New downtown Fort Worth restaurant only hints what’s next, above and below Wicked Bar
One flashy hotel steakhouse is open, and another is close.
Wicked Bar will open Dec. 2, serving menu items to give a peek at the new Wicked Butcher prime steakhouse underground in the Sinclair Hotel, 512 Main St.
Wicked Butcher won’t open until January, which is about when the buzz will settle over the other new steakhouse downtown, Toro Toro in the Worthington Renaissance.
On a Main Street loaded with steakhouses, Wicked Butcher is the only one that’s locally owned. The boss is Dallas-Fort Worth restaurateur Nafees Alam, owner of WIld Salsa, Chop House Burger and the coming Oven & Cellar Italian restaurant, all in City Place.
“Fort Worth has been really good to us — we’ve found a lot of love in Fort Worth,” Alam said. “That’s why we’re doubling down.”
Wicked Bar is only a taste of what’s ahead at the Sinclair, an Art Deco classic.
Wicked Butcher, beneath ground level, is decorated in white brick and tile and has the feeling of a busy 1920s speakeasy bar and urban butcher shop.
On top of the Sinclair, the 17th-floor RTB (Roof Top Bar) will serve small plates and desserts with a full 360-degree panorama of Fort Worth, the greatest skyline view since the 2000 tornado knocked Reata out of the Tower.
Chef Luigi Iannuario comes from Dallas-area restaurants like Nicola and Da Mario.
“We don’t want to be your grandfather’s steakhouse,” he said.
(I’d be careful saying that. Depends who’s paying the bill.)
“We want to elevate the game,” he said.
Wicked Bar will open Dec. 2 with a limited menu including a chimichurri steak and frites, a bacon-jam cheddar burger, bacon-cheddar sliders, a tuna tartare-avocado stack, steak tartare and a few other items.
The bar menu will expand in January when the downstairs steakhouse opens.
The Wicked Butcher took a skyscraper basement and somehow turned it into a restaurant, adding skylights and design elements to bring in natural light.
Wicked Bar, Wicked Butcher and RTB are all at the Sinclair, Main and Fifth streets. Wicked Bar is in the corner cafe space that was the old location of Picchi-Pacchi; 682-231-8214, marriott.com.
