Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What's New on Magnolia Avenue (East): Spice, Brewed, and Il Cane Rosso


Fort Worth is changing before the very eye. And Magnolia Avenue, my favorite boulevard in Fort Worth, is changing faster than most. To wit: the restaurants in the title SPICE, BREWED, and IL CANE ROSSO, are all new and all on Magnolia.


SPICE
I can't say I know much about Thai food or any of the Asian cuisines or American versions of Asian cuisine. I like some of it but most of it leaves me with a "ok, now what." Thai food is a slight exception because of the use of hot spices which I like. I say this to say that I don't know how SPICE compares to the best Thai food but I think it's pretty darn good.  In fact, Marian and I like it enough that we'll stop by for a to-go order. If you don't agree tell me, I'd like to know.




BREWED
Brewed is a mix of living-room-style coffee shop, craft beer bar, and restaurant and it all kind of works together in that Magnolia kind of way. I stopped by for a coffee and to do a little work the other morning and decided to stay for lunch. The coffee, frankly, was not so great but I got there late morning and maybe it was the end of the pot. For lunch I had the Brewed burger with duck fat fries and it was excellent. I like the place and it seems to be settling in well with the locals. The bar serves Texas-made beers, on-tap and bottled, and wine as well. I think there is some church affiliation but I can't swear to it.




IL CANE ROSSO
Everyone who starts a restaurant hopes to have an opening week like Il Cane Rosso had. I think even they were surprised. Marian and I tried to get a seat on the second night of opening and the wait was an hour thirty minutes which is ok if you're planning on spending some time at the bar but we weren't so decided to return another time. I've reviewed Cane Rosso's pizza from the days they were at Times Ten (see Il-Cane-Rosso ) and it's good Neopolitan pizza. Cane Rosso has an assortment of entrees besides the signature pizza. It's getting very good reviews and it is very busy. Like I say, every restauranteur hopes to start like this.

All three of these restaurants are new and within steps of each other and I predict all will do well. Magnolia is busier now than it has ever been on a Friday and Saturday night and is a great place to find a new restaurant and to stroll down the boulevard afterward. We even stopped for an ice cream cone the other night.

IL CANE ROSSO: http://ilcanerosso.com/

BREWED: http://brewedfw.com/

SPICE: No website that I could find

2 comments:

John said...

You shame me because I have yet to eat at any of those places. I can't remember where my coffee buddy has gotten joe on Magnolia but it was good wherever.

I'm not a huge Thai fan either and when I have some it's at Thai Tina's downtown.

Idea: next time your on Magnolia during the week for lunch, send me an email and maybe we can meet.

Francis Shivone said...

Thanks John, sounds good, I will.