Breakfast, pizzas and a pool: How a Fort Worth restaurant became a mini dining resort
The newest morning breakfast or coffee stop near the Trinity Trails is at a brand-new hotel.
The location is familiar: Gemelle, chef Tim Love’s Italian restaurant and Detroit-style pizzeria at 4400 White Settlement Road.
But now Gemelle is an all-day restaurant with an adjacent hotel — a culinary mini-resort.
Love’s new Hotel Otto, opening July 26, draws travelers looking for lodging near the Cultural District. It offers kayaking, horseback riding and bicycle trails from a tiny hotel with a swimming pool and eight modular rooms, like something you might see in Austin or Marfa.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere down here on the river, and there wasn’t anywhere for guests to stay,” said Love, celebrating Gemelle’s recent success after the unsettled 2019 opening.
First came the hotel idea.
Then came breakfast.
“We’re doing it for hotel guests, so we figure let’s open to the public,” he said.
Gemelle opens at 7 daily. The patio is perfect for a drowsy morning breakfast, or a stop for coffee after a walk or ride from the nearby Trinity Trails trailhead.
The menu is limited: steak-and-eggs, eggs Benedict, avocado toast, a bruleed half-grapefruit, a yogurt bowl or a soft-boiled egg with bread and house-made jam.
The Illy coffee is only $2. But this isn’t the place to grab a hurried cup.
Love said his all-time favorite breakfast is the simple soft-boiled egg with a fresh house-baked baguette and house-made jam from the Gemelle garden ($9).
If you’d rather have a half-grapefruit or avocado toast, Gemelle has its own take.
The half-grapefruit is caramelized with arugula ($9). The avocado toast comes on focaccia with arugula, egg and crispy salami ($16).
The menu tops out with jalapeno-pesto eggs Benedict with prosciutto ($20) or a skirt steak-and-egg platter ($26).
It’s Gemelle’s play for museum visitors and also for the morning Trinity Trail crowds that go to Press Cafe, Ascension Coffee or Love’s own Woodshed Smokehouse.
His Stockyards restaurants, Lonesome Dove Western Bistro and the forthcoming Paloma Suerte, flank Marine Creek and the Saunders Park riverwalk.
“I love all the places along the river,” Love said.
“We’ve got to do more with the river system — it’s the highlight of our city, and it’s free.”
Gemelle has found new followers after a spotty opening year.
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Detroit-style pizzas made Gemelle more of a family restaurant, particularly on Tuesdays for buy-one-get-one takeout pizza night.
The lunch menu now has either a double-decker burger or a chicken Milanese sandwich for $12.
On Mondays, eggplant Parmesan lasagna is $16 all day.
The pastas such as cacio e pepe are still big sellers at dinner, Love said, along with the lemon chicken platter and a fried-artichoke appetizer from the garden.
A quinoa salad is a top seller at lunch and weekend brunch.
Gemelle is open for breakfast through dinner daily; 817-732-9535, gemelleftw.com.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 5:45 AM.
