Avoca Coffee headed to Magnolia

At long last, a local coffee shop is headed to Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside.  The former Sundance Scooters building at Magnolia & 6th will soon be home to Avoca Coffee, a new indie coffee shop by owners Jimmy Story and Garold LaRue.  For context, the site is across the street from Magnolia from Spiral Diner, Lili’s, and Panther City Bicycles, a block east of Nonna Tata and The Usual, and a block west of the Chat Room.

Avoca hopes to be far enough along to host artists during Arts Goggle on October 2nd, and they’re shooting for a November grand opening.  The building will serve double duty, with the eastern half (on the left) serving as the roasting facility (yes, they’re roasting their own beans), while the western half on the right will function as the actual coffee shop.  Haven’t heard too many details of the renovations yet, but I’ve heard some talk of bringing the western end of the building out closer to Magnolia, as well as an outdoor patio on the Magnolia frontage.

A local coffee shop has been a missing piece of the Magnolia puzzle for a long time, so this is a great development.  Increasing the variety of businesses on Magnolia, and giving people places to do more than just come in and dine, will help with Magnolia’s pedestrian and bike activity as well, since people will spend more time if there’s more than just restaurants.  Can’t wait to see how Avoca turns out.

Spiral Diner Up For Best Vegan Restaurant In Country

Survey.  Click over to this Survey Monkey survey and cast your votes for many VegNews Magazine awards.  Of interest to Fort Worthians, our very own Spiral Diner is once again up for Best Vegan Restaurant in the country.  Click and do your civic duty.  Following Ellerbe’s recent award, we have the chance to have two “best in the United States” award-winning restaurants on Magnolia.  Voting ends tomorrow (8/31), so get your vote in.

BizPress on Trinity Bicycles

Bike shop caters to commuter-cyclist – Fort Worth Business Press.  Nice story about the Near Southside’s Trinity Bicycles.  Kudos to the Business Press for A) using “Near Southside” rather than “Hospital District” (the Star-Telegram still has trouble with that one) and B) for the mention of our bike parking project.

New Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman on Fort Worth’s Future

The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce has a new Chairman for its Board of Directors – Jeff King, a managing director at J.P. Morgan.  In the most recent issue of the CoC’s Chamberletter, King spells out how he feels Fort Worth is at a crossroads, and needs to do better at engaging its up-and-coming young creatives and entrepreneurs at creating a 21st century city.

This sort of thing is exactly the sort of thing we’ve talked about here before – about building a city that can compete on a 21st century stage with its peers who are building innovative and forward-thinking cities through things like modern transportation choice, independent business incubation, a variety of living options, and more.  Go read the whole article – here’s a quote:

We don’t need to figure out how to plug our young leaders into today’s Fort Worth; we need to provide them a forum that allows them to create the blueprint for what tomorrow’s Fort Worth will be. We all owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the generations of leaders that provided us with this amazing city, our world-class educational institutions, arts community and zoo – this one-of-a-kind personality that combines our sophistication with our western heritage.
But the times are changing, and our future leaders will be even more traveled, more educated, more connected, and more diverse than ever before. They will inherit a Fort Worth where the concern is not whether it will grow, but how it will continue to reinvent its relevance within one of the largest and fastest-growing metropolitan regions on Earth.

Food Carts (of a Sort) in the Near Southside?

We got an interesting e-mail from a reader today letting us know that a food cart (or more accurately, a food trailer) has come to the Near Southside.  Here’s JP’s letter about the new food cart next to Gordon Boswell Florist that’s been created by the Chef Point restaurant from Watauga:

Are you familiar with Chef Point (Watauga’s popular restaurant inside a gas station)?  In an effort to expand their business to Ft. Worth, they are experimenting with a food cart (well… “trailer” actually) in the Near Southside every Wednesday afternoon for lunch from 11:00 – 3:00.  They are occupying that parking space next to the Gordon Boswell Florist, across from Harris Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Today was their first day, and without doing much advertising, business was relatively quiet when I popped by a little before 1:00.

They offer many of the same items you can find inside their original restaurant:  burgers, sandwiches, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, pastas, salads, and soups (although neither lobster bisque nor clam chowder seemed appealing in the 100 degree + parking lot today).  They also have their delicious bread pudding for dessert.  I wish patrons would petition that they bring their vegetable quiche to the mobile restaurant.  It’s definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had… from a gas station, no less.

I thought Chef Point’s food truck might have been in response to last month’s Food Network extravaganza where all those food carts stopped off in Ft. Worth on their race across the country (part of a new reality show).  Actually, according to their chef, this mobile restaurant project has been in the works for nearly a year.

