by Olaf Growald
PB&J wings, Wishbone & Flynt
PB&J wings, Wishbone & Flynt
Good thing for Fort Worth and the Near Southside’s South Main Village that chef Stefon Rishel couldn’t make the numbers work on his original plan for the new Wishbone & Flynt restaurant and The Amber Room bar: a dual concept that Rishel wanted to open next to the Legal Draft Beer Company in downtown Arlington.
No offense to the great things going down in Arlington. Fort Worth Magazine’s March cover pays homage to why you should be paying attention to what else is happening in the non-suburb besides the Rangers, Cowboys, and Six Flags. But it’s hard to imagine anything like this feeling right in downtown Arlington. Rishel, who formerly helmed MAX’s Wine Dive in Fort Worth and won Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Chef competition in 2015, opened Wishbone & Flynt and The Amber Room in late January on Bryan Avenue, a block off of South Main Street in the heart of the burgeoning village. The two concepts are in an old warehouse damaged by fire and closed since 1981. A man died in the fire. “So, there is a ghost,” Rishel says, without evidence of worry. The restaurant and bar have separate entrances, but they’re connected through the restaurant. The Amber Room’s exterior entrance, through a 600-year-old wooden door, has no sign and the feel it’s hiding some illicit behavior.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch, happy hour, and dinner. We arrived for a dinner reservation the night before Valentine’s. The intimate 61-seat restaurant is buzzing at 6 p.m. With its brick walls and old industrial feel, this is a joint that would sit right in New York City and feels great in the South Main Village. The crowd is middle-aged — friends, couples, groups, business partners. Any notion we’d be able to slip in unrecognized was shot immediately, with Rishel checking guests in at the door and showing them to their tables. We’re a little early for our reservation, and Rishel escorts us through the restaurant, down a narrow hallway, through a door, and into The Amber Room, a Persian-themed lounge modeled after a Russian bar disassembled and stolen by Nazi forces during World War II and never recovered.
“I can see this becoming one of my favorite places,” my wife, Julie, observed as she settled into a comfortable chair in one of the darkened bar’s numerous cozy vignettes. From the cocktail menu, we both order “What the Chef Drinks,” a concoction of rye, cherry syrup, Gosling’s Ginger Beer (think cool breeze on the exhale), and orange bitters.
Rishel notes everything on the menu is fresh. He has no walk-in cooler or freezer because the place doesn’t have the space. Once seated in the restaurant, Julie and I dive in on the menu’s heavy orientation toward shareables, with the advice of a very friendly and helpful server. “We just took a class,” she notes, when we ask for advice on wine pairings with the food. She takes note of what we’re eating and returns from the bar with a recommendation for what turns out to be a terrifically appropriate bottle.
Rishel’s menu makes the unusual feel accessible.
Our PB&J Wings came with a flavorful Thai peanut sauce, blackberry coulis (the “J”), and cilantro — eight wings for $14. The $14 charred baby octopus was slow cooked in water, then grilled, and served with roasted potatoes, pearl onions, paprika oil, and aioli. The char flavor and crunchiness were a perfect complement to the mild flavor and tenderness of the octopus. The $14 beef filet skewers — three skewers, chargrilled medium-rare, with crunchy crust, tender middle, and chimichurri sauce on the side that adds a lot of pizzazz — are a great way to throw beef into your Wishbone & Flynt experience without bailing and just ordering the steak entrée.
Next up were our two entrées, also easily shared. The first was the $24 Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie, with two truffle-stuffed ballotine wrapped with prosciutto and presented in a carrot puree, with vegetables and a very light and easy-on-the-carbs puff pastry the menu refers to as a dumpling. The chicken was tender, moist and easy to slice with a fork, and the prosciutto added the right salty complement.
Our second entrée was the $20 Shrimp Fra Diavolo, gulf prawn seasoned with a Calabrian chili sauce and served over angel hair pasta with shaved 10-year Parmesan. The chili sauce added a nice heat to the dish, and the light pasta bed was an accoutrement that didn’t overwhelm the shrimp with volume.
There’s no dessert menu. Have a closing cocktail or glass of dessert wine to cap your evening. For two people who tried a number of dishes, we left feeling as if we’d consumed the right amount of food and didn’t have to be rolled into our awaiting Lyft. The prices were affordable, Rishel’s goal. Wishbone & Flynt is the latest of several new Fort Worth restaurants that’ll make you feel as if you’ve been transported somewhere else.