewed the Hot Box Biscuit Club space, it felt like the perfect home for the casual pizzeria with cold martinis they envisioned, like the places they’d visited in Chicago and New York. One Trick’s tavern pies are scoring points because the crust evokes the oldschool crisp-bottomed pizzas that most locals grew up with. It’s crisp, but slightly thicker than a real cracker crust, so it has a little chew. Alongside the tavern pizza, One Trick has what they call an “East Coast” style: like a New York pizza but not as floppy, with a little crisp tavern-style influence woven in. The move is to get one of each and compare. Martinis crafted by mixologist Tia Downey include a pizza-themed martini with a pepperoncini in place of an olive. PIE TO TRY: The Big Hurt with pomodoro sauce, mozzarella, Italian sausage, hot giardiniera, pecorino, and oregano. INFO: 313 S. Main St. | onetrickponypizza.com

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CLASSIC PIE PLACES Some pizza fans have zero interest in changing their pie game. For these old-school superfans, there are plenty of places in Fort Worth happy to oblige.

CANE ROSSO It’s easy to take Cane Rosso for granted, but this local pizzeria chain has had a profound effect on the pizza scene across the metroplex. For starters, it was one of the first to introduce Neapolitan pizza, the authentic Italian style with a stretchy crust and upscale toppings. Its arrival upped our game, helping to spread the gospel of better pizza. Neapolitan pizza was still fairly unknown to area pie lovers when Jay Jerrier, inspired by pizza he’d devoured while on a trip to Italy, opened Cane Rosso’s first location in Deep Ellum in 2011. “Back in the early 2000s, Dallas was pretty much known for Pizza Hut,” Jerrier says. “Neapolitan pizza is very delicate, and you can really taste all of the components of the pizza — bright tomatoes, milky cheese, and fruity olive oil.” Many a vendor has lost their shirt introducing something new or unfamiliar to a market, but Cane Rosso prevailed, thanks to the superb quality of the pizza. “When we first opened, we got a lot of comments about sparse toppings and the crust being a ‘soggy tortilla,’” Jerrier says. “Over time, we started to win people over by having high-quality ingredients, crafted with care, resulting in a pizza that wasn’t a

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greasy gut bomb.” The Deep Ellum location earned attention instantly, including a gamechanging visit from Food Network star Guy Fieri, who featured Cane Rosso on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2012, spotlighting pizzas like The Delia, a pie with mozzarella, bacon marmalade, arugula, and grape tomatoes, and cementing the restaurant’s success. Beyond the greatness of his pizza, Jerrier is a genius at marketing and social media, building a huge following via witty campaigns delivered with a mischievous wink — the most famous being the $1,000 bottle of ranch dressing. The stunt drew international press, everyone from Kelly Ripa to the “Daily Mail.” Cane Rosso now has nine locations, including one in Fort Worth, and Jerrier’s company – drolly titled “PILF Restaurant Group” – has two newer sibling concepts: Zoli’s NY Pizza, which has a location at 3501 Hulen St., and Thunderbird Pies, a Detroit-style pizzeria in Dallas. PIE TO TRY: The Honey Bastard, a spicy-sweet pie with mozzarella, hot soppressata, bacon marmalade, and habanero-infused honey. Info: 815 W. Magnolia Ave. | canerosso.com/fortworth

Mama’s Pizza: For many Fort Worthians, pizza begins and ends with Mama’s Pizza. Founded in 1968 by Texas Wesleyan student Ed Stebbins, this local institution has built generations of loyal fans around its thick, chewy crust brushed with garlic butter and topped with tangy tomato sauce and a generous blanket of mozzarella. Multiple locations | mamaspizzas.net Pancho’s Pinche Pizza: Winner of last year’s Best Pizza trophy in our annual Best of Fort Worth issue, triple-P is a father-son team with a somewhat unusual setup: They’re a pop-up. Dad Francisco Godina Jr. and son Francisco III use mobile ovens to create their old-school pies, which are often topped with Tex-Mex flourishes. instagram. com/pizzachingon Parton’s Pizza: A time capsule of what Fort Worth life — and pizza — was like in the 1960s, Parton’s balks at culinary

trends in favor of thin, crispy pies crowned with pepperoni and ground sausage. Those wishing to indulge in straightforward pizzas in sparkly red booths — with arcade games to boot — will immediately fall in love. 2813 S. Cherry Lane | facebook.com/ partonspizza Perrotti’s Pizza: A TCU-area fixture, Perrotti’s Pizza built a devoted fanbase on the strength of freshly made dough, hearty pies, and family recipes with Italian roots. Despite the family selling the business, third-generation pizza maker Austin Perrotti bought it back in 2025, keeping alive a 40-year tradition, (a third location on Southwest Blvd. remains a franchise). 3021 Greene Ave., 5228 Sycamore School Road | trustthecrust. com Pizza Inn: Yes, there’s one Tarrant County location left, in Richland Hills on a dusty stretch of Boulevard 26. And, yes, it’s just like you remember: pizzas served with cracker thin, extra crispy crust; a salad bar with tiny croutons, Italian dressing, and chocolate pudding; and Ms. Pac Man. Long live Pizza Inn. 6900 Blvd. 26, Richland Hills | pizzainn.com

PARTENOPE RISTORANTE In the world of Neapolitan pizza, Partenope comes with some serious cred — namely, a chef-owner who grew up in the very town where Neapolitan pizza was born. Dino Santonicola, the pizzaiolo who co-owns Partenope with his wife Megan, was born in Naples. It doesn’t get much more authentic than that. Contributing to the genesis of the area’s Neapolitan pizza scene, Megan and Dino first met while working for Cane Rosso before launching Partenope, their own mom-and-pop concept. The first location opened in the historic Titche-Goettinger Building in downtown Dallas in 2019, and a second location in Richardson followed in 2023. A third location will come to Fort Worth in November, taking over the former Fireside Pies at 2949 Crockett St. “We really liked the energy of the area,” Dino says about the rebranded Artisan Circle, “with restaurants, entertainment, and residential all around. We could

picture Partenope there.” Their menu of pizza, pastas, paninis, and salads focuses specifically on Naples’ cuisine, with few of the Italian American dishes to which locals may be accustomed. The Insalata con patate is a good example of how they do things right. It’s an authentic dish containing potatoes, proscuitto, pistachio, and cherry tomato, tossed in a perky vinaigrette. The combination is a revelation. Their pizza also follows Neapolitan standards, which specify that the dough must be shaped by hand, and the pizzas baked in a wood-fired dome oven between 800 and 900 degrees. Their Dallas location carries a Vera Pizza Napoletana (VPN) certification, an official designation that it meets the standards of Naples-style pizza. Their other priority is to ensure that each location fits its surroundings. It’s the quintessential neighborhood restaurant that every neighborhood wants.

“For us, Fort Worth feels like a natural fit for Partenope,” Dino says. “It has a strong sense of community and its own identity. We are a family-owned restaurant, not a large restaurant group, so when we expand, we want to feel like we can really become part of the community.” PIZZA TO TRY: The Montanara, which is made by flash-frying the pizza dough, adding toppings, and finishing it in the oven for a light, crispy crunch. Partenope won a gold medal in the annual Pizza Olympics in Las Vegas for its version, which they top with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil. INFO: Coming soon at 2949 Crockett St. | parenopedallas.com

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PIE TAP Rich Hicks spent years convincing North Texas that the best part of a pizza should be the crust. The longtime restaurateur launched Pie Tap in Dallas in 2016 with veteran chef and pizzaiolo Giovanni Mauro, with whom he had worked years earlier at Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Mauro later owned restaurants in Las Vegas and honed his pizza-making skills, including studying under celebrated Los Angeles baker and pizzaiolo Nancy Silverton. “I had this desire to introduce a better pizza, a higher-quality, all-natural fermentation,” Hicks says. Pie Tap opened in Fort Worth in 2023, landing a primo spot on Magnolia Avenue. By then, Cane Rosso, Fireside Pies, and others had introduced local diners to artisan pizza, but Fort Worth’s current pizza boom had yet to fully take hold. Pie Tap arrived with its own point of distinction: the dough. Made with flour, water, sea salt, and olive oil, the dough begins with a 300-year-old sourdough starter brought from Italy. There’s no commercial yeast or added sugar. Instead, the dough ferments naturally for at least 72 hours and typically 96, developing flavor and texture along the way. “We make the dough today; we don’t sell it for three to four days,” Hicks says. “It has to go through this process.” The result is a thin crust that lands somewhere between crisp and chewy — light and airy enough to fold but sturdy enough to hold its toppings. Pies are baked

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in Italian-made Morello Forni rotary ovens, which turn them as they cook for an evenly crisp exterior. Hicks says the lengthy fermentation also addresses a longtime complaint about pizza: that leaden feeling afterward. “When I was younger, my family would say, ‘Let’s get pizza,’ and then we would go out and have pizza, and it just felt so heavy in our stomachs,” he says. “I wanted to do something to change that.” Toppings range from a classic Margherita to combinations such as prosciutto, dates and arugula, or spicy salami, soppressata, and hot honey. “Anyone can put sauce and cheese and ingredients on a pizza, but the dough makes the difference,” Hicks says. Pie Tap is so determined that diners appreciate that dough, it offers an incentive not to leave the crust behind. For $1, order goat cheese fondue, house ricotta ranch, hot honey or housemade marinara for dipping. “The crust is really the focal point of our

pizza,” Hicks says. “We’d love for you to enjoy it any way you can.” PIE TO TRY: The Prosciutto layers salty prosciutto with peppery arugula, creamy mozzarella, and sweet, chewy dates, finished with a tangy drizzle of balsamic. INFO: 1301 W. Magnolia Ave. | pie-tap.com

Saturday down the road. “In retrospect, we probably pulled the trigger too early,” Landon says. “We know how to make pizza, but we were novices when it came to running a restaurant. This gives us a chance to use what we’ve learned and build from there.” PIE TO TRY: The Funghi, with mozzarella, roasted oyster and cremini mushrooms, capers, parsley, garlic, and fried leeks. INFO: Ostara Coffee, 208 E. Broadway Ave. | pizzaverdetx.com

PIZZA VERDE Getting the obvious out of the way: Pizza Verde is vegan, meaning that its pizzas have no animal or dairy products. It’s kind of its defining trait — yet, at the same time, it’s not. While Landon and Jennifer Cabarubio founded Pizza Verde to gift locals a plantbased pizzeria, that does not equate to stereotypical vegan fare like tofu. Their menu features sophisticated ingredients like cremini mushrooms and fried leeks, and their crust, which features a slight sour tang, is also first-rate. They bake their pizza quickly in the Neapolitan style, exposing the crust to a fiery flame to give it browned edges that add a crisp texture and toasty flavor. In fact, they embrace all the hallmarks of great Neapolitan-style pizza. The fact that it’s vegan feels almost incidental. The couple launched Pizza Verde as a pop-up during the thick of the pandemic when vegan dining was enjoying an unprecedented surge of interest nationally. “The pop-ups took us by surprise,” Landon says. “We’d sell out of pizza in 20 minutes.” Buoyed by the enthusiastic response, they’d open a brick-and-mortar off Camp Bowie Boulevard in 2021 with a menu that ranged from an innovative potato and leek pizza to a chicken pesto sandwich that subbed crunchy fried mushroom for the chicken. Despite closing briefly, Pizza Verde would soon reopen with a promising plan to stock ready-to-bake versions

of their pizzas at other vendors across the metroplex. Then, the night before Valentine’s Day 2026, the restaurant suffered a devastating fire that caused the roof to cave in. Though the cause of the fire has not been determined, it’s afforded Pizza Verde an opportunity to start from scratch. Their new model is a partnership with Ostara Coffee in the Near Southside, where they’re doing a mini-restaurant within a restaurant on Thursday and Friday nights with a plan to possibly add

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SON OF A BAKER Finding some of Fort Worth’s most creative pizza takes a little work. Son of a Baker is hidden inside River’s Cocktail & Wine Bar in the River District. There’s no big sign beckoning from White Settlement Road, and the restaurant isn’t visible from the main drag. It’s an if-you-know-you-know type of place. But more people are getting to know it, thanks to Joshua Villegas’ creative pies and the city’s growing appetite for them. Son of a Baker is the latest culinary chapter for a family with a long history in baking. Villegas’ grandfather was a pastry chef who started in Mexico City in the 1950s before working at hotels in Acapulco and New York. His father later studied artisan baking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and opened Stone Wheat Bakery in Bedford in 1996. Today, Villegas runs Son of a Baker with his sister Anna, executive chef and co-owner. “My sister grew up religiously watching the Food Network,” Villegas says. “She is a master at her craft while being completely self-taught. I refer to my sister and me as the food version of Billie Eilish and Finneas — a pop singer and her brother who produces a majority of her songs. The majority of the menu is made up of ideas that I’ve had, and my sister

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helps execute them.” The concept began as pop-ups in 2023 before finding a permanent home inside downtown bar The Archibald. Last year, Villegas partnered with River’s owner Brian Torres to bring Son of a Baker to the River District. Son of a Baker’s pizzas trade mountains of cheese and sauce for an airy crust and thoughtful toppings. The dough takes two days to prepare and starts with a poolish, a portion fermented ahead of time to help create the crust’s light, spongy texture. Pizzas include The Angry Pig, with sriracha honey, Italian sausage, roasted jalapenos, Calabrian chile, and habanero bacon jam; and Mama’s Drunken Margherita, made with vodka sauce and smoked mozzarella. “I get asked regularly what style of pizza we produce, and I love explaining that our pizzas aren’t region-based,” Villegas says. “The dough and crust are heavily Neapolitan inspired, but I’ve taken different avenues that have inspired me over the years and created something unique to us. It’s just damn good pizza.” PIE TO TRY: Miso Shroomy, a mushroom-heavy white pie built on a house sauce of earthy minced mushrooms and salty-sweet miso paste. INFO: 4850 White Settlement Road | sonofabakerpizzeria.com

In addition, Green initiated a set of weekly wine specials such as 50% off all bottles on Tuesdays. Add in daily wine tastings, and you can see why Olivella’s has become nearly as popular among wine folk as it has the pizza crowd. And while Neapolitan has been Olivella’s trademark style, they also do Roman-style pizza, known for its lightly applied toppings and thin, crackly crust. Olivella’s version comes shaped into an elongated rectangle, with toppings spread to the very edge. Every pizza offered — from the simple Margherita to the decadent Drunken Pig topped with sausage, crumbled meatballs, jalapenos, pickled onion, and mozzarella on vodka sauce — can be ordered in choice of Neapolitan-style or Roman crust. Whatever your style of crust, rest assured that the toppings will be authentic — whether it’s Italian cured meats like capicola and speck, or mozzarella made in-house — and thoughtfully applied, with an eye toward balance and a refined aversion to gluttony. Some of its pies, such as the Snow White, with mozzarella, ricotta, oregano, garlic, and olive oil, skip the sauce entirely. That’s some respect for the crust. PIE TO TRY: Pistachio & Sausage, with pistachios, house-made mozzarella, and housemade sausage. No sauce! INFO: 4910 Camp Bowie Blvd. | olivellas.com

OLIVELLA’S PIZZA & WINE Olivella’s was well ahead of the pizza curve when it first debuted in 2007 as Olivella’s Neo Pizza Napoletana, a cozy pizzeria near SMU in Dallas. Back then, its focus was primarily on Neapolitan-style pizza, baked in a wood-burning oven, using recipes passed down from the third oldest pizza family in Naples, Italy. But the concept has evolved over the years — not only extending its reach to Fort Worth in 2016, but also broadening its mission and menu, from trailblazing niche pizzeria to an Italian restaurant with not only pizzas but also pastas and wine. That transformation is reflected in its

current name, Olivella’s Pizza & Wine. In 2020, in a bit of a Hail Mary response to the pandemic, owner Charlie Green began to ramp up the wine program, seizing upon relaxed regulations in the state of Texas and adding an in-house wine shop, which allowed for retail wine sales, wine tastings, and to-go or delivery alcohol orders. Diners can now buy bottles at retail prices, whether for consumption on-site or to take home. The selection includes more than 60 red, white, and sparkling wines from around the globe, providing wine lovers access to a greater variety of labels and choices.

