Accomplished Fort Worth chef Christian Lehrmann will branch out to add a restaurant in a new golf entertainment venue opening in 2024, a partnership with Westworth Village at the city-owned Hawks Creek Golf Club.

Lehrmann, chef at Tinies restaurant in South Main Village, will join Dallas pro Bryson DeChambeau, the champion of Saudi-based LIV Golf, and partners to open UnderPar Life, a new golf-party-food-and-bar startup company.

The center, adjacent to the current clubhouse at 6520 White Settlement Road, will pair a 100-seat upstairs restaurant and bar with a sprawling burger grill and outdoor patio, plus 42 hitting bays and a practice area, according to the proposal approved by council members.

In 2021, the company presented the deal to Westworth Village leaders claiming it would be comparable to Dallas-based Topgolf.

“I’m doing this number one, because I’m an avid golfer, and number two, because the idea is to make this a neighborhood destination,” Lehrmann said last week.

The UnderPar Life restaurant tentatively will be named Bombers.

That’s a nod to the days of intercontinental bombing missions from what is now a U.S. Navy joint reserve air base nearby.

The restaurant will overlook a Trinity River tributary named Farmers Branch, 1 mile west of the Airfield Falls public park and waterfall.

“We’re breaking the mold and starting something new here,” Lehrmann said..

Besides Tinie’s, Lehrmann also oversees the limited bar menu at Sidesaddle Saloon in the Stockyards’ Mule Alley.

He also opened and was the chef at Courtside Kitchen, a restaurant, sports bar and-pickleball center on Rogers Road off South University Drive near Interstate 30.

The UnderPar Life restaurant will be more extensive than Courtside Kitchen’s, Lehrmann said.

His primary restaurant remains Tinies, 113 S. Main St., which opened March 10, 2020, a week before COVID pandemic shutdowns began.

The restaurant is a partnership with Taco Heads founder Sarah Castillo, a fellow golfer.

The new fall menu at Tinies includes crispy octopus with chimichurri; a pork chop with green mole sauce; a lamb shank with mole sauce and Oaxacan polenta; and a “chicken-stuffed chicken” with poblano chicken sausage, hominy and green chiles.

Tinies is open for dinner Mondays through Saturdays and brunch weekends; 682-255-5425, tiniesfw.com.

This story was originally published October 30, 2023, 5:30 AM.

October 28, 2023

The Tom Bachonski YouTube channel has uploaded video of KISS's October 27 concert at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Check out the clips below.

KISS's final runs of shows will wrap up in early December with a massive concert in the city where it all began for the legendary rock act. New York City has been a part of the band's ethos and storyline for more than four decades, so they felt it fitting to culminate an iconic Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame-worthy career on stage at New York's famed Madison Square Garden.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but has since been extended to late 2023. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".

Last month, KISS frontman Paul Stanley told Australia's "The Project" about "End Of The Road": "Well, it's interesting because we can see the end now. When we started to plan this, it was probably about five years ago and the pandemic came into play and we lost a few years. We've done 250 shows on this 'End Of The Road' tour, because it's a long road, and they kept paving more road. But this is it for us. And intellectually, yeah, we go, we can't continue doing this. We're in our 70s; hard to believe. But for us, it's just reached a point where we realize we can't do this indefinitely. We're really at the top of our game still. And now's the time to do a victory lap and go out there with our heads held high and say thank you to everybody and do a show that really encapsulates and really pays tribute not only to us but to the fans."

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley (guitar, vocals) and Gene Simmons (bass, vocals),alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, KISS staged its first "farewell" tour in 2000, the last to feature the group's original lineup.

In a separate interview with Gulf News, Stanley addressed the fact that he and his bandmates have never allowed their concert theatrics to overshadow the music.

"I always say this: a crappy band with a big show is a crappy band," he explained. "We didn't start as a band with everything. We started as a band making music we listened to. When I was young, I saw LED ZEPPELIN, I saw Jimi Hendrix twice and I saw all the greats. They inspired me. And it was never about being a part of a band with make-up and [fireworks] … Our music doesn't need intellectualizing or philosophizing."

Stanley added: "I know there are entertainers right now who can draw bigger crowds, but I don't know if they are going to in the next 50 years. We have done that. Our devoted fan base is almost like a tribe … We don't make art that is intellectual; we make art that's emotional … That's why people remember their first KISS concert, their first KISS song, and they remember when KISS first came on the radio. It's a powerful connection."

Two years ago, Stanley told Classic Rock magazine that "one of the best things about early KISS songs is that they really were uninhibited and very much from the gut: we had nothing to live up to, except doing what turned us on."

"Over time you can learn too much: you might become a better songwriter, but sometimes it's the freedom of naivety that makes for the best result," he concluded.

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Fort Worth ISD pushed back the opening date for a new elementary school in Benbrook — again.

Water supply issues keep postponing the opening of Rolling Hills Elementary, trustee Michael Ryan, who represents Benbrook on the school board, told the Fort Worth Report. The district is now looking at opening the school after Thanksgiving.