Here’s hoping it leads to more of the same!  As you’ve mentioned on your blog several times, I think our city is ready for more mobile food vendors.  I’ve really enjoyed them in walkable cities like Portland — as well as larger sprawls like L.A.  It’d be great to see people supporting Chef Point in an effort to promote the food cart culture here in Fort Worth.

So – has anybody else out there stumbled across the Chef Point trailer while out and about in the Near Southside on Wednesdays?  We can’t help but imagine that food carts might attract more of a draw somewhere on Magnolia, where there’s at least some foot traffic from more than just one hospital, but it’s still an interesting development.

Urban Agriculture Comes to Fort Worth – Fairmount Community Garden & New Public Market

Fort Worth is a bit behind the times on the urban agriculture movement, but the city is starting to embrace it at last.  Above is the first official city-approved community garden in the city of Fort Worth – the Fairmount Community Garden, located at 5th & Maddox across from Fairmount Park in the Fairmount neighborhood in the Near Southside.

Built on what were once vacant lots repossessed by the city, the Fairmount Community Garden was put together by a group of neighborhood residents wishing to promote local food sources in Fort Worth.  With sponsorship by a multitude of local organizations and companies, and help from Fort Worth South, Inc. and District 9 City Council representative Joel Burns, Fairmount has finally opened its long-awaited community garden.

The Fairmount Community Garden is comprised of 76 plots, each 8′ x 4′, leasable by residents for $35 per year.  When last we chatted with garden organizer Susan Harper, all 76 lots were apparently spoken for, and a waiting list for openings is in place.  The organic garden is already producing food.

Signs that urban agriculture and local food are gaining ground in urban Fort Worth can be found elsewhere now, as the group The New Public Market is putting together a proposal to lease and renovate the gorgeous old Public Market Building on Henderson into a new public market featuring local and Texas food providers.  While putting together their plans for the Public Market Building, The New Public Market is having Market Days – and the next one is tomorrow (Saturday, June 5th).

Market Days are held at Into the Garden on Camp Bowie.  From 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM, The New Public Market and other providers will set up shop and offer up the following goods:

1. New Public Market ~ market goods
-A. local wholesale produce
-B. Cece’s Citchen ~ artisan baked biscotti and other gourmet goods
-C. Mickey’s Mustard ~ totally unique banana pepper mustard
-D. New Canaan Farms ~ Jams, jellies, condiments, sauces and salsas
-E. Ranch Oak Farm ~ smoked turkey breast, smoked ham, cured pork tenderloin, smoked chicken and smoked beef tenderloin
-F. El Rancho Grande Restaurante’ ~ pecan pralines, corn chips
and tortillas
-G. Crazy Water and Dublin Dr. Pepper
-H. Texas Basket Company ~ shopping supplies
-I. Cut flowers
-J. John Lucicdo’s homestyle pastas
2. Texas Olive Ranch ~ pure Texas olive oils, balsamic vinegars
3. Texas Honeybee Guild ~ black prairie honey, creamed honey, honeyed pecans, pollen and other bee products
4. Cold Springs Farm ~ fresh produce from Weatherford
5. Hot Tamalez ~ crowd pleasing tamales and salsa
6. Project 44 ~ Cherith Farms products and Urban Gardens
7. Aduro Bean & Leaf ~ locally roasted free trade coffees
8. Manchacek Bakery ~ kolaches and other Czech baked goods
9. Genesis Beef ~ order grass fed beef for home delivery and grilled hamburgers

We hope that a lot of Fort Worthology readers will support the New Public Market and their efforts by attending Market Day whenever it occurs.  Getting the Public Market Building back into work as a food market would be a great benefit, especially for Downtown and the Near Southside, and driving this sort of thing forward would help support more local food markets in areas like the Near Southside and Cultural District.

In addition, efforts to create more community gardens in our redeveloping urban neighborhoods like the one in Fairmount will help create a stronger local food movement in this city, especially when joined with gardens replacing lawns in our urban bungalow neighborhoods and the creation of rooftop gardens, windowboxes, and other local food sources for multi-family & mixed-use buildings.

Here are a couple of other photos of the Fairmount Community Garden:

Friday Bike Links

Some links for things happening in the bicycle world.

Social Cycling Week 2 Roundup – Let’s Go Ride A Bike

Hearing how much fun everyone is having simply by riding bikes makes us so happy. See for yourself by checking out the pictures below. We encourage you to click on the links to read the full stories, visit the participants’ blogs, deepen the dialogue and spread the bike love!

