New York-Style Italian Restaurant Brings Fresh Pastas to Fort Worth’s Southside — A Sneak Peek at Tre Mogli

The trio of restauranteurs known as Trident Restaurant Group is opening a new Fort Worth restaurant called Tre Mogli Cucina Italiana in Southside. The new New York-style Italian food restaurant is set to open next Tuesday, May 10. PaperCity Fort Worth got a sneak peek of the new space and a taste of the traditional Italian menu.

The family-style restaurant features a throwback Rat Pack era vibe and scratch-made pasta dishes. In fact, Trident culinary director Stefon Rishel notes that nearly everything is made fresh in-house from the labor-intensive cold-fermented focaccia ― which is to die for, and served alongside truffled ricotta spread and Calabrian honey ― to the hand-made pastas and sauces themselves.

An active and open kitchen means you are in for dinner and a show at Tre Mogli. The dusty blue-gray walls and dimly lit space of this white tablecloth fantasy comes complete with lush red velvet drapes and cozy nooks to inhabit. There are also two full bars, one upstairs and one on the main level.

Rishel proves his humility and team-player mentality when the subject turns to the food. “It’s not my food, it’s Alex Drury’s ― our head chef,” Rishel says of his 27-year-old hire. “His grandmother is from Milan so he knows Italian. I want to be sure he gets the credit. The kid’s awesome.”

Of course, Rishel is the executive chef at Wishbone & Flynt who also oversees Trident’s Parker County Ice House. His business partners in Trident are  Kyle Bryson and Wallace Owens, both restaurant veterans. Owens calls himself “the tip of the spear” in jest.

Tre Mogli means “three wives” and the new restaurant is an homage to the Trident threesome’s significant others. Let’s face it, the life of a restauranteur isn’t easy. The massive overhaul of the decades-vacant 7,500 square foot space which fronts South Main that Tre Mogli took over, located in the same complex as Wishbone and Flynt, was a budget buster. Bryson tells PaperCity Fort Worth that due to supply chain issues and staggering construction cost increases, the final tally was nearly double what they originally planned for when they first talked about the new restaurant in October of 2020.

A Look at the Tre Mogli Menu

David Jennings is running the bar program and Justin Faram serves as the general manager at the new Tre Mogli. Faram is also in charge of the wine program. Misty Kelsch, who Trident credits for pulling together much of the interior design, is also an important part of this new Fort Worth restaurant’s team.

But what’s for dinner at Tre Mogli?

The Ceasar salad is topped with fried anchovies. The fried lemon slices and Castelvetrano olives tossed into the crispy calamari shouldn’t be missed. The ginormous pork and veal meatball dish is also a showstopper in its “mobster” red sauce.

“We are using pecorino cheese only,” Rishel notes. “We just like that pop you get from sheep’s milk cheese.”

Most entrees at Tre Mogli are served family-style, including the eye-popping pork chop Milanese with its crusty coating and tender interior, served with charred lemons, and topped with a fresh arugula salad. If you love a good picatta with plenty of capers in a light lemon sauce, you can order it with either chicken or veal.

Pasta dishes come in either individual or family portions. All are made by hand in-house. The rigatoni alla vodka is divine, bathed in its delicate tomato and cream sauce. I also enjoyed the pesto dish with its fresh Gemelli pasta twirls dressed in basil green pesto and the rich beef, pork and veal Bolognese of the fusilli.

Listed under the sides section you’ll find a rare springtime treat ― squash blossoms in arrabbiata sauce stuffed with a mixture of ricotta anchovy and pecorino. Enjoy them while you can. You’ll also want to stick around for dessert. The deconstructed cannoli is actually a panna cotta that tastes just like the traditional Italian dessert, studded with cannoli shell chips and freshly grated chocolate.

Tre Mogli is a true escape. It’s as if you turned a corner in New York and stumbled into your favorite neighborhood restaurant. Only, you’re right in the heart of Fort Worth.