GRACE — Restaurant in Fort Worth

Kristen and I decided to go out of 2020 with a bang on New Years Eve. And considering we were in bed by 10, it was important we made our reservation for, Owner Dain “Adam” Jones “GRACE” restaurant in the downtown area of Fort Worth early in the evening. Along with Fort Worth Texas Magazines “Top Chef-2012”, Executive Chef Blaine Staniford, Chef De Cuisine Graeme Seawell and the rest of the top-notch staff of Grace deliver an exquisite dining experience that is to be embraced… and often.

We were greeted at the door, a few minutes early for our reservation, and they had already had our table ready. We were escorted to our seats and were able to check our coats and begin our drink order immediately. We were promptly greeted by a very knowledgeable waitstaff that was able to quickly hone in on our pallets and were able to make recommendations for everything from cocktails to our appetizer. We were presented with one of their omni-available sommeliers letting us know that they would be happy to pair any of their extensive list of available wines with each course of our meal. We decided that we would just have some of their house specialized cocktails with our meals throughout.

We began our evening with their lamb belly dumplings. Though we were initially apprehensive because of past experiences with “gamier” cuts of lamb, we were delighted by the absolutely delicious and perfectly prepared dumplings that had a great savory flavor completely removing any of our earlier prejudgments. The Szechuan peppercorn and black vinegar sauce had an almost addictive umami hoisin-esque quality. Our waiter came by and was “wait! Lemme get you some bread for that… trust me.” He was dead on. Between the bread and the dumplings, we made sure to not to send so much as a morsel of the appetizer back with the plate. Spot on!

For our second course, we split their “Toad in a hole” salad. We were glad to have split it, and they happily accommodated our request, because it was a large salad. This would have been a meal of its own for a filling lunch. The frissèe based salad with shaved asparagus, bacon and the black truffle vinaigrette was wonderful, but the star of the show was the organic egg inside a lightly grilled brioche. There was certainly no lack of talent in preparation. The egg was perfectly cooked allowing the yoke to mix with the other components of the dish lending to a delightful experience.

For our main course, Kristen ordered the 6oz 44 Farms filet “Oscar Style” topped with lump crab cake, asparagus and a bèarnaise sauce. Considering I had about a week to study the menu before our arrival, my order was a little more… purposeful. I ordered the 8oz filet mignon topped with a butter poached main lobster with a black truffle butter and with the cognac peppercorn marrow on the side. I could use words like “delicious” or “heavenly”. Or even more descriptive words like “juicy” and “savory” with a touch of “sweetness” to describe every bite of our meal, but I figure if you are reading this at this point, you’ve seen a Food Network show once or twice and know that I am probably inadequately describing this “to die for” meal. Trust me on this. I don’t have the words.

We rounded out the evening by sharing their butterscotch pudding with salted caramel gelato. The combination of the marcona almond crumble, gelato, and caramel combined with each bite was a perfect balance of savory and sweetness with an almost java undertone. We were delighted to where we didn’t even need an after dinner coffee.

Admittedly this was not our first encounter with the quality, finish, and polish of one of Adam Jones venues. We were happy to see the continuity in service and quality we first experienced at the “Little Red Wasp” affectionately referred to as the “little sister” of Grace. Grace has been expertly executed and has certainly poised itself as a step above. Great job to everyone… but I certainly want to give the wait staff...

We really enjoyed eating at Grace for our anniversary. Please note that due to the price point of the food, this review is a lot more critical of the food, service, and atmosphere than I'd be at a typical restaurant. If for example we had this exact same experience at $60 per person this would be a 5 star review. A more detailed review is below but short story - We would come back again, but for the price they could deliver a more elevated culinary experience, everything was good but nothing stood out or blew us away. Steaks were a 9/10 and the best item we had. There was an awkward situation due to them being out of each beer I ordered but didn't let me know until quite some time passed and the bar noticed they didn't have it. They should know what they do and don't have either listed on the menu or at the time the customer orders or soon thereafter. Shouldn't take 15+ minutes to notify the customer and ask if they'd like anything else. This happened to all 3 beers I ordered and I received none. Then they served me the incorrect beer, probably because what I ordered was out of stock again and maybe the bar thought I wouldn't notice? I think a lot of customers would have been really annoyed at this, I wasn't upset but disappointed since they don't know what they have in stock or not.