Life By Bike – Portlandize

During the Farmers Market season, we make it a weekend tradition to ride over to our local farmers market in Irvington neighborhood every Sunday, and get some breakfast along the way. This year we’ve also discovered the market in the Hollywood neighborhood, which is almost as close to us, is on Saturday, and has a notably different selection of vendors, so we’ve decided to start frequenting both. Farmers market weekends! Fresh, delicious food, supporting local community and economy, and often there’s good pre-made food to be eaten at the markets as well.

Cargo Bike Moments – Copenhagen Cycle Chic

A few shots from the rich cargo bike culture in Copenhagen.

And from our local shops:

Peterboro Baskets – Trinity Bicycles

As you might have guessed from our love of Brooks Saddles, we have a soft spot for quality, handmade products with a history. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that such products are often superior to their modern counterparts, simply because their makers haven’t succumbed to the cost-cutting pressures of an increasingly global society.

That’s why we were really excited to be visited by a representative of the Peterboro Basket Company this week. This wasn’t just any company representative, though… she was a member of the family who has been making these fine baskets by hand since 1854.

Chair Massage This Saturday – Panther City Bicycles

This Saturday 6-5-10 at Panther City Bicycles from 11:00-4:00pm we will have a very special guest:  Amanda Powers, licensed massage therapist.

WalkableDFW/Fort Worthology Joint Happy Hour May 21st

From time to time, it can be useful to set aside the ages-old feud between Fort Worth and Dallas and have some fun.  That’s why we’re happy to announce that we’re joining forces with Dallas-based fellow urbanism/transit blog Walkable D/FW to bring you a special edition of their customary Friday Happy Hour meetups on May 21st.

For the first time, Walkable D/FW plans to bring their Happy Hour to Fort Worth, and we’re going to be helping out.  At a drink spot somewhere in urban Fort Worth to be announced, we’d like to see Fort Worth urbanists/bike lovers/transit folks/anybody interested in walkable, livable neighborhoods to join us for drinks and chat.

Now, usually, Walkable D/FW offers a free beer to…well, here’s how they put it:

It is also often orchestrated with a free beer from me to the first person who guesses the City shown in various imagery and hints of the City’s history, origins, demographics, morphology, yadda yadda.

The rules typically state that one must be the first person in the comments to correctly identify the city shown *and* arrive at the event car-free to claim your free beer.  What is perhaps being hinted at here is that in honor of this newfound, alcohol-fueled spirit of camaraderie between our two cities, there might be TWO cities to guess and TWO free beers on the offering – one from Walkable D/FW, and one from us.

Perhaps?  Maybe?  We’ll find out!  We’re giving people some lead time to allow Dallasites the planning time to get to Fort Worth car-free.  Stay tuned for more details to come.

Photos From Path Less Pedaled At Trinity Bicycles

Russ and Laura from PathLessPedaled.com stopped in Fort Worth on their cross-country bike ride, and set up shop at Trinity Bicycles in South Main Village in the Near Southside for a presentation of lessons they’ve learned, stories they’ve found, and photos they’ve taken on the meandering journey they’ve been on from Portland, OR through the United States.  The presentation was a lot of fun, talking about how they’ve adjusted to a new life on the road and about all the interesting people they’ve met along the way.  There was even a video with a song by a man they met somewhere during the trip, set to photos and video taken while on the move.  After the presentation, Russ and Laura did a Q&A with the audience, taking all sorts of questions from “what’s your staple food?” to “how do you maintain the web site while out in the wilderness?”

And what  an audience it was.  If there was any doubt that Fort Worth is at last developing a real bike culture of its own, seeing the crowd gathered at Trinity Bicycles should put that to rest.  The shop was packed with bike fans of all ages and backgrounds (including families).  In fact, we’ve learned that this was the largest presentation that Russ and Laura have done thus far – 103 attendees!  After the presentation had concluded, before they moved into the Q&A, the audience gave Russ and Laura a wild, loud round of cheers and applause, which got even more excited when Russ compared the Fort Worth crowd to the Austin crowd they’d spoken to before:

Wow, you guys kicked Austin’s ass!

All in all, it was a very informative and entertaining show, and we wish Russ and Laura continued good luck on their incredible cross-country bike expedition.  Make sure to check out their site, PathLessPedaled.com.

Also a treat to see last night: the sheer number of bicycles in attendance, which were lashed to signs and light posts.  It shows nicely the need for more, better bicycle parking in Fort Worth under the Bike Fort Worth plan:

Many thanks to our friends at Trinity Bicycles for getting Russ & Laura to give Fort Worth a chance to see their presentation.  To view more images, click the thumbnails below.

