Dallas chef Josh Harmon is about to open three new DFW restaurants … and appear on Food Network show


Dallas chef Josh Harmon will open three new restaurants, expanding his Fort Worth sandwich shop to Dallas, taking over the former Smoke space in Oak Cliff and launching a new Korean fried chicken concept in Fort Worth.

You probably remember Harmon from his tenure at Kitchen LTO then Junction Craft Kitchen in Deep Ellum, or from his series of local pop-ups. Now, Harmon says, he’s ready for more.

Butler’s Cabinet, Harmon’s year-old coffee-deli-market inside Fort Worth’s Crocket Street’s food hall, will soon debut a branch inside the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff. It’ll have a slightly different name when it opens after the new year: “Coyle Cafe by B.C.,” in honor of Jordon Coyle Ford, the hotel’s owner.

“We hoped to open the Cafe by December, but it looks like it’ll take a little longer than that,” says Harmon. “Everywhere we look, there’s something else that needs to be fixed.”

Harmon says he’s been catering a lot of the hotel’s private events and signed on to also open the Belmont’s marquee restaurant, to called The Belmont Room, in the former Smoke space adjacent to the hotel. The Belmont Room is slated to open in February or early March.

“I want the menu there to be fun and timeless, things that were once served at the Belmont going back to the 1940s.

“Escargot service, a raw bar, seafood towers, shrimp with miso-white bbq sauce, brioche and pickled eggs, beef tartare with fry bread and an African hot sauce, which was served there in the 1940s. It’s our take on classic dishes reinterpreted.”

Harmon says small plates will run $3-$16; the most expensive item on the menu will be a $30 steak from 44 Farms.

“What we’re doing is as all-American as you can get in Dallas. It’s a mutt of a menu, with African and European and global influences because that’s what American restaurants used to serve.”

First, though, Harmon says he’ll launch Birdie Bop, a Korean fried chicken resto that specializes in — yes — KFC, spicy chicken and kimchi. (Cool name; you can check out the menu here, which looks good). It’ll be inside the former Americado space in Fort Worth.

Birdie Bop will be dinner-only, the only kitchen at The Moon, a new entertainment venue and bar from well-known Fort Worth bar guy Chris Maunder. Harmon says Birdie Bob will open by the end of November.

“Everyone always asks me to do fried chicken, so I became known for my Korean fried chicken. This will be a mash-up of Nashville Hot and Korean fried chicken with a few variations. You’ll be able to get wings with furikake, sandwiches buttered with Kewpie mayo, and sides of mac and ‘kimcheese’. And a killer slaw and waffle fries topped with dark soy and seaweed. Five chicken things, five sides, a couple of desserts. It’s a mile from TCU, so it’ll be casual and affordable. We’ll even have Nugget Night, where chicken nuggets will be just 25 cents each.

Harmon says Adrian Hulet, the force behind the FrankeKitchen pop-ups in Fort Worth, will run Birdie Bop’s kitchen.

Oh, and he’s also just wrapped up filming an episode of the Food Network’s “Restaurant Rivals” in NYC.

You have to be crazy (or a chef) to have that much on your plate at once.

“I’ve always wanted to be a chef and restaurateur. I want to open fun places to eat, do pop-ups and hopefully it all works out.”