This marks the second time the district has delayed Rolling Hills’ first day of classes. The school was slated to be ready at the start of the 2023-24 academic year, then the opening was delayed to October.

Construction for the school, located at the corner of Jerry Dunn Parkway and Green Links Drive, is “99% complete,” as workers are touching up paint, installing baseboards and placing furniture, Ryan said.

Rolling Hills Elementary is the first project in Fort Worth ISD’s $1.2 billion bond from 2021.

Building the school on a tight deadline was the main reason why administrators declined to seek more applicants to manage the bond. Procedeo, a Fort-Worth based construction management company, was the sole bidder.

Once complete, the two-story, 120,000-square-foot Rolling Hills Elementary will be Fort Worth ISD’s biggest elementary school, according to an open record obtained by the Report. The campus can accommodate 1,000 students, although the school will open with about 400, the district previously told the Report.

The school is waiting for all the equipment needed to build pressure for the water system, Ryan said. Rolling Hills Elementary has enough water for construction but not enough for daily operations.

Once the water system is installed, the city of Fort Worth will have up to 90 days for inspection. Ryan said he has received assurances from the offices of Mayor Mattie Parker, Councilman Michael Crain and City Hall that Rolling Hills is a top priority.

What are the biggest elementary schools in Fort Worth ISD?

Rolling Hills Elementary School, once completed, is the biggest elementary school in Fort Worth at 119,843 square feet, according to the district.

Location

Square Feet

Rolling Hills

119,843

Overton Park

91,867

E. M. Daggett

88,367

Lowery Road

85,447

Morningside

84,470

South Hills

84,091

Daggett Montessori (K-8)

83,729

Sagamore Hill

82,020

Westpark ES

80,281

W.M. Green

79,807

/ 9

Source: Fort Worth ISD • (Dang Le | Fort Worth Report)

A Flourish table

Students at Rolling Hills Elementary currently attend either Westpark Elementary — which is 1.1 miles away — or Benbrook Elementary — which is 3.6 miles away.

Benbrook resident Susan Wade’s grandson is attending Westpark Elementary while waiting for Rolling Hills Elementary to open. The delayed opening doesn’t concern the family much because Rolling Hills still has school pride days, and they live closer to Westpark.

The family also expected the delay from the beginning, Wade said.

“They shouldn’t have promised anything. That’s the only thing,” she said.

Principals at Westpark Elementary and Rolling Hills Elementary have worked together to prepare the move-over process for teachers, which Ryan expected to take place over one weekend.

“It's a top quality project that I think everybody in the area will be proud of when we get it open and get it going,” he said.

Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse, a 75-year Denton County landmark and one of America’s most famous small-town cafes, is for sale and closed for now, owner Dave Ross said.

Ross, 71, is retiring and will sell Ranchman’s due to poor health and the labor shortage, he said. Business has been strong for the rustic little back-road steakhouse that inspired late author Larry McMurtry and hosted celebrities from sports, TV and movies, including Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway

The restaurant has been open only for lunch. Ross has been unable to hire cooks and servers to serve dinner, he said.

“It’s for sale if someone wants to buy it,” said Ross, Ranchman’s owner for 31 years and an operator off and on since 1986.

In an emailed announcement, he cited the economy, “recent health issues” and the lack of staff.

“We made a gallant effort for the last 7 months to survive,” he wrote: “It is no longer possible.”

Ross was fresh out of hip surgery a few weeks ago, he said, but still taped an episode of “The Texas Bucket List” show about Ranchman’s legendary chicken-fried steaks.

The restaurant also has been featured on the Food Network national TV shows such as “FoodNation with Bobby Flay.”

Ranchman’s, 110 W. Bailey St. in Ponder, was remodeled and updated during the COVID pandemic.

It added a new kitchen and restrooms but kept the same wood-paneled front dining room — a throwback to 1951 — and the same menu, cobblers and pies.

Ross was the steakhouse’s second long-term owner. It was founded by Grace “Pete” Jackson and her husband, R.L., in the late 1940s and became a gathering place for the county and a stopover for motorists taking a shortcut to Ponder, then a dwindling Denton County farm town 30 miles north of Fort Worth.

Ranchman’s was originally known for T-bones and rib-eyes cut in-house, including a hefty 32-ounce T-Bone.

But ever since the Food Network came to town, Ranchman’s has been better known for chicken-fried steaks and burgers. The pies and cobblers were still made from 30-year cook Evelyn “Granny” Stack’s recipes.

Ranchman’s was never more small-town than on one busy Friday night in the 1970s, when an overwhelmed Stack strode into the middle of the dining room and waved her spatula until she commanded attention.

“Y’all!” she shouted. “Can’t y’all see I’m gonna have to have some help?”

Customers started pouring tea, clearing tables or baking rolls.

McMurtry, the quintessential Texas novelist, said that Ranchman’s was his favorite restaurant and that he would often make the 100-mile drive from his home in Archer City near Wichita Falls.

