That French restaurant in Fort Worth is getting a new owner, but he’s a familiar face
Restaurateur Bernard Tronche’s Paris 7th is changing hands to a longtime manager, but Tronche will keep his Saint-Émilion bistro, he said this week.
Chris Salvador, long a top staffer for Tronche and at much-missed Cacharel in Arlington, will take over Paris 7th in early 2023, both said.
One of Tronche’s best all-time chefs, Mark Hitri, is back as the new chef at the upscale Paris 7th, joining Salvador.
Salvador plans to refine the restaurant and make it “a dining experience,” he said.
Tronche shrugged his shoulders as he explained the decision.
At 65, “I don’t need to be running two restaurants anymore,” he said.
Tronche said he has known Salvador “literally since the day he was born.” Tronche worked with Salvador’s father at long-ago Calluaud’s in Dallas.
“He will do a great job — It’s time for a new point of view,” Tronche said.
Salvador said he plans to give Paris 7th, 3324 W. Seventh St., a fresh look with more art.
“We want to give the city what it deserves in the way of a fine restaurant,” he said.
Tronche said Paris 7th will thrive off the art museums, Dickies Arena and forthcoming Crescent hotel nearby.
But he is keeping Saint-Émilion, three blocks west at 3617 W. Seventh St., “because I love it — it has been my home for almost 40 years,” he said.
Tronche said he will continue in both restaurants for now, he said. Sometime next year, he will settle at Saint-Émilion.
From Valentine’s Day 1985, when Tronche opened Saint-Émilion, it was consistently ranked one of the top three restaurants in all of Dallas and Fort Worth, often No. 1. It also often won “most romantic.”
Five years ago, Tronche tried a Texas two-step.
He moved Saint-Émilion’s fine-dining menu and dishes such as fine French caviar, duck and lamb to the larger and more metropolitan Paris 7th.
Then Tronche reopened Saint-Émilion as a cozy wine bistro with dishes such as escargots, fish or filet au poivre on a $55 prix-fixe menu.
“Saint-Émilion can be what it was always supposed to be — a country bistro with home cooking like in the French countryside, not in Paris,” Tronche said.
Chef Pascal Paviani also serves an Italian special.
Saint-Émilion is open for Wednesday night specials and serves its regular menu Thursday through Sunday nights; reserve only at Resy.com, saint-emilionrestaurant.com
Paris 7th serves dinner Wednesdays through Saturdays; reserve at OpenTable.com or Yelp.com and then confirm by phone at 817-489-5300, paris7th.com.
“The best thing that can happen,” Tronche said, “is if nothing changes.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