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TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN Chain restaurants often get dismissed by food snobs — but in the current pizza revolution taking place in Fort Worth, some up-and-coming chains have helped spread the gospel, bringing better pies to neighborhoods across DFW. We’re not talking about old-school cheap takeouts like Domino’s or Pizza Hut, but instead, quality-focused concepts like Blaze and Mister 01 that take a serious gourmet approach. Blaze Pizza — Taking inspiration from Chipotle, Blaze is a build-your-own-pizza chain with celebrity investors like LeBron James. blazepizza. com Burattino Pizza — A SoCal staple with a massive online following thanks to its extreme pies, including one topped with 120 slices of pepperoni. burattino.com DeLucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine — Unique, locally-grown chain combines artisan pizza with the all-you-can-eat concept of a Brazilian steakhouse. delucca.com Grimaldi’s — Iconic Brooklyn pizzeria famous for its red-and-white checkered tablecloths, brickoven pizza, and calzones, plus wine and beer. grimaldispizzeria.com Hideaway Pizza — While its pizzas have robust toppings and better-than-usual crust, it’s Hideaway’s irreverent tie-dye spirit that wins over customers. hideawaypizza.com Jet’s Pizza — Michigan chain specializing in Detroit-style pizza, with thick focaccia-like crusts and an edging of crisp almost-burned cheese. jetspizza.com

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Mister O1 Pizza — Founded by an Italian pizzaiolo, this chain serves an impressive pizza with a light, crisp dough and ingredients imported from Italy. mistero1.com Mod Pizza — The first to try its hand at a pizza version of Chipotle — personalizing your own pie — they operate three shops in Fort Worth. modpizza.com Mountain Mike’s Pizza — West Coast chain founded in 1978 is known for crispy, curly pepperonis and has been in expansion mode as of late. mountainmikespizza.com Parry’s Pizzeria & Taphouse — Founded in Denver by a New York native who couldn’t find New York-style pizza in Colorado. That’s all you need to know. parryspizza.com Rosati’s — Legendary pizza chain founded outside Chicago has been serving Chicago-style deep dish since 1964. rosatispizza.com Rotolo’s Craft & Crust — A Baton Rouge-based chain that offers four styles under one roof: thin crust, thick, crunchy Detroit-style, and Chicago deep-dish. rotolos.com Stoner’s Pizza Joint — Delivery and takeout chain whose diverse pies include a taco pizza that contains all the ingredients one would suspect. stonerspizzajoint.com Toppers Pizza — Wisconsin chain with just one location in Texas — near TCU in Fort Worth — serves clever varieties such as mac & cheese pizza at an affordable price. toppers.com

PIZZA STYLES Fort Worth has seen not only a boom in pizzerias but also a greater diversity in styles of pizza — taking us beyond the New York influence that once dominated the local pizza scene. Thanks to an influx of new operators, both local and national, Fort Worth pizza fanatics can now choose from a wide menu of pizza styles like Detroitstyle, tavern pizza, Neapolitan, and more. Here’s a primer on the plethora of pizzas from different regions around the country that have cropped up across Dallas-Fort Worth, as well as a local venue where the style can be found. New York — This most-common pizza style features a crust that DFW dearly loves: crisp on the edges and bottom but just pliable enough in the center so that the slice can be easily folded. Available at Ozzi’s, 6249 Altamesa Blvd. Chicago Deep Dish — The iconic Windy City treat is a thick, heavy pie with a pastry-like crust baked in a round pan and assembled “upside down” — cheese on the bottom and sauce on top. Available at Rosati’s, 5152 Golden Triangle Blvd.

Tavern — Chicago’s less-famous pie earned its name because taverns of old served it as a bar snack. It comes light on the toppings, with a crisp cracker-like crust that’s cut into small squares. Available at One Trick Pony, 313 S. Main St. Detroit — The pandemic-era craze is a thick pie with a focaccialike crust — crisp on the bottom and chewy on top. It’s baked in a rectangular pan, giving the sides a lacy, burnedcheese edge. Available at Jet’s Pizza, multiple locations. Neapolitan — Considered the best in the world, this classic Italian pizza features a soft, chewy crust with puffy edges that get deliciously charred. Toppings are minimal and ultra fresh. Available at Cane Rosso, 815 W. Magnolia Ave. Roman — An authentic Italian-style pie from Rome is similar to Neapolitan, only Roman pizza cooks longer and at a lower temperature, creating a crust that’s thin and crackly on the edge. Available at Felina, 401 Bryan Ave., Ste. 117

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

Stockyard Stewards

Terminations, litigations, and complications can’t stop the team behind Hotel Drover and Mule Alley from developing the Stockyards’ next big thing. And the duo’s sophomore album looks like it’s gonna be just as strong as their debut. BY BRIAN KENDALL PHOTOS BY THANIN VIRIYAKI

ome wooden posts on a fence behind the Livestock Exchange don’t match. It’s in a location where few venture unless

they’re lost or working for The Herd — the middle of Mule Alley this ain’t — but the low traffic isn’t stopping the mismatch from bugging the hell out of Kayla Wilkie-Kinne and Craig Cavileer on this rare overcast morning. Someone must’ve recently replaced a few of the 4-by-4s in the old cattle pens, leaving behind bare, brand-new lumber — their yellow hue standing out, and not in a good way, against the weathered gray wood that surrounds them. And in the Stockyards, where the Old West stuck around for a nightcap, introducing fresh lumber is like putting a price tag on an antique — suddenly, the genuine article looks like a movie set. Kayla, as though equipped with a homing device for kitsch, points out the inconsistency, looking mighty aggrieved in the process. “They need to soak [the new wood] in vinegar,” Craig responds. Vinegar. That’s the fix. A fix so simple one wonders how such an oversight could occur, or, at least, Craig and Kayla wonder. The business partners are bristling as if a subcontractor had done shoddy work on their own homes. And such a sense of ownership — of pride in the way the Stockyards look and feel, down to the apparent age of a fence post — isn’t entirely misplaced. You see, for better or worse, you can trace the lack of elbow room on East

Exchange Avenue, the inability to sidestep valet for a decent parking spot, and your friend Dave thinking he’s a roughneck because he bought a bolo, back to the work of Craig and Kayla. According to the Stockyards Heritage Co., the historic district that did, in fact, operate as a working livestock center beginning in 1890 brings in $285 million in district sales and 9 million visitors annually. And, having a major hand in the development of the two most consequential additions to the modern Stockyards, Craig and Kayla arguably knocked the first domino over when Mule Alley opened at the height of the pandemic in June 2020 and Hotel Drover soon followed in March 2021. With Craig overseeing the broader development and Kayla involved with design and execution — eventually taking charge of design development for Hotel Drover, despite initially coming aboard in a finance role — their COVID-depleted team was as bare bones and well-oiled as you can get (if you’ll pardon any unpleasant imagery). This undertaking, as you may recall, was Phase 1 — a $180 million redevelopment project launched in 2014 by Majestic Realty Co., the now-former employer of Craig and Kayla. But achieving such upgrades wasn’t smooth sailing. Though the area was facing what then-Mayor Betsy Price described as “demolition by neglect,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which in 2015 put the Stockyards on its list of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places, warned that, while doing nothing

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endangered the Stockyards, doing too much could endanger it, too. Preservation vs. modernization became the tightrope Craig — and later Kayla — had to walk. But despite some initial detractors — New York City-based burger joint Shake Shack being the first Mule Alley tenant to open its doors didn’t help matters — Phase 1 eventually won over many of its skeptics. “I would say 98% of the people are proud of what Mule Alley and Hotel Drover in the Stockyards is today,” Kayla says. “I’m going to do it again. We had so much fun. I’m so proud of it, and I just want to keep going.” And that was the plan. There was, indeed, a Phase 2, whose ambition made the first phase feel like a modest opening act. Again led by Craig Cavileer, the $1 billion project would have doubled the size of the entertainment district — namely in the direction of the Billy Bob’s Texas parking lot — adding 300,000 square feet of commercial space, 500 new hotel rooms, 295 apartment units, and two underground parking garages. Despite the scale, Craig maintained the second phase, like the first, wouldn’t strip the Stockyards of its identity. If anything, the plan was to lean further into the West, with new buildings and businesses designed to feel like extensions of the historic district. Craig Cavileer Though approved by the Fort Worth City Council in June 2024, the project became entangled in a falling out between Majestic and Craig, whom the company sued that December over nearly $76 million in disputed loans. Craig, who was terminated the following April, took legal action of his own, alleging Majestic reneged on a decades-old arrangement governing the loans and improperly stripped him of ownership interests. The dispute remains in litigation. Kayla, meanwhile, would leave Majestic voluntarily in May, citing a desire to pursue development projects of her own, and the company would bow out of Phase 2 altogether the following year, announcing its decision on Aug. 5. Thus, the Billy Bob’s parking lot will remain the Billy Bob’s parking lot for the foreseeable future. Whether it’s by design, God’s sense of poetic justice, or a simple case of serendipity, on the very Wednesday Majestic Realty announced its intention to pull the plug on its Stockyards venture, the guy it proverbially tried to run out of town, partnered with the gal whose ambitions extended well beyond Majestic — under their company name Delightful Development — announced a $160 million luxury resort development at the long-sought-after northeast corner of 23rd and Main streets. “It’s a monumental cornerstone as you’re driving from the south,” Kayla says of the future development’s high-profile location, envisioning landmark potential. “It truly is that next gateway to the Stockyards; it gives you that sense of arrival. ‘OK, I’m here.’”

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The property, which Craig calls the last great undeveloped parcel in the Stockyards — which actually consists of several parcels — rests across the SpringHill Suites on Main Street and stretches east down 23rd Street with 1,000 feet of frontage along Marine Creek, creating an L shape. Former co-owner of Billy Bob’s and current president of Friends of the Fort Worth Herd, Pam Minick — no stranger to the Stockyards — has long felt this slim, winding stream that flows behind Hotel Drover to be full of untapped potential. “What excites me the most [about the new development] is that our little hidden gem of a water asset in the Stockyards will finally get a little love,” Minick says. “I mean, it’s an amazing little Rio — maybe not so grande — and that excites me as much as anything.” Sitting at the crossroads of a busy intersection and a creek that could become a miniature version of San Antonio’s Riverwalk, such a premier location requires nothing short of a marquee development. Like giving an artist a blank canvas at the most heavily trafficked corner of the Louvre with the strict instructions to not botch the assignment, Craig and Kayla certainly understand the pressure. “If you’re going to build something, you want to build something that’s going to be the best that’s ever been done,” Craig says. “That’s a tall order.” Following the announcement, renderings of the future development — which showed impressive structures more massive than one can imagine when looking at the current weed-infested 3-acre site — started making the rounds. The 200,000-square-foot development will include two distinct boutique hotels — one with 70 rooms and a second with 155 rooms — a three-level underground garage, five restaurants, a full-service day spa, 3,000 square feet of retail, 30,000 square feet of green space plus a creekside entertainment area, and 18,000 square feet of meeting space with a 7,500-square-foot grand ballroom. Though the development agreement gives them until the end of 2031, Craig and Kayla are targeting a spring 2030 opening. Clearly still in the embryonic stage, so to speak, there remains plenty left to accomplish — brands to establish, designs to finalize, and details to obsess over — but that seems like their favorite thing to do. “If someone was going to buy that property and build something, I’m glad that it was us,” Craig says. “I think we will be good stewards of that land and do something very cool with it.”

A couple boom lifts, a faux outdoor-living room — complete with leather chairs and a cowhide rug — drones, and even helicopters manage to enter the conversation when discussing feature photography with Kayla and Craig. When we broach the subject of a photo

shoot, the business partners are keen on delivering a production to play professional football for the Los Angeles Chargers. that would make Taylor Sheridan drool. And I can sense their “There’s no bigger flight risk than a small-town girl going out to disappointment when I come to the table suggesting we “just phoLA,” Kayla recollects. tograph y’all in the Stockyards.” Growing up in Corsicana, a town of roughly 25,000 residents It’s like nails to the chalkboard of their creative spirit. that’s about a 90-minute drive southeast of Fort Worth, Kayla’s Their default setting is maximalist, and Craig first job out of college was with Majestic Realty Co., freely admits they rely on talented people to “take and the new gig certainly didn’t do its part keeping our dumb ideas and help us execute.” Of course, weet ide roject her grounded in the Golden State. an adage concerning brainstorming suggests there Initially occupying a position in the real estate Before mentioning anything to are no “dumb ideas,” so this writer gathers he developer’s finance department, Kayla landed the Kayla, Craig had already reached means ambitious if, at times, indecisive. job after an old boss from Austin connected her out to Lammes Candies to express “I’m passionate about everything,” Craig says. with Craig. interest in purchasing the company “But when I find the most passionate thing, I “You didn’t tell him the best part,” Craig says to after receiving news the 141-yearobsess over it. I pick it to death. Take something Kayla as she chats about her initial days at Majesold Austin-based confectioner like the color of stain, for instance. ‘That’s not tic. “I turned you down the first time.” was closing. While more than 40 right, that’s not right, that’s not right.’ It’s never “Yes. You said no,” Kayla remembers. To which others expressed interest, according going to be right.” Craig responds, “And then you kept pestering me.” to Craig, Delightful Development Like a real estate developer’s version of Stanley Kayla admits that her desperation didn’t stem ultimately prevailed thanks to their Kubrick, a creative perfectionist who famously from Majestic being the best job available but, promise to preserve the company’s required 148 takes of a single scene, Craig can rather, the only job with which she had a connecrich history and keep members obsess over paints, stains, patterns, and textiles tion. “It wasn’t the best choice,” Kayla says. “It was of the family involved as minority until everyone else has stopped seeing the differthe only choice.” owners. ence. He even considers it part of his management Craig would finally relent, and Kayla would Considering the preservation philosophy, saying he deliberately waits to make quickly fall in love with the development side of aspect, Kayla says the acquisition a decision until “chaos ensues,” believing it forces things once arriving — and, specifically, the develisn’t far removed from their work his employees to solve problems themselves. Craig opment of the Stockyards project. in the Stockyards. “It’s the same jokingly says Kayla considers it “the worst way to “I fell in love with the development and out of mindset. It’s the same DNA,” she manage a team ever.” love with the guy,” Kayla says of her then-new says. “You’re just applying it to food “I have to step in,” Kayla responds. vocation and now-old boyfriend, respectively. consumption versus a hotel bed and Acting as a perfect foil, while Kayla doesn’t Yet, she’d remain in California. For five years, a restaurant experience.” consider such decisions trivial, she’s more of a Kayla racked up plenty of frequent flyer miles That means digging through old box checker. A decision-maker. A get-things-done traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and advertisements, photographs, and kind of gal. Fort Worth, where she became an integral part handwritten recipes. And while “I love that kind of feedback where I can respond of the adaptive reuse, leasing, branding, design, they’ll be doing some slight updates to an email, check a box,” Kayla says. “And that’s development, and hiring of all employees at the and upgrades, much will remain the not always how Craig measures productivity. But Hotel Drover. “Just bringing that product to life,” same: The company will still offer that’s how I measure productivity.” Kayla says. When the pandemic stripped down the exact same Texas Chewie Pecan Her decisiveness can shock even Craig. the team working on Hotel Drover, and the New Pralines, and the sheep logo is going “Sometimes I would look up and go, ‘How did York-based interior-designers stopped traveling, nowhere, Craig promises. that happen?’” Craig says. “She goes, ‘I approved Craig essentially handed design development to “We just don’t want to mess it it.’ And I go, ‘You approved the blue table with the the recent college grad he’d hired for her supposed up,” Kayla says. “We can steward it flowers?’ She goes, ‘You would’ve never made the financial chops. on because we would hate to see all decision, blue or green.’” “I said, ‘Kayla, you’re in charge of design develthat history shut down.” “She’ll confess after you guys leave, she’ll go, ‘I opment,’” Craig says. “She goes, ‘I’m a finance lammes.com really am a control freak,’” Craig continues. “And person.’” she is a control freak. She controls every aspect of But Kayla soon proved she wasn’t merely filling everything.” As one-half of Delightful Development, Kayla, despite a COVID vacancy, she had a real knack for this kind of thing. being a few decades his junior, is someone Craig openly admits Choosing to design Drover with a residential approach, Kayla says deferring to. hospitality can sometimes feel overly commercial — filled with Confessing that college didn’t come particularly easy for her, things you’d never put in your home. Kayla wanted to root the Kayla is a doer. But despite these collegiate struggles, she’d receive design in storytelling and experience-making, blending old and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas Tech in December 2017 new, while sourcing locally as much as possible. — graduating in 3 1/2 instead of four years. After completing her “You want to walk in and have it feel like you’re walking into studies, she’d then follow her then-boyfriend — a guy she’d been a hug almost,” Kayla says of how she envisioned Hotel Drover’s dating for six years — to Southern California, where he was going design. While undeniably a Texan through and through, the Hotel

S P

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Drover’s design is so entrenched in Cowtown nuances that I’m admittedly surprised it was carried out by someone who not only didn’t have a degree in Stockyard aesthetics but had been living in California. Of course, the days of such excessive commuting were always numbered. Kayla would establish Fort Worth residency in 2022, and she’s now married with two kids and has fully integrated herself into the Fort Worth community. In May 2025, one month after Craig’s termination from Majestic, Kayla packed her bags and left the company. According to Kayla, with Craig gone, so was the dynamic that kept her energized. “I really wanted to develop and wanted to get projects going,” Kayla says. “Working with Craig, we created something really special with Mule Alley and Hotel Drover. The detail, the curation, the preservation — I was ready to do it again.” After taking a short breather to consider her next steps, Kayla’s itch to get back to development was apparently too great not to scratch, and she’d soon reunite with Craig to form Delightful Development. According to Craig, the two sat down to sketch out the kind of company they wanted to create, deciding to build around projects with a strong sense of place and a history and authenticity worth preserving — down to their wooden fence pen posts. A couple weeks following my encounter with Kayla and Craig discussing the mismatched wooden posts in the historic cattle pens of the Stockyards, I interviewed Pam Minick about the business partners. Minick, a fervent champion and public supporter of the Stockyard redevelopment plans, is a longtime business acquaintance with Craig and chairs the Friends of the Fort Worth Herd — a nonprofit to which Kayla serves on the board. The organization, which helps to support and sustain the Fort Worth Herd and its twice-daily cattle drives, recently held a board meeting. “And Kayla,” Minick says, “who’s on the board, said, ‘I want to make sure that the first thing you do is get some vinegar and put them on the boards, because there’s nothing worse than having new boards next to old boards.’” Minick says that’s just one example of Craig and Kayla’s insistence that everything feel authentic. “It takes time and it takes attention to detail,” Kayla says after I ask about her request at the board meeting. “But that authenticity is what matters.”

The land long sat vacant — 3 acres of Cowtown’s most prime real estate seemingly staring down future developers, daring them to take a stab at making something out of it. And Craig, just a few weeks removed from his job at Majestic — and Kayla considering her own departure — was licking his chops. The site, though, was a collection of parcels — nothing anyone could purchase in one fell swoop. Fortunately for Craig, he knew the owner of one of the parcels and suspected the property might be available. The answer wound up being an emphatic yes along with a mandate to “do something special” with it. This purchase would then give Craig and Kayla an intro to the owner of an adjacent parking lot, which they would also put under contract.

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But the piece they really coveted — the one sitting directly on the corner of North Main and 23rd Street — belonged to a hotel developer who, according to Craig, had been sitting on it for 16 years and had no interest in selling. Working with what they had, Craig and Kayla started designing around the elusive property, drawing up plans for a 70-room boutique hotel on the land they controlled. But the economics of the project weren’t adding up. “Your biggest problem is your building’s too small,” someone told them. Clearly needing the adjacent property to make it work, Craig says Kayla applied the same tactic she used to get her job at Majestic: She persisted. For four months, Kayla repeatedly called — perhaps venturing into the territory of nagging, though we wouldn’t dare presume — and met with the neighboring landowner, keeping him abreast of their plans, requesting feedback, and incessantly asking whether he’d reconsider. Clearly planning on developing the land himself, their purchase of the land would obviously squash such dreams. But, after four months of Kayla’s persistence, he finally agreed to terms during a meeting in a coffee shop. The purchase changed everything. The once 70-room boutique hotel project ballooned with the addition of a second, 155-room hotel; additional restaurants; parking; and amenities. Though Craig was unable to see his original plans for Phase 2 through to completion, this was about as fitting a consolation as hecould have hoped. After all, he’s been in this business for a few trips around the sun — so he knows a grade-A piece of dirt when he sees one. Though he grew up in Austin and earned his degree in marketing from nearby Texas State in San Marcos, Craig would first make a name for himself in the Los Angeles real estate business by bringing the area its first Walmart stores. In 1993, at age 30, Majestic Realty Chairman Ed Roski Jr. poached him from his gig at Doerken Properties, and Roski soon tapped Craig to help develop the Staples Center — which is today Crypto.com Arena (if that name change doesn’t explain the last 30 years in a nutshell). Not exactly a conventional employer-employee relationship, Craig describes Roski as a mentor and father figure — someone from whom Craig says he learned everything about the business. The relationship also gave Craig something a young developer tends to find useful: capital. Craig had ideas, Roski had the resources to make them happen, and they were off running. In 1996, Majestic acquired the Boomtown Casino in Las Vegas, and Craig became its vice president and general manager the following year, helping to transform the struggling property into Silverton Casino Lodge and turning a profit. Around this time period, Craig and company were considering bringing Billy Bob’s Texas to Las Vegas, but it came with concerns over whether this whole Western thing was just a fad or had staying power. “I grew up [in Texas], so I’m like, it’s always been around,” Craig says. “But if you’re in California and you’re a billionaire and somebody says country music, you go, ‘I don’t know, but I can tell something’s happening because I see a line out the door.’” So, Craig commissioned a study, which told them it wasn’t about country or cowboy, but Americana.

“Americana is revered around the world,” Craig says. “And the history and roots of Americana is all about the very brief period of 30 years when there were cattle drives and cowboys — something that’s engrained in our culture. And occasionally, somebody like Taylor will come around and do something interesting cinematic wise, but the history isn’t going anywhere. Americana is never leaving. And the Stockyards are a perfect postcard for Americana.” With this in mind, Craig would eventually turn much of his attention to Fort Worth, where Majestic partnered with The Hickman Companies to form the Stockyards Development Co. And what followed was the redevelopment story already told: years of rezoning, preservation battles, tenant recruitment and, eventually, Mule Alley and Hotel Drover. Craig, for his part, is quick to resist the notion that he single-handedly revived the place. “A lot of people say we did the most [to make the Stockyards what it is today],” Craig says. “I said, we built two buildings.” But after three decades at Majestic, Craig’s professional identity has become deeply tied to the projects he’d help build. But when the next generation of Roskis took the helm at the real estate development company, with Ed Roski’s daughter, Reon, becoming Majestic’s CEO in 2022 and president in 2024, his professional foundation got shaky. Craig alleges in court filings that the succession changed the way the company operated and fractured the arrangement he’d maintained with Reon’s father. Majestic has disputed Kayla Wilkie-Kinne Craig’s claims and has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. By December 2024, Craig had been removed as CEO of Silverton Casino Lodge, and a few months later, after more than three decades with Majestic, the rest came to an end. And it wasn’t a face-to-face termination or even an old-fashioned pink slip — Craig learned the news via email. “I just opened the email and went, ‘Oh, I don’t work there anymore after 32 years,’” he says. His first call was to Kayla. “I just got fired by email,” he remembers telling her. “This is great.” Craig admits that returning to the Stockyards wasn’t exactly his first instinct. “I’m not ever going back the first year,” Craig says. “I mean, it’s pretty humiliating getting fired.” So, after teaming up with Kayla to form Delightful Development, the two immediately started chasing projects — in addition to their pursuit of the property at 23rd and Main — that fit their company’s unique philosophy of creating destinations rooted in a sense of place. The projects include the redevelopment of a historic Williamson County Jail in downtown Georgetown, which

was acquired in February of this year and will become a boutique hotel and restaurant, and a resort project in Steamboat Springs that grew into a roughly $500 million proposition before the pair sold their interest. The two have also purchased the Austin-based Lammes Candies, which you can read more about in the sidebar on Page 45. And with the new development at 23rd and Main, the two sure have their work cut out for them, which, according to Craig, won’t be any different from their days preparing Hotel Drover after the pandemic hit. It’s hard work, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. “I think we worked 340 straight days, literally seven days a week,” Craig recollects, almost fondly. “Seven in the morning until 10 at night and then pass out. You either make it or you don’t. SEAL team training at that point. “And that’s how we figured out that we can work and make this work.”

Pam Minick reminds me that it was about 15 years ago — when Craig first started getting involved in the Stockyards — that some comments were making the rounds comparing the potential Stockyard redevelopment to a Disneyland for cowboys. Such comments didn’t sit well with the unofficial mayor of the Stockyards, Steve Murrin, a developer who owns several landmark properties and saw potential in the Stockyards when he began a campaign to revitalize the area in 1973. “I don’t think he’d mind me saying it, but Steve [Murrin] was initially against the [Stockyards Heritage Co.] project,” Minick says. “Of course, now, his businesses are the beneficiaries of the success of the Stockyards. But he was so offended by those [Disneyland] comments that he would never allow such a thing to come true.” Murrin, a steward of history and authenticity, is precisely the sort of person one needs to keep such potential backslides to a theme-park atmosphere in check. And, ironically, it’s Craig who now most reminds Minick of Mr. Murrin. “I laugh at Craig sometimes when he takes a look at something in the Stockyards and goes, ‘That’s not right. That’s not good for the Stockyards,’” Minick says. “And I said, ‘You’re becoming Steve Murrin, Craig,’ because he wants everything just perfect.” From one steward to another, Minick sees in Craig the same impulse to protect what makes the Stockyards the Stockyards. “When you look at [Hotel Drover], it doesn’t look like it was just built.,” Minick says. “I think that what [this new project] is going to be — it’s going to carry a lot of that same historic factor. And I can assure you there won’t be any new-looking wooden fence posts.”

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OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

The Chef Who Couldn’t

TASTE

Like stripping Beethoven of his hearing, a cancer diagnosis briefly took Jon Bonnell’s most relied-upon sense. But such adversity didn’t deter the beloved chef in his fight against the deadly disease.

By Shilo Urban Photography by Olaf Growald

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magine losing your sense of taste: Eating is no longer pleasurable. Mealtime brings you no joy, becoming a monotonous, mandatory chore. Dinners with friends only magnify what you’re missing — not just the food, but also the connection forged through shared sensations. So, you don’t even sit at the table. You withdraw. You start wasting away. “It was so disorienting. Food has been a priority of my life, but I had no desire to eat or cook a thing,” says Bonnell, whose sense of taste disappeared for almost five months following treatment for tongue and throat cancer. “I didn’t know that was something that could be taken away from you.” Months in treatment and in limbo left him in a strange place. “You really lose time. You get into a weird, numb mindset.”

Bonnell is a fourth-generation Fort Worth native who has been a mainstay of the local culinary scene for decades. He opened his first restaurant, Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine, in 2001, which earned multiple awards for its elevated wild game, Texas beef, and Gulf Coast seafood — and helped to establish a distinctly Fort Worth approach to fine dining. Bonnell soon launched Buffalo Bros, Waters Restaurant, and Jon’s Grille; he has also written three cookbooks and appeared on several national TV shows. Fort Worth has come to depend on his bold, flavorful Texas cooking, from steaks and shellfish to burgers and wings. But the chef means much more to the city than amazing meals alone. Bonnell is a community-minded civic leader who seems to show up at every charity event, generously donating his time and raising funds for numerous nonprofit organizations — and always with a smile. An unofficial ambassador for the local restaurant industry, he has nourished a true sense of camaraderie within the community. During the pandemic, he promoted Fort Worth eateries — not just his own — and helped their owners navigate restrictions and other challenges with countless meetings, emails, and social media posts.

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“His leadership resulted in many Fort Worth restaurants being able to survive during the COVID-19 disaster,” said former Mayor Betsy Price, who honored Bonnell with a certificate of recognition. What’s more: People just like Jon Bonnell. He’s friendly. He’s funny. He’s a down-toearth guy who genuinely cares about Fort Worth. We’ve all grown quite attached … which is why the news of his cancer diagnosis earlier this year caused a collective emotional shock. In October 2025, Bonnell noticed a swollen lymph node on the left side of his neck. “Everybody’s had swollen lymph nodes, but this one felt kind of big,” he says. “It felt like a pecan.” He visited his doctor’s office about a week later and received a round of antibiotics. When the pills ran out, however, the lump was still there. Bonnell went back to the doctor, who ordered a CT scan. “When the CT scan came back, it had those kinds of words you don’t really want to see: necrotic with potential for malignancy.” He was referred to a specialist. “I looked him up, and he was a cancer specialist,” says Bonnell. “I just kind of broke down and told my wife, ‘I’m scared to death.’” Multiple biopsies showed no proof of cancer, but he proceeded with surgery to remove the lymph node at Baylor Scott & White. When he woke up from the anesthetic, his wife Melinda was there. She had bad news — it was cancer, Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma. Thankfully, Bonnell’s cancer was treatable, due in part to his early detection and quick trip to the doctor. His survival rate was estimated at 97%. Doctors told him that he would be fine, eventually — but that he would be dragged through the “worst hell” to get there: another surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. Bonnell’s positive prognosis alleviated some of cancer’s cruel uncertainty for him and for his family. “It’s a whole lot easier to tell your kids that you have cancer when you can say, ‘But I know I’m going to be all right. I’m going to make it.’” Cancer had already touched his family deeply; his own mother had lived with the disease for years before her death. Bonnell was thankful to spare his son and

daughter some of the fear and unpredictability that he knew too well. But the journey ahead would be tough, beginning with an onslaught of instructions, recommendations, doctors, medicines, treatments, appointments, and insurance claims. Melinda took meticulous notes on everything. “My wife was the absolute perfect caddy, coach, whatever you want to call it. She has been a saint.” Bonnell underwent his second surgery on Dec. 15, a full neck dissection that removed eight or nine of his lymph nodes, both his tonsils, and six chunks from the inside of his mouth for further biopsies. “This surgery was just brutal. I couldn’t eat for a while, and I had all these raw wounds in my mouth,” he says. “This was when I realized I was in for a long road.” It was a rough Christmas. Bonnell started chemotherapy on Dec. 29, spending five hours per week at the infusion clinic. His chemotherapy drug, cisplatin, had some strange effects. “It was the funniest thing,” he recalls about one memorable day at the clinic. “There was an older lady there who was also getting treatment, and her skin was yellow, like a tennis ball. I was like, ‘Wow, I’m glad I’m not getting whatever she’s getting — that looks bad.’” When he glanced back at the lady a little while later, her hair had turned blue. “And I realized: She’s normal. I’m hallucinating,” he laughs. “Chemo affects everybody in weird ways.” Soon he was feeling terrible and going bald. “My hair started coming out in patches, and I was like a dog shedding.” Radiation began at the same time as chemotherapy, five treatments per week for seven weeks. “It doesn’t hurt, but it builds up over time, and it’s like an invisible blowtorch. It is just melting any of the cells that it hits, good and bad.” Bonnell’s cancer had originated in his throat at the base of his tongue, so they focused the blowtorch there. About two weeks in, the pain took hold. “My throat got so burned out.” Swallowing water felt like swallowing glass — and the pain became progressively worse. “Being thirsty and having a cool glass of water and struggling for a drink

is the craziest thing. I never once thought how swallowing is difficult. That was the worst.” His doctor prescribed higher and higher doses of fentanyl, then oxycodone. Yet pain was only part of the problem. Bonnell couldn’t eat, and he was losing weight fast. “The hardest thing to do was to get calories in. I had to focus and concentrate.” His wife pureed protein shakes for him, blending Melt ice cream with Weight Gainer 3000 (the highest-calorie supplement available) and nutritional drinks like Boost or Ensure. “I even put olive oil in there a few times just for calories.” But as the radiation continued and the pain increased, he could only handle the watery nutritional drinks alone. “I lived on those,” he says. “I sat around for months just either looking at the iPad or watching a movie, sleeping when I could, and just trying to get calories in. It was the worst labor in the world trying to swallow.” Bonnell’s salivary glands stopped working, and the radiation darkened the skin on his neck, which sloughed off again and again. He was completely bald, coughing constantly, and vomiting daily. He lost 50 pounds. “I’m sad that my kids had to see that,” he says, tearing up. “I got up early one morning, and I set the coffee machine for my wife. Right as I started to smell it, I went over to the sink and turned it on, pouring the water all over my head. I’m sitting there with my head just dripping, and … I looked over, and my daughter was standing there crying. She had heard me. I wish she didn’t have that in her memory banks.”

