Le Cowboy

Austin Pop-Up Restaurant Le Cowboy Will Open New Italian Restaurant | Eater Austin

"An Austin chef and his co-owner/director of operations are working to convert a popular Italian pop-up into a full bistro-style neighborhood restaurant at 2919 Menchaca Road in South Lamar; the couple envisions a place that works "for any occasion, from solo diners to family outings to special occasions." The executive chef describes the menu as his take on Italian and Italian-American cooking — specifically “grandma Italian” food meant to “warm your soul,” which translates to plentiful handmade pastas and hearty entrees offered at affordable prices. The physical space, a former Pizza Hut on Menchaca Road, is planned to feel cozy with a bar, dining room, private dining room, and a chef’s table in the kitchen. The project has hit financial snags: while the first construction phase is finished, “the second portion is on pause because the couple doesn’t have the funds to continue.” After earlier promises from investors that fell through, the couple self-funded with help from a few investors to sign the lease; Chelsea Nonas recounts frustration with would-be backers and the friend who "was literally at the bank, what is your bank information?" and then went "radio silent." Facing ongoing hesitation from potential investors over rising costs and market uncertainty, she asks rhetorically, “Is this even possible to do if you don’t have a corporation or a restaurant group behind you?” and warns that “People don’t want to invest until other people invest, but other people aren’t going to invest if others aren’t investing. We’re stuck in this perpetual thing.” Still determined to proceed, she says, “Do we just abandon this again, or do we just go for it... and just say, ‘Screw it, we’ll figure it out.’” and pleads, “Help a true mom-and-pop place get on their feet... so we can start seeing more authentic restaurant openings that don’t feel so formulaic and stale.” The chef launched the pop-up project in summer 2020 with a temporary Manor Road location (which closed in February 2021), ran pop-ups around town while pursuing a permanent site, paused to help reopen a wine restaurant in November 2022, and then returned to the restaurant plan. His résumé includes co-founding executive chef duties at a prominent Southern restaurant (winning a joint Chef of the Year award from Eater Austin in 2015 and finishing as a finalist in the Rising Star category in the 2016 James Beard Awards), and serving as opening executive chef at Minneapolis Nordic hotel restaurant Tullibee and at New American hotel restaurant Carpenters Hall. Additionally, he has been working as part of the culinary team on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in the greater Austin area, helping to cook, create, develop dishes, and train staff on that television project." - Nadia Chaudhury