Lonesome Dove Fort Worth
Steak house · Stockyards ·
Innovative Southwestern fare in an elegant, cowboy-themed setting.
Innovative Southwestern fare in an elegant, cowboy-themed setting.
"Chef Tim Love is one of the stalwarts of the Fort Worth food scene, and his restaurant Lonesome Dove celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. When it opened, there was no fine dining in the Fort Worth Stockyards, and Lonesome Dove’s success wasn’t guaranteed. Now, it’s the go-to place for a plate of wild game (and that could be anything from boar to kangaroo), a night of shots and whiskey cocktails, or a dinner in the wine cellar with a menu specially prepared by Love. The rustic interiors and decor embrace the spirit of the Stockyards, and dressing up in your cowboy boots and hat is encouraged." - Courtney E. Smith
"Celebrating 25 years in business this year, chef and owner Tim Love is ready to take a victory lap. "The local critic here,Bud Kennedy, was like, ‘Three people have tried fine dining in the Stockyards; it doesn’t work," Love says. For a special May anniversary dinner menu, Love went through his archive of dishes to dig out some classics, add in some unexpected riffs, and, of course, cook plenty of wild game; the menu is separated into five acts (thematically called sea, air, land, beef, and sweet) and offers a whopping 25 courses in total. The tasting menu will be available for $250 per person — almost a steal given the number of courses — with wine pairings at an additional cost from May 2 to May 6; reservations are available now on Tock. On specific dishes he explains: "This is like a dish we had early on called lobster cakes, and this is a play off of that. It’s a butter-poached lobster on top of a sweet cornbread cake with a cilantro orange butter and cilantro garnish. When we did lobster cakes, the thought behind it was that everyone in Fort Worth knows the crab cake. I wanted to do something similar but different. Most of the food we served in the Stockyards back in the 2000s was ahead of its time. It’s a decadent dish with the butter, and its much softer than it was as a lobster cake. We’ve never served exactly this dish in the restaurant — it was created with this menu in mind." He also notes considerations of presentation and a Thanksgiving-inspired course: "Since we’re going in flights, we tried to figure out some different vessels to carry the food. We went shopping for a bunch of different tiles and wood pieces, which is fun. This particular dish I also came up with just for this menu. The little crispy onion feathers and hot sauce — it all reminds me of a play on Thanksgiving. We poach the meat, pull it off, make the stuffing, mix it in, and wrap it back around the bone. The hot sauce give it an acidity kick. That sauce has a lot of vegetables in it so it has a lot of thickness — it’s tomato based with vinegar, carrots, onions, celery, and chilis in there." Reflecting on a long-running, theatrical foie-gras creation he says: "I created this dish in 2003, when I was asked to cook at the [James Beard Foundation Awards]. I wanted to something wacky and I love foie gras. This is an emulsification of coffee, orange juice, and roasted fat from the foie gras with a light, orange whipped cream. It’s a really outlandish dish that fits into the realm of wild game, with the duck liver in it. Foie gras is so sweet and rich, it made me think of the rich foam on a cappuccino — getting that savoriness with coffee is something I like to do, while the acidity from the orange combats the heck out of it. It is an unexpected dish from me, obviously. I like to stir in the cream and then sip it, slowly but surely. You can eat it with a spoon though." A signature wild-game mainstay is described this way: "This is a dish that has been on the menu for awhile — it is one of our most popular dishes. It’s an elk loin with crispy Swiss chard, roasted hen of the woods, parsnip puree underneath, and candied grapes. Elk has been on our menu from the get-go in various cuts, and this rendition came to the menu about 11 years ago. It’s been a mainstay. It’s super good for you — it is about 96 percent fat free, and one of the leanest red meats. I am a big game hunter, so I like the taste of wild game. It gets a bad rap, with people saying it tastes gamey, but usually that means it isn’t cooked right. This cut is basically a New York Strip, the backstrap. It is super tender, it has a nice chew to it, and it absorbs flavors really well." On beef and a showstopping final savory bite he says: "In the last six months we added a ‘gold’ steak menu, and we wanted to feature some of that. There’s an A2 spinalis [ribeye cap] on the menu and this is an A5 — to me it is the absolutely most spectacular beef in the world from that category of meat. It’s from the province of Megata. It’s rich, well-marbled, Japanese beef that is aged in an igloo instead of a refrigerator so that it has more moisture to give even more flavor. We do have this on the menu now, and have for the last six months. It is a one bite delight, in my opinion. The mole provides a huge amount of acidity to combat all that fat. Getting it into one bite is important. It finishes the dinner — so it’s the last savory course, last bite before we get into sweets. We’ve served a lot of beef here, so you have to have a bad-ass beef." - Courtney E. Smith
"Lonesome Dove, a restaurant by Fort Worth chef Tim Love, has been serving rattlesnake for over a decade. Chef Love describes rattlesnake as a premium meat that is unlike chicken, being a little chewier and plain. The restaurant is involved in hosting the Rattle Battle event where top chefs compete in preparing fine dining dishes using rattlesnake." - Courtney E. Smith
"If every stereotypical oil magnate had a restaurant, they would all look like Lonesome Dove. From the massive leather booths to the towering cast-iron chandeliers, everything about the place screams rich man cave. This is an aggressive choice for a casual meal with friends, but it does have classy happy hour potential thanks to the massive bar area. Lonesome Dove is best used to impress your dad who still doesn't get what “social media” is. We recommend kicking off the meal with the Brussels sprouts salad and Fettine Trio so you can get a nice primer hit of rabbit-rattlesnake sausage without having to go all in on it. Then, you literally have the pick of the farm, desert, and pasture with the main courses. Honestly, name an edible land-bound animal that isn't represented on this menu and we’ll give you five dollars*. No matter what you go with, your carnivorous urges are sure to be satisfied. The sides are great, too, if you're looking for some non-meat. Not that you'll have room for them. *We will “give” you $5, but not actually give you $5. We're still a start-up, people. Food Rundown Wild Boar Ribs Elk Loin" - Calais Zagarow
"Chef Tim Love has been hard at work on this restaurant with a full music venue attached — and its slated to open in October. Located in Mule Alley, the Cajun-influenced cuisine offered will include plates such as grilled oysters, crawfish fritters, smoked cauliflower, a fried bologna sandwich, wild boar sloppy joes, and steak frites. With a music hall attached, the question of where to eat before the show has been answered." - Courtney E. Smith
