First Look

First taste of Emmer & Rye: Rainey Street's newest restaurant dishes up chef-driven fare

First Look

First taste of Emmer & Rye: Rainey Street's newest restaurant dishes up chef-driven fare

Emmer & Rye's dishes allow ingredients to speak for themselves, such as this grain salad with Pure Luck chevre, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes.Photo by Melody Fury
Servers circulate the room with carts and trays carrying small plates, dim sum style.Photo by Melody Fury
An example of the dim sum is this play on cheese and broccoli, served as finger food.Photo by Melody Fury
The team mills all of their flour, including emmer, an ancient grain for pasta.Photo by Melody Fury
Diners can look out to raised garden beds from the dining room.Photo by Melody Fury
Plates here are often complex, such as this polenta with roasted shiitake mushrooms, marigold spuma, and fermented oyster mushroom.Photo by Melody Fury
Pastry chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph throws his own spin on familiar desserts, like this panna cotta made with goat milk, honeycomb, pecan granola, and tomato preserves.Photo by Melody Fury
Bar manager Adam Stellmon whips up classic cocktails, livening them up with house-made ingredients like thyme syrup.Photo by Melody Fury
Tall shelving divides the open space while the busy kitchen is on display for all.Photo by Melody Fury
Ample outdoor seating looks out to a quieter section of Rainey Street.Photo by Melody Fury

Small plates, farm-to-table, and New American are the trending restaurant buzzwords these days. So how do restaurateurs set themselves apart?

Since day one, Emmer & Rye has defined its identity as grain-driven; milling ancient, small-crop grains onsite is fundamental to the concept. Executive Chef and Owner Kevin Fink showcases the namesake grains by grinding and transforming them into breads, pastas, desserts, and more. Before opening, Emmer & Rye teased Instagram followers with other slow-food techniques like foraging, fermenting, and curing.

The veil was lifted on November 7, revealing an airy and light-filled dining space on Rainey Street. Design features include a laid-back patio next to raised garden beds, a 14-seat private dining room, and a shiny open kitchen that displays all the action. A floor-to-ceiling shelf that divides the room is styled with copperware, vintage glasses, and bushels of wheat.

Without surprise, the hyper-seasonal menu made up of snacks, small plates, pastas, and larger entrees changes weekly. Chef Fink draws some of his inspiration from his stint cooking in Copenhagen. His whimsical dishes, garnished by edible blossoms and dainty herbs, have similar qualities to those seen at the famed Noma of the same city. While Fink incorporates local ingredients and flavors, his cuisine is not easy to define. The polenta, for example, has the comforting properties of grits, but is elevated with roasted and fermented mushrooms.

In addition to the menu, Emmer & Rye also offers “dim sum service,” where servers circulate the dining room with wooden carts filled with small plates. Diners can pick and choose on the spot and share them among their table. Partner and Pastry Chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph highlights freshly milled grains in his desserts, too, overcoming the challenge of working with unpredictable moisture contents. Bar Manager Adam Stellmon concocts refined cocktails that nod to the classics.

As upbeat '90s R&B streams through the speakers, it reinforces that playfulness is the secondary theme here, after the grains.

Emmer & Rye is now open for dinner service and Sunday brunch.

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

Texas winery brings High Plains science to new Hill Country tasting room

Reddy Wines recently opened a tasting room in the Texas Hill Country. Reddy Wines/Facebook

A family-owned and operated northwest Texas winery with a nearly 30-year legacy has uncorked a new location in the Hill Country. Reddy Wines' new Stonewall tasting room, between Fredericksburg and Johnson City, debuted on March 4 in the former site of Cicada Cellars, joining the region's 100-plus popular wineries.

Reddy Wines dates back to 1997 when India native Vijay Reddy and his wife, Subada, began applying their long-established farming skills and business knowledge toward developing vineyards in Brownfield, near Lubbock. Vijay and Subada's son Akhil Reddy, now CEO at Reddy Wines, says his father earned a doctorate in soil and plant science. The achievement was key to his parents building a business that helped farmers get the most out of their crops.

"Eighty-five percent of the wine grapes in Texas are grown near our vineyard in the Texas High Plains due to the specific climate," Reddy says. "High elevation, low humidity, extremely cold winters, diurnal swings, winds, and much more contribute to the excellent quality of the wine grapes that come out of the Texas High Plains. These climate factors are similar to the great growing regions of the world."

The Reddys formally launched an on-site wine program in 2015 and officially opened the winery at their 400-acre vineyard ranch in West Texas in 2018. The vineyards cultivate over 38 varieties of wine grapes, producing about 50,000 bottles yearly.

The first harvest resulted in a gold medal-winning Cabernet Sauvignon, among other honors. According to Reddy, the wines are made more complex by the weather familiar to locals in the Lubbock area, such as high winds, dust storms, hailstorms, and heat spikes.

"The growth here is extraordinary and with merit. This era in Texas wine is similar to how Napa Valley was in the 1960s, and we have international recognition of our excellent wine," Reddy said.

New Hill Country winery
Reddy says the family has been eager to join the dozens of other famed wineries north of San Antonio and west of Austin. The Hill Country American Viticultural Area is the nation's third-largest AVA, covering 9 million acres and hosting more than 100 wineries, according to industry advocacy group Texas Hill Country Wineries.

The new Reddy Vineyards tasting room, marked by a playful logo featuring a bobcat riding a motorcycle, serves five distinct tasting experiences. The tasting room also offers indoor and outdoor seating shaded by oak trees. There is a members-only lounge and a private area for corporate events, retreats, or larger group gatherings.

While sipping the signature varietals, guests may snack on small bites of local cheeses, meats, fruit, nuts, vegetables, and other charcuterie items. The tasting room team plans to partner with local chefs during special events.

The tasting room at 14746 US-290 in Stonewall is open 11 am to 5:30 pm, Thursdays through Mondays. Oenophiles can book tastings in advance, but walk-ins are welcome. Reddy plans to schedule a grand opening in April.

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First Look

First taste of Emmer & Rye: Rainey Street's newest restaurant dishes up chef-driven fare

First Look

First taste of Emmer & Rye: Rainey Street's newest restaurant dishes up chef-driven fare

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GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

Texas winery brings High Plains science to new Hill Country tasting room

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

Texas winery brings High Plains science to new Hill Country tasting room