Cork & Keg

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106 N. College St., Waxahachie

214.980.1005

corkandkeg.info

Occupying the ground floor of downtown's historic Rogers Hotel, Cork & Keg opened last year, offering a wide assortment of the drinks that bear the restaurant's name, along with a handful of light bites. But owners Mark Hillegeist and wife Phyllis Hyatt didn't want patrons to leave to have a meal. Brought aboard to beef up the menu was San Angelo-bred chef Adam Binnix, who left behind a life of crime (literally, he's a former police officer) to pursue his culinary interests. Before he became C&K's executive chef, he spent time in Dallas, working for and with acclaimed restaurant Bolsa, noted chef Stephen Pyles and upscale taco haunt Resident Taqueria.

At this enchantingly tiny spot, outlined in handsome dark oak wood and floor-to-ceiling windows, Binnix's focus is two-fold, split between wine bar staples such as charcuterie and flatbreads, and full-scale entrees like sea scallops, panko-crusted grouper and honey pecan redfish. “I cook what I love and I love seafood,” he says. “I could eat seafood seven days a week. And it goes so great with wine.”

You Gotta Try: Binnix’s shrimp and grits. “I use white hominy grits,” he says. “I make them creamy, cheesy and buttery. The shrimp are sauteed with clarified butter and my own spice blend that took me a couple years to perfect. It’s then finished with bacon, spring onions, pickled red onion and Tabasco butter. Yes, lots of butter in that dish.”