Trinity Bicycles Sneak Preview Tonight

Tonight marks the not-quite-Grand-Opening-more-like-Sneak-Preview of the Near Southside’s newest bike shop, Trinity Bicycles.  To celebrate, they’re inviting everybody to come to the shop at 207 S. Main (ground floor of the Sawyer Building apartments, next door to Robert Kelly Architects) for a night of fun and beer, as well as the Lonestar Goldsprints.  What are the Goldsprints?  They’re a league of stationary bike racers.  The way it works is that there’s a setup of stationary bikes, and people ride in competition.  Large screens are set up behind them, showing how far each rider has gone on the stationary bike.  The audience shouts encouragement and other helpful/non-helpful participation, since the competitors can’t see the screens.

The best part is that you can compete – registration starts tonight at 6:00 PM and racing starts not long after.  So, stop by Trinity Bicycles tonight to get a sneak preview of our newest local bike shop and to watch/participate in the Goldsprints.  Hope to see a lot of folks turn out.

Local Business For The Streetcar

Our friends at Trinity Bicycles, the new bike shop in South Main Village in the Near Southside, have written their own letter of support for the modern streetcar project and have posted it on their site.  Here it is:

As you all know, one of our biggest missions here at Trinity Bicycles is increasing the viable transportation options for our neighbors here in Fort Worth. Obviously, we think bikes should play a big role in Fort Worth’s transportation future.

We’re not solely pro-bike, though. We’ve been around long enough to know that all alternative (read: non-car) transportation options tend to fare better when they are interconnected, plentiful, and even somewhat redundant.

That’s why we want to ask everyone who believes that our city needs more and varied transportation alternatives to show up at tomorrow’s (ed. – That would be tonight’s meeting now) Fort Worth City Council meeting at 7 p.m. to show your support for the City’s modern streetcar plan.

The vote to hire transportation super-planners HDR (they worked on Portland’s system) was supposed to happen 2 weeks ago, but it was postponed until tomorrow evening, and there was some rumbling that the political winds may have been shifting and the plan might not get funded.

Word today is that the vote is likely to be successful after all, but it is not something we as citizens should leave to chance. We need to make it clear to our elected officials that their constituents want real choices on how they move about their city. Please come help us fill the council chambers with streetcar supporters, and thereby help the Mayor and City Council feel good about their decision to vote to fund the planning phase of the streetcar project. And of course, having a crowd visibly supportive of a Streetcar system might come in handy just in case any votes are wavering tomorrow night.

We know it must seem scary for a city council member to vote to spend a large amount of money on a project that will take years to come to fruition. But the truth is, as a city, we just can’t afford not to take this step. We are being left behind every day we do not move forward with bringing our transportation system into the 21st century.

How many young, creative, active people do you know who have moved to a “cooler” city (Austin and Portland come to mind) to pursue careers? I know too many, all of whom said they “loved Fort Worth, but….”

Even our neighbors to the East in Dallas have seen how transit options can revitalize neighborhoods. Just look at what’s happening in Oak Cliff, Knox Henderson, or just about anywhere along the light rail lines they have built.

And right here in Fort Worth, I can tell you from personal experience, just the very promise of a Streetcar system has improved the economy. Trinity Bicycles chose to relocate from Irving, TX, to its location at 207 S. Main in part because it was on a proposed streetcar line. Now the final space in a long-empty historic building is filled, and not just with any business– a retail business that will be putting sales tax into the City coffers.

If we chose a location based on a system that hasn’t even been started yet, imagine how many more businesses will move into town if the system actually gets built…

Sammy’s Pizza Taking Over Picchi Pacchi

Something of a reshuffling in the Downtown restaurant biz is underway.  After 15 years, Picchi Pacchi – the Italian eatery at 5th & Main, in the ground floor of the gorgeous Sinclair Building – has been sold.

They’ve been sold to another Downtown restauranteur:  none other than Al Muric, the man behind late-night Italian fav Sammy’s Pizza a couple of blocks away in the heart of Sundance Square.  Sez DFW.com:

Muric says the name Picchi Pacchi will still hold, but “I’m changing the whole atmosphere.”

Look for a menu nearly identical to Sammy’s, which serves pizza, spaghetti, gyros, chicken piccata and heckuva lot more.

What’s more, the new Picchi Pacchi will adopt Sammy’s hours, which is a great sign for those of us who like having some late-night/early morning activity in our urban areas.  The new hours will be 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Monday through Thursday, and 11:00 AM to 3:00 AM Friday and Saturday.

