Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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112 AUSTINWAY.com The MaesTros of Cool These visionaries are elevating the city's entertainment and hospitality scene on their own terms. We can't imagine an Austin without Larry McGuire, Liz Lambert, Freddy Fletcher, and Bridget Dunlap—and why would we want to? BY TOBIN LEV Y PhOTOgr a PhY BY MIcha EL Tha d ca rTEr Larry McGuire has built an empire of sophisticated, food-forward restaurants, from the New England- inspired Perla's on South Congress to the reimagined Jeffrey's in Clarksville. And he accomplished this in just eight years time. His string of successes with busi- ness partner Tom Moorman, starting with Lamberts downtown when he was all of 24, makes him one of the most inf luential restaurateurs in town. But McGuire, who also owns Clark's (Perla's little brother), Josephine House ( Jeffrey's sister), and the French-Vietnamese Elizabeth Street Café, is not searching for the next big thing in dining. In fact, his impending move is no move at all; he'd rather focus on longevity, on making his existing restaurants an indisputable part of the city's iden- tity, his inspiration being the classics like Polvos, Vespaio, Chuy's, and Güero's. "People don't give those restaurants enough credit," he says. "Just to keep something going like that—they are Austin institutions. I think we're get- ting there with Lamberts and Perla's, but we have not done it yet. That's why we haven't opened any more restaurants and why we don't have any plans to go outside Austin. We really want them to live here and be here for a long time." McGuire is the handsome face of his restaurants, but he wishes that weren't the case. "I really am pretty shy, and I think that eating out should be about whom you're with and enjoying the two hours and relaxing. It shouldn't be about meeting some random person that you saw on Eater." Despite his local fame, the concept of celebrity chefs and restaurateurs somewhat confounds him. "I find it funny that people are now interviewing restau- rant people on things like gun issues," he says. "I'm glad people have opinions, but at the same time we're just here to provide a service and hospitality. I take that pretty seriously." Perhaps that's why you won't often find McGuire working the room at any of his restaurants. "When I'm there, I'm pretty focused," he says. "I'm thinking about how good the food is and how dim the lights are." It is all about the details, which take time to per- fect. Already a signature one: the Jeffrey's valets, who look like young Tenenbaums clad in pink seer- sucker shorts with ref lective piping and yellow Fred Perry polos. This doesn't mean that McGuire Moorman Hospitality won't embark on new ventures. The part- ners are getting into retail, working with By George owners Matthew and Katy Culmo to help them launch an e-commerce site and remodel the South Congress store (see page 41). Fashion is a relatively new interest, though his sartorial taste could be described as casually dapper. More than one reporter has gone the way of the red carpet and asked what he was wearing. In July, McGuire honed his fashion experience by attending his first Men's Market Week in New York, a favorite retreat. "In New York, it's nice to be anonymous, to be able to experience restaurants as a diner again." t h e r e s t a u r a t e u r Lar ry McGuir e photography by casey dunn (josephine house)