After spending a fantastic week stuffing myself with oysters, crab and shrimp on the Alabama coastline, I hurried back to Fort Worth and got ready to head down to Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose. I’m really looking forward to spending some time there as well as getting a chance to see one of our Twenty at the Tower chefs, Gerard Thompson. Gerard and Marcus Paslay of the anticipated restaurant, The Clay Pigeon, prepared a feast for 50 lucky diners in July.
Why am I going to Rough Creek? In addition to lending my time to help plan the inaugural Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival coming this spring, most of my workweek is spent at Reata. I have had the tremendous blessing of spending more than eight years with Reata. Every few years, our upper management team takes a few days to practice some “strategery” (as we like to call it) and attend strategic meetings to map out plans and solidify goals for the next several years. We have been blessed to be a part of the Fort Worth dining scene since 1996 and hope to continue to serve this great city for many more years to come.
The same way that food can make you nostalgic for earlier years and meals gone by, restaurants can invoke the same feelings. Fort Worth is lucky to have several iconic restaurants that have served as “institutions” over the years. Joe T. Garcia's has been serving up meals since 1935. Ol’ South Pancake House and the Paris Coffee Shop have been getting Fort Worth citizens’ days started (or nights ended in some cases) for decades.
This Saturday, Los Vaqueros and the Cisneros Family will celebrate 30 years of making memories for their guests. In the restaurant business, that is really what you try to do. Make memories. From first dates to rehearsal dinners and anniversaries to birthdays, restaurants become part of the fabric of our lives. They are places where we go to celebrate with friends and family and share some of the most special times of our lives.
A few days ago, I noticed that Bud Kennedy had visited Vickery Café. For my family, this is one of those memorable restaurants. In a previous blog post, I mentioned that my son Cooper and his “Papa John” visited Vickery Café every Saturday morning.
It's not the food (which is great) that always drew them back. It was the unbelievable customer service they provide. When Cooper and Papa John visited, it was more like they were going to see an old friend for breakfast and share stories about their week. They would sit at the same two stools at the counter and order the same things every visit.
We lost Papa John to a courageous battle with cancer in June. Although the Saturday morning trips to Vickery Café have become a little more infrequent, every time I pass the restaurant I smile a little. As our family heals from a painful loss we are comforted by the special time that our little boy spent there with his Grandpa. We will always be grateful to Curtis and his wonderful staff for making such a special memory for Cooper.
That's really all you can wish for out of this business. A chance to make people smile. A chance to become part of their family. A chance to be a special part of their lives. A chance to make some memories. What restaurants hold a special place in you and your family's life?
Russell Kirkpatrick is AGM at Reata Restaurant and Founder of the Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival
