When AC Hotel Fort Worth Downtown first opened a year ago, the on-site restaurant dubbed AC Kitchen only served European-inspired breakfasts, featuring freshly baked croissants, sliced prosciutto and cheese. Plus some tapas dishes at the bar. But the addition of a brand new chef on-site is bringing dinner and fully catered meals for events in the new ballroom.
Meet Javier Maysonet, the new executive chef of AC Hotel Fort Worth’s culinary operations. Maysonet hails from Puerto Rico and carries an extensive hospitality background. He most recently served as the executive sous chef for Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum Hotel and worked in Puerto Rico at W Retreat & Spa, Vieques Island and El San Juan Hotel.
“I am excited to be taking the lead at AC Hotel Fort Worth Downtown,” Maysonet says. “I believe that our food should bring ultimate enjoyment to our guests, and I aspire to create an extraordinary dining experience. From breakfast in the AC Kitchen to cocktails, tapas and entrees in the AC Lounge, I look forward to taking our guests on an unforgettable culinary journey of European-inspired flavors that are perfectly curated, poured and plated.”
Some signature menu items include breakfast cazuela, empanadas, carnitas, and chicken and chorizo paella.
On a recent visit, we ate a fantastic meal from the new chef. Grilled shrimp topped a lump crab cake in a corn maque choux cream sauce, with crispy pancetta. An entrée of slow braised osso bucco (veal shank) was presented with saffron risotto and veal demi-glace. Maysonet told me that this dish alone takes more than five hours to prepare.
Which is why, you’ll rarely find these traditional Spanish dishes on menus in North Texas. That goes for Maysonet’s labor intensive paella too.
AC Kitchen also offers a European-inspired breakfast each morning. Its AC Lounge, which is perched on the second floor with expansive seating options, including a small patio overlooking the downtown Fort Worth streets, and the bar both serve AC’s signature cocktail. It’s a custom gin tonic that comes garnished with star anise, upping the botanical aromas. It is served in a special snifter glass with etchings that discreetly guide the perfect ratio of ingredients.
You’ll find a full bar, which features Spanish wines and local microbrews as well as a tapas menu of small plates with a Spanish flair. The newly expanded menu includes papas bravas with smoked paprika, prosciutto ham and cantaloupe and BBQ brisket and cheddar empanadas.
This new chef is certainly determined to make a difference.