The Cowtown Chronicles

Ryan Place resident John MacFarlane is coordinating a group trip to the Rahr & Sons Brewery on April 25th for Ryan Place residents. Meet him at triangle park at 12:30, bring your Rahr pint glass (if you have one), and $5.

1959 TCU grad Bob Schieffer will be hosting his annual Symposium, titled: “Obama and the Press: Is the media doing its job?”

Panelists scheduled to attend:

David Brooks, of the New York Times

Gwen Ifill, author of “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” (also moderator and managing editor of PBS’ Washington Week

Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News

Mark Shields, nationally syndicated columnist and commentator on PBS’ Newshour with Jim Lehrer

That’s a pretty bad-ass lineup of journalistic luminaries! I wonder if I can get them all into Scat Jazz Lounge after the Symposium? I’ll bet Andrea Mitchell could drink my buddy Steve under the table.

I’ve spent the last 6 hours experiencing the coolness that is Ricki Derek. First at Central Market, then at Scat Jazz Lounge.

Now that I’ve been back to Scat a few times since the first time, I can definitively say that it’s too cool for me. It’s too cool, in fact, for anyone except Ricki, as far as I can tell. It’s nice of him to let the rest of us poor schlubs come and hang out with him.

Seriously — if you like jazz and well made cocktails, and you haven’t been there, you’re dumb. Go. Now.

Dogfish Head Brewery, self-proclaimed home of “off-centered stuff for off-centered people” are hosting a vertical tasting at the Fort Worth (I double-checked this time) Flying Saucer on March 31st.

The tasting will be hosted by Claus Hagelman, Dogfish Head’s national sales director. (No, craft brewing rock-star Sam Calagione will not be there. Sorry to disappoint.)

Hagelman will conduct a vertical tasting, comparing current editions with vintage samples of four Dogfish Head beers. More specifically, they’ll be featuring some of Dogfish’s rarer brews — Fort, Immort Ale, 120 Minute IPA, and Burton Baton.

I’m not a big fan of the WAY over-hopped beers they produce, but Dogfish always makes quality beers. I enjoy most of their seasonal brews, and the really off-the-wall stuff like Midas Touch.

UFO Club members pay $35, regular schmoes will have to cough up $40.

You may have seen my post last Friday about the best places to get some nature in FW. Well, I took my own advice Saturday morning and headed out to Tandy Hills Natural Area to go for a hike and some fresh air.

While we were there, we ran into Don Young and Jenny Conn from the Friends of Tandy Hills, and they introduced me to the crew led by Michelle Villafranca, of the city’s Urban Forestry department. (I met Michelle last year when Jenna volunteered to help our neighborhood tree program get free trees from the city for planting in the easement along the street.)

Michelle described the work they were doing, which is that they’re going through the Natural Area and clearing out invasive and non-native tree species so that the grasses can recover and native plants can have a chance to gain some strength.

Too many of the trees you see when you go out there are invasive species — often something used as an ornamental plant in landscaping that’s escaped and started to reproduce like crazy in our wild areas.

The difference between the last time I was there and how some areas look now is amazing! It may not be immediately obvious, but imagine this area being choked with small trees, all competing for scarce light and also choking out native species. Now there’s room for the grass to grow again!

Hundreds or thousands of years ago, this kind of mechanized labor wouldn’t have been necessary. Lightning strikes and droughts would have burned out small trees before they had a chance to establish themselves, and the grasses that make up the prairie would recover more quickly, keeping things in balance. Since we immediately put out any fires today, even in wilderness areas, those natural processes don’t take place, and areas like this become forever changed. Thanks to Don and his passion, we’re finally starting to see the order of things set right.

Let the arguments begin! Here are my top 5:

5) Buffalo Bros. — S. University near TCU. “New York Style” pizza usually isn’t my favorite, and it continues not to be, but Buffalo Bros. at least has it hot and ready when I want it for lunch. Nothing spectacular, but better than similar offerings from Joe’s Pizza and Pasta.

4) Gianni’s Gourmet Pizza — US 377 in Watauga. Fine, it’s not FW, but it’s damn good pizza. I lived in Haltom City when this joint opened, and it was REALLY good. I’m not generally a wood-fired pizza fan, either, but Gianni’s does it right.

3) Rocco’s Wood Fired Pizza — Camp Bowie West area. See my earlier comments about wood-fired pizza. Not my favorite style, but a great option for grabbing before going to Concerts in the Park or the like. I’ve even taken one to the Rahr Brewery for snacking during a Saturday tour. Rocco’s really is great pizza, just not a style I prefer on a regular basis.

