The wagyu beef tartare, crème, and tallow toast have killer sandwich potential.
Photo by Cody Neathery
The Mont, 4729 Saint Amand Cir, Fort Worth. 817-502-3400. 4-9pm Sun-Thu, 4-9:30pm Fri-Sat.
In Montserrat, a neighborhood straddling southwest Fort Worth and Benbrook, an ambitious upscale restaurant just opened that was pretty risky for co-owners and Cousin’s BBQ leaders Jason Cross and Jeff Payne. Betting on a widely undeveloped edge of town, Cross and Payne launched The Mont in the summer — typically an unfavorable season, especially coupled with a riddled economy that maintains financial clamps across the hospitality industry. With these scenarios against Cross and Payne, The Mont was a risk they were willing to take while simultaneously developing the upcoming Beverly’s, a fine-dining Mexican concept downtown.
Culinary Director Michael Arlt, previously over now-shuttered the Beast and Company, tapped Michael Duff, former executive chef at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood on West 7th, for this endeavor, and with all of this combined experience in fine dining, The Mont is seemingly in good hands.
Fort Worth design firm Maven dialed in a clinic with the space. Most are fawning over the midcentury-modern aesthetic. The Mont also leans into the opulence of the Hollywood Regency style. Mid-mod is simple, relying on sleek lines, the incorporation of natural elements, and an emphasis on functionality, but Hollywood Regency exudes bold dramatics. Layering shapes and textures, glitz with glamour, The Mont makes a luxurious statement.
The Mont’s succulent ode cod with butternut squash is a well-rounded fall dish. Photo by Cody Neathery
Inspired by a palette of earth tones, shades of sage green dominate, from seamless waves of the tiled floor and marbled bar to glossy alligator-print booths. Shimmering dusty rose curtains work with mauve seating and the lacquered natural wood of the dining tables. Gold accents include silverware, table lamps, and draped tassels above the bar. No detail was spared from this angle of composition.
My guest and I were greeted with an engaging green curry bisque as our cocktails were placed on the table, a Moscow mule for my guest and an Autumn twist on an Old Fashioned for me. The Pear in the Woods (TX Bourbon, spiced pear, lemon, port, black walnut bitters) was delightfully topped with a graham cracker.
The fall menu is in full swing with certain items from the opening menu still present but with different ingredients. The Mont’s process is to order all at once to stagger dishes during your seating. This can be overwhelming as tastes are subject to change over the course of dinner and another dish might become more desirable at second glance. Fortunately, the pace was slow, which allowed us to take time combing through the menu and ordering with helpful insight from our server.
Crab hush puppies and royal red shrimp risotto crashed the table first. Stingy the kitchen is not when making these deep-fried bread balls as the shellfish was prominent. Drizzled with truffle honey with a dollop of lemon aioli to accentuate, they’re perhaps the best seafood-mixed puppies I have eaten in recent memory. The chive risotto was sharp from the cheese, sensationally rich from uni butter, and sweet from chunks of shrimp and cured fish roe called bottarga swirling among the Italian rice. This dish could have held its own as an entree.
The Mont’s deviled eggs will make your granny jealous. Photo by Cody Neathery
The tender wagyu beef tartare paired with vinegary pickled shallot and truffle vinaigrette was pleasantly edible alone, but with a slice of beef-tallow toast and a smear of horseradish crème, this merger had the makings to be one of the best sliders in town without even trying.
The salmon crudo was served in tandem, and as attractive as it read on the menu, this was the only dish that left us baffled. The mix of rootsy beets under slices of salmon were left high and dry without a memorable flavor. The few dashes of brown butter and oyster aioli were simply not enough to lift the flavors where we desired. While this didn’t move the needle for us, it retains potential for other guests who enjoy it straightforward.
Gulf Coast royal red shrimp provided seafood sustenance to the risotto. Photo by Cody Neathery
The Mont’s deviled eggs should come with addiction warning, and if served at your holiday gatherings, they might steal the show. Like snowflakes, a light dusting of burnt leeks and onion ash covered the eggs topped with briny smoked caviar that meshed well with mustardy whipped yolk. Simply put, they are unfair to your grandma’s family recipe.
The chicken liver paté was creamy and chalky without the gaminess, but when partnered with green tomato chow chow, quick pickles, and grain mustard on the tallow toast, the liver delivered another humdinger of flavor.
The menu offers four wood-grilled wagyu beef steaks, and judging from the initial offerings, they would probably be wise selections. However, we wanted to lean on the seafood of the mains. The black grouper was clean and fresh, another masterclass in simplicity, this one allowing the charred turnip and grilled greens to provide slight smoke and the creamy pool of fennel herb nage to offer an aromatic hint of earthiness.
Lightly fried ode cod was a medley of flavor. With its elegant lobster fricassee sauce and bone jus engaging smoked butternut squash and burnt endive, a.k.a. chicory, the fish made for one heck of a fall-inspired plate.
In lieu of dessert, goat cheese mac off the menu was offered. No arm twist here.
If this is a glimpse of what’s in store, it gives promise to the upcoming Beverly’s. I believe the odds to be in their favor.
The Mont
Black grouper $49
Ode cod $48
Shrimp risotto $31
Wagyu beef tartare $25
Chicken liver paté $23
Salmon crudo $22
Deviled eggs $21
Crab hushpuppies $21
Goat cheese mac $15
A manly sweetness infuses The Mont’s seasonally inspired take on an Old Fashioned, the Pear in the Woods. Photo by Cody Neathery