McMurtry told how he had just left the cafe in the early 1980s when he saw an old church bus marked “Lonesome Dove Baptist Church.”

“If ever I had an epiphany it was at that moment: I had, at last, found a title for the trail driving book” he was writing.

“Lonesome Dove” went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and was made into a TV classic.

Volume 90%

That was 20 years after Beatty, Dunaway and other actors visited during the Denton-area filming of the movie “Bonnie and Clyde.”

Their photos still hang on the dining room wall, along with those of sports stars, racing drivers and other celebrities who found their way to Ponder.

Until the 1980s, Ranchman’s didn’t even have indoor restrooms — only an outhouse. But “what’s important about this place is the unique sense of community it brings,” Ross said.

“People at different tables talk to each other. People from across the country come here and say, ‘This feels like home.’ “

This story was originally published October 30, 2023, 4:42 PM.

About 10 years ago, a rotted branch fell onto Andrew Berry’s east Fort Worth home. The branch poked holes in his roof and made his kitchen unusable. Disabled and on a fixed income, he couldn’t get the damage repaired. Then, a neighbor referred Berry to Fort Worth’s priority repair program.

The city spent about $22,700 on Berry’s home and left him with a repaired roof, a working kitchen and a new HVAC system, water heater and shower. Now, he’s started the process of repairing his water-damaged floors on his own, purchasing new flooring bit by bit.

“I’m real proud and happy with what they [did],” Berry said. “They still check on me, and I still got my paperwork and all that in case. If anything goes wrong, they told me to just give them a call.”

The city started the priority repair program in 2009, using federal funding through community development block grants. Since then, the program has been able to spend only about $5,000 per home.

“The funding available for applicants had not really kept up with the pace of the average repairs that this program would normally cover,” District 5 council member Gyna Bivens, who represents east Fort Worth, said. “I lobbied for years to try to get it raised from $5,000 to anything more than five.”

Now, with an additional $2 million in local money to match $2 million in federal grant dollars, the priority repair program’s budget has doubled. The budget for repairs to each home is five times higher, at $25,000. John Cain, who leads the priority repair program, said contractors can now typically complete at least one or two major projects per home.

The program aims to keep residents in their homes by completing major repairs and preserve the number of single-family homes in the city. Holes in roofs, broken heating systems and water and gas line leaks are the most common repairs. Other eligible repairs include broken water heaters, unstable flooring, foundation issues and faulty electricity.

Cain keeps a collage of photos in his office of residents in the Ash Crescent neighborhood who benefited from the priority repair program. He has seen recipients experience the relief of having a cool, dry home for the first time.

“Some of those families still call me to see how I’m doing,” Cain said. “You meet a lot of good people, and your heart goes out to them. … Of course they’re grateful for what you can do for them.”

To be eligible for the program, the household’s annual income has to be at or below 60% of the area median, or $45,960 for two people. The house itself cannot be worth more than 80% of the area median home price. Applications for the program are open year-round through the city’s neighborhood services department. Often, demand for repairs outstrips the city’s ability to supply contractors.

“I can’t make the waiting lists go away,” Bivens said “But at least we know that there’s funding there. I think people are willing to wait, knowing that the wait is worth the effort, as opposed to waiting for five grand that really pretty much doesn’t address anything.”

• Own and live in a single-family house• Located within the boundaries of the city of Fort Worth• At or below 60% of area median income as established annually by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This year, a single-person household cannot be earning more than $40,200 or $45,960 for two people.• Home value cannot be more than 80% of the area median home price for the city of Fort Worth, $334,450 according to the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors• U.S. citizens or legal residency with picture ID• Provide proof of household income for all adults 18 or older• Current on their property taxes or on a payment/deferral plan authorized by the Tarrant Appraisal District

Residents hoping to apply for the program can find more information here.

The program, which employs six full-time city employees and four contractors, provides two services: paying for repairs residents may not be able to otherwise afford and providing reliable contractors guaranteed to finish the job. Setting aside cash to address a repair is challenging for residents who are on a fixed income or focused on other bills, Cain said.

“Even if all you did was go buy parts, it was still, you know, it’s not gonna be cheap, as a lot of these people just don’t have the money. They’re barely making the bills,” Cain said.

Residents from every council district utilized the program in 2023. The neighborhood services department completed 306 projects last year. The majority of the program’s clients are extremely low income and elderly, according to a report presented to council members.

“You might live in a neighborhood where the average income is more than six figures. But there may be somebody right there, a widow, who’s 80 years old, and but for this program, she may have to leave her house,” Bivens said.

The program not only improves the life of individuals but also restores community pride and keeps the city’s older neighborhoods from deteriorating, Bivens said.

For Berry, the program was a way to begin repairing decades of damage to his home.

“I can wash dishes and cook. I couldn’t do that at first,” Berry said. “It changed my life a lot.”

Rachel Behrndt is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at rachel.behrndt@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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