Bistro LightCatcher's new dinner menu feels like a little bit of California in Tarrant County

By JUNE NAYLOR
Special to the Star-Telegram
Don’t look now, but one of North Texas’ more interesting wineries is acting a lot more like a vineyard restaurant you might find in West Coast wine country. LightCatcher Winery, an appealing retreat in a rolling, live oak-covered patch of real estate just west of Loop 820, near Lakeside, has expanded its service from light lunches to full dinner service on weekends. 
We started our recent, revelatory Friday-evening visit in the tasting room, where we sampled three wines ($5 per person) to decide which would be right for our dinner. It’s just one of several ways in which winemaker/chef Caris Turpen is making LightCatcher one of the outstanding gastronomic options in North Texas. 
Of the tastes I tried two Friday evenings ago, the 2003 LightCatcher merlot and the 2004 LightCatcher cab — made with grapes grown near Lubbock — were so good that my table of five ordered one bottle of each ($26 and $30, respectively) to drink with dinner. And what a meal it was: Start to finish, my table of fairly demanding diners agreed we’d be back time and again. 
The Summer Yum appetizer plate ($11) set the tone, with "bruleed" Texas figs and grilled local peaches, the latter decorated with fresh basil and cracked pepper, providing lavish fresh flavor. Alongside were a wedge of French brie, Marcona almonds, ribbons of prosciutto, handmade Parmesan bread straws and olives that Turpen infuses with rosemary and orange. 
Nearly as winning, the cheese plate ($16) starred white Cheddar, Jarlsberg and more brie. Flanking the cheeses, which change according to whatever’s interesting at the market, were dried cherries and blueberries, sliced sausage, and pecans crusted with a shell of brown sugar, butter, Herbs de Provence and a hint of cayenne. 
The flank steak ($18), our favorite among the three entrees we tried, was a gorgeous rendition of what isn’t always an impressive cut. This tender version was marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar, red wine and fresh peaches, grilled exactly to our requested color, and served with obscenely rich — and addictive — "adult" mac and cheese, dressed up with smoked gouda, pancetta and a drizzle of white truffle oil. That sinful side is available with the dry-aged steaks ($28-$34), too. 
The roasted Parmesan-crusted tilapia ($18), a nice surprise, was treated to a chardonnay sauce finished with a touch of cream and served with couscous. Best for a hearty appetite, the Italian meatballs ($14) were slathered in a roasted red pepper-tomato-wine sauce and topped with melted mozzarella in a ring of rustic mashed potatoes packed with cream, butter and garlic. 
Look for more offerings at LightCatcher, such as winemaker dinners offering elaborate menus with wine pairings, and an evolving weekend dinner menu, as Turpen works with her daughter, Summer, an aspiring chef who just completed a training session at the lauded Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif. What’s more, Turpen plans to add a separate bistro building that should significantly expand the dining options at this little piece of wine country. 

Bistro LightCatcher 
6925 Confederate Park Road 
(Farm Road 1886) 
Fort Worth 
817-237-2626; lightcatcher.com 
Hours: noon-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday 
Cuisine: Contemporary California 
Essentials: Major credit cards; wine; smoke-free; wheelchair-accessible; reservations advised 
Entree cost: $9.50-$34 (dinner); $8-$16 (lunch) 
Signature dish: Grilled steak with adult mac and cheese 
Recommended for: Grown-ups longing to wander off the beaten path for a wine bistro experience 
Good to know: Menu changes frequently; three wine samples for $5 recommended; bistro set to expand soon