Roy Pope Grocery has a James Beard Award nominee as its new kitchen boss, & BBQ plans
Chef Bria Downey, a semifinalist for cooking’s James Beard Award, will be the culinary director when Roy Pope Grocery reopens, owners said.
Downey was a semifinalist for “Rising Star Chef of the Year” for her work at Clay Pigeon Food + Drink, but departed st the beginning of the coronavirus recession.
Restaurateur Louis Lambert and operations partner Chris Reale have completed buying Roy Pope. a 77-year-old neighborhood supermarket, and will reopen after remodeling, Reale said.
Roy Pope Grocery will also serve craft barbecue and specials from the former Flores Barbecue location in Clearfork, Reale said.
TCU football “game days will absolutely have green chile grits, carnitas tacos and smoked meats on the menu,” Reale said.
The grocery, 2300 Merrick St., is under contract to Lambert and investors Mark Harris and Rodger Chieffalo.
When the sale was announced, Lambert, co-founder of Dutch’s Hamburgers and owner of Austin restaurants, said “We want to embrace the history of service and everything that made Roy Pope special.”
He compared it to the Royal Blue urban markets In Austin — “small and with the fresh meats Roy Pope was known for.”
Former owners Bob and Renee Larance closed the supermarket in March just as coronavirus restrictions began, but Bob Larance said they had already been planning to sell it.
This story was originally published June 27, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