We liked Picchi Pacchi, but we’ve also long had a soft spot for Sammy’s, and it’s great to see Al’s success growing.  Remodeling is already underway after hours, and it looks as though the new place launches around April 1st.

Bike Friendly Fort Worth Velocache_001 – Photo Clue 2

We have received Clue #2 from our friends at Bike Friendly Fort Worth.

Below, you’ll find Clue #2 as to the location of Bike Friendly Fort Worth’s Velocache_001.  If you can recognize this spot after figuring out Clue #1 posted yesterday, we think you’ll be closer to uncovering the cache.

Bike Friendly Fort Worth Velocache_001

We are pleased to announce that Bike Friendly Fort Worth Velocache_001 is up and running!

“Bike Friendly Fort Worth Velocache_001 is now in play.

The Rules:

1. Get out of the car, and get onto a bike.
2 .The cache is on public property.
3. You will not have to dig, break, or climb anything,
4. The cache is very well camouflaged.
5. Follow the directions inside the cache.

The site was selected to highlight a new neighborhood park located in the Near Southside area of Fort Worth. I was pleasantly surprised see how close the project is to being complete. The addition of a multi bike lock up instead of the city wide “Lollipop” racks encouraged me get off my bike and take a look around.

The first three photo clues will be posted shortly. Good luck and happy hunting!”

Bike Friendly Fort Worth presents Velo-Caching!

Bike Friendly Fort Worth has combined two things we really love – bikes and treasure hunting – into something we like to call Velo-Caching. We have caches of gifts from local bike friendly businesses that have been cleverly hidden throughout the city, and we want you to find them.

You will not need GPS devices, shovels, or metal detectors to locate these caches. All you need is a sense of adventure and a desire to find some cool stuff. The photo clues for Velo-Cache 001 will be posted this afternoon.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

Doggie Diggs Opens in South Main Village

In the ongoing revitalization of the Near Southside’s South Main Village neighborhood, another new business has arrived:  Doggie Diggs, a new dog daycare facility located at 221 E. Broadway.

Doggie Diggs heads into a part of the Landers Machine Shop complex located just off South Main, near the Sawyer Apartments and Miller Lofts.  The main Landers Machine Shop building is now an art facility, while the former office portion of the complex houses Doggie Diggs.

For more, check out the Doggie Diggs site at http://doggiediggsfortworth.com.  (Note that despite the references on the site to being “Downtown’s newest,” Doggie Diggs is in fact in the Near Southside.)

There are more businesses coming to South Main Village in the not-too-distant future, and we’re looking forward to showcasing them as they open.

Yofé Fresh Fruit & Yogurt Cafe Now Open

We finally had the chance to check out Yofé Fresh Fruit & Yogurt Cafe, freshly opened in the ground floor of one of the buildings of the West 7th mixed-use development.

One of the complaints about the Cultural District’s mixed-use developments is that their ground-floor tenants are almost all national chains or Dallas-based outfits.  There’s a lot of that, sure (we argue that the most important step is to first get the form of the buildings correct in a walkable style, and that the tenant mix shakes out over time), but it’s not all big names.

Yofé is, in fact, a Fort Worth-born-and-raised business.  Yofé aims to offer a fresh, healthy alternative to the typical ice cream, gelato, or Pinkberry knock-off by serving up real yogurt, fresh fruit, and more.  The main attraction is their live, active probiotic yogurt, available in three varieties – vanilla, fat-free vanilla, and plain.  The stars of the yogurt menu are undoubtedly the parfaits, available in three size with a wide variety of ingredients like mixed seasonal berries, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, vanilla wafers, honeydew and cantaloupe, and more.  Order up a pre-sorted style or create your own.  We tried the “banana pudding” parfait, with fat-free vanilla, bananas, and vanilla wafers, and we topped it off with granola.  The granola is in fact a Fort Worth-produced brand.  It was very flavorful and fresh-tasting, and a refreshingly unique change from the six million Pinkberry frozen yogurt knock-offs that crowd for attention these days.

If you do want frozen yogurt, they’ve got that as well.  Beyond the yogurts, there are breakfast options like cold cereal and oatmeal with fruit toppings, specialty smoothies ranging from chocolate & peanut butter to banana, orange, and pineapple, fresh soups & salads, sandwiches (though, disappointingly, none of the sandwiches are vegetarian), fruit & veggie cups, coffee, and a wide assortment of other drinks such as various teas and coconut water.

Yofé is located at 817 Currie, just around the corner from Movie Tavern in the West 7th development.  They’re open Monday through Thursday from 6:30 AM to 9:30 PM, on Fridays from 6:30 AM to 11:00 PM, on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM, and on Sundays from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM.