On Feb. 28, the two months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments were finally over. “On the last day of treatment, I wore an Ironman shirt,” says Bonnell, a former triathlete who

competed in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii 10 years ago. “I was like — that’s it. I’m finished. I mistakenly thought as soon as you’re done with your treatments, you start getting better.” But his healing journey was just beginning; the effects of radiation and chemotherapy persist well beyond the treatments themselves. “It’s a whole lot longer and slower of a process than I realized. I’ve been sitting down for six months.” But he couldn’t sit at his favorite

it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,” he says, tearing up again. “I cry all the time now.” Supporters sent him an “overwhelming” number of cards, and three people even gave him homemade blankets. “People just kept being unbelievably nice about everything.” Bonnell was declared cancer-free in late March, and by the end of May, his medications had tapered down to Tylenol alone. But he still couldn’t taste a thing, and he continued to suffer from cognitive impairment (aka chemo brain), coughing, dizziness, and intense dry mouth. “Imagine you wake up every morning, and your tongue is so dry you could strike a match on it.” Fluid buildup in his left ear prompted tube surgery and hearing aids, and severe fatigue forced him to learn a slower pace of life. “I can’t do what I used to do, so I just need to patiently work my way back into whatever activity I can.”

Then in mid-August, six months after his treatments had ended, his palate began to return. “The first

place, the dinner table. “I didn’t eat with anybody. I didn’t go to a restaurant.” Nauseous and afraid of getting sick in front of others, he kept to his couch and his Boost drink. “I never thought that I wouldn’t have a seat at the table.” Bonnell found it difficult to “sit still and endure it, just bide time,” he says. “It was frustrating. I’m impatient. I’m type A.” The chef — known around town for constantly cooking, working, hosting, volunteering, and helping other people — found that the tables had turned. Now he was the one who needed help. “I prefer the other side,” he admits. The city rallied around Bonnell, posting thousands of encouraging messages on his social media accounts. “The outpouring of support from the community,

flavors that started coming back were real earthy umami, mushroom, pickles, meats,” says Bonnell, who now estimates he can taste about 80% of flavors. Blander foods, by contrast, still elude him. “If I eat a big old bacon cheeseburger, I can taste the meat and the cheese and the bacon and the pickles — and that is awesome. But the bun is cardboard. A french fry is a stick of sand.” Spicy foods are still very much off-limits. “I can’t handle even the tiniest bit of spice, and I love spicy. Mild salsa at a restaurant with a chip would blow my face up.” Bonnell is confident his entire sense of taste will return; doctors said it might take a full year. “I’ll get it back.” His salivary glands recently turned back on. “It was so strange. It was like a classic old car starting. They were sput-

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tering,” he says. “I just started crying, as I always do.” He’s also cooking for his family again. He prepared a few things throughout his recovery, including a leg of lamb for Easter tacos that he couldn’t taste and didn’t eat. But now he actually wants to cook and go grocery shopping. “Things started sounding good.” So far, he’s made burgers, tortilla soup, and seared scallops with mushrooms and herbed polenta. “I’m cooking from memory, and I know how to make everything … but I’m still like, ‘Honey, taste this real quick. I don’t taste it right.’” Bonnell is looking forward to his palate fully healing. “I really enjoy making food, just feeling a dish out. I’ve started doing it again … but I still can’t do what I would like to do. I’ll get there. But it’s been a real hard transition.” The chef is also moving into a less hands-on role in his restaurants’ kitchens. “It’s a young man’s game,” he explains. “It’s physical, that’s one thing. Kitchens don’t have chairs or windows. It’s a pressure cooker back there. It’s hot. Everything’s either hot or sharp, and it’s always go, go, go, go. Everything’s on fire all the time. I love that world, but I’m not capable of doing that anymore. I can supervise, but I don’t have the physical stamina to handle the pressure of kitchens the way I used to.” Bonnell is still very involved with his restaurants. “I still love menu development and creating dishes and helping with the business side. I’m reading sales reports every single day. I’ll make appearances, but I’m not looking to open five more concepts,” he says. “I’m more semi-retired now. I’m about to be 56, and that’s kind of a ripe old age in the chef business anyway.” In July, he made the difficult decision to close Jon’s Grille, citing economic pressures and his recent health challenges. Spending less time at his restaurants, however, gives him more time to focus on what’s most important: his family. Right now, Bonnell is teaching his teenage son to drive. “It’s super fun.” He’s also teaching him kitchen skills, pickling cucumbers and chopping onions. “He really likes cooking, and he

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just got his first chef’s knife.” Plans for vacations, fly-fishing, and hunting trips are at the top of his mind, and he has a list of local restaurants he wants to try, including Almacén El Gallo, Dos Mares, and Bocca Osteria. But he’s not there yet. “I want to be able to handle some spice before I go.” He’s also organizing the 25th anniversary celebration of Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine in October. “We’re going to be running some crazy fun, ridiculous specials and different themes each night,” including wines by the glass and caviar pairings. Slowly, life is returning to normal. “I will really know I’m back when I have the strength, stamina, and ability to throw a great crawfish boil — and I can enjoy it as well.”

Bonnell has also taken on a role he never expected: He has become a fierce advocate for the HPV vaccine, which can prevent future generations from experiencing the pain and suffering he has endured. “I’m on a soapbox,” says Bonnell, who was surprised to learn that the HPV virus caused his cancer. He was also surprised to learn that the same virus causes virtually 100% of cervical cancers in women and about 70% of oropharyngeal (throat and tongue) cancers in men — and that there’s a highly effective vaccine for it. “I had no idea.” Like most of us, Bonnell’s understanding of HPV was way out of date. “I thought, where the hell did I get an STD? I’ve been married 25 years. I’m not a player.” But HPV is extremely common. According to the CDC, about 85% of people will be infected in their lifetime, and about 42.5% of adults are infected with HPV right now. The vast majority will never show symptoms. The virus has over 200 strains, and most go away on their own — but about 6% can cause cancer, often years or even decades down the road. HPV is spread mainly through sexual contact, not only intercourse but any skin-to-skin contact, even French kissing. “The general public does not understand how common this virus is.” The good news: The Gardasil 9 vaccine can prevent 90% of these cancers, and

it’s available for anyone ages 9 to 45. It has been extensively tested for two decades and has a strong safety record, with hundreds of millions of doses administered worldwide. Australia’s national HPV vaccination program, which introduced free HPV vaccines in 2007, has reduced infections by 90%; the goal is the total elimination of cervical cancer by 2035. Yet in certain communities, the cancer vaccine faces lingering social stigma. Vaccination is most effective when given at ages 11 to 12, before a person has had any sexual contact — and some parents simply don’t want to think about their children ever having sex. It’s uncomfortable and understandable. But thinking about your child suffering with cancer is far, far worse. “Trust me, your kids don’t want to go through what I did,” says Bonnell. “It’s horrible. This has completely changed my life. It still hurts. It still sucks. There’s stuff that will never get better.” He urges parents to vaccinate their children. “Please listen to the doctors instead of just Googling.” Bonnell has another medical message: “If you notice anything, tell your doctor because early detection is everything.” And if you are diagnosed, “Send me an email; I’ll talk you through it,” he says. “I’m serious. Let me kind of talk you through what to expect.” Jon Bonnell has been through a battle — but he’s the same old chef we love, offering to help whoever needs it with a smile on his face. He’s excited for the future, including a much better Christmas this year. “I really want all my taste back, and I want to have energy again. I just want to be able to go and do.” Cancer may have left its mark, but it also shifted his perspective. “It makes you appreciate a lot of things … time with family, being able to cook again, being able to enjoy a meal.” For a man who has dedicated his career to cooking meals for Fort Worth to enjoy, we all wish him a full recovery — and a swift return to his seat at the table.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

Advanced Type of Radiation Treats Breast Cancer While Protecting the Heart Texas Center for Proton Therapy is at the forefront of radiation therapy that reduces cardiac risks IN BREAST CANCER TREATMENT, radiation oncologists aim to protect critical structures like the heart. With high-end radiation technology, Dallas/Ft. Worthbased Texas Center for Proton Therapy is leading the way with advanced technology designed to treat tumors while sparing healthy tissue. “Excess radiation can damage critical areas of the heart, which can lead to a higher risk of coronary artery disease, including myocardial infarction and

Additionally, the Center’s cone-beam CT image guidance system provides clinicians with a three-dimensional view of a patient’s anatomy, allowing them to develop a tailored treatment plan. Using these detailed images, care teams can precisely map treatment and optimize radiation delivery for each patient. Celebrating its 10th year, Texas Center for Proton Therapy has treated more than 6,000 patients and continues to build on a decade of innovation and expertise. “We’re dedicated to providing our patients with the best possible treatment for their immediate needs and for years to come,” Dr. Sturgeon says.

heart failure,” says Jared Sturgeon, M.D., Ph.D., a radiation oncologist at

Patients interested in learning more about proton therapy may sign up for a

Texas Center for Proton Therapy. As breast cancer care continues to evolve,

consultation. Physicians may also refer patients for evaluation.

avoiding cardiac tissue can make a significant difference in women’s heart health later in life. Featuring advanced proton therapy, the Center offers technology specifically designed to help protect the heart. “Proton therapy uses a focused beam only a few millimeters wide to precisely ‘paint’ the target with therapeutic proton radiation, minimizing damage to healthy surrounding tissue,” he explains. “Our technology is especially suited to concentrating treatment on the target tissue and avoiding the heart and lungs.” With pinpoint accuracy, proton therapy enables physicians to target tumors layer by layer, even when they are irregularly shaped. Advanced treatment planning also helps ensure radiation is delivered to the intended target while minimizing exposure to nearby healthy tissue.

TexasCenterForProtonTherapy.com

PROTON THERAPY FOCUSED ON MY BREAST CANCER.

MY EXPERT TEAM FOCUSED ON THE PRECISION OF

PROTON THERAPY

HELPS SPARE YOUR SURROUNDING HEART AND LUNG TISSUE. With its pencil-thin beam, proton therapy may result in improved tumor treatment, fewer long-term side effects, and less chance of secondary cancers. At Texas Center for Proton Therapy, our focus on you is equally precise—with a team of experts to ensure that you are treated with care and compassion.

Ask your doctor about proton therapy or request an appointment at TexasCenterforProtonTherapy.com. No doctor referral needed.

Shooting Center

T H E RA NGE IS CALLING A great range is more than lanes and targets. It’s the people who know your name, excellent service you can count on, and a community that makes you want to keep coming back.

2900 Shotts St. Fort Worth, TX 76107 defenderoutdoors.com

PROMOTION

Healthcare Professionals

The partnership between you and your doctor is one of the most vital pairings for a happy and fit lifestyle. In matters of health, you should never settle. Selecting the right practitioner can make all the difference. To aid in choosing the perfect person for your medical needs, a few local physicians have purchased space to tell you more about themselves, their practices, and how partnering with them will improve your quality of life.

The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine.

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Accent On You

Cosmetic Surgery Center and Medical Spa Y. Anthony Nakamura, M.D. Sameer H. Halani, M.D.

OCTOBER 2026 | fwtx.com

PROMOTION

SPECIALTY: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. EDUCATION: Dr. Nakamura – B.A., UT Austin; Surgical Training, LSU (General Surgery) and UTMB (Plastic Surgery). Dr. Halani – B.A., Emory University; M.D., Emory University School of Medicine; Surgical Training, UT Southwestern (Integrated Plastic Surgery). CERTIFICATIONS: Dr. Nakamura – Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon. Dr. Halani – Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon. RISING STAR: Newly joined Dr. Halani heads the facial aesthetic surgery of Accent On You. In this role, Dr. Halani has demonstrated the ability to set a clear and compelling vision for the team in providing natural, elegant results for their patients. OUR PRACTICE – WHAT SETS US APART: Meticulous in nature with a combined 35+ years of experience focusing on aesthetic surgery of the face, breast, and body. COSMETIC SURGERY CENTER SERVICES: Aesthetic facial surgery, breast augmentation, breast lift, liposuction, body contouring, tummy tuck, waist tuck, and mommy makeovers. MEDI SPA SERVICES: Facial fillers, lip enhancements, Radiesse, SkinPen microneedling, and wrinkle relaxers. PATIENT CARE: Our goal is to rejuvenate you with an elegant, beautiful, and natural appearance. Our state-of-the-art facility includes a surgery center that is QUAD A accredited, with a medical spa, ensuring the highest level of patient care. PICTURED: Sameer H. Halani, M.D., and Y. Anthony Nakamura, M.D.

Accent On You 3030 S. Cooper St. Arlington 76015 817.417.7200 Fax 817.417.7300 accentonyou.com

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Executive Medicine of Texas MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Concierge Medicine, Executive Physical Exams, Age Management. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: J. Mark Anderson, M.D., MPH, DABFM – Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine; Master of Public Health, University of Michigan; Certified, Age Management Medicine Education Foundation. Walter Gaman, M.D., FABFM – Doctor of Medicine in Infectious Disease, University of Manitoba; Fellow of the American Board of Family Medicine; Strategic Management, Harvard Extension School. Mary Ward, D.O. – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center; board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine;

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board-certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. Terrence Feehery, D.O. – Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; member of the American Academy of Family Physicians; assistant professor of Family Medicine at the TCU Burnett School of Medicine. Roshni Patel, M.D. – Doctor of Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; degree in neurobiology from Harvard University; board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Edwin E. Spencer Jr., M.D. - Doctor of Medicine, Duke University; Board Certified American Board of Orthopedic Surgery; inducted into the American Shoulder and Elbow Society; inducted into Neer Circle, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. AWARDS/

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HONORS: Top Doctors Top Physicians, 2018-2020; Tops in Tarrant, 2019-2023, DFW Favorites, 2024-2025; Top Docs in America, 20242025; Southlake Style Top Docs, 2025-2026; 360West Top Docs 2024-2025. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Our founding partners (Drs. Mark Anderson and Walter Gaman) are published authors and co-host the Stay Young America! podcast. INNOVATIONS: We are dedicated to bringing new and exciting options to our clients including, but not limited to: Peptide Therapy, Virtual Colonoscopy, DNA Testing, Red Light Therapy, Brain Mapping, and Neurofeedback. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: Executive Medicine of Texas helps busy individuals get their energy and health back so that they can do more of what they were meant to

do. FREE ADVICE: Investing in your health today ensures you’ll be there for your loved ones tomorrow. PICTURED: J. Mark Anderson, M.D., MPH, DABFM; Walter Gaman, M.D., FABFM; Mary Ward, D.O.; Terrence Feehery, D.O.; Roshni Patel, M.D.; Edwin E. Spencer Jr., M.D. Executive Medicine of Texas 2106 E. State Hwy. 114, Ste. 300 Southlake 76092 817.552.4300 Fax 817.552.4301 EMTexas.com

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Perrone Pharmacy, Inc./ PerroneRX, LLC

SPECIALTY: Established in 1952, we proudly hold the distinction of being the oldest family-owned pharmacy in Tarrant County. For more than seven decades, our commitment to innovation and personalized care has allowed us to serve a diverse range of patients and health care institutions across the region. We compound sterile medications for investigational drug studies, for patients of local hospitals and clinics, and for individual patients with unique medical conditions. In addition, we provide mobile immunization services to employers, assisted living communities, local churches, and charitable organizations. We also dispense and deliver medications for patients admitted to more than 60

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hospices throughout DFW. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Institutions and patients should choose us because of our breadth of service offerings, our accessibility, and the depth of pharmacist clinical knowledge (over 220 years of combined pharmacist team experience). The contract services division, PerroneRX, LLC, is open 24/7, and our retail division, Perrone Pharmacy, Inc., is open seven days a week. We maintain our own fleet, covering the DFW area, making over 300 deliveries a day. INNOVATIONS: We stay current with industry trends and innovations through memberships in professional trade organizations, sending our leadership to seminars and conferences. We utilize third parties

PROMOTION

to test our labs, our processes, and our compounded products. PICTURED: (seated) Paloma Garza, PharmD; Hortencia Monreal, PharmD; Kylee Gregory, PharmD; Paula Perrone, J.D., Owner, Perrone Pharmacy, Inc./PerroneRx, LLC; (standing) Gabretta Guerin, RPH; Russel Whisenhunt, RPH; Marcus Zavala, PharmD, Chief Pharmacists Officer, Perrone Pharmacy, Inc./PerroneRx, LLC, Pharmacist-In-Charge, PerroneRx, LLC; Heather Wessner, PharmD, Pharmacist-In-Charge, Perrone Pharmacy, Inc.; Jacob Johnson, PharmD and Colton Lybarger, PharmD. NOT PICTURED: Mi Lam, PharmD; Haley McKeefer, PharmD; Tiara Smith, PharmD; Kaitlyn Bradley, PharmD; and Phuong Le, RPH.