2) Mellow Mushroom — Bluebonnet Circle. Now we’re talking! MM makes pretty much the perfect pizza; great sauce, amazing crust (the two MOST important components), and a wide selection of toppings, etc. They also have a full bar and a good beer selection. Drawbacks: it’s freakin’ SLOW! Don’t go if you’re in a hurry, and if you have plans after dinner, get there WAY early. It’s also damn expensive, otherwise it would be my everyday choice.

1) Perrotti’s Pizza & Pasta — Greene Ave., in the GrandMarc building. I could happily eat here every day. Perrotti’s is my favorite pizza place, EVAR. Perfect crust, great sauce, cheap beer (if you eat in), and it’s affordable! This is always what I’ve thought of when I think of pizza. I’m sure they wouldn’t acknowledge it, but it’s a style I call “Detroit style”. It’s somewhere between NY and Chicago, but not “pan pizza” like you used to get from Pizza Hut. If you can remember that far back, think of when Little Caesar’s was actually GOOD (mid-90’s) — their original crust round pizzas is what I’m getting at with “Detroit style.” My only complaint about Perrotti’s is that they haven’t seemed to figure out what kind of volume they’re going to do from day to day, so they don’t proof their crusts well enough. The end result is that the crust is usually cooked on the bottom, but really doughy on top. Not a big enough deal to keep me from going, though!

My apologies to everyone who showed up at the Fort Worth Saucer expecting a birthday party (like I did). The email I got and dutifully posted about came from the Addison location.

Sorry for any inconvenience. (The Addison location is nice, FWIW.)

I’ve been working hard to get back in touch with my inner outdoorsman — I was a Boy Scout and a Marine, and I’m definitely not afraid of nature, but I have become detached from it due to my sedentary office job and general lack of physical fitness. One of my goals for this year was to spend more time in nature, and these are the places I go to get that done. Where do you go?

Fort Worth enjoys quite a few natural areas close to the heart of all this Urbanity. Here are my favorites:

5) Gateway Park — Home of Fort Woof dog park, a GIANT athletic complex, and several wide open grass and picnic areas with a nice bit of trail along the river. If you haven’t heard, Fort Woof was selected as the #1 dog park in the US in 2006, and it’s only gotten better since then! It has huge areas for the dogs to run around off-leash, segregated by weight so that tiny dogs don’t get knocked around by horse-sized Great Danes. Gateway Park is the home of the FW Rugby Club, with purpose-built rugby pitches for matches and tournaments. Gateway Park also boasts several softball/baseball fields, as well as the aforementioned river trail access and picnic spots.

4) Lake Mineral Wells State Park — A great place for water fun without having to worry about being run over by a speedboat. Also decent rock climbing and camping facilities. Hiking is somewhat limited, but there are trails open to horses and bikes, so at least there’s some variety.

3) The Trinity Trails system — This should be thought of as really the whole area along the river through Fort Worth, where you can ride your bike, run, walk, kayak, canoe, scull, whatever suits your fancy. Many people commute to downtown via the trails from outlying neighborhoods, but even if you’re not commuting, they’re a great place to ride.

2) Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge — Really just for hiking and wildlife spotting, the FWNCR is a truly wild area with several miles of trails and many opportunities to spot deer, bobcats, and countless species of birds. Along the river they’ve even spotted alligators! It’s totally worth a visit, but if you want the full experience, plan on getting there early and spending the whole day. Overnight camping is not allowed. Also: bison!

1) Tandy Hills Natural Area — An often overlooked gem in Fort Worth’s outdoor recreation crown, Tandy Hills is the most urban of any of these areas, with the exception of the Trinity Trails. Tandy Hills is a really nicely preserved bit of the original Grand Prairie that Fort Worth was built upon. Thanks to the efforts of an obsessively dedicated group of folks, Tandy Hills is slowly being restored to its original state, which would have been much less heavily treed than it currently is. My favorite part is the stream that runs through it and down to the Trinity. There’s about a 30-foot elevation difference between the main area of the park and the streambed, and it never fails to be refreshing, even on the hottest of days. This is a particularly good time to visit, since many of the native grasses and wildflowers will be starting to bloom. There are no facilities, so take care of any personal business before you get there.

Bonus spot: Log Cabin Village – Although “technically” not an outdoors activity like hiking or biking, Log Cabin Village is strongly in the outdoors column due to the very nature of the life the pioneers lived. In their day, everyday was an outdoors day, and often a struggle for survival in pretty harsh environment. It’s also important for us to know our history and where we came from/why we’re here, and Log Cabin Village does an excellent job of making our heritage come alive.

