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    something's cooking

    Former Houston chef rebrands with casual new Hill Country bistro

    John Egan
    Jan 11, 2021 | 4:33 pm

    An acclaimed former local chef is tantalizing the Austin-area restaurant scene with a new eatery in Wimberley.

    Chef Ryan Hildebrand stunned Houston in November 2019 when he exited his famed FM Kitchen & Bar. Now a newly minted Wimberley resident, Hildebrand is collaborating with two childhood buddies on Hildee’s Dine-Inn, with the name incorporating his and his grandfather’s nicknames. Hildebrand describes the concept as a “Hill Country bistro.”

    “I can’t really think of a word other than bistro that leaves it open to interpretation. I don’t love the word bistro, but it gives you the ability to do everything,” Hildebrand tells CultureMap. “I used to call it a smokehouse, but people would immediately think that it’s a barbecue restaurant. And that’s not what it is at all.”

    Hildebrand says he and his wife and their two young daughters settled in Wimberley after regularly visiting the Hill Country town as a getaway destination when they lived in Houston.

    The chef has been working as hospitality consultant since his departure from FM Kitchen & Bar. He and his business partners purchased an undeveloped 1.6-acre plot in Wimberley a little over a year ago as a potential restaurant site. Today, Hildebrand is juggling this new venture and his consulting projects.

    “I’m at a point in my career where I really wanted to step back into the kitchen a little more and get back to the roots of why I started all of this,” says Hildebrand, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.

    Renderings for Hildee’s, which will be on Winters Mill Parkway near Blue Hole Regional Park and Cypress Creek, show a no-nonsense rectangular structure with a rustic-looking brown exterior, a large outdoor porch, and a minimalist interior supplying plenty of natural light pouring through large windows.

    Austin-based Maker Architects is designing the restaurant. The firm’s other work includes Vinaigrette, the South Congress and Kimber SOCO hotels, and Central Machine Works.

    Hildebrand says the restaurant, with more than 5,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space, will feature a full kitchen as well as a full bar with cocktails, wine, and beer. It’s being geared toward brunch, lunch, and dinner service, as well as small private events like wedding rehearsal dinners.

    Hildee’s menu will marry inspiration from both FM Kitchen & Bar and Triniti, the now-shuttered high-end Houston eatery where Hildebrand was chef. The new Wimberley spot will blend the laidback vibe of a smokehouse with touches of fine dining, Hildebrand says.

    “I don’t want it to be uncomfortable. It’s very casual, very comfortable — just like Wimberley,” he says. “I really wanted to do something that worked well in Wimberley, that people can enjoy when they’re coming off the river or they’re camping and hiking or they want to have a nicer dinner.”

    Items on the Hildee’s menu will include soup, salad, steak, brisket, smoked salmon, trout, quail, venison, fajitas, black pepper potato muffins, and burnt-ends rangoon. Hildebrand also plans to offer weekend picnic baskets packed with foods like fried chicken and fixins.

    “We’re doing a style of restaurant that nobody else is doing out there,” Hildebrand says.

    Construction on Hildee’s is tentatively set to start in February, with the restaurant on track for a July or August opening, according to Hildebrand. The restaurant, staffed by roughly two dozen people, will operate Wednesday through Sunday.

    Hildee’s Dine-Inn blends indoor and outdoor dining.

    Hildee\u2019s Dine-Inn rendering
      
    Rendering courtesy of Maker Architects
    Hildee’s Dine-Inn blends indoor and outdoor dining.
    hill-country
    news/restaurants-bars

    What's Eric Eating Episodes 461 and 462

    Meet the Houston siblings bringing old school Tex-Mex to the Hill Country

    CultureMap Staff
    Apr 24, 2025 | 6:45 pm
    Katie Adair Barnhart and Nick Adair Concepts
    Photo by Alex Montoya
    Katie Adair Barnhart and Nick Adair are this week's guests.

    On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Nick Adair and Katie Adair Barnhart join CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss Adair Concepts. The brother-and-sister duo lead a growing hospitality group that includes Adair Kitchen, Los Tios, Skeeters, Bebidas, and more.



    The conversation begins with Nick Adair explaining his interest in entering the business founded by his father Gary. Katie and Nick teamed up to open the first location of Adair Kitchen in 2012. From there, the company has grown steadily, including a big step forward in 2023 when they brought Los Tios to the former Buca di Beppo space in West U.

    Recently, Los Tios opened a new location in Fredericksburg, which it will follow with the company’s first outpost in San Antonio later this year. Adair explains that he knows the town well, since his in-laws live there. The restaurant is off to a strong start.

    “‘Vintage’ and ‘old school’ and those kind of words are stuff people are trying to replicate. Every one wants to feel old, especially in the Tex-Mex space,” Adair says. “Our oldness has turned into an asset. It’s a heritage brand now. We don’t have to fake trying to look and feel old. It really is that. It’s got 50 years of tried-and-true patina on it in all the right ways.”

    Listen to the full episode to hear the siblings discuss the changes they’ve made at Buffalo Grille since they acquired it last year. They also discuss the recent hiring of Diego Fernandez to be the group’s culinary director.



    In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Chelsea Thomas discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: Burger Chan owners Diane and Willet Feng bringing in a new operating partner; Long Weekend, a cowboy-inspired restaurant opening soon in Lazybrook/Timbergrove; and chef Jane Wild’s new cafe in the Heights.

    In the restaurant of the week segment, Thomas and Sandler discuss their recent meal at Perseid, Aaron Bludorn’s French-inspired restaurant at the Hotel Saint Augustine. Tune in to hear their thoughts on the restaurant’s design and some of their favorite dishes from the meal.

    -----

    Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5.

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