Perrone Pharmacy, Inc./PerroneRX, LLC 3921 Benbrook Highway Fort Worth 76116 817.738.2135 perronepharmacy.com info@perronerx.com

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

PROMOTION

MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Audiology, Lenire Tinnitus Treatment Device, hearing aid prescription and fitting, real ear verification of hearing aid fitting, and expert follow-up care. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: Dr. Diane Blaising - Doctor of Audiology, A.T. Still University for Health Sciences; Master of Science in Communication Disorders, University of Texas at Dallas; Certifications – American Board of Audiology, American Doctors of Audiology, American Academy of Audiology; Certified Lenire tinnitus treatment device provider. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Cityview Audiology is careful to fit each patient with the hearing aid that meets their needs and uses advanced real ear measures to ensure that the programming in the hearing aid is perfect for their hearing needs. Also, Cityview Audiology is the only practice in Fort Worth that is certified to provide the FDAapproved Lenire tinnitus treatment device. HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL WELL-BEING OF PATIENTS: Improving our patients’ quality of life is the focus of our practice. FREE ADVICE: The best thing you can do for your long-term health is to act sooner rather than later to assess your hearing ability.

Cityview Audiology & Hearing Aids 5701 Bryant Irvin Road, Ste. 202 Fort Worth 76132 817.263.1800 info@cityviewhearing.com cityviewhearing.com

Cityview Audiology & Hearing Aids

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FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

PROMOTION

Fort Worth Concierge Plus SPECIALTY: Fort Worth Concierge Plus (FWC+) is a physician-led concierge primary care and longevity practice dedicated to helping patients live longer, healthier lives through proactive, personalized medicine. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Our membership model provides patients with direct access to their physician, extended appointments, same-day or next-day scheduling, comprehensive annual evaluations, advanced laboratory testing, electrocardiograms, and personalized wellness plans tailored to each individual’s goals and risk factors. INNOVATIONS: FWC+ offers a comprehensive suite of advanced wellness and regenerative therapies designed to complement exceptional primary care. Services include hormone replacement therapy, medically supervised weight management, peptide therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), ExtracorporealBlood Oxygenation and Ozonation (EBO2), red light therapy, infrared sauna therapy, IV nutrient therapy,and aesthetic medicine. Every treatment plan is individualized and based on the latest available medical evidence. MISSION: Our mission is to build lasting relationships with our patients while empowering them to take control of their health through education, cutting-edge diagnostics, and personalized treatment strategies. By combining traditional primary care with innovative longevity therapies, FWC+ delivers a modern healthcare experience focused on preventing disease, enhancing performance, and improving quality of life at every stage of aging. PICTURED: Reagan Waddell, Dr. Michael Cowan, Brenda Ortiz, Adriana Arreguin. NOT PICTURED: Julianne Anderson, CPNP; Nancy Bayouth, R.N.; Ezbeidy Diaz, M.A.; Mackenzie Branch, R.N.; Brittany Ballard, R.N.

Fort Worth Concierge Plus 2600 Alemeda St., Ste. 202 Fort Worth 76108 817.797.2002 fwcplus.com

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

PROMOTION

Dr. Mitch Conditt

Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center

SPECIALTY: Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center is limited to the treatment of snoring, sleep apnea, and TMD. EDUCATION: Baylor College of Dentistry, DDS in 1985. HONORS: Fellow with American Academy of Craniofacial Pain; Diplomate with American Board of Craniofacial Dental Sleep Medicine. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: Member of Texas Dental Association, American Dental Association, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, American Academy of Craniofacial Pain, American Academy of Orofacial Pain. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Achieving board certification in Dental Sleep Medicine. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: We give patients an option to treat their snoring or sleep apnea without the use of a CPAP machine and almost always without requiring patients to sleep overnight in a sleep lab. Most major health insurance policies cover the treatment. FREE ADVICE: Treating snoring or sleep apnea with an oral appliance is not only highly effective in eliminating snoring but can be lifechanging in how you feel every day. PICTURED: Dr. Mitch Conditt.

OCTOBER 2026 | fwtx.com

Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center 451 University Drive, Ste. 102 Fort Worth 76107 817.527.8500 fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com office@ fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

PROMOTION

Texas Radiotherapy Dr. Matthew Cavey

SPECIALTY: Our medical specialty is prostate cancer care. Dr. Cavey is a radiation oncologist employing advanced techniques like MR fusion transperineal biopsies and brachytherapy. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: University of Texas Medical Branch – Chief Resident (2006)/ Residency (2002 – 2006), Radiation Oncology; SMU – M.S. Engineering Management; B.S. Electrical Engineering. HONORS/AWARDS: Our team was selected by Accuray and Boston Scientific for pro-bono consulting roles to help accelerate prostate cancer treatment innovation. In 2025, we opened Breast Associates of Texas to serve the surgical oncology needs for breast cancer patients. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: ACRO (American College of Radiation Oncology), ABS (American Brachytherapy Society), RSS (Radiosurgical Society). GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Since opening in 2021, we have helped over 2,000 men conquer prostate cancer, placing us in the top 10 of U.S. cancer treatment centers, based on the number of treatments using low-dose rate brachytherapy (by itself or with other treatment modalities). INNOVATIONS: Our investments center on improving patient outcomes and include advanced biopsies, brachytherapy, IMRT, IGRT, SBRT, SABR, SRS. PATIENT CARE: Our bedside manner is personal and caring, focused on getting to know our patients and answering their questions or concerns. ADVICE: Our advice to anyone dealing with cancer: Explore your options, understand the team’s experience, choose the team with whom you feel the most comfortable, and meet with any doctor before finalizing your choice. PICTURED: Dr. Matthew Cavey

Texas Radiotherapy 1300 W. Terrell Ave., Ste. Plaza Fort Worth 76104 817.796.6400 TexasRadiotherapy.com

fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

FOCUS HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

PROMOTION

James E. Chalk, M.D. Vein Treatment Clinic

MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Board-certified vascular surgeon specializing in venous medicine and minimally invasive treatment of vein conditions, including varicose veins, spider veins, and chronic venous insufficiency. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: M.D., New York Medical College; General Surgery residency, Michigan State University; Vascular Surgery fellowship, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine; board-certified by the American Board of Surgery in Vascular Surgery. AWARDS/HONORS: Dr. Chalk has been formally recognized by The Global Directory of Who’s Who for Excellence in Vascular Surgery and Wound Care. MEMBERSHIPS/ AFFILIATIONS: American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers; American Board of Surgery; Fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery (FSVS); Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Dr. Chalk helps patients find effective, minimally invasive solutions for vein disease while keeping treatment comfortable and convenient. He focuses on correcting underlying venous issues—not just visible symptoms— to improve leg health and appearance. INNOVATIONS: He offers modern treatments such as radiofrequency ablation for larger varicose veins and sclerotherapy for spider veins, both performed with local anesthesia and minimal downtime. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: His patientcentered approach blends vascular expertise with clear communication. He ensures patients understand their condition and treatment plan. He speaks English and Spanish, and the clinic provides additional translation. PICTURED: James E. Chalk, M.D.

OCTOBER 2026 | fwtx.com

Vein Treatment Clinic 3455 Locke Ave., Ste. 300 Fort Worth 76107 817.710.3845 3050 S. Center St., Ste. 110 Arlington 76014 817.710.3845 veintreatmentclinic.com/ fortworth

CHOWTOWN LOCAL EATS AND RESTAURANT NEWS

Duong DeVille

Regional Vietnamese dishes take center stage at the forthcoming Duong DeVille from chef Hao Tran. In the kitchen with her is chef de cuisine Luu Lac, whose path there included a bike, a sailboat, and a vegan food truck.

WHAT WE’RE CHEWING OVER THIS MONTH:

On page 70 Steak. Fries. What’s not to love? From a new restaurant built around the classic pairing to fresh takes around town, Fort Worth is finding plenty of new reasons to order steak frites. On page 73 Graham Elliot recently announced he’s opening a new restaurant in the Near Southside, plus other tasty tidbits in Chowtown Lowdown.

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

CHOWTOWN DINING

Clay Pigeon has devoted Monday nights to steak frites.

by Malcolm Mayhew Photo by Richard W. Rodriguez

Steak It Easy

Steak frites, a simple, old-school favorite dish, is getting some new attention in Fort Worth with a new restaurant built around it and local chefs finding fresh ways to serve it.

few Christmases ago, Chris Jordan and his girlfriend went to New York armed with a list. She had collected restaurants and other spots that were blowing up on TikTok, and the two spent much of their trip checking them off. One was Skirt Steak, a Manhattan restaurant where the menu requires very little studying: steak, salad, and all the french fries you can eat. They went. They loved it. Before the trip was over, they made a return visit. “We both love steak, and the simplicity of the experience is what

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

we really enjoyed,” Jordan says. Jordan eventually returned to New York with future business partner Jywon Young and took him to Skirt Steak. Later, Bailey Batts and Kristin Peaks Thomas made the trip, too. Somewhere along the way, a vacation meal turned into a business plan. The result is Seared Steak & Cocktails, the new White Settlement Road restaurant from Batts, Jordan, Thomas, and Young that has taken one of the oldest and simplest restaurant combinations around — steak frites, or simply enough, steak and

fries — and made it the centerpiece of an entire concept. The French — or Belgian, depending on which side of that culinary argument you land — classic has never exactly been hard to find here. But lately, steak frites (which is definitely pronounced “freet”) seem to be enjoying a little extra attention. Seared has built a restaurant around them. Clay Pigeon Food & Drink recently turned Monday nights over to an entire steak frites menu. Elsewhere, chefs are playing with the formula, swapping cuts, sauces and, in one case, even the fries themselves. Calling it a trend would be a stretch. Steak and fries have been getting along just fine for a very long time. Fort Worth just seems especially interested in them right now. The Seared partners aren’t new to Fort Worth’s bar and restaurant scene. Jordan and Thomas own the Fort Worth and Richardson locations of Mad Hatter Neighborhood Pub, where Batts and Young started as bartenders before moving into leadership roles. All four later teamed up to open The Rabbit Hole Pub, just a few blocks from Seared. In Seared’s kitchen, chef Joshua Donovan, who most recently helmed Heirloom FW at Archie’s Gardenland and previously worked at Ashten’s and Wolcott’s in North Carolina, oversees a deliberately compact menu built around three Akaushi Wagyu cuts: a 10-ounce New York strip, a 6-ounce filet, and a massive 32-ounce tomahawk designed for sharing. The steaks are offered as part of a prix fixe menu — another French contribution to dining that Americans have spent decades mispronouncing (it’s pronounced, once and for all, “pre-fix”). Each steak comes with housemade bread, a seared romaine salad with Parmesan vinaigrette, and unlimited handcut truffle fries. And these aren’t throwaway, gimmicky fries designed solely to keep plates and stomachs

full. Crispy and beautifully seasoned, they’re so good, “unlimited” turns out to be a major blessing; the dinner menu also includes a handful of appetizers and sides. The partners have resisted the temptation to expand dinner beyond the frites. That, Thomas says, would defeat the purpose. “If we start trying to add fish and chicken and things like that, now we just become a regular steakhouse,” she says. On weekends, though, Seared offers a brunch menu with items such as French toast, a BLT, and an excellent burger. Steak frites themselves date back well over a century and are claimed, to varying degrees, by both France and Belgium. Over time, the steak and fries combo became a fixture of French brasseries and bistros — an uncomplicated plate of beef, fried potatoes, and, often, a sauce such as béarnaise or au poivre. New York has helped turn that simplicity into a concept of its own. Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, which originated in Paris in 1959 and later expanded to Manhattan, famously built its menu around salad, steak, its signature sauce, and fries. Decades later, other New York restaurants such as Skirt Steak and Medium Rare put their own spin on the formula, helping introduce it to another generation of diners. Paris 7th, one of the city’s best French restaurants, has for years served definitive versions. Its current rendition pairs a 10-ounce Wagyu bavette with green peppercorn sauce and pommes frites — hand-cut fries cooked in duck fat. It’s a serious, beautifully executed take on a dish whose appeal has always rested on its simplicity. These days, steak frites turn up all over town. Le Margot serves tenderloin with fries and béarnaise, while Del Frisco’s Grille pairs hanger steak with chermoula and fries. The new Dirdie Birdie, a restaurant and miniature golf course rolled into the old Lola’s Saloon, gets in on the act,

although its interpretation comes with a decidedly less French sidekick: curly fries. Chef Marcus Paslay, meanwhile, seems especially committed to the cause. Versions of steak frites appear at two of his other Fort Worth restaurants, Provender Hall and Walloons. At Clay Pigeon, his steak frites have been one of the restaurant’s top-selling dishes — so much so that he decided to give frites an entire night of their own. On Mondays, Clay Pigeon swaps its regular dinner menu for Steak Frites Monday, a more relaxed prixfixe experience built around the restaurant’s wood-fired grill and hand-cut fries. “We wanted to offer a more relaxed evening for our guests around our prime steaks, wood-fired grill, and hand-cut fries than what is typical of our experience during the rest of the week,” he says. Dinner begins with a choice of wedge salad, Caesar salad, or chef’s soup. Then comes the main event: your choice of steak tartare, salmon, hanger steak, eye of ribeye or, for anyone looking to make Monday considerably less Monday-ish, a 22-ounce bone-in cowboy ribeye. Each comes with fries and a choice of garlic aioli, béarnaise, or chimichurri. At a recent media preview, we sampled a couple of the steak options, both nicely charred from the wood-fired grill and cooked spot-on, with crisp, salty fries that held their own alongside the beef. Yes, salmon frites stretches the definition a little. Paslay says he wants diners who might not be in the mood for a big steak to still be able to play along. “Dining is all about choice, even when we curate a menu to accentuate a particular dish or technique,” he says. “We want everyone to be able to enjoy themselves, whether they are throwing down on a cowboy ribeye or just want a delicious, well-prepared piece of fish.”

Seared offers bottomless fries with its steak frites.

Seared was opened by a group of longtime friends.

For all the variations, though, steak frites endure for pretty much the same reason Jordan and his girlfriend went back to Skirt Steak a second time during that New York trip. The idea is almost ridiculously simple, and when the steak is good and the fries are crisp and perfectly seasoned, there isn’t much that needs improving. “There really isn’t anything better than a piece of high-quality beef cooked over an oak fire that’s served with crispy, salty, hand-cut fries,” Paslay says. “Steak frites are a classic, simply because it’s the best version of meat and potatoes.”