Yofé, others now open at West 7th, more coming soon

Ground-floor tenants have been opening up left and right in the West 7th development out in the Cultural District area.  We noticed that Yofé Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Cafe has now opened in the ground floor of the Movie Tavern building, and next door to it will soon be Sweet Sammies and Pure Bliss.  Over on Crockett, besides Tillman’s Roadhouse there’s also Flirt Boutique, Toni & Guy, and Paciugo now open.  LA Fitness and Movie Tavern round things out currently.  Elsewhere in the development, interior work is underway on several more tenants, including Bailey’s Prime Plus Steakhouse, Delaney’s Irish Pub, Chef Casey Thompson’s Brownstone, Terra Mediterranean Grill, and Teskey’s Uptown.

It’s fun to watch as the “bones” of West 7th finally come to life with bright signs, merchandise, and activity.  We see people out enjoying the new urban form of the development even in the chilly weather, and are noticing several occupied lofts upstairs as well.  It’s amazing to see these developments all built up, especially once you take a look back at what the site looked like when construction first got underway – check out this post from August 2007, with a photo of one block of the site just as the demolition fences were going up.

Mamma Mia Opens on Magnolia

Mamma Mia Italian Grill & Pizza on Magnolia in the Near Southside

Mamma Mia Italian Grill & Pizza on Magnolia in the Near Southside

We noticed this morning that Mamma Mia Italian Grill & Pizza, in the former Palermo’s space on Magnolia (between College and Washington) in the Near Southside, now has a banner up proclaiming their opening.  We checked the sign in the window, and Mamma Mia’s hours of operation are listed as 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM, Monday through Saturday, and closed on Sundays.

This is Mamma Mia’s second location – the first is located in the historic McAdams Building in the Six Points urban village to the northeast of downtown.

Cat City Grill Posts Menu

Via Eat This Fort Worth, it looks like Cat City Grill (the new eatery opening soon at 1208 West Magnolia in the Near Southside) has posted its menu on its web site.  Go there and check it out.  For the uninitiated, Cat City Grill is a new spot on Magnolia between 5th & Henderson that is the creation of Lili’s Bistro’s Vance Martin and former Del Frisco’s chef Martin Thompson.

New Gallus Bike Spotted

Couldn’t help but spot this pinkish beauty from Gallus in the hall at Spiral Diner. Jeremy tells us it’s a new city bike, and it’s not quite finished just yet – there’s still fenders, lights, etc. to come. It’s already looking good, though. Keep your eyes peeled for it around the Near Southside. Read the rest of this entry »

Gallus Cycles – New Local Custom Bike Builder

With Fort Worth’s embryonic bike culture starting to grow (especially in the Near Southside, where we now see more people riding the streets in jeans, t-shirts, jackets, and caps than in spandex and streamlined helmets), another piece of the puzzle has recently opened up: a new custom bike-building shop.

Give a big “hello” to Gallus Cycles, makers of Fort Worth-designed-and-built custom bicycles.

The man behind Gallus is somebody familiar to Near Southside denizens: Jeremy Shlachter. You’ve probably seen Jeremy at Spiral Diner, and in the back hallway bike area you’ve undoubtedly seen his gorgeous custom-made green fixie.

Jeremy’s had quite a history with bicycles, one that’s happened far and wide. In his words:

I started college in 2001 at the University of Texas. Once I moved to Austin, I immediately sold my car(still car free by the way), as i found it was much easier and pleasant getting around town on my bicycle. I was also finding that I was getting too old to chuck myself down sets of stairs on my skateboard. I was looking for a new way to get my thrills, and cycling provided that. One of my roommates encouraged me to do a triathlon with her, and I thought I would give it a shot, just to see if I could do it.

This lead me to buying a road bike, an entry level Fuji. The following year I moved to Scotland to attend the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art. My bike provided a great way for me to discover my new home. During my second year, I managed to get a job as a bicycle courier, when the infamous messenger James “Jailbait” Tait drunkenly offered me a job when I met him at a pub. He told me to turn up the next morning, not really expecting me too. I did turn up. It was December 21, 2003, the shortest day of the year, albeit a cold and nasty day in Glasgow. My road bike was instantly torn up by the gritty Glasgow winter.

I ended up borrowing, and later buying, a pal’s Trek 850 mountain bike. I eventually bought an On-One Il Pompino. It was a great bike for messenger work on, but nowhere near a true track frame, nor as good looking as the classic handmade frames the other messengers were unearthing.

