Waters opening set for March, but Jon Bonnell’s already busy

January 23,2017

By Bud Kennedy

Chef Jon Bonnell is everywhere, at least until March 1.

After that he’ll be in Sundance Square, holding down his new version of Waters Restaurant.

Just in the next two weeks, Bonnell will appear at a regional spice festival, judge a chefs’ contest and emcee a charity dinner.

It all helps promote Waters, the coming Sundance Square makeover of his former restaurant in the West 7th shops.

For now, Bonnell is talking about everything but his new menu.

“We’re saving that,” he said last week. “But we’ve rethought everything we do.”

Chef Anthony Felli will be in the kitchen. He’s a former Del Frisco’s Double Eagle chef.

The new Waters location is 301 Main St., in a historic former hotel building that was recently a steakhouse. (Mercury Chop House moved to 525 Taylor St.)

Much of the remodeling is on the Commerce Street side next to the Flying Saucer, where Waters will add an outdoor bar, roll-up windows and a canopied patio similar to the restaurants on Sundance Square Plaza.

The new Waters will serve lunch and dinner seven days.

As for Bonnell’s schedule, on Wednesday he’s the lead judge for a local magazine’s chefs’ contest.

This weekend, he is one of the stars of ZestFest, an expensive but comprehensive commercial spice shopping event in the Irving Convention Center. Advance tickets are $14 on weekend days or $33 for the entire event at zestfest.net. (Advice: Buy online. Lines are long.)

Bonnell will star alongside barbecue pitmaster Eddie Deen of Eddie Deen Crossroads Smokehouse in Arlington, host of Bush family inaugural events and the quadrennial Texas Capitol inauguration barbecue.

And on Feb. 9, he will emcee Cuisine for Healing’s Dinner Party for Life, a $100 six-course healthy, all-organic dinner with wines.

The Fort Worth Club event raises money for a program that provides nourishing food for those combating disease.

Bonnell will join Kevin Martinez of Tokyo Cafe and others to prepare six light but stylish courses. For more information, call 817-921-2377 or see cuisineforhealing.org.

Of course, Bonnell continues as chef at his original restaurant, Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine. It’s open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Fridays, dinner Saturdays at 4259 Bryant Irvin Road, 817-738-5489; bonnellstexas.com.

(He also has Buffalo Bros. Pizza Wings & Subs near TCU.)

Sunday serenity

Sometimes you only need Sunday lunch.

Campisi’s Restaurant in west Fort Worth doesn’t have candied bacon or fancy French toast, but it does have an inexpensive lunch menu and a quiet setting without other restaurants’ clatter.

Campisi’s continues its inexpensive lunch menu on weekends, meaning the family’s oblong Sicilian pizzas for less than $10 and chicken, veal or seafood dishes for about $15.

A grilled salmon fillet with vegetables is $15, and there’s always a fish of the day. Veal scallopini or parmigiana is $12-$13, and chicken dishes are only $10-$11.

Campisi’s, a 70-year Dallas favorite, is also running a pizza contest through Feb. 1. Come up with your own pizza recipe, and Campisi’s will award a winner free pizza for a year.

The Fort Worth location is open daily for lunch and dinner at 6150 Camp Bowie Blvd., and delivers to a wide area; 817-916-4561, campisis.us.

New tacos in town

R Taco, the Fuzzy’s-like taco chain that started in Dallas as Rusty Taco, will open two Fort Worth locations within the next few weeks.

One R Taco will open in mid-February at 3516 Bluebonnet Circle, where another taco restaurant closed. The other will open in March on Camp Bowie Boulevard at Winthrop Avenue in Ridglea, in a former steakhouse space.

A Mansfield location is open at 1520 E. Debbie Lane; rtacos.com.

Gatti’s returns

A new-look Mr. Gatti’s Pizza is now open st 3268 W. Seventh St., on the corner at Van Cliburn Way (Arch Adams Street).

Officials say this new prototype uses the chain’s original recipe, not the dumbed-down buffet version familiar from Austin in later years.

It has a game room including a wall-sized “world’s largest Pac-Man game”; 817-435-2222, gattispizza.com.

Fred Burger update

Here’s some good news for the new year:

Fred’s Texas Cafe is now open Mondays.

The 40-year flagship location near the Cultural District, home of the DFW Burger Battle’s Fred Burger and chipotle-jalapeño Diablo Burger, is now open at 10:30 a.m. for early lunchers Mondays through Saturdays, and 10 a.m. Sundays; 915 Currie St., 817-332-0083, fredstexascafe.com.

Two other Fred’s locations, on Bluebonnet Circle and also Western Center Boulevard, have always opened Mondays.