State-of-the-Art Catering Kitchen, New Tasting Room Open
May 19,2025
Reposted from the City of Fort Worth.
After 40 years, the Fort Worth Convention Center’s catering kitchen is now worthy of the culinary expertise and delicious banquets created there.
A 9,720-square-foot state-of-the-art kitchen, part of Phase 1 of the center’s expansion, is the first section to become fully operational this spring. Located on the east side of the building, the kitchen is now closer to the center’s ballroom and includes dry goods storage, offices for Trinity Food & Beverage staff and a tasting room for center clients.
Trinity F&B General Manager Virginia Taylor and Chef Brent Hines say the kitchen’s size and increased amount of equipment make meal preparation for thousands of guests more efficient. For clients attending conventions and galas, this translates to fresher feasts, faster service to table and better tasting cuisine.
With food and beverage revenues making up about a quarter of the center’s operational budget, guest dining experience is vitally important. A new tasting room with clean lines, quartz table and Texas textures overlooks the kitchen so clients can be served by the chef or sous chef straight from the grill/oven/refrigerator for their tasting experience.
High-Tech Cooking
Eight iCombiPro ovens are programmable to “fire” the product at a certain time, and can even be operated remotely from an app. The oven circulates the air with sensors that adjust the temperature and time for each food item, providing both energy and time savings.
“For example, these ovens have multiple racks that can cook eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes all at once at a pre-determined temperature and time, said Taylor. “A computer within the oven allows Chef to ‘save’ that program for future breakfasts, which ensures accuracy and consistency.”
In another example, Chef Hines added that the new ovens can “brown the skin consistently on 2,000 pieces of chicken. So instead of 8 hours of several people searing a piece of protein, it can be accomplished in one hour in the new ovens,” saving time and labor.
Chef Hines’ favorite new apparatus? A meat smoker that can smoke up to 30 briskets.
“With so many clients and guests wanting Texas flavors like BBQ and fajitas, all our meat smoking is done in-house now,” he said. “Even for concessions, we can make brisket sandwiches with in-house smoked meats for the freshest and most delicious options.”
Sustainability
Sustainability is important to event planners, who will be pleased to know that the new equipment saves not only time and labor but also energy and water. New dishwashers operate like a “jacuzzi for dishes,” says Taylor. Water fills a giant turbo-basin that gently soaks and swirls dishes until clean vs. a consistently pumping spray arm system, thus saving water.
Another best practice is related to food use. In addition to using almost every part of food sources in sauces and garnishes to reduce waste, Chef Hines pre-plans menus meticulously and has a formula for amounts of food ordered based on guest numbers. If for any reason there are overages, Trinity F&B works with local charities who receive donated food items.
Later this year, the center’s new southeast lobby will see the opening of a coffee bar managed by Trinity F&B with grab-and-go food offerings for visitors.
Southeast Entrance to Open This Summer
On Commerce Street, the convention center’s new Southeast entrance, terrace, lobby and coffee bar will be substantially complete and is expected to open by June.
The lantern box atrium will flood the center’s lobby with natural light, while the terrace will provide additional outdoor seating and small event or pre-function space for clients. Inside the new lobby space, a grab-and-go café and coffee bar proudly serving Starbucks with additional seating will encourage networking between conference sessions or simply be a place to chill.
New interior design reflects the Fort Worth, Texas ambiance with rusty browns, natural woods and sunset shades of orange and red. Novel carpet even incorporates subtle cattle brands within the pattern.
Increase in Docks Underway
With dock construction underway, a keenly detailed schedule for center move-in and move-out of shows is being successfully managed through continuous communication between FWCC staff, Visit Fort Worth, construction partners and clients.
For example, the Bassmaster Classic Expo in April 2025 was its largest ever with 150+ exhibitors with large vehicles and boats. They utilized the entire exhibit hall, arena and ballroom, and responded to a satisfaction survey with a perfect score of 10 and commented, “If only all venues were this great to work with.”
Eleven docks, up from seven, will be completed by autumn 2025.
What's Finished and What's Next?
December 2024 Annex Demolition
January 2025 Kitchen, Mezzanine Offices Complete
February 2025 Phase 2 Full-Scale Design Begins
June 2025 Southeast Corner Entrance Complete
Spring 2025 Loading Docks Renovation/Expansion
December 2025 Phase 1 Construction Complete
Fall 2026 Phase 2 Design Complete
Early 2027 Arena Demolition
2027-2029 Phase 2 Construction, Existing Center Modernization
What's the Total Budget?
- Phase 1 Budget: $95M
- Phase 2 Budget: $606M
- Total: $701M*
*Funding for the expansion is generated from Hotel Occupancy Taxes, except for $52 million in ARPA funding used to kickstart the project after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Location Mentioned: Fort Worth Convention Center Expansion