During my messenger period, a love for bikes and cycling continued to grow. Though I enjoyed learning about architecture and the design process, I could see that my true passion was in cycling. I also found that I did not enjoy sitting in front of a computer all day, but preferred crafting things by hand. I made the decision to combine my passion for cycling, love of making things and my knowledge of the design process to begin building bicycle frames.

After five years in Scotland, I returned to the United States at the end of 2006 to pursue frame building. I first attended the Yamaguchi Frame Building School in Colorado and built a track frame under the tutelage of the legendary frame builder Koichi Yamaguchi, onetime U.S. Bicycle Team builder.

Afterward, I set up my workshop in my hometown, Fort Worth, Texas. About 18 months later, I sought to refine my skills from another master frame builder, Doug Fattic of Niles, Michigan. After a formal course, Doug invited me to stay on and assist at his shop for a few weeks(while I picked his brain for any and all frame building know how), and then two-month stint as a volunteer builder for his Ukraine Bicycle Project. While in Ukraine, I helped complete more than 50 bicycle frames for social workers, educators and church pastors.

In January 2009 I officially established Gallus Cycles as a handmade bicycle company.

When we say that a Gallus cycle is “custom,” there’s no exaggeration: nearly every component can be specified to the needs of the rider. Once the type of bike is established – city, track, road – an extensive fitting process can begin, including the collecting of body data and the determination of the use of the bike and needs and preferences of the rider.

Gallus frames are made of steel, and tubing can be sourced from a variety of places. You can choose from either lugged or fillet brazed construction. Finishing components can be ordered from nearly every major company to complete a bike specific to the customer.

Naturally, the bikes closest to the hearts of us at Fort Worthology are the city bikes, designed as real practical urban transportation. Gallus city bikes can take many forms, drawing inspiration from the classic city bikes of Europe. Do you want an comfy upright design like the timeless Dutch city bike? You can have it. Prefer a little speedier French porteur-inspired design? You can have it.

Gallus city bikes can have all the components of great urban cycling: custom racks, full lighting, fenders, chain cases, internally geared hubs, and more.

If you prefer a fixed-gear track design, Gallus can do that as well – as evidenced by the gorgeous green model above that we often see at Spiral. Track bikes can take a traditional form with more aggressive geometry, or a more relaxed urban fixed-gear design that will ride a bit more like a road bike. Of course, since the bikes are custom, you can have it pretty much any way you want.

If you’re a fan of road bikes, Gallus builds beautiful examples of those as well. You can have them any way you’d like, whether you prefer a long-distance design with more relaxed geometry and riding position, or a short, nimble racing design with a more aerodynamic position.

Here’s some more beauty shots of bikes that have emerged from the Gallus shop – the attention to detail is really lovely:

We’re really excited to have a new custom bike builder right here in urban Fort Worth, and wish Jeremy the best of luck with the venture. For more information on bikes, the design process, and pricing, make sure to visit the Gallus Cycles web site, galluscycles.com.

Palermo's No More? Mamma Mia Opening On Magnolia?


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We’ve heard a rumor that a long-time Magnolia Avenue eatery, the Italian restaurant Palermo’s just west of College, is closing up shop. This would explain the erratic hours we’ve noticed for the past several weeks. What’s more, we’re also hearing that a replacement is already lined up. Mamma Mia, which opened its first location on Race Street in the Six Points Village neighborhood just northeast of Downtown, is said to be opening a second location in the Palermo’s space on Magnolia.

We’re sad to see Palermo’s go (we always enjoyed their veggie pizza), but it’s good to see that the space will not be dark for long. We’ve eaten at Mamma Mia’s original Six Points location and found it to be a very tasty and reasonably-priced Italian spot, so it should make a great addition to Magnolia’s array of local eateries. Rumor is that Mamma Mia will be opening in “a few weeks,” will be BYOB, and is doing some remodeling in the Palermo’s space.

More on this as things progress – we look forward to trying the new Mamma Mia when it opens (assuming the info is true).

Spiral Diner Turns Seven

August 21st marked the seventh anniversary of Spiral Diner, the now-legendary vegan restaurant that has become an institution on Magnolia in the Near Southside. A big congratulations to the Amy, James, Lindsey, Britt, and everybody else at Spiral for all their well-deserved success. Here’s how the crew puts their story in their own words:

Spiral Diner & Bakery opened its door on August 21, 2002. But first, let’s go back a little further than that. The founder of Spiral Diner & Bakery, Amy McNutt, started out in filmmaking. She graduated from the famed USC School of Film. While making a short film about factory-farmed cows in California she learned about the heartless practices of the dairy and egg industries. Overnight this experience turned the long time vegetarian into a vegan. Amy began to research and study the plight of animals, soon extending her studies to environmentalism as well. She began to take part in educational activism and tried her best to keep an open dialogue with people about Veganism and its relation to the environment. In doing this she discovered that most people, once they have a total understanding of Veganism, agree it’s a necessary step for survival on this planet. However, they have difficulty changing their lifestyles for lack of access to information and most importantly, GOOD VEGAN FOOD. So, after a year of working in the film industry Amy decided to move on to her other love: Food. In an attempt to provide delicious cruelty-free and organic food to those who need it most she left L.A. and moved back home to Texas and at the age of 22, she opened Spiral Diner in Fort Worth.