Everyone’s favorite beer bar turns 13 this year — and they’re celebrating by throwing a party featuring a bunch of beverages that no 13-year-old should be drinking.

The party kicks off at 4PM this Saturday, the 7th. They’ll be tapping a new special keg every hour on the hour, starting with Avery Czar, and concluding with a cask-conditioned Avery Hog Heaven. (I’m excited to try the 2nd keg they’re tapping, the Avery Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest Lager.)

Maybe next year they can get JB at Rahr to brew them something special for their birthday…

This is a difficult list to compile, because the “best” place for a given thing depends greatly on what kind of drinkin’ mood I’m in. The best place to drink for martinis is different from the best place for a margarita, beer, etc. I’ll try to be as general as possible, but keep in mind that these are MY best places, so obviously they’re subjective and biased as all get-out.

5) Whiskey & Rye — Omni hotel, Downtown Surprised? Don’t be — this is a genuinely nice bar with good happy hour appetizer specials. Once I coached the bartenders and waitress on how I liked my martinis (i.e. with gin, not vodka), they were solid, if not great. W&R recently started carrying a special Rahr brew, as well, giving a hotel bar something you normally don’t find — a nod to the locals. I’m too young to remember the heyday of hotel bars, but this is one that I’d like to see succeed. Best drinks here: fancy signature drinks, Rahr Rusty Spur beer, one of the many rye whiskies on the wall, over rocks.

4) Baker St. Pub — Camp Bowie Probably another surprise, but I can explain this in three words: Bloody Mary Bar. On Sundays from 11-3, you can buy your favorite vodka at the bar, then choose from a huge selection of mixes, spices, salts & veggies, and mix it yourself. Food is passable, but not great. Decor is kinda fun in a cheesy sort of way. I particularly like the hidden private booths and wingback chairs. Best drinks here: DIY Bloody Marys on Sunday, simple mixed drinks, draft beers from the big 3 or Guinness.

3) 7th Haven — W. 7th St., across from Montgomery Plaza You know it for the pithy sayings on the sign out front — I know it as the place where I got massively ripped on the rooftop deck for my birthday last year. The deck is truly awesome, even though the view isn’t necessarily spectacular. I expect it will soon be packed, once things start to warm up. Best drinks here: shots, shooters, bottled beer, and simple (two ingredient) mixed drinks.

2) The Chat Room Pub — W. Magnolia, down the block and across from Spiral Diner. Smoky as hell (I mean that literally), but Brad and his crew are the best bartenders in town, hands down. They’ll ask you your name once, and remember it and your drink from that point forward. It’s also THE hub for the struggling filmmaker/musician/photographer/artist scene on the South Side. Great jukebox, but also a great patio for escaping the smoke inside. Bring your friends and create your own entertainment. Best drinks here: This is the place to try out all those classic drinks you’ve wanted to try but couldn’t summon the balls to order at Chili’s — the Moscow Mule, The Sidecar, Manhattans, Sazerac, etc. Pretty much anything you get will be expertly made.

1) The Flying Saucer — 4th St., on Sundance Square diagonal from Bass Hall Smoke free since the beginning of last year, the Saucer’s business has actually IMPROVED, despite the smoking ban and the fact that they only serve beer and wine. Friday and Saturday nights are “scenester” nightmares, but go on any night during the week on a regular basis and you’ll start seeing the same folks over and over, a testament to the loyalty Flying Saucers create. The food is good (not as good as it used to be, but still good bar food), the staff knows more about beer than any human should know, and you’ll always find something worth drinking. Did I mention that the inside is smoke-free? Best drinks here: Any beer not from the big 3. If you’re feeling adventurous, try Delirium Tremens if they have it on tap, or Tripple Karmeliet. (If you’re feeling REALLY adventurous, ask for an Oskar Blue’s Ten Fidy.) Otherwise, tell the beertender what you normally drink and have them bring you something new to try.

Bonus spot: Chadra Mezza & Grill — Park Place Ave., off 8th Ave. The food is simply incredible, but they’ve also got a surprisingly good (although SLOW) bar. Chadra is the home of my absolute favorite drink of the moment — the Chadra Mezzatini, a dirty martini garnished with (and dirtied by) the brine that Nehme uses to make his pickles and pickled radishes. It’s pink, but I don’t care, I love it! Go on Friday for the buffet, sit out on the patio surrounded by the herb garden, and throw back a few Mezzatinis — if you only had a hookah, you’d swear you were in Lebanon. Best drinks here: Mezzatini, dammit! Otherwise, they have all the Rahr offerings on draft, and their well liquors are most other places’ premium pours.