An inside look at ‘Destination Oaxaca,’ a limited-time menu at a Fort Worth steakhouse
Toro Toro, a fine dining restaurant in downtown Fort Worth, boasts locations worldwide, including Morocco, Dubai and Qatar. But for a limited time, the steakhouse is bringing Fort Worth a taste of Mexico.
You have to go now. The limited “Destination Oaxaca” menu is only available until July 28, compliments of world-renowned Chef Richard Sandoval. And, spoiler alert: I walked away from my lovely two-hour dinner in a good mood, with a full stomach.
Toro Toro’s traditional cuisine combines the cultures of South and Central America with Rodizio-style, contemporary steakhouse cuisine. Traditionally, southern and central American cultures eat family style, paired with classic cocktails like margaritas or mojitos.
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This style is known as pan-Latin cuisine. The broad category encompasses countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador and Guatemala, to highlight a few.
During my visit, Mexico was the featured country. Oaxaca, where corn and squash derive from, is a city in southern Mexico. Toro Toro’s limited time menu features the first ever liquor derived from corn, Nixta Licor de Elote.
My experience at Toro Toro: Destination Oaxaca
To park, you can drop your car at the Worthington Renaissance’s complimentary valet. Once you walk into the double sliding doors, you can’t miss Toro Toro’s contemporary dining space.
My favorite part about the restaurant was the hints of Fort Worth sprinkled around. A stunning longhorn chandelier lights up the bar area while the dining room has western textures of cowhide and wood. Also, it must be mentioned that the kitchen sits in the middle of everything. You can see your food being prepared on the largest indoor grill in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
The menu starts with a seafood starter, pork entree, and a Spanish dessert. I also had a refreshing Alebrije Paloma with Jose Cuervo reserva de la familia platino. For all my tequila lovers, you know this is the good stuff.
Chef Julio Ortiz, executive chef of Toro Toro Fort Worth, and executive sous chef Arturo Nunez, have won my tastebuds over. Every dish was beautifully plated, and tasted even better. For a girl who wouldn’t typically choose octopus, they made it my favorite part of the menu.
They began with the Memela de Pulpo, featuring grilled octopus, guajillo chile ajo, guaje seed crema fresca, chapulines al adobo, and salsa verde cruda. The octopus was cooked to perfection. Anyone who isn’t a fan of seafood, you could close your eyes and think you are eating super yummy chicken.
The hints of cilantro brightened up the dish with an occasional kick from the guajillo chiles, a pepper that’s grown in Mexico. The soft potatoes added the perfect texture as well as a fresh corn tortilla.
For the entree, Ortiz and Nunez brought out the Pork Mole Negro. A 10 ounce flank of pork that was on a bed of truffle huitlacoche foam, topped with peach chutney and Oaxacan mole.
“Oh my god, there is so much flavor,” were the first words I heard from Annie Chu, a fellow diner, when she took her first bite
The rich mole was perfectly complemented by the sweet peach chutney. Hints of truffle from the foam are present in the after taste making you go back for more. The foam itself is made from huitlacoche, which is “corn smut,” or fungus. This delicacy has an earthy flavor — one that I couldn’t place a finger on, but liked.
Finally, I was so full, but creme brulee is my all time favorite dessert. The Creme Brulee de Calabaza was fluffy, like yogurt, with a torched sugar top that you had to crack through. The berries made the dessert all the better, pairing well with the hints of Nixta Licor de Elote, the corn liquor. And it was topped with a delicious crispy churro.
About Toro Toro Fort Worth
Chef Richard Sandoval opened Toro Toro Fort Worth in 2019. It was the first Toro Toro Texas location, but Houston now boasts one as well. Apart from those two, there are five other U.S. locations, as well as one coming to Chicago this year. Other locations include Scottsdale, Ariz.; Denver and Snowmass, Colo; and Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Fla.
Toro Toro also has a wide variety of global locations listed above.
Toro Toro offers special happenings for guests to enjoy, like Destination Oaxaca. The restaurant also has weekly offerings like Taco Tuesday, and happy hours. On every last Thursday of the month they offer, Meet the Maker,” with a featured tequila tasting and food pairing.
Taco Tuesday deal is hard to beat as well. Every week from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., guests can enjoy tacos at $3 apiece, or three for $7, as well as $5 house margaritas. Happy hour is Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., offering $6 well drinks, half-off wine glasses, and $4 draft beers.
Toro Toro is located on 200 Main St. in the Worthington Hotel, just one block from Sundance Square. Their hours vary but go as follows:
Brunch: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Lunch: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dinner: Sunday through Thursday: 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Friday & Saturday: 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Bar: Sunday through Thursday: 11 a.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
