More Fort Worth eateries enter the Blue Zone

In June, three more Fort Worth restaurants earned the Blue Zones Project’s seal of approval.

Hoya Korean Kitchen in downtown as well as Grand Cru Wine Bar & Boutique and Z’s Cafe on the near Southside have joined Juice Junkies, Righteous Foods and La Perla Negra on the list of restaurants that encourage and enable healthy eating. Restaurants create their own path to Blue Zones approval, earning points for amount of plant-based dishes, smaller plate sizes, healthy kids’ menus and more.

It’s striking how different all these places are (an upscale chef-ly restaurant, a sort of Korean Chipotle, a sandwich shop; a wine bar, a juice bar, a bar bar), but I guess that’s part of the point of Blue Zones: making healthier choices easier and more automatic throughout your day, whatever your day looks like.

Of the new places, Hoya Korean Kitchen is the one vegetarians most need to know about. It made the grade for its high percentage of healthy items, the cashier told me (it’s a counter-service place). Brown rice is an option, many dishes are available with tofu, and there’s a liberal use of fresh vegetables in Korean cuisine.

Options include a grilled tofu plate ($9), and various vegetarian rice and noodle bowls ($5-$6). At weekday lunch, there’s the signature national dish known bibimbap ($6), starring five Korean-style veggies plus tofu, if you like. At night and on weekends, you can get that as a bibimbap noodle bowl ($6).

I tried the similar hot stone bowl ($8). Beautifully presented in, as advertised, a huge, searingly hot stone bowl, it was the five Korean-style veggies—kimchi, carrots, cucumber, shiitakes, zucchini—on a huge quantity of rice topped with an egg (vegans can hold this). I added tofu but forgot to ask for brown rice. Do consider this: It’s a huge bowl with lots of rice.

I also like the udon noodles ($6) in a flavorful broth with carrots, squash and other veggies mixed in, topped with a little mound of seaweed and three very light tempura vegetable pieces.

There’s a lot to explore at Hoya, and I was told more menu tweaks are coming soon, with an eye to a more fusion style. They’ll keep these Korean basics, though, which they do quite well.

Hoya Korean Kitchen, 355 W. Third St., Fort Worth; 817-334-7999; www.hoyakitchen.com

Grand Cru Wine Bar & Boutique in the Near Southside has a huge wine list but a minimal food kitchen offering things like small plates, cheese boards and charcuterie. The Blue Zones-inspired items are marked on the menu and include a nice duo of seasoned nuts, mixed Mediterranean olives, housemade marinated artichokes, a PB&J on sourdough with a fruit side for children, and two kinds of hummus, available with whole wheat crackers or raw veggies instead of pita.

1257 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth; 817-923-1717; www.grandcrumagnolia.com

The most surprising in this batch of restaurants is Z’s Cafe, a little lunch spot on Pennsylvania in the medical district. My husband loves their brawny, meaty Chicago-deli fare such as the Ultimate Reuben and the Killer Meatball Sandwich. The chicken salad is really popular, and Z’s has always had lighter options, but vegetarians never had much reason to go. It is a place that cares about health, though, and it’s a catering business at heart that does huge fruit and veg platters and seems to have a strong community ties—another aspect of Blue Zones.

Blue Zones prompted Z’s to create a separate menu of three vegetarian items that meet project requirements. They’re very modest entries: a sandwich of grilled veggies (squash, asparagus, spinach) and hummus on soft wheat bread, the same ingredients in a wheat tortilla, and a vegetable quiche—but good options for anyone seeking a cheap and nutritious lunch-counter kind of meal in the Penn/Rosedale/Magnolia area, not that easy to find.

Z’s Cafe, 1116 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth; 817-348-9000; www.zscafe.com

Vegetarians should cheer what Blue Zones is doing for Fort Worth dining. There’s a rumor about that the chef at a higher-profile west-side restaurant that’s not known for dainty, healthy food is working on a new menu to qualify for Blue Zone status. Stay tuned.

Put a Spin! on it

The latest pizza chain to arrive in Tarrant County, Spin! Neapolitan Pizza, just opened in Southlake in the old Blue Mesa space. It’s easy to order meatless pizza anywhere, but this place is worth knowing about for its ingredients—12 choices of roasted vegetables, including capers, potatoes and calabrian peppers; and other unusual toppings such as apples, glazed pecans, fig onion marmalade and sundried tomato relish.

You can build your own or choose from a menu of 11 red-sauce and nine white-sauce pizzas. Six of the red-sauce options are vegetarian, including a primavera ($13.45) with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, red onions, spinach and crimini mushrooms; and the Oliva & Carciofi ($12.45), with caramelized onions and roasted capers. Whole wheat and gluten-free crusts are available for a surcharge ($.50 and $3, respectively).

The salads here ($8.75, $5.25 half) are also special, and six of seven are vegetarian, which is unusual. I had the 8 Color, with roasted tomatoes, radishes, celery, scallions, gorgonzola, toasted pine nuts, housemade croutons and cucumber buttermilk dressing, and it’s an excellent meal in itself. Spin! is at 1586 E. Southlake Blvd.; 817-416-7746; spinpizza.com

This story was originally published July 21, 2015 at 11:41 PM with the headline "More Fort Worth eateries enter the Blue Zone."