Main Street Arts Festival, 2010. A Visitor's Guide.

Fort Worth's Main Street Arts Festival has grown to be one of our fair city's signature annual events, and on opening day, April 8, it will proudly begin its 25th year.

In 2008, the Arts Festival was ranked third of one thousand in "Fine Art" by the Art Fair Sourcebook. The festival features painting, glass, ceramics, wood, sculpture, and other mediums from some of the world's best artists and craftsmen. Each spring, my wife and I look forward to the stroll through the hundreds of booths. We not only like it, we're kind of proud of it.

But this is a food blog.

So I should also mention that Main Street Arts also has become an event that draws people for the entertainment and the food. The Festival has the standard hot dog/cotton-candy type booths, but also has dozens of local restaurants selling select items from their menu, and specialty food sellers like Lone Star Roasted Nuts and Schmidt's bratwurst. There are a couple of new food merchants this year, Kinkaid's has a booth, as does Cast Iron of the Omni Hotel. (for the complete list see Food Vendors)

Drinks are plentiful, of course. Diane Wolfe, from the Arts Festival's press department, told me that Fort Worth's, Times Ten Cellars "Wine Experience" is a highlight for many visitors and well worth the $30. The website says that seating is limited so book early (see: Wine Experience).

Visitors to Fort Worth can get helpful information on other popular places from our local blog writers (see sidebar "Local Sites I Like"), and for specific questions, Fort Worth Twitter pages could be helpful: Travelista/food-peeps or Gooberdlx/dallas-fort-worth .

This blog has two posts that out-of-town visitors could find helpful:  Best of Fort Worth, 2009, and Best Places to Visit in Fort Worth.

We like to think that Fort Worth is a particularly friendly city with amenities equaling all but a few, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco come to mind, but not many more. I may be biased but events like the Main Street Arts Festival prove that I am not far off.

Anyhow, if you are visiting, "Welcome." We hope you enjoy your stay.

Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival
April 8 - 11, 2010
http://mainstreetartsfest.org/Home.aspx

Caffe Di Angeli. Good Coffee.

I enjoyed a very good cup of Sumatra coffee this morning at the Caffe di Angeli, a new coffee shop in Fort Worth's near Southside. I say new, but the Caffe has been in business for a year. I just noticed it last Sunday because I happened to be driving by.

Today, I had a chance to visit. I spoke to Karl Spahr, who owns the shop along with his wife Carolyn, and was happy to learn that they share a passion for good coffee, and that most of their coffee is locally roasted. 


Caffe di Angeli offers coffee, cappuccinos and the like, as well as breakfast, lunch, and some homemade soups and pastries.

Fort Worth has two new locally owned coffee shops, House and Caffe di Angeli, and I wish them both success.

Caffe di Angeli
954 West Rosedale
Fort Worth, TX, 76104

The following link is for their Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Fort-Worth-TX/Caffe-di-Angeli

Smashburger.

Yesterday, I attended the Smashburger / Arlington "Preview Day."  The following is my honest, after-first-bite-thought:  

"That is one good hamburger."

It is juicy and served hot. The two top requirements of a good hamburger, in my opinion. I also liked the hearty, not-greasy bun, and the real dill pickles. I would put it up there with M&O Station Grill hamburger -- and that is saying something. 

It's hard not to like a juicy, all Angus beef burger. But add good french fries, thin-sliced, and very crispy, and a real ice-cream, chocolate milk-shake, and you get a very good lunch.

Smashburger started in Denver and by the looks of their "locations" map has moved northward and southward kind of along the Interstate 35 corridor. They have one location in Addison, several in Houston, the one I visited in Arlington. They are moving into the Fort Worth area now. Look for one near TCU soon.  Smashburger is one of the companies that is satisfying the current demand for a quality hamburger in a stylish, counter-service setting. Smashburger's menu also has a few salads, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and assorted side items like fried pickles (yes, I liked them, too).

Is Smashburger the place to take the kids everyday for a cheap meal?  No. But, for an as-good-as-you-can-get hamburger, the price is fair. Under $10 for a 1/3 pound burger, a big order of fries and a drink.

My thanks to the Smashburger folks. I wish you well.

http://www.smashburger.com

The Winspear Opera House / Dallas

I'll say this for our friends to the east. They don't do anything in small scale and low budget.

The Dallas Arts District, east of Stemmons and south of Woodall Rogers, has been doing a lot of building and expanding in the last few years. The Myerson is twenty years old, but the Wyly Theater is new, as is the Winspear Opera House. Under construction is a 3,000 person outdoor ampitheater, and a five acre park that will cover the Woodall Rogers Freeway for a block. This is serious development given the times we are in, but I am happy for them and will be one of those who frequents from time to time.

I visited the Winspear last night with a friend and I liked it. It is large enough for a big-city audience, but not so large that operatic voices get lost. The acoustics seemed very good, at least from where I was sitting. It is a much more attractive building on the exterior than the Myerson, which is next door, and inside, it is what a good opera house is these days: comfortable, well-designed for sound, and light on ornamentation. The chandelier-effect lights  in the hall's center are reminiscent of the Metropolitan Opera and a nice touch.

We saw the final performance of Donizetti's, Don Pasquale, which I will not critique because I am not qualified to do so. I enjoyed it, especially the main character's voice and acting. The Don Pasquale role is the lead role and was performed by Donato DiStefano. He was the show.

The Seven/Eleven Building just east of the Winspear has five restaurants on the ground floor of the building, all with indoor and outdoor seating. That's a pretty cool place for a light dinner and drinks before or after the show. They also have valet parking. I parked a block away for $2, but I'm a cheapskate when it comes to parking.

My only disappointment is not being able to take the train to and from Fort Worth. The time schedules with the train and the opera were too uncertain to be comfortable.