Sitting Down With

The chef who revitalized Lubbock while building on his family's legacy

Chef Cameron West knows a thing or two about legacy. The busy chef and restauranteur is the grandson of the city's former mayor, Dirk West, who is also famous for drawing the cartoon mascots for Texas Tech, Nebraska, and Kansas City.

Cameron, himself a Texas Tech grad, furthered his training at the Culinary Institute of America, in Napa Valley, at The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, with Jon Bonnell in Fort Worth, and under chef Dean Fearing in Dallas. But he always felt a pull toward his hometown of Lubbock, and had a hunch that the West Texas city was just waiting for a restaurant renaissance.

Today, Cameron and his wife Rachel head up four critically acclaimed eateries in Lubbock, and are largely credited with rejuvenating the city's culinary scene.

CultureMap caught up with Cameron to talk fried chicken, national awards, and how neighbors take care of each other.

CultureMap: First off, can you give us the vibe of each of your restaurants and what dishes each is known for?

Cameron West: Sure, we have:

The West Table: Our first restaurant in Lubbock, opened nine years ago. It serves upscale American that's seasonal and local whenever possible, and was downtown's first "destination" restaurant. We're known for the bone marrow, oysters, and fried chicken during brunch, and foods that were less common in Lubbock when we opened.
Dirk's Chicken: Our motto is "Birds. Beers. Bubbles." and that pretty much covers it. Dirk's is named for my grandfather, and you'll see a lot of his original artwork displayed around the restaurant. The vibe is more Southern, with (obviously) fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, and we have oysters here too.
The Brewery LBK: This is an eclectic-casual brewpub across the hallway from The West Table. We have 12 rotating beers on tap, and three years ago USA Today crowned it the best brewpub in the country.
Neighborhood F+B: The newest of our restaurants, this is a neighborhood bar and grill with casual, comforting food and a wonderful bar program to boot.

Photo courtesy of Visit Lubbock

Neighborhood F+B is West's newest concept.

CM: You traveled all over the country and worked with some very famous chefs. Why did you want to return to Lubbock?

CW: I had seen other chefs come home and sort of "renovate" their downtown, and Lubbock's downtown was a little behind in the culinary scene a decade ago. The West Table was successful from the start and really jumpstarted a lot of the downtown revitalization. It showed that the people of Lubbock were really ready for this kind of love to be poured back into their community.

CM: Speaking of community, you're known for being very involved in yours.

CW: Definitely! My mother and father have lived here their whole lives, and now we're raising our family here too. So it's very important to me to constantly be doing charity events like Home for Heroes and March of Dimes. Everyone here takes turns taking care of each other.

CM: In addition to being local favorites, your restaurants are drawing a lot of out-of-towners too.

CW: Lubbock is a great stop for people who are driving to New Mexico to go skiing, and it's a destination in its own right for Texas Tech football games.

CM: In a way, you're carrying on your grandfather's Lubbock legacy.

CW: Indeed. I had all his artwork just sitting around, and I opened Dirk's partly to have a place to display it. It's been a pleasure to reintroduce him to the next generation, and it's really fun to see people realize he's the talent behind so many of these famous mascots.

CM: How would you describe the Lubbock dining scene now?

CW: Others saw what we did and followed our lead, and it feels so good to have that confirmation that we made the right decision to come back home. We're able to take care of everybody, from casual to upscale, and provide everything people are looking for. That's an incredibly good feeling.

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Experience the people and places of Lubbock yourself by planning your next vacation here.

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New Parks

54,000-acre Hill Country ranch to become Texas' 2nd largest state park

Photo from property listing by Icon Global

Silver Lake Ranch adds 54,000 acres to Texas' public lands.

Texans will soon have a massive new state park to explore, second only to Big Bend Ranch State Park in size. Silver Lake Ranch, the 54,000-acre plot of land spanning Edwards and Kinney counties, was owned by the Moody Foundation, and now, largely thanks to a major philanthropic gift, it's headed into public hands.

The Moody Foundation gifted its 87.5 percent ownership interest in the ranch to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), with TPWD purchasing the remaining interest for $11.85 million. The funds come from the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund and Sporting Goods Sales Tax — both approved by Texas voters.

“The Moody Foundation is proud to help preserve this remarkable stretch of Texas Hill Country and make it accessible for generations to come,” said Ross Moody in a press release. “Silver Lake Ranch represents the natural beauty, history, and spirit of our state, and we are honored to make this gift to Texas Parks and Wildlife to ensure it remains protected and enjoyed by all Texans for years ahead.”

The property will officially become Silver Lake State Park, named for the spring-fed 30-acre lake at its heart. Sitting roughly 350 miles west of Houston, nestled between Rocksprings and Uvalde, the land is home to some beautiful hill country wildlife and nature at a Texas manageable drive of about two hours from San Antonio.

Currently the park is in its most rugged and undeveloped form: steep limestone canyons drop into rolling hills lined with live oaks and juniper trees, with miles of river frontage tracing the West Nueces River. Several creeks wind through the property, including Sycamore Creek, Lost Creek, and North Spring Creek, along with Blue Waterhole and Dutch Waterhole.

Caves and other landmarks dot the landscape, and wildlife includes white-tailed deer, turkey, javelina, and dove. Portions of the property have even been identified as a potential habitat for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.

According to the press release, this land, previously used for sheep and cattle ranching, will be developed in phases over the next several years, also using the Centennial Parks Conservation Fund. Initially, access to the park might look like guided tours and limited day-use opportunities while planning and infrastructure are underway. Later, trails and basic visitor facilities will be added, and ultimately, the park will include expanded recreational amenities like camping and paddling access.

Now that the acquisition is complete, TPWD staff and private contractors plan to gather feedback from the public and surrounding communities to help map out recreational opportunities. This may take "many months to complete," says the press release. TPWD will communicate any upcoming milestones, including a potential opening date, at TexasStateParks.org

"This is an exciting addition to our state park system, and we are grateful to our partners at the Moody Foundation for their philanthropy and for bringing this slice of the hill country to the people of Texas," TPWD Executive Director David Yoskowitz says in the press release.

And as folks are pointing out on TPDW's reel announcing the new park: it's "Better than any subdivision."

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