And so it began: vegan food in the heart of Cowtown. The original location was a small lunch counter at the Fort Worth Rail Market in downtown. There was only 800 square feet of kitchen space, 5 employees, and less than ten items on the menu! After being open a few months Amy and James started dating and after only two months they got hitched. Turns out that James was an old school vegan foodie himself so he quit his lucrative job as a bounty hunter and immediately joined Amy to help run Spiral. Having James on board helped Amy concentrate on keeping the place running smooth while he worked on expanding the menu.

After a year and a half at the Rail Market Spiral was bursting at the seams. The customer base was growing and growing and they were running out of space in the kitchen. They needed a bigger and better place. With financial support from Amy’s wonderful mom (who took out a second mortgage to fund the expansion) and many regular customers who came on board as lenders the move to Magnolia was on. They found an old gutted building in the Near Southside and along with the landlord built it up from scratch. And on their second anniversary Spiral Diner Fort Worth was born anew. With fancy new digs and expanded menu Spiral quickly became a Fort Worth institution and a destination for vegan travelers. All the while they kept a great core crew of employees that stuck with them through thick and thin. In 2007 Spiral pulled off a real coup: The little vegan restaurant in Cowtown, TX was awarded Best Vegetarian Restaurant in America by VegNews magazine! (That’s right, Texas!).

After being opened 5 years Amy and James decided there was some more expanding to do. So they licensed the rights to Spiral to Sara Tomerlin, a recent TCU grad and longtime Spiral manager, to open a location in Dallas and in February of 2008 Spiral Oak Cliff opened its doors. At the same time our other wonderful longtime manager Lindsey Akey bought the rights to Spiral Fort Worth. Today, Amy and James still own and run the company while Lindsey and Sara own and run their respective locations.

Weekend Happenings

Not intended to be comprehensive, just some things we’ve noticed happening this weekend:

Scat Jazz Lounge has the great Ricki Derek and the Vegas Six tonight at 9:00 PM, an Adonis Rose Cd Release Show Saturday at 9:00 PM, and Mi Son, Mi Son, Mi Son on Sunday at 8:00 PM.

The T&P Tavern has Friday Happy Hour from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM, with all Texas Beers just $2.75 (draft or bottled). On Saturday, the T&P has free live music, featuring folk rock band Trinity Dogs this weekend. And on Sunday, there’s summer drink specials and free movie night. $2 Mimosas, $3 Margaritas, $4 Bloody Marys. This Sunday’s movie is the the Coen Brothers’ cult classic “The Big Lebowski,” starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The movie starts at approximately 7:30 PM. Because it wouldn’t be “The Big Lebowski” without them, the T&P will be serving up $3 White Russians on Sunday.

Fred’s has Gravity Feed tonight at 7:00 PM, Kate Hearne tomorrow at 12:00 PM, Electric Mt. Rotten Apple Gang tomorrow at 5:00 PM, Wino Vino tomorrow at 7:00 PM, and a Sunday lineup consisting of Kurt South at 12:00 PM, Garrett Heinrichs Band at 3:00 PM, and Terry Rasor Band at 6:00 PM.

The Omni Theater is showing “The Alps,” about Europe’s greatest mountain range and one man’s quest to climb the infamous North Face of the Eiger. “The Alps” runs today at 1:00 PM, 3:10 PM, 4:15 PM, and 5:20 PM, Saturday at 11:00 AM, 1:05 PM, 3:15 PM, 5:25 PM, and 7:35 PM, and Sunday at 12:00 PM, 3:15 PM, and 5:25 PM.

Arts Fifth Avenue is putting on “You Gotta Laugh” on Friday and Saturday, featuring performances of Steven McGaw’s Baitshop Confidential, Brian Farish’s Dry Gulch Zeal, Rey Debalsa’s Urges, and McGaw and Nicholas Irion’s B&B. Admission is $12, starts at 8:00 PM with pre-show music at 7:30 PM.

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