Chef Stephan Pyles of Dallas Opens the Seeker in Stephenville, Texas | Eater Dallas

"After closing his final Dallas restaurant in 2020 and announcing retirement, the chef has resurrected greatest hits from Flauna and Flora Street Cafe at a little motel restaurant in Stephenville (now open at 809 E. Road). On why he took the project he told Eater Dallas: "When they said Stephenville, my first thought was, ‘Okay, that’s a town even smaller than Big Spring, my hometown, and I’m not sure I would want to do that.’ I came down to look at the project and talked to [one of] the owner[s], Lisa Lennox, and picked her brain. It’s a great concept. I did my research on Stephenville, which is they say is thecowboy capital of the world, and these cowboys have money [laughs]. They love good whiskey and steaks, so I thought my kind of food would fit there. [This restaurant] is an element that doesn’t exist in Stephenville yet but would fit into the mold of what people want here and what Texas food is. I also love the idea of taking these old roadside motels and turning them into something fun that’s mid-century and post-modern. The fact that it has a destination restaurant is really cool and something I haven’t done. I thought, ‘This could work.’ And I think it’s going to." His menu mixes signature classics and revived finer dishes: "Certainly the bone-in cowboy ribeye, which is one of my signatures, with the red chile onion rings. I also thought it is time to push the limits a little bit, so I am going to do thelobster tamale pieI was doing at Flora Street Cafe with the isomalt top. We’re making our own nixtamal, so I think we’re the only restaurant around grounding our own corn to make the tortillas, tamales, and the little dumpling for the tamale pie." He stresses local adaptation rather than a Dallas imposition: "At this point, after all these god knows how many years — 40-something? — I’ve got enough of a repertoire that I don’t have to completely recreate things. I don’t want Stephenville thinking there’s this big Dallas chef coming in to show us what the restaurant business isreallylike, or how to eat. We’ve made great effort to find local purveyors, farmers, dairy and cheese makers, wood suppliers — everything. We’ve made it unique to Stephenville in that sense because in Dallas we wouldn’t have all these local suppliers." Staffing has been better than past small-town efforts: "I did a concept down in Georgetown a few years ago and it was just pulling teeth to get staff. I thought that would be the case here, but there is a market down here [of people]. They’re kind of inexperienced, obviously, but there’s a big supply of them and they are excited to be involved in anything unusual, unique, refined. We have a remarkable staff." He also notes local chef connections: "Aha, to take you to a connection, my executive chef was working at the Crazy Water for Bull — it was a friendly departure." On specific local suppliers and preparations he preserves and highlights producers and techniques: "Stuart Veldhuizenis a remarkable cheese producer that I can’t believe hasn’t been more in the limelight. It’s an incredible cottage industry, old-school that feels like an old cheesemaker in Europe. We’re using its Old Redneck Cheddar for our mac and cheese." And: "Another is theMill-King Dairy, it does the most amazing milk that you can get unpasteurized. Of course you can’t sell that, but it is such a better content — I’ve never had such good dairy as this place. We use it in a lot of things, like the batter for our fried chicken. Here’s the thing: its just good to drink. I’m going to do a dish with warm cookies and milk on ice to highlight it." Desserts remain a signature element: "Five desserts is about what I do, and they’re all signature dishes. We have a grand dessert with everything on it so you can start with that and work your way back." - Courtney E. Smith