Cool foodie market in Fort Worth's Sundance Square closes its doors
February 21,2024
See full CultureMap Fort Worth article by Teresa Gubbins here.
A cool market-restaurant in Sundance Square is closing: 3rd St. Market, the husband-and-wife venture from Trent Shaskan and Dena Peterson Shaskan, will close this weekend.
According to a note from the market, the final day of operation is Saturday February 24, at 7 pm.
"We want to express our immense gratitude to our customers," the note said. "Come by and get a hug and stock up on our signature soups and lasagnas before Dena hangs up her apron. And be sure to grab as much bread as you can, as we're unsure when Trent will be back in action. But back in action he will be!"
Dena says that the closure was due to a mixture of things, including the struggle in juggling more than one business, as well as a decline in foot traffic downtown.
"There's a bunch of things in this cocktail - a lot of it is money - but also running three businesses at the same time," she says. "We've been doing three and now we’re closing two, so I can focus on the one I love the most, which is the wine shop Wines From A Broad."
She also cites changes wrought in the aftermath of the pandemic.
"Post-COVID, it's a different world," she says. "Not as many people are going back into the office. It's not just Sundance, it's downtowns all over, making it difficult to get a good foothold on what your traffic is going to be at any given time."
Dena is the former chef from Cafe Modern, while Trent is the breadmaker at acclaimed Icon Bread. The market was part of Sundance Square's initiative to emphasize unique and local restaurants.
3rd Street opened in October 2022 in a former bar and grill at 425 W. 3rd St., featuring a menu of sourdough bread, sandwiches, soups, pastries, charcuterie, and wine.
They were open for breakfast and lunch with juices, breads, spreads, and upscale sandwiches, such as poblano chicken corn chowder, Pan Bagnat sandwich with tuna with olives, artichoke hearts, & green beans, and turkey sandwich with Honeycrisp apple slaw & Muenster cheese.
They also had a grab-and-go section with charcuterie boards plus fresh produce and fancy foodstuffs like Sicilian olive oil, juices in glass recyclable bottles from Squoze Juicery, and pastries from Libos Dulceria.
In their short lifespan, they earned acclaim including a nomination for Best New Restaurant in CultureMap's 2023 Tastemaker Awards, as well as a nomination for Best Chef for Dena.
The shop also hosted cooking classes at its Indulge offshoot such as a class on mushrooms taking place on February 21, with another dozen classes scheduled through April. An employee at the shop said the February class would still take place but was unsure about the status of future classes.
They're also still figuring out what the future holds for Icon Bread.
"We haven’t decided if he’ll do a cottage-style operation and go back to selling at farmers markets, or if we'll open another little shop that focuses on bread," she says.
Location Mentioned: 3rd Street Market