Chef Jon Bonnell’s idea of “Texas cuisine” always included coastal seafood.
Soon, his shrimp and redfish recipes will have their own showcase in his new west Fort Worth seafood restaurant and oyster bar: Waters, Bonnell’s Coastal Cuisine.
Waters replaces the ill-conceived Bailey’s Prime steakhouse in the West 7th shops along Crockett Street.
Bailey’s had a clubby-steakhouse menu, but too much of a garden-room look.
The West 7th space is a better fit for a seafood restaurant to go head-to-head against the nearby competition, the Florida-based Eddie V’s Prime Seafood chain.
Bonnell, a leader in the regional farm-to-table movement using mostly local produce and Texas meats and fish, announced the new restaurant Tuesday on Facebook.
He predicted a January opening, meaning maybe in time for the annual Stock Show and rodeo.
Bonnell has built a national reputation for his Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine restaurant, which mixes typical cowboy-cuisine steaks and game with his coastal dishes such as oysters “Texasfeller” with spinach and tasso, shrimp-and-grits, pecan-crusted redfish (red drum) or his familiar duck gumbo.
Waters will be at Crockett and Currie streets across from the new American F+B, an upscale bar-and-grill by the owners of Fireside Pies with a menu combining The Porch in Dallas and the company’s Westside Tavern in west Los Angeles.
Bonnell’s is open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays at 4259 Bryant Irvin Road; 817-738-5489, bonnellstexas.com.
