After a long night of doing shots in honor of the late Betty Ford (yeah, I'm going to hell. Window seat, please), brunch seemed like the best solution. So I picked myself up and went early Saturday morning afternoon to check out a new brunch spot, and get myself some bacon grease and a bit of the hair of the hound.
RedFork Tavern, at 2537 North Fitzhugh Avenue, opened June 24th. The new American gastropub concept is familiar and, when done properly, can create a great default hangout for post-work cocktails. Chefs Jeff Harris (formerly of craft | Dallas) ans Matt Balke (formerly of York Street) have created a simple but diverse menu, and Saturday was their first brunch service.
The straightforward menu has just about everything you'd expect: Several different incarnations of eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. No eggs Benedict, my brunching standby, an omission that happily forced me outside my comfort zone and order a fritatta ($9).
These things are customizable; of the seven or eight toppings available, you can choose three. I went with bacon, mushrooms, and goat cheese, with an extra side of bacon, of course. At $6 each, the mimosas were as they should be: mostly champagne with a splash of OJ. Every detail, down to the coffee, was impressively fresh. It helps that they work with local distributors. Cheese imported "all the way" from Waco and Franconia brews from McKinney are some examples.
I caught up with GM Eddy Metten, who talked about RedFork's unassuming location and his hope that more restaurants opening in this enclave just south of Knox-Henderson. I also asked about the decision to delay opening for brunch until this week.
"It was really to just get the service nuances taken care of," he said. "The chef team here is focused on putting out awesome food, keeping the menu simple helps them with attention to detail. It also gives us the flexibility for it to change and evolve. Just about everything is made from scratch; you won't see our chefs back there defrosting anything or cracking open cans. We even make the bread in-house."
