The 234 Apartment

What Fort Worth needs is — another barbecue joint? No, really. Honey Smoke Pit is just what Fort Worth and West Seventh Street needed : a new barbecue place, bringing a still- unproven restaurant space back to life with a combination of credible Texas barbecue and ample craft beer . Don’t start lining up. Honey Smoke Pit ’s chef, chuck-wagon cook Rodney Lambert , is fresh off the madhouse opening of Smokey Mae’s in Mansfield, so he’s trying to keep Honey Smoke Pit running at a steadier pace and ramp up business in Montgomery Plaza. Lambert is back home in Fort Worth, where he started at the old Deer Creek BBQ , Cowtown BBQ and Fred’s Texas Cafe locations. Honey Smoke Pit keeps a little bit of all those restaurants: pork ribs with a little spice in the rub, juicy brisket with good bark, half-pound burgers and Lambert’s signature sides such as jalapeño-bacon mac-and-cheese, seasoned “ranch hand” beans and panko onion rings . A “Big Shot” platter ($17.99) comes with brisket, ribs, h...

The best restaurant cookbooks are like time capsules, preserving a moment, a feeling. That’s what this year’s stack of restaurant- focused books achieves — with variable levels of success. Don’t miss chef Wylie Dufresne ’s look back at wd~50 or the new two-volume set from NYC’s highly lauded experiential dining room Eleven Madison Park . Casual restaurants, from the Publican in Chicago to Juhu Beach Club in Oakland, also got the book treatment this year. Each collection stands alone as a testament to the hard work of a team pushing for one pristine goal. Cheers to the Publican: Recipes and Ramblings from an American Beer Hall Paul Kahan, Cosmo Goss, Rachel Holtzman Lorena Jones Books, September 19 Starting with the first time I ate at there, shortly after its opening in 2008, the Publican has been my favorite restaurant. It was an instantaneous love — the room, the food, a swirling feeling of commensality and broad-shouldered abundance. So for me, the promise of this book, Cheers t...