dcwfromTexas

In the late 1980s there was a very good restaurant at 701 University Drive E., facing the Hilton, called "Cafe d' Amerique". It was an independent venture, jointly owned by the manager and the chef, Kraig Thome, who did fantastic things with food. I washed dishes there in the evenings while in high school, and helped out with food prep. work. Alas, Cafe d' Amerique only survived a couple of years - it closed in early 1988. I showed up for work one day to find all the doors locked, drove to the chef's apartment and heard the news. I guess I should have seen it coming - they'd been paying the staff in cash from the register for a week or two leading up to the closure (not a good sign). Kraig soon hired on as executive chef of the Plaza Club in Bryan, and in the summer of '89 he went on to a bigger and better club in Fort Worth, and later to an even bigger one (the University Club