Now I'll talk about the atmosphere. It is an elegant setting with a decent amount of space between tables, but the restaurant still had a medium volume level due to the acoustics and amount of people conversing. Personally we would have enjoyed it a bit quieter with some tasteful instrumental music, but that might be hard to pull off in a restaurant full of people and it not just be too loud since any music might make people speak louder.

Let's talk about the appetizer. We ordered the bruschetta when we were first visited by the server. The Bruschetta took quite some time to arrive, probably a solid 20 minutes. We weren't in a hurry so that was fine, just a bit surprising considering how simple Bruschetta is. Their version was really tasty, balanced, and light with the prosciutto, dressing, and arugula being very nice. Pretty complex flavors. To be picky, when they called it an appetizer they weren't kidding, it was 3 small strips of bread and toppings. We agreed that it was so light and tasty but small, if the appetizer came with 5 pieces that would have been more appropriate, and this is just with 2 people. If you had 3 people, ordering 2 of the appetizer would be required otherwise you'll get just 2 bites and that's it.

For the main course we got the medium and largest filet minions. The steaks were great and coming from us, we have high expectations, we've had much more expensive steaks that weren't this good. I'd rate their filets 9/10. We both tried some of their sauces, I had the cognac peppercorn marrow and my wife had the chimichurri. Marrow sauce was good but taste really subdued, and the chimichurri was nice but not as good as what we make at home in our opinion. For sides we got the smashed Yukon potatoes and the grilled asparagus. Both sides were really nice and balanced but I think they could really amplify the flavors and give them more pop. For example with the potatoes, it came with what was described as a Gochujang sauce. Gochujang is a concentrated Korean chili paste, tastes amazing. But the sauce was mostly just creamy(pretty sure it was mostly mayo) with maybe a hint of Gochujang, really just tasted like sriracha mayo from any sushi place, so we were not very impressed but it...

TLDR: Worth the visit and the price.

From the moment we stepped in the restaurant, the experience was phenomenal. The ambience was relaxing, the food beyond delicious, and the service spectacular.

Drinks: To begin, I ordered the The Tainted Love for a starter drink (absolutely beautifully crafted by the baretender btw), a glass of italian white wine - Vermentino - to go with my dinner, and their espresso dessert drink. Each one was delicious and timed perfectly. I asked the server, Alyssa, to bring the wine as dinner came and she delivered with incredible punctuality. My husband ordered a cognac with ginger ale and was impressed with the balance of the drink. Our waters never went empty.

Bread: They bring a fresh warm roll with softened butter. You are offered more; however, it's truly not needed. I recommend adding a pinch of salt to the top of the bread once buttered.

Entrees: I had the jumbo crab cake and a side of mac and cheese. The crab cake almost brought tears to my eyes. It was the most amazing crab cake I've had with the creamy sauce and sprouts to top it. The mac and cheese was creamy, cheesy, and yummy. We added a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

My husband had the lamb chops with potatoes and broccolini. The broccolini was smoky and well-done. The potatoes were piping hot and salted perfectly. While I didn't try the lamp chops, my husband said they were tender and cooked to a perfect medium. The chutney and puree pairing with the chops were fabulous.

Dessert: Alyssa recommended the Butterscotch Pudding. Get it. Don't bother looking at any other desert. Get it. I am a chocolate fiend. I have never - NEVER - ordered a desert that doesn't contain chocolate. My husband ordered the Butterscotch Pudding and I ordered my Grace Carajillo (espresso drink). I was planning on ordering the Haitian Chocolate and Torte, but I had a bite of my husband's pudding and INSTANTLY ordered one for myself. Paired with the Grave Carajillo - it was the most well-balanced, delectable dessert I've ever ordered.

Service: Every staff member present was attentive and caring. We never had dirty dishes stacking, waters filled consistently, and were greeted by smiles each time. I had used the salt for the bread and when our plates were picked up, the salt and pepper were repositioned to their original state by the server. I was genuinely impressed overall by the service and commitment of the staff.

Overall 10/10 on everything. I recommend going.

Expect the prices to match the experience and you will enjoy this as...