Seared, 4006 White Settlement Road, searedfwtx.com Clay Pigeon, 2731 Westside Drive, claypigeonfd.com

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

CHOWTOWN DINING

Banh con and rice crepes with shiitake and wood ear mushrooms from soon-toopen Duong DeVille.

by Malcolm Mayhew Photos by Thanin Viriyaki

A Seat at the Table

Fort Worth chef Luu Lac rode, drove, and sailed his way across the country before landing in the kitchen of Hao Tran’s forthcoming Duong DeVille restaurant.

recumbent tricycle. A minivan. The Grand Canyon. A sailboat. A vegan food truck. And, at one point, plans to ride a bicycle into Mexico. Those were just a few of the stops along the way for Luu Lac before he was handed the keys to the kitchen of Duong DeVille, the much-anticipated, forthcoming restaurant from local chef Hao Tran. Serving as the restaurant’s chef de cuisine, this rising star in Fort Worth’s culinary scene will help Tran build a menu of elevated Vietnamese food — a new concept for Fort Worth. Set to open in a 4,000-square-foot space on the far West Side, Duong DeVille is a major evolution for Tran,

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

the beloved force behind Hao’s Grocery & Café and many a dumpling pop-up. Named as a tribute to her late father and the Cadillac he drove when she was young (“Duong” translates to “sweet street”), the restaurant anchors the new Entrepreneur Park development from siblings Will Churchill and Corrie Fletcher. Designed as a full-service restaurant with a bar, private dining room, and attached specialty market, Duong DeVille will give Tran and Lac a permanent home for the regional Vietnamese dishes they’re putting together. Filling that expansive kitchen is an unlikely choice for a chef who spent

years deliberately downsizing. Born in Vietnam, Lac came to the United States with his family when he was 4, settling in Springfield, Massachusetts. His first cooking lessons came from his mother, though they didn’t feel like lessons at the time: She put her children to work peeling and mincing ginger and garlic, splitting lotus stems, and prepping Vietnamese water spinach. “She was teaching knife skills,” Lac says. “She also taught us many recipes, and I still reach out to her for pointers.” As a teenager and young adult, he picked up shifts in Korean and Taiwanese restaurants, absorbing techniques along the way. But after attending UMass Amherst and bouncing through various front-of-house restaurant jobs, Lac didn’t envision a future behind the line. Instead, his late 20s belonged to the open road. In late 2014, he pedaled a recumbent tricycle from Springfield to Roanoke, Texas, to babysit his infant niece. When the road called again, he planned to bike all the way to Mexico. Instead, a friend bought a minivan, and the two headed west to the Grand Canyon, Colorado, and Washington before making their way down the Pacific Coast, where they promptly bought a sailboat. Lac lived aboard it for nearly two years. When he eventually returned to Fort Worth, those years of living in tight quarters left a lasting mark. He developed an affinity for small spaces, drawing inspiration from Japanese yatai — the compact food stalls that sparked the vision for It’s Food, the vegan food truck he launched in 2021. While the truck’s core menu centered on vegan dishes, the specials gave Lac room to experiment with cuisines from around the world. Now, at Duong DeVille, he’s turning his attention to Vietnamese food alongside Tran. (His truck is on hold while he finds his footing at the restaurant). Lac and Tran first crossed paths when Tran stopped by his truck and offered to help him find a permanent

location. When Lac recently found himself looking for a new home for the truck, he reached out, setting up popups at Tran’s shop while he figured out his next move. Tran liked what she saw. “She likes how I carry myself in the kitchen and my cooking,” he says. “Although I see myself as easygoing, I run a tight ship in the kitchen.” At Duong DeVille, slated to open in mid- to late October, Lac and Tran are developing a menu that will include an assortment of bánh — a broad category of Vietnamese dishes that can include dumplings, noodles, and other foods made from rice or other starches —

along with plant-based dishes that Lac hopes receive the same attention as the rest of the menu. The new role has also forced Lac to reconsider something he believed for years: that becoming a chef required formal culinary school. “I never set out to be a cook or chef,” he says. “Having cooked long enough and loving it even longer, I’ve come to respect that a true chef is an honorary title.”

Duong Deville, 405 Jim Wright Freeway, instagram. com/duongdeville

The Chowtown Lowdown More and more restaurants are arriving in the new H Mart shopping plaza, even though H Mart itself is still a month or two away from opening (well, they say before the end of the year; I say beginning of ‘27). Among the new arrivals to the vast shopping center that surrounds it is Uncle Tetsu, a Japanese bakery best known for its cheesecakes. Uncle Tetsu’s are different from the dense, rich versions you’re probably thinking of. Rather, they’re airy, like a souffle, with a distinctive wobble when they’re made fresh. Japanese cheesecakes like Uncle Tetsu’s use a lot of whipped eggs, which incorporate air into the batter. The flour and cream cheese provide structure to hold the air bubbles, but not so much that the cake becomes dense. As a result, they’re light and moist — the direct opposite of most other cheesecakes. At Uncle Tetsu’s, they come in a variety of flavors, such as cookies and cream, pandan coconut, and ube. The shop also offers mini versions plus coffee and cookies. 3970 NE Loop 820, suite 700, uncletetsu-us.com Celebrity chef Graham Elliot is adding another restaurant to his growing Fort Worth footprint with Commodore Tavern & Terrace, coming soon to Magnolia Wine Bar’s old space on the Near Southside. Elliot, a celebrity chef and TV personality who has called Fort Worth home since 2022, is teaming with longtime hospitality vet Charlie Rushton on the project, which will also launch their new hospitality company. As of this writing, the menu is still up in the air, but Elliot described the place online as his take on the classic neighborhood restaurant, with American favorites, cocktails and as a come-as-you-are vibe. Commodore is expected to open this fall. 1101 W. Magnolia Ave. From the worth the drive department: Tiffany Derry’s SHEF Food + Wine Festival returns to Grand Prairie for the third year in a row, bringing with it a sizable roster of locally and nationally known chefs, live entertainment, and lots of booze. Happening Oct. 9-11 at the EpicCentral eat-drink-and-shop megaplex, the event will feature more 40 chefs, including a lot of Top Chef alum, such as Carla Hall, Kristen Kish, and Tristen Epps-Long, alongside a strong contingent of North Texas talent. The focal point of the festival will be the “Grand Tasting,” in which chefs serve dishes alongside wine and other spirits. There will also be culinary panels, wine tastings, and live entertainment. A portion of the proceeds will support scholarships and educational opportunities for the people entering the hospitality industry. For tickets and more info, visit sheffoodandwine.com.

Banh beo made with steamed rice cakes and vegan shrimp, mung bean, and sweet nuoc cham. A vegan version of bo kho, a savory and aromatic stew made with carrots and plant-based beef.

Our pals over at TX Whiskey have added a rum-cask finish to their ongoing Experimental Series. The appropriately named TX Rum Cask Finish features notes of caramel plantain, vanilla bean, toasted coconut, banana bread, and rum raisin, with a finish of spiced rum and oak. It’s a limited edition; only 1,100 bottles are available. Cost is $40 at the Whiskey Ranch. 2601 Whiskey Ranch Road Luu Lac

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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HOME

THE INSPIRING LIVING SPACES OF YOUR FELLOW FORT WORTHIANS

AN ELEVATED RETREAT

A residential canopy does not always mean roughing it. This modern treehouse proves childhood whimsy can be refined.

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HOME TREEHOUSE

An Elevated Retreat

A modern treehouse doesn’t mean you have to forego your 21st-century conveniences. By Brian Kendall Photos by Olaf Growald

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

dmittedly, when I think of a tree house, I imagine a dwelling that becomes one with the trunk, limbs, and leaves of a colossal deciduous with its own clever yet primitive plumbing system — à la “Swiss Family Robinson.” So, when I was first introduced to this house among the trees, I learned a canopy-level residence could possess modern conveniences — running water, fridge, stove, and wi-fi to boot — while remaining true to its intent. Which, let’s face it, is to either humor kids or to feel like a kid again yourself. Either way, no sense in roughing it without central A/C.

Connecting containers on both sides of the house via a steel structure meant the design could be less restrictive. The living room features 20-foot-high ceilings. F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

HOME TREEHOUSE

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HOME TREEHOUSE

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PROMOTION

Explore stunning imagery of remarkable local home projects. Each project’s unique character, craftsmanship, and vision are vividly showcased on the following pages for your inspiration. Dive into the world of design, architecture, finishes, fixtures, outdoor spaces, and more, where the beauty and inspiration behind each home are expertly captured. The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine. fwtx.com | OCTOBER 2026

Project Profile

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

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AJ Designs

Warmth & Refinement Throughout the interiors of this project, a restrained palette allows the materials and architectural details to take center stage. Sculptural furnishings and dramatic millwork introduce unexpected moments while preserving the home's timeless character. The living room is especially memorable, with ceilings soaring over 20 feet and a statement fireplace that pairs traditional stone with a geometric wood treatment. The design creates drama while still feeling warm and inviting. The home’s true wow factor is the man cave and bar, tucked beneath a dramatic arched opening. Rich, dark millwork frames a backlit display of spirits, creating an intimate and sophisticated retreat. Sculptural stone, tailored leather

seating, and warm, atmospheric lighting add to its sense of drama while keeping the space inviting. The contrast between the home's traditional architecture and its more modern design elements creates a strong visual identity. This project reflects AJ Design’s approach to creating interiors that feel sophisticated, comfortable, and deeply personal. The design style blends traditional architecture with contemporary elements and uses scale, texture, material, and contrast to create visual interest. This home embodies that philosophy, combining timeless elements with fresh perspectives to create an interior that feels welcoming and enduring beyond any particular design trend or time period.

AJ Designs

6060 Bryant Irvin Rd. Fort Worth 76132 817.713.0834 a.jones@annajonesdesigns.com Instagram: anna.jones.designs annajonesdesigns.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Project Profile

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Brumbaugh’s Furniture & Design The Seven at Bowie House: Modern West. Elevated Luxury. Distinctly Fort Worth. The Seven at Bowie House is the third luxury condominium project for which Brumbaugh’s Furniture & Design has been invited to provide the design and furnishings. Located adjacent to the fabulous Bowie House in Fort Worth, The Seven represents modern luxury with a distinctly Fort Worth point of view — because, after all, the West begins in Fort Worth. There’s something especially meaningful when one luxury brand partners with another to create something truly distinctive. At Brumbaugh’s, we welcome those opportunities. Each project pushes our design team to go further, think fresh, and deliver spaces that feel both beautiful and genuinely awe-inspiring. The architecture of The Seven is modern and refined, so our design

had to complement its clean lines while remaining unmistakably Brumbaugh’s. Our Modern West approach blends contemporary luxury, rich textures, distinctive furnishings, and unexpected details. Because the ownership of Bowie House is a personal friend, furnishing these residences felt both an honor and a responsibility. We wanted guests to immediately sense the opportunity: These are not just beautiful homes, but exceptional spaces that position The Seven as a true investment in the Fort Worth lifestyle. Our team knows how to create spaces that feel personal, elevated, and uniquely yours. Modern West is our expression of luxury — with a little Fort Worth soul.

Brumbaugh’s Furniture & Design

11651 Camp Bowie W. Blvd. Aledo 76008 817.244.9377 brumbaughs.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

Project Profile

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SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Claffey Pools

A Pool Made for Living This breathtaking infinityedge pool blends modern architecture, luxury, and the natural landscape. Positioned on a raised terrace, the pool takes full advantage of the site’s dramatic elevation and expansive views. A raised circular spa spills into the pool, while in-water loungers create a relaxing space along the shallow shelf. Multiple levels of light stone decking provide generous areas for entertaining, complemented by dual fire bowls along the infinity edge. Below, a sunken fire pit lounge creates an intimate gathering space surrounded by the soothing sound of flowing water. The pool’s elevated infinity edge creates a seamless connection to the horizon, making the water, skyline, and landscape feel like one continuous view. At sunset, the surface reflects the sky’s colors, turning the pool into a dramatic visual focal

point. The design doesn’t just frame the scenery — it incorporates it, giving the space depth, calm, and a strong sense of place. This project reflects Claffey Pools’ commitment to working with the site, using elevation as an advantage rather than a limitation. The pool feels like part of the home — easy, natural, and connected. It blends the architecture, landscape, and everyday living so the whole space works together effortlessly. Thoughtful landscaping and clean architectural details complete this resort-inspired backyard retreat.

Claffey Pools

1625 Brumlow Ave. Southlake 76092 817.488.5795 claffeypools.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

Project Profile

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Durango Doors of DFW

Millennium Steel Windows & Doors – Bringing the Outdoors In For this project, the team of specialists at Durango Doors installed a continuous wall with a combination of steel windows and doors using structural steel to connect the units together. By using steel and glass on the rear wall of the living area with minimal window and door profiles, the exterior patio is connected to the main living area, thus “Bringing the Outdoors In.” Product specialists and project managers worked diligently to ensure every detail aligned with the client’s vision, delivering exceptional results. The biggest challenge was the engineering of the structural steel to make sure all units were secured properly. The main design aesthetic is the minimal profiles of the Millennium steel windows and doors. By using steel, the frame size around the glass is reduced, and the interior and exterior views

are maximized — more glass less structure. This was the first time the Durango Doors team installed floor to ceiling windows and doors and mulled the units together, connecting indoor to outdoor living areas, to give that grandiose look. Although this was the first continuous wall of thin profile Millennium steel windows and doors created by the team, they now frequently deliver the same custom service to other clients.

Durango Doors of DFW

4015 W. Vickery Blvd. Fort Worth 76107 817.732.8181 durangodoors.com

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Project Profile

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SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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HGC Residential Development A Dutch Colonial Haven on Mattison Avenue

HGC Residential Development is crafting a rare Dutch Colonial home on the peaceful cul-de-sac of Mattison Avenue, in one of the most established neighborhoods on the West Side of Fort Worth. Scheduled for completion in early fall, this home will offer over 4,000 square feet of refined living, luxurious finishes, and a thoughtfully-designed floor plan that highlights HGC’s craftsmanship — and the needs and wants of our clientele. After extensive design exploration, the team selected this timeless, elegant architectural style and is now finalizing interior selections that will echo the home’s classic exterior. Drawing on more than 25 years of

experience, the HGC team is transforming their client’s dreams into a one-of-a-kind home of distinction and grace, built with the utmost care and attention to detail. Staying true to the company’s philosophy, the home is being built to honor and enhance the character of its surrounding neighborhood, resulting in a serene, sophisticated retreat that blends comfort, style, and enduring architectural integrity.

HGC Residential Development

4624 Saint Amand Circle Fort Worth 76126 817.991.1862 hgcdevelopment.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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The Otium Group

A Classic English Manor, Fully Orchestrated This Colleyville estate called for technology that could disappear into the architecture and perform like nothing else in North Texas. We built the audio, video, lighting, and automation across 12 rooms, both patios and the pool, all orchestrated through a single Control4 system. The media room centers on an Epson Pro Cinema laser projector and a Screen Innovations Zero Edge Black Diamond screen, which rejects ambient light so the image holds its depth even with the room open. Wired for 7.2 surround, we built it as a 2.1 instead: a three-speaker in-wall array flanking each side of the screen, with a Dynaudio in-wall subwoofer and AudioControl amplifiers. Most systems designers hide their speakers. We made ours the focal point of the room and left the grilles off.

Outside is a concert. Six Ambisonic ribbon-tweeter speakers and two buried 10-inch Origin Acoustics subwoofers on 2,000 watts turn the pool and patios into a venue. The philosophy is functional simplicity. Every component lives in one upstairs rack. Lighting, music, televisions, and shades answer to a keypad in each room. Luxury is a house that performs at the highest level and never asks you to think about it.

The Otium Group

5059 Martin Luther King Jr. Fwy. Fort Worth 76119 817.300.1518 theotiumgroup.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Stanton & Co.

