Many of you are familiar with the Fireside Piesbrlocation nearby in Grapevine, another outpostbrin Tristan Simon's Consilient Hospitality foodbrempire. But the location in Fort Worth's vibrantbrWest 7th mixed-use development, currently inbrthe midst of being rebranded as ThirteenbrPies, offers not only a different approach but abrdistinctive menu.
The soon to be called Thirteen Pies was alwaysbrintended to be more of a sister restaurant thatbroffered lunch dining options and an expandedbrmenu featuring locally sourced ingredients,braccording to kitchen manager and longtimebrConsilient Group chef, George Ortega. Ortegabrnoted that Tristan Simon wanted to branch outbrfrom the original Fireside Pies concept whenbrhe opened the restaurant in Fort Worth. Evenbrthe décor both inside and out reflects a sparser,brminimalist ethos compared to other Fireside Piesbrlocations. This location has always featured twelve fixed pizza “pies” on the menu year round with abrthirteenth pie that features the chef's choice forbra seasonal pie using ingredients available only atbrcertain times of the year. Hence the new name,brThirteen Pies. Also, Ortega shared that the crustbrpreparation is different, and there are more variedbrcheeses used in their dishes.
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Two other outposts of Thirteen Pies arebrcurrently in development in Houston, and Atlanta.brChef Ortega informed me that he would bebrrelocating to the Atlanta area in a matter of weeksbrto join the team in opening the location there.br
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Welded metal letters housing dark orangebrneon tubes spelling out Fireside Pies are all thatbrmark the location of the restaurant. Inside, thebrceiling over the dining areas is dominated bybrthe same wood slats that form the backdrop forbrthe host stand with custom z-shaped lightingbrfixtures hovering over a long line of booths alongbrthe windows while the ceiling over the bar and the open kitchen highlights strategic pinpoint lightingbrand exposed concrete columns. Along another wall are thebrseasonal specials on a large chalkboard with another smallbrchalkboard to the side noting the thirteenth pie currentlybravailable for order.
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Having dined at this location several times before, I knewbrthat I was definitely going to order a pasta dish that utilizesbrfresh, house-made pasta along with a pie for the meal I wasbrsharing with my dining companion. The pasta selections arebrwhere this location has always differed from other FiresidebrPies. We chose the Bolognese, which combine tender eggbrnoodles that easily hold the rich, meaty Bolognese sauce inbrevery bite. It is a simple but an incredibly well prepared dishbrthat could put similar dishes from Italian focused restaurantsbrto shame. The other area that this location differs from itsbrsister restaurants is the selection of pies. The other FiresidebrPies locations all offer the same pie selection that featurebrlocal ingredients. This location has a much more innovativebrtake on the combinations of ingredients and flavors for itsbrmenu. We chose the Spicy House-Made Pork Sausage piebrmade up of the oil-rubbed crust, roasted red peppers, roasted onions and scamorza (a fancy name for smoked mozzarella)brto which we added fresh yellow market tomatoes added atbrthe end of the baking time for the pie. The thin, crispy onbrthe outside yet chewy on the inside crust holds it's ownbragainst the vibrant flavors of this pie. Perfectly cooked, itbrwas a home run.
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It's a must to finish off your meal with one of theirbrseasonal desserts. If it is available, the Lemon MascarponebrSemifreddo (a semi-frozen ice cream) will do nicely. Ourbrserver, Neto, described it as similar to a deconstructedbrcheesecake. It arrived in a small glass bowl with squares ofbrthe semifreddo laid atop one another with lemon curd inbrbetween each layer and a pistachio crumble throughout. Itbris cold, light and fresh. An ideal summer dessert!br
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As Southlake Style's foodie fellow, James is passionate about discoveringbrunique dining experiences in the DFW area by night while crafting high impactbrmarketing strategies by day as founder of Audacious Think. A native Oklahoman,brhe now considers the hometown of his beloved Dallas Cowboys to be his own asbrwell.