|
Wildfire Restaurant - Lighting the FlameEnjoy Southwest Texas Cuisine in Georgetown, TexasBy Autumn Rhea Carpenter
“Food has always played a role in my life,” said Cox. “My Mom always included me in kitchen activities as a child and taught me her recipes. Cooking connected us and it always brought my family together.” At 14 years old, Cox began his restaurant career. “I got my first taste of the restaurant world as a young teenager, washing dishes at W.D. Crowley Steak and Lobster House in Atlanta.” From the dishwashing suds, he was promoted to solid prep engineer, which meant that the salad bar was his domain. He learned the important responsibilities that each position held and continued to file away the information. Cox quickly became lobster cook, then head line-cook at the age of 17. While attending college, he worked at various restaurants and continued to learn his trade. Cox graduated from Georgia Tech with an architecture degree. Cox moved to Houston, and was employed by the Pappas family at a restaurant named the Strawberry Patch. (This was before they open their various franchises.) He finally re-located to Austin and began a master’s program at the University of Texas, focusing on aerospace engineering. After several years opening and managing restaurants, like Good Eats and Taloose, Cox heard his calling. “I had enough experience to open my own restaurant,” Cox said. “It was time to put all of the pieces together.” Cox’s sister, Cindy, and her husband were interested in re-locating to Austin from Long Island and his Mom was ready to retire from Houston to the Hill Country as well. The Wildfire restaurant idea was born and it became a family investment. (Cox has since bought the restaurant out and is the sole proprietor.) In the late nineties, Cox spent much time researching the perfect location and learning about city permits and regulations. “At first, we had a difficult time being taken seriously since we were basically kids,” said Cox. “Finally, we found a lovely location on the historical square in Georgetown and met a man at the industrial foundation who sat us down and talked to us about Georgetown’s city growth plan, We felt accepted and knew that we had found the place for Wildfire.” According to “Recipes from the Historical Restaurant Guide and Cookbook” by Linda and Steve Bauer, Wildfire shares an interesting history with several other retail establishments. “Wildfire fits where the city hotel stood in 1890s and was originally constructed as two buildings. Over the last 80 years, the building has served as a Piggly Wiggly grocery store, Teasley’s Meat Market, Sears and Roebuck catalog store, law offices an air-conditioning and electricity company and as the current landlord’s women’s fashion’s boutique, Wonderful Things.” Since the historic building, next-door to the Palace Theatre, had never functioned as a restaurant, much work was to be done. “It was an expensive renovation, but it was worthwhile,” said Cox. “We discovered the original ceiling and had to re-work the plumbing so that it was up to code. We also brought in long leaf pine wood from the Elgin Rail station and had custom-designed tables and the bar designed.”
Cox wanted to create an establishment that catered to both the meat-eater and the vegetarian. “I dated a vegetarian and we had a hard time finding places that we could both eat and feel satisfied,” he said. “My goal was to offer high-quality food in a relaxed atmosphere. A place where a steak guy and a vegetarian girl could dine together comfortably.”
A new lunch and Sunday brunch menu has just been released, offering new choices, such as Monte Cristo sandwiches, Chisolm Trail chicken and dumplings, filet mignon, and flame-kissed sterling Atlantic salmon. “I like to change the menu every year, to offer our customers variety,” said Cox. When asked to explain the restaurant world’s attraction, Cox explained, “I love the business. When I look at on the floor and see all of the people interacting and seeing relationships forming I feel a connection to them. I think about people who work, sitting in a cubicle and how they never get to experience this kind of connection to their work. It makes all of the 16-hour days worthwhile.” Wildfire is located at 812 South Austin Avenue,
Georgetown, Texas, 78626. Photos provided by Wildfire owner, Bill Cox. |
|
TM
The restaurant business is not for the weak-hearted. It
requires long hours, decent shoes, a tough skin and a love for people. Bill
Cox, owner of Wildfire restaurant in Georgetown, Texas, maintains those
qualities, plus a few more, that have kept his downtown establishment on a
successful path for over six years.
As a result, the Wildfire is a mixture of old and new,
with retro-styled handwritten tickets and nostalgic vocalists from the 40s
and 50s warbling in the background. “I wanted a place where people could
experience an elegant meal, without feeling pressured to dress up,” said
Cox. “We serve Southwest Texas cuisine, with a variety of choices, including
flame-seared scallops, grilled Portobello, artichoke and asparagus pasta,
hickory-stuffed chicken breast, cracked pepper chicken-fried steak, New
Zealand elk tenderloin and flame-seared rack of lamb.”
Surprisingly, Wildfire’s bar became a hopping locale.
“When we originally obtained our liquor license, it was more for people to
enjoy a glass of wine with their meals or maybe a good Scotch beforehand,”
said Cox. “I never thought a that a bar in the county seat, in the heart of
a dry county, would become popular. “Our demographic includes political
folks, realtors, developers and journalists,” Cox said. “The saying is
‘whatever is said at the Wildfire, stays at the Wildfire.’ We have our own
sanctuary, where people can openly share their lives and their secrets are
safe.”
The Wildfire features over 100 vineyards, with 30 Texas
vineyards included. “I’ve been a Texas wine advocate for over 20 years,” Cox
said. “St. Genevieve of Fort Stockton is our house wine. I’m also a fan of
Messina Hof of Lubbock and recently of Alomosa Cellars of Bend, Texas.”