A Home Reimagined This renovation transformed an existing home into a more open, functional space for everyday living, entertaining, and family gatherings. By reworking existing rooms, enclosing outdoor space, and adding a second floor, the home gained both square footage and a new way of living. At the center is a redesigned kitchen anchored by an oversized island topped with honed Jet Mist granite. Satin Mont Blanc quartzite adds contrast at the range and continues up the wall as a full-height backsplash. Custom rift-cut, Shaker-style, white oak cabinetry includes an appliance and coffee cabinet, integrated refrigerator panels, and lighted upper cabinets. The adjoining butler’s pantry was upgraded to provide additional storage and prep space.

The former living room became a dedicated dining room with built-in glass-front cabinetry and a statement chandelier. A former covered patio was enclosed and reimagined as a family room overlooking the pool and outdoor living area. Expansive glass doors preserve the backyard connection. A coffered ceiling adds architectural character, and the wet bar provides additional function for entertaining in style. New 3¼-inch solid white oak flooring was installed throughout the newly constructed spaces and hand-scraped to match the home’s existing wood floors, which were refinished to create a seamless transition between old and new. A second-floor addition adds a spacious game room and full bathroom, creating additional space for family and guests.

Stanton & Co.

4824 Camp Bowie Blvd. Fort Worth 76107 817.731.5855, Ext. 1 stantonandco.net SPECIAL HOME SECTION

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Vintage Floors + Finishes A Bold Bath Retreat

This primary bath is built around strong contrast and careful detail. A black-andwhite checkerboard floor gives the room a classic base, while deep green tile makes the shower the clear focal point. The arched opening softens the geometry of the floor and gives the space its most distinctive architectural feature. “One of the biggest challenges was finishing the tile edges inside the arch,” says Blake Taylor, account manager at Vintage Floors + Finishes. “Typically, on this type of contoured opening, we would miter the exterior edges. Here, we used pencil profiles to tie the arch cleanly into both the primary bathroom wall and the interior shower wall.” That solution is where the project’s character and Vintage Floors +

Finishes’ signature craftsmanship come together. The carefully aligned vertical tile, consistent grout joints, and crisp transitions allow the natural variation of the glaze to stand out without distracting from the architecture. Even the checkerboard floor is laid with a disciplined geometry that carries the eye directly toward the shower. The result is bold without feeling excessive: classic pattern, saturated color, and thoughtful detailing working in balance. More than a beautiful bathroom, it is a study in how precise installation can turn an ambitious design into a polished, enduring space — built to look intentional from every angle.

Vintage Floors + Finishes

5136 Camp Bowie Blvd. Fort Worth 76107 817.877.1564 vintagefloorstx.com SPECIAL HOME SECTION

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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California Closets

Where Practical Spaces Become Beautiful

California Closets

844.285.6365 customer-service@calclosets.com californiaclosets.com 100

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Storage was never the sole consideration for this magnificent Fort Worth home. California Closets brought its signature “Practical Magic” to two distinctive spaces, blending timeless elegance with thoughtful organization and highly personalized design. The Desert Agave Whole-Home Pantry showcases inviting, open-access storage with an understated sophistication that makes everyday essentials feel beautifully displayed. In the Tarrytown Whole-Home Laundry, fashion meets function in a space designed to make room for everything that belongs. Together, the projects brought the homeowner’s vision to life, maximizing every square inch without sacrificing warmth or style. By creating customized solutions that extend far beyond closets, California Closets revealed the home's hidden potential — and proved that practical spaces could be among its most inspiring rooms. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Daltile

St. Jude Dream Home The St. Jude Dream Home is a brandnew, professionally built home raffled off to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For the Southlake Dream Home, Daltile professionals worked alongside WillowTree Custom Homes and Semmelmann Interiors to bring the Château in Bloom vision to life. Daltile surfaces were used throughout the home, helping to create a cohesive design that pairs the elegance of a French château with a soft, modern, and welcoming feel. The wow factor is the expansive Calacatta porcelain flowing from kitchen surfaces to a sculptural fireplace, creating warmth and quiet elegance. A modern French château palette of soft whites and organic tones keeps the home refined yet livable, balancing elevated design with comforting, timeless warmth.

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Daltile

3328 Fossil Creek Blvd. Fort Worth 76137 817.332.4161 daltile.com F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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Fashion Glass & Mirror

Modern Glass and Mirror Finishes

Fashion Glass & Mirror

585 S. Interstate 35 E DeSoto 75115 972.223.8936 fashionglass.com 102

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This project includes the furnishing and installation of high-quality glass and mirror products for residential construction. Fashion Glass & Mirror will provide custom-fabricated shower glass, mirrors, and related glass products in accordance with the project plans, specifications, and builder requirements. Its team will coordinate measurements, fabrication, scheduling, delivery, and installation to ensure each unit is completed accurately and efficiently. The wow factor of this project is the way the glass and mirror details elevate the overall look of the home, add sophistication, and enhance functionality. Quality materials and precise installation create polished, inviting spaces where thoughtful design elevates the entire environment. With extensive experience in residential and multifamily construction, Fashion Glass & Mirror is committed to providing reliable service and quality workmanship. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Fount House Interiors A Montrachet Family Home

This project began as a simple move and grew into a full home redesign shaped by a young family settling into Montrachet and welcoming their first child. The goal was a clean, modern foundation layered with antiques and color to add character and permanence. Unlike many first homes that feel temporary, this one balances modern simplicity with pieces that bring age and substance. Blending styles is central to Fount House Interiors’ approach, and the clients’ trust made that possible as they embraced color, antiques, and a mix of styles — midcentury modern lines, traditional motifs for warmth, and antiques to give the rooms some age. The standout moment is the hand-blocked dining room drapery. It's a true work of art.

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Fount House Interiors 120 St. Louis Ave. Suite 148 Fort Worth 76104 972.904.9615 fount-house.com

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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Guardado Garden Center Inspiration Takes Root Here

Guardado Garden Center

At family-owned Guardado Garden Center, we lovingly tend to locally sourced plants that are waiting to transform your personal space. Our Garden Center offers a wide variety of unique plants that you won’t find in every garden center. We took on the tough challenge of combining drought-resistant foliage with tropical plants together in one place. Our style is natural, warm, and thoughtfully curated, keeping everything distinctly garden focused. Your yard is your canvas; the possibilities are endless. When you walk into our established shop, a hidden gem, it feels just like you are walking through a beautiful botanical garden.

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Integrity Stone of Fort Worth Where Every Stone Tells a Story

For this Fort Worth kitchen, Integrity Stone curated, fabricated, and installed Cristallo Quartzite, a rare, translucent stone prized for its crystalline clarity and glowing amber veining. They wrapped the space in it: the counters, the full-slab range backsplash, and floating stone shelf. As stone curators and artisan fabricators, Integrity Stone hand-selected slabs and fabricated them so the veining flows seamlessly. Cristallo Quartzite’s translucence allows light to pass through and illuminate its crystalline structure. They recommended backlighting the island, creating a dramatic glow that earned the kitchen more than 15.5 million online views. The reveal moment, the husband switching on the backlit island to surprise his wife, is the heart of our Concierge Stone Experience: a client's vision comes to life, stone crafted into functional art. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Integrity Stone of Fort Worth

817.773.9061 (Bobby Crow) 972.835.5732 (McKenzie McClure) 214.707.3230 (Karen Crow) integritystonefw.com @integritystonefw F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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KLZ Stone Supply

European Modern Meets Texas Living

KLZ Stone Supply

11129 Zodiac Lane Ste. 300 Dallas 75229 972.807.6187 klzstone.com

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KLZ Stone Supply collaborated with Keren Abu, owner of M.E. Contracting Texas LLC to select stone for her Dallas home, designed around clean, minimalist architecture with warmth and livability. Natural stone, warm woods, expansive glass, water, and landscaping work together to blur the line between indoors and outdoors. The main challenge was choosing stone with enough natural movement to complement the minimalist architecture while still keeping the home welcoming. Every element was considered as part of one continuous experience, with stone integrated into the architecture itself — from the kitchen island to the dramatic dining table and intimate bar — creating a cohesive environment where materials and simplicity shape the home’s character. Photos by Ethan Wardman.

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MDM Landscapes Modern Texas Retreat

Designed to complement the home’s modern architecture, this landscape blends crisp geometry with layered, expressive planting to create a setting that feels both refined and welcoming. Oversized steppingstones, raised planters, steel edging, sculptural agaves, and thoughtfully placed trees establish strong architectural lines while softening the residence with texture and movement. The result is contemporary, polished, and unmistakably Texas. What makes the project memorable is the balance of bold forms with lush, dimensional planting that creates interest from every viewpoint. The wow factor comes from custom hardscape details and rich plant layering that give the property a resort-like sense of arrival.

SPECIAL HOME SECTION

MDM Landscapes 12735 W. FM 4 Godley 76044 817.396.0125 mdmlawncare.com

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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NexCourt Inc.

Quail Hollow Lakeside Multiuse Court

NexCourt Inc.

1127 S. Airport Circle Euless 76040 817.283.4646 nexcourt.com 108

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NexCourt designed and built a custom lakeside multiuse court for a contemporary residence in Quail Hollow, Westlake. Volleyball was the primary sport, created especially for the homeowners’ daughter, while basketball and pickleball were also important to the family. The court combines a clean blue modular-tile layout, integrated game lines, two basketball systems, and a net setup within one efficient footprint. Positioned directly along the lake, the finished court takes full advantage of the property’s striking water and landscape views. The project showcases a highly intentional design approach in which every visible element supports both function and appearance. The result is an energetic family recreation space that still feels polished and appropriate for a high-end contemporary home. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Openup Garage Doors

Cedar Wood Overlay Garage Doors The detailed craftsmanship sets these garage doors apart, blending innovation with timeless aesthetics. The vertical plank design with square edge grooves enhances the contemporary appeal, seamlessly combining with the overall Dream Home aesthetic. The three 9-by-8-foot garage doors, with custom milled penny gap premium cedar, are installed with a high lift option and Liftmaster side mount motors. The decision to use custom milled penny gap premium cedar (after reclaimed wood proved impractical) allowed Openup Garage Doors to achieve the desired look while ensuring durability and precision. The overlay design adds a standout feature that elevates the home's exterior. The high lift installation maximizes space and functionality. Additionally, using industrial-grade glue and hidden screws ensures longevity while maintaining a nail-free front appearance. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Openup Garage Doors & Services 10500 E. Hurst Blvd. Hurst 76053 817.399.9092 openupgaragedoors.com

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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Ramon Roofing Inc. The Avondale Project

Ramon Roofing Inc.

3027 Ramona Drive Fort Worth 76116 817.924.1645 ramonroofing.com

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Ramon Roofing was selected to roof this beautiful home. This project consisted of removing the existing storm-damaged tile roof and installing a new Ludowici Classic 14-inch clay tile roof system. The new roof features custom copper flashings and beautifully crafted copper-clad dormers, providing both exceptional durability and timeless elegance. Completed within a tight 60-day window despite steep access, this re-roofing project showcases Ramon Roofing’s commitment to safety, quality, and craftsmanship. The Ludowici Classic clay tile, a 75-year warranted, world-renowned material, adds timeless European-influenced elegance with its rich red blends, even earning the home a feature on “Landman.” Since 1995, Ramon Roofing has guided clients in selecting clay, slate, and metal systems for their home that complement individual architectural style and design aesthetic. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Renova Custom Woodworks Understated Luxury

The custom cabinetry in this kitchen takes center stage through a combination of custom curvature, natural walnut wood, refined proportions, and intentionally integrated details. This cabinetry was designed to complement the architecture of the home while also providing functional storage and workable counter space. From the statement island, cabinetry around the range, to the built-in shelving, each element of this kitchen was purposefully designed for the unique space. Cabinetry with furniture-level craftsmanship defines the space. Curved forms, walnut construction, and refined hardware create a sophisticated feel. A curved walnut island anchors the room, its scale and continuous grain giving it true furniture presence. The kitchen reflects Renova’s understated luxury, proving proportion, craftsmanship, and material can transform a space. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Renova Custom Woodworks

12217 J Rendon Road Burleson 76028 817.707.4993 renovawoodworks.com @renovawoodworks F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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Ricks Hardware & Decorative Plumbing St. Jude Dream Home

Ricks Hardware & Decorative Plumbing

Multiple locations in Fort Worth, Dallas, Granbury, and Grapevine rickshardware.com 112

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Created for a purpose greater than beautiful design, the St. Jude Dream Home raises vital funds and awareness for children and families facing extraordinary circumstances. Ricks Hardware was honored to provide hardware details that elevated the home's aesthetic while supporting the life-changing mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Typically associated with European doors and windows, this hardware gives the cabinetry a distinctive, furniture-like quality. In the kitchen, the hardware delivers an unexpected wow factor. The cremone bolts and coordinating pieces function like jewelry, adding character, dimension, and fine craftsmanship, demonstrating how thoughtfully chosen details transform cabinetry from a functional necessity into a defining design feature. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Set in Stone Granite and Marble The Beverly Casa

The Beverly Casa is a Dallas home that has captured attention on Instagram as @thebeverlycasa for its distinctive interiors and thoughtful design. We had the opportunity to bring the stonework in these spaces to life, using the same marble throughout to create a cohesive look. In the kitchen, marble countertops are paired with a scalloped range backsplash, where the natural movement and veining of the stone become a focal point of the space. Continuing into the butler’s pantry, the same marble is carried through the countertops, full-height backsplash, and integrated stone sink, creating a seamless and intentional connection between the two spaces. Together, these details showcase how thoughtful fabrication, material continuity, and craftsmanship can enhance a home’s overall design. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Set in Stone Granite and Marble 1715 Rhome St. Ste. A Dallas 75229 214.909.7798 setinstonegm.com

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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Sherwin-Williams

Rewild: The 2027 Colormix Forecast

Sherwin-Williams

Find your closest Sherwin-Williams Store at sherwin-williams.com/ store-locator

Photos courtesy of The Sherwin-Williams Company and used by Fort Worth Magazine with permission.”

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Sherwin-Williams’ 2027 Colormix® Forecast, Rewild, celebrates color as a catalyst for selfexpression. Featuring 48 curated hues across three design stories, Revive, Reignite, and Reconnect, the forecast promotes a more personal approach to design. Ten Continuity Colors provide a versatile foundation, allowing endless interpretation and creativity. Inspired by the resurgence of craftsmanship, expressive interiors, and a renewed connection to nature, Rewild reflects the cultural and design shifts shaping future spaces. Rather than prescribing specific color choices, it empowers individuals to use color in ways that feel authentic to them. The forecast captures a growing desire for originality, personality, and homes that evolve with their inhabitants, moving beyond safe neutrals toward spaces that more fully reflect individual lifestyles, experiences, and identities. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

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Semmelmann Interiors Textured Tranquility

Textured Tranquility centers on bringing people together, creating a space for gathering, storytelling, and shared moments. The arched entry reveals the chandelier, painterly wallcovering, and intimate seating, forming a sense of discovery. Carrying the immersive wallcovering throughout makes the room feel like a work of art, expressing our Organic Glamour approach — softness, sophistication, and unexpected beauty. Dreamlike movement, crystal, warm metallics, tailored furnishings, and tactile fabrics add refinement without feeling precious. True luxury is beauty you can live in. The wallcovering, lighting, furnishings, and details create the visual story, but the real success of the room will be measured in memories shared here for years to come. The spirit of living is in the giving, and this room was designed to give something back every time it is enjoyed. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Semmelmann Interiors

4374 W. Vickery Blvd. Fort Worth 76107 817.774.4045 semmelmanninteriors.com F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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The Jarrell Company of Grapevine Dream Home Showplace

The Jarrell Company of Grapevine

1900 S. Main St., Ste. 110 Grapevine 76051 817.532.5530 jarrellco.com

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The Jarrell Company supplied luxury appliances for the St. Jude Dream Home Showplace Community in Southlake, a collaboration of five builders who formed a “Dream Team” and helped raise over $1 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The project stands out for its exceptional craftsmanship, vaulted ceilings, custom elevators, and luxury appliances provided by The Jarrell Company. Its uniqueness comes from the scale of the effort and its purpose — advancing pediatric cancer research and patient care. The homes debuted at an exclusive spring event attended by more than 300 industry guests. The aesthetic blends French-inspired transitional luxury with art deco touches. The featured home reflects The Jarrell Company’s timeless style through blue-and-gold cabinetry paired with Sub-Zero, Wolf & Cove appliances, designer spaces, and resort-style amenities. SPECIAL HOME SECTION

Making a Difference

Let’s identify and achieve what is most important to You. 1330 Summit Avenue | Fort Worth, Texas 76102 | Phone: 817-334-0351

DREAM HOME

by Brian Kendall

2026

The 2026 Dream Home Nears Completion

Tours of the Fort Worth Magazine Dream Home kick off on Halloween. And be on the lookout for the home on our November cover.

e’re getting set to put out the welcome mat for the 2026 Fort Worth Magazine Dream Home at Aledo River. While tempted to say we’ve laid the last brick, this Mediterraneaninspired home, which spans over 6,600 square feet, has no bricks — only stucco and stone for this showstopper. Built by Tyler Brabec of Brabec & Co. and featuring interior design by Susan Semmelmann of Semmelmann Interiors, the stunning $5 million home will open its doors for touring on Halloween, Oct. 31 — costumes optional. The tour will run through Nov. 15 with the home open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can purchase tickets at 2026dreamhomealedoriver.com or by scanning the QR code on the following page. This marks the 23rd Fort Worth Maga-

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zine Dream Home, the publication’s flagship program that launched in 2000 with a new build in Mira Vista. The recurring showcase, which highlights the latest in luxury homebuilding and design, enlists some of the area’s top industry professionals to create a one-of-a-kind home in an emerging development. From pool builders to landscapers and gutter installers, every aspect of the Dream Home is crafted by top professionals who use the opportunity to showcase the latest trends and flaunt their expertise. This year’s home, with architectural plans from Michael Perkins at Elm Residential, is a stunning Spanish Mediterranean one-story with five bedrooms and six full baths on a wooded 3-acre plot in the Aledo River development west of Fort Worth.

According to Perkins, the home will retain a timeless aesthetic — devoid of any fleeting trends. “For this project, I looked back at the historical Spanish-Mediterranean details and pulled a lot of inspiration from that and avoided this transitional-modern contemporary flair,” Perkins says. “When you see the exterior, it’s really simple. We didn’t go bananas with it. And I think those houses age the best over time.” And the style is well suited for the home’s builder, Tyler Brabec, who prefers classic architectural aesthetics that have remained in vogue for generations. While the Brabec Custom Homes portfolio includes home designs in the Colonial, craftsman, ranch, and farmhouse styles, Brabec admits to having a personal penchant

for the Mediterranean look. “If I were going to build my dream home, it would look like this,” Brabec says. “I’m super passionate about the way this home looks.” While this year’s home represents the first time the magazine has partnered with Brabec and Perkins, the massive undertaking also has its fair share of Dream Home veterans. Back for her eighth year as interior designer is Susan Semmelmann, who manages to carry an unmistakable brand identity but can shift styles like she’s David Bowie. And, with seven dream projects under her belt, nearly a third of Fort Worth Magazine Dream Homes have showcased Semmelmann’s chameleonic abilities. “What sets us apart year after year is simple: We create the ‘wow’ factor without ever repeating ourselves,” Semmelmann says. “Every project is a new expression, pushing boundaries and elevating expectations beyond what has been done before.” While a visit to the 2026 Dream Home will offer plenty to see, admire, and explore, proceeds from the tour also benefit nonprofit a Wish with Wings, a local charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical diagnoses and their families. Increasing their wish fulfillments year after year, the organization reached a landmark moment last October when it granted its 2,000th wish. If you plan on joining us for a tour, a Wish with Wings volunteers will be on hand to scan tickets and answer any questions. Be sure to inquire about their incredible work and find out how you can contribute. Come Halloween, consider the welcome mat officially out. We’ll see you inside.

Tour Information When: Oct. 31 – Nov. 15, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday Where: 1435 Jenkins Road, Aledo 2026dreamhomealedoriver.com/ tour-information

Key Partners

Development

Aledo River

Homebuilder

Brabec & Co.

Interior Designer

Semmelmann Interiors

Tour Sponsors

Autobahn First Financial Bank

Appliances

The Jarrell Co.

Architectural Plans

Elm Residential

Artificial Grass Beams

Artisan Turf Green Valley Beam & Truss Co

Cabinets Kitchen

The Kitchen Source

Cabinets (other)

Renova Custom Woodworks

Countertop Fabrication

Set in Stone

Countertop Materials

KLZ Stone

Door Front

Durango Doors

Doors Interior

Henson Lumber

Drywall

Alliance Drywall

Fireplaces

Metro Brick and Stone Co.

Flooring Materials & Labor (wood and carpet)

Vintage Floors + Finishes

Garage Doors and Openers

Open Up Garage Doors

Garage Epoxy Coating

Premier Custom Floors

Glass (all glass)

Fashion Glass & Mirror

Gutters Hardware HVAC (materials and labor) Insulation Landscaping Lighting Fixtures Low Voltage/AV/Security Lumber and Trusses Mattresses

Loveless Modern Gutters Ricks Hardware Performance Heat & Air New Leaf Foam Insulation MDM Landscapes Ferguson The Otium Group Day Lumber Company The Original Mattress Factory

Outdoor Design

Blount Designs

Paint Material

Sherwin-Williams

Patio Furniture

Design Within Reach

Plumbing Fixtures Pool Roofing Stone (natural) Stucco Tile Material Trash Removal Windows and Doors Exterior

Ferguson Claffey Pools Red Barn Roofing Texas Stone Creations Precision Finishes Stucco & Stone Daltile Waste Advantage RAM Windows & Doors

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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PROMOTION

WHY IS ONE ROOM ALWAYS HOTTER THAN THE REST OF THE HOUSE?

Performance Heat and Air explains what causes stubborn hot spots and why a mini-split system may be the solution. By Olivia Sims

If one room in your home always feels warmer than the rest, you’re not imagining it—and you don’t have to live with it. According to Kyle Lane, owner of Performance Heat and Air, uneven temperatures are one of the most common concerns homeowners face. While many assume it’s simply part of the home’s design, the real cause is often something that can be corrected. “A lot of people think they need a brandnew system when the real issue is airflow,” Lane said. “You have to look at the entire picture before recommending a solution.” An HVAC system relies on properly

designed ductwork to deliver conditioned air throughout the home. Ducts that are undersized, poorly routed, or leaking can prevent cool air from reaching certain rooms. Dirty filters, blocked vents, and aging attic insulation can also contribute. Second-story bedrooms, rooms above garages, and additions often present the biggest challenges. Warm air naturally rises, and many additions were built after the original HVAC system was installed, stretching it beyond its intended capacity. Large windows and afternoon sun make these spaces even harder to cool during North Texas summers. Rather than recommending unnecessary equipment, Performance Heat and Air evaluates each home individually. “We really try to understand what’s happening before telling someone what they need,” Lane said. “Every house has its own story.” For rooms where modifying ductwork

isn’t practical, a mini-split system can help. Operating independently of traditional ductwork, mini-splits provide precise temperature control in spaces like bonus rooms, garages, and home offices, while improving energy efficiency by cooling only the spaces in use. Schedule a professional home comfort evaluation with Performance Heat and Air to identify the source of uneven temperatures. Call today or visit PerformanceHeatAndAir.com.

Performance Heat and Air — Keeping North Texas Comfortable Since 2010 | 817-477-1000

SNAPS

PA R T Y P I C S photos by Laura McCarthy Elusive Images

Your Dress, Their Dream

Deborah Ferguson, Erin Buck, Christy Smith, Erma Lee

UCC Prom Dreams Boutique and We’re All About the Dress

Mary Elizabeth Levy Van Meter

Lynn Hammer, Cathy Sewell

nnual prom dress drive, Your Dress, Their Dream, benefiting University Christian Church Prom Dreams Boutique and We’re All About the Dress, collected more than 700 new and gently loved formalwear for teen girls and boys. The 2026 drive was held Sunday, Aug. 30, from 12–3 p.m. at Into the Garden at The Shops at Clearfork.

Susan Barwise-Meeker, Taylor Reo

Grayson Shackelford

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Karen Kerr, Teresa Yeargins, Autumn Reo

Christy Smith, Carol Dunaway

MAKE THIS HOLIDAY FEAST ONE FOR THE BOOKS Make your holiday party one they’ll talk about year-round with River Ranch Stockyards. Our offsite catering services bring award-winning food, personalized menus, and Texas hospitality directly to your workplace, event venue, or private gathering.

A TASTE OF TEXAS FOR ANY GATHERING Award-winning catering for events of every size

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Flexible options from drop-off delivery to full-service catering

Custom menus tailored to your event and guests

Professional staff, setup, and Texas hospitality

BOOK YOUR CATERING C O N TA C T U S TO D AY ! CALL: 682-338-4486 WEBSITE: riverranchstockyards.com

SCAN TO ORDER

PROMOTION

“A floor plan can look beautiful on paper. The real question is: how will it live?”

10 Things to Consider Before Selecting a Luxury Home Builder Choosing the right builder shapes your budget, timeline, and how your finished home lives. Scott Sangalli of Morrison Group, with 35+ years and roughly 400 homes built, shares what to consider before construction begins. 1 | Take your time. Slow down during design and planning. Small early decisions ripple through window placement, structure, lighting, and more.

2 | Match experience to ambition. A builder skilled at $1 million homes may struggle at $5 million. Ask to see comparable projects in size, complexity, and price. 3 | Chemistry matters. You’ll spend a year or more with this team. Talk to past clients about communication style and responsiveness, not just the portfolio.

4 | Choose a builder who will say “no.” Luxury budgets can spiral through what Sangalli calls “shame spending,” adding one premium upgrade after another. A good builder pushes back when a selection doesn’t serve the client’s original vision or resale value.

5 | Demand financial transparency early. Understand how budgets, allowances, and cost reporting work before signing, not after a problem arises.

6 | Design for how you actually live. Before finalizing plans, builders should understand family size, entertaining habits, guest frequency, and furniture. Room flow matters as much as room size; traffic shouldn’t cut through sitting areas, and layouts should capture views.

10 | Communicate early. Before the first nail is driven, agree on budget, schedule, design, and lifestyle needs. Address furniture fit, room flow, views, and how your family may change over time. Sangalli’s benchmark for success: a homeowner who can say, “I got a great house at a good price.” The process, done right, determines whether a home is just beautiful, or truly right for the people living in it. For more information, visit morrison-group.com.

7 | Know who’s actually building your home. A builder’s portfolio means little if the skilled tradespeople behind it aren’t available for your project. Ask about their subcontractor relationships and tenure.

8 | Understand what changes the timeline. Homeowner decisions, not just construction itself, drive schedules. A late selection can push back subcontractors who move to other jobs, delaying the whole project. 9 | Talk to former clients about the finished home. Ask if they’re happy with the result, if the builder communicated well, and if they’d build with them again.

Scott Sangalli, Founder of Morrison Group

GIVE BACK GREATER FORT WORTH’S CHARITY/SOCIAL EVENTS

Oct. 1

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Catholic Charities Fort Worth Catholic Charities Fort Worth

Oct. 1

Party in Fort Worth Fort Worth Promotion & Development Fund TBD

Oct. 1

Mahj for Meals Tarrant Area Food Bank River Crest Country Club

Oct. 2

OCTOBER

Breast Cancer Awareness Month MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

SAT

★★★ 4

Oct. 3

Zoo Ball Fort Worth Zoo Fort Worth Zoo

Oct. 3

OCTOBER 2026 SUN

Adoption Rocks Gladney Center for Adoption Gladney Center for Adoption

★

★ 9

★★ 10

★★

Healthy Relationships Start Here Live Concert The Parenting Center TBD

Oct. 6

Education Is a Girl’s Best Friend YWLA Foundation Grace Lobby

Oct. 7

★

★★

Some Enchanted Evening Fort Worth Botanic Garden Fuller Garden

Oct. 10

★

★★

★

★★★

Day of the Girl Girls Inc. of Tarrant County Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Oct. 10

Family Fun Run Fort Worth Botanic Garden Fort Worth Botanic Garden

Oct. 11

Indulge & Inspire Paslay Foundation Clay Pigeon

Oct. 16

Monster Mash The Women’s Center The Fort Worth Club

Oct. 17

A Cool Night The WARM Place Amon G. Carter Stadium (Legends Club)

Oct. 17

Ignite: An Evening of Art and Impact Camp Fire First Texas William Campbell Gallery

Oct. 20

Empower the Future Breakfast Junior Achievement of the Chisholm Trail Ridglea Country Club

Oct. 21

Heroes of Hope Cancer Care Services Hurst Conference Center

Oct. 21

65 Roses Wine & Food Extravaganza Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Benbrook Stables

Oct. 22

Together at the Table Tarrant Area Food Bank TAFB West

Oct. 23-26

Boo at the Zoo Fort Worth Zoo Fort Worth Zoo

Oct. 24

ArtsGoggle Near Southside Magnolia Avenue

Oct. 24

Hoot ‘n Holler ACH Child and Family Services River Ranch Stockyards

F W T X .COM | OCTO B E R 2026

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SAVE THE DATES! Join the Ronald McDonald House of Greater Fort Worth for our exclusive 2027 events to support families receiving medical treatment in Fort Worth!

ROADHOUSE MARCH 25, 2027

WILD GAME DINNER SEPTEMBER 10, 2027

Live music. Great food. One unforgettable night supporting families.

Experience an exclusive evening of cocktails, wild game cuisine, and live entertainment, all for a meaningful cause.

LEARN MORE: RMHFW.ORG SPONSORSHIPS AVAILABLE STARTING THIS FALL AT $2,500+

TERESA’S EVENT STAFFING & BARTENDING

Fort Worth, Texas. Est. 1989 | (817) 688-7335

ELEVATE YOUR EVENT WITH PROFESSIONAL, PERSONABLE SERVICE

NEED BARTENDERS IN BOAS? SERVERS IN SEQUINS? WE’RE ALL IN! BARTENDERS | SERVERS | EVENT LEADS & More From vendor no-shows to cake mishaps, we handle it all—gracefully. Whether it’s casual or black-tie, our team brings style, skill, and standout service. BOOK NOW | (817) 688-7335 | TERESASEVENTSTAFFING.COM 126

OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

In September 2023, writer Daniel Earl Norman tried his hand at ghost hunting with a trip to the Baker Hotel — a then-abandoned landmark in Mineral Wells that might be the most Chicago-looking 14-story building this side of the Mason-Dixon. (Surely, a friend of a friend of Al Capone’s grabbed a sandwich in the lobby once.) Opening three weeks after the stock market crashed in 1929, the 450-room hotel managed to keep its doors open until closing permanently in 1972 — but not before welcoming its fair share of supposed spirits. While we won’t give away the ending of Mr. Norman’s incredible story (which you can read by scanning the QR code below), we will share that the handsome hotel is, like some of its former tenants, coming back from the dead. Currently undergoing a $65 million renovation, the hotel is slated to reopen in 2029. Mark your calendars, ghost hunters. FWTX.com/news/something-in-the-water-paranormalinvestigations-in-mineral-

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OCTO B E R 2026 | F W T X .COM

@crystalwisephoto PHOTO BY CRYSTAL WISE

We Drive the Difference The Gilchrist Valet Service: • Online or over-the-phone sales purchase and delivery • Service pick-up and delivery

Experience the Gilchrist Difference:

• Family owned and operated • Purchase process tailored to your needs • Three stores to choose from where each General Manager personally assists you • Customer relationships do not end with the sale • Each experience is special when you work with Gilchrist Automotive

Platinum Ford | platinumford.com | 469.595.0099  Platinum Ford North | platinumfordnorth.com | 940.686.2236 SouthWest Ford | southwestford.com | 817.596.5700  Triple Crown Ford | triplecrownford.com | 254.968.7000 Jonathan Franco, GM, Platinum Ford North; Dustin Rodgers, GM, Triple Crown Ford, Stephenville; (front row) Stephen Gilchrist, Dealer Operator; Adam Vincze; (not pictured) Chris Bonnett, GM, SouthWest Ford, Weatherford.