Go Big or Go Home

Seems that's what they told Tim Love on the first episode of Iron Chef.

We guess there are some places where political connections don't help after all.

We're suddenly in the mood for pineapple.

Cheers!

"Maybe these kids just don't know any better"

That was part of the Fort Worth Weekly's review of the new Oui Lounge which is now owned by WHO else? 

Tim Love.

While the review was well done, the comment made us laugh. And it made a point...

Tim Love's vision for Fort Worth is to turn it into Dallas, where everything is overpriced

Don't you just Love it?

The Woodshed is back in the spotlight.  Or rather, Tim Love is. 

The DFW.com article goes on and on.  While it did discuss the Tim Love restaurants that didn't survive, (New York City didn't quite love Love) it reminded us of an infomercial.  Well, Love did say he loves to be on TV. You can read it on DFW.com. 

We found a few notes of interest, other than that, more of the Fort Worth Way. 

We do love THE PEOPLE in Fort Worth, their comments are usually right on the money. 

Too many good BBQ places in FTW to be wasting your time with wanna be BBQ at the Woodshed.  The only reason why people go there is to check out the TCU hotties.  Once the hotties move on to the next new place to be seen, the Woodshed will fold.

Timeline:  2011  Star Telegram's  "Battle Of The Burgers"
Timeline:  2012  Star Telegram's  "Battle Of The Barbecue"

And take note of WHO is mentioned in the story.   WHO's money is that?

In early 2000, Love ran into Star-Telegram Eats Beat columnist Bud Kennedy in Milano's, the Seventh Street pizza-and-pasta restaurant not far from Michaels. He told Kennedy that he was a chef and that he was about to open a great new restaurant. Kennedy shrugged it off as a random encounter with a stranger. Six months later, he wrote that Lonesome Dove Western Bistro might be the best of several new restaurants that opened in Fort Worth that year.

The TRVA may have provided nearly a million dollars toward building the structure, but Love points out that he still put a lot of his own money into the project and he feels confident that, in the long run, Woodshed will be seen as a trailblazer along the river.

Behind the Woodshed

It's opening, again.  Or so they say, again.

The taxpayer funded restaurant in a flood plain is set to open in February.  If you're one of those that think it's cool to go eat at a restaurant you paid to build for a "celebrity", you might want to go before the next storm comes.  You saw what happened to the other "flood control" attraction you paid to build.

It's all just a matter of time.

When you're about to lose an election....POSTPONE IT !!!

"A politician thinks of the next election.  A statesman, of the next generation".  James Freeman Clarke

Seems we're not the only ones paying attention.  Check out the Whited Sepulchre concerning the Tarrant Regional Water District voting to extend their terms in office.  WHO does that?  And WHY?

Was the TRWD worried the Trinity River Improvement Partnership had the candidates to send them packing?  Maybe they should worry that TRIP has another year to inform voters.  

Had this happened to any reasonably alert group of voters, the hardware stores would already be sold out of pitchforks and torches.  Good Lord in heaven.  When are we going to wake up ????

Finally…Real “News”?

Not really, but about as close as you can get around here.  The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s latest Trinity River Vision editorial makes the point; they should be asking more questions.  And they should have started years ago.

The paper talks about how disappointing the Tim Love Woodshed dealings are as well as suspicions and backroom deals and how the TRVA has a short attention span and spends our money like water, gives good ol’ boys such as JD Granger and Bryan Eppstein all the jobs and contracts they want, then mentions the TRV detractors and basically says (as usual) “On with the show”.  What is the kickback rate for blind support of TRV?

Has the paper read the 70+ comments from THE PEOPLE? The citizens and taxpayers of Tarrant County, otherwise known as “the persistent cadre of TRV detractors”, on their own site?

Some of that persistent cadre helped save Fort Worth taxpayers from buying a hotel.  What did the paper call them then?

If the paper asked more questions, and helped THE PEOPLE of Tarrant County have a say in the TRV process (we’re not talking about the BS meetings from years gone by) maybe they would come out smelling like a rose and be the champion of THE PEOPLE.  Wouldn’t sharing real information increase their sales and reputation?  Or they could simply plod along “reporting” what they are told to and hope they don’t end up like the Dallas paper, having to admit they were misled by their “leaders” and therefore mislead THE PEOPLE on their Trinity River Vision project.  How many readers does that cost YOU?

Fort Worth restaurant deal has folks talking

A hip gathering spot where cyclists, joggers and hikers can grab a tasty meal at a popular Trinity River trailhead sounds like the kind of amenity Fort Worth residents could embrace with enthusiasm.

It's unfortunate that revelations about who owns the Woodshed Smokehouse and how it came into being have some people scratching their heads and murmuring suspicions about "another good ol' boy deal."

It seems that either memories are short at the Trinity River Vision Authority -- or that officials do recall the public backlash over a proposed city-owned hotel and decided to keep the specifics of the Waggoner Trailhead restaurant deal quiet until they were completed.

In late 2002, large crowds showed up to protest at City Hall when Fort Worth proposed financing a convention center hotel by issuing $160 million in debt without getting voter approval. Eventually, more than 15,000 people joined a petition effort spearheaded by downtown hoteliers -- who weren't keen on the notion of competing with a government-owned hotel for convention business -- to force the project to a public vote.

Ultimately, the city's newest downtown hotel was built by a private company, although considerable public dollars were spent on a parking garage to serve both the hotel and the convention center.

The big-picture lesson was that when taxpayer money is to be used for commercial enterprises, the public wants a transparent process and a say in the endeavor.

The public money used to build the $970,000 structure that the Tarrant Regional Water District is leasing to chef/restaurateur Tim Love is a fraction of the amount that triggered the hotel outrage. But it's understandable that other restaurant operators were chafed over the process of setting up a riverfront eatery: the decision on who would receive the lease was made solely by Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director J.D. Granger.

What's so disappointing is that had this process been handled with more transparency, folks might be cheering the project. Love's "global taqueria" on Riverfront Drive near Rogers Road has been the subject of numerous news reports and blog posts since early summer. The building is architecturally interesting, and the extended craft brew menu should be a draw for athletic types who don't mind a little carb-loading after a run or ride on the adjacent trail.

The persistent cadre of Trinity River Vision detractors probably still would pounce on the idea as conniving. But one would think after the various criticisms of the authority through the years, its officials and water board members would have learned to appreciate the value of being aboveboard with everything connected to this project.

The district hired Granger to manage the agency without advertising the opening or conducting an executive search. Granger selected political consultant Bryan Eppstein to handle PR and minority contracting (not a posted opening), and the water district gave Eppstein's firm a separate contract -- with no competitive bidding -- to represent the agency in Austin during the legislative session.

Under state law, the water district is not required to take competitive bids on professional services. But each time the board chooses to follow the letter of that law, instead of trying openness, it gets slammed in the court of public opinion.

Board member Jim Lane told the Star-Telegram reporter Barry Shlachter that the water board approved the lease. Not exactly, records show.

The board approved the concept of having concessions at the trailhead, according to board minutes. Granger took it from there, giving Land Committee members Hal Sparks and Lane project updates. The final lease was drafted and approved by the board's general counsel.

Trail-side concessions make sense for a community that is working to develop vibrant riverfront amenities. Love has a track record of operating quality eating establishments.

Could have been a win-win. Might still be. But the Trinity River Vision takes another hit.

Dear Texas Attorney General

It seems some in Tarrant County might need to be taken out behind the Woodshed...

The citizens have taken a special interest in the new Tim Love restaurant on the banks of the Trinity River. They seem to have issue with WHERE all this public money for private profit is coming from.  THEM.

Check out the latest on Durango.  Then, sit tight, more to come.

Beale also told me that the Woodshed cost $1.2 million and that currently three entities, (Tim Love, Tarrant Regional Water District and Trinity River Vision Authority) are at odds over something, which is why the Woodshed sits on the bank of the Trinity River, unopened.

Double Take

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Or a billion dollars?

More Trinity River Vision Truths?

Seems Tim Love has a cool new spot for another restaurant, right on the banks of the Trinity River.  Well, it will be cool until it floods.

According the the Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
The River Shack is under construction near Colonial Country Club on a Clear Fork riverbank. The location is on floodway property at 3101 Riverfront Drive, by Rogers Road behind Hoffbrau Steaks.

We've heard rumors about this site for quite some time.  If you look at the TAD database, seems the only people who own anything on Riverfront Drive is the Tarrant Regional Water District. 

So, does that mean WE THE PEOPLE own a restaurant?  Guess that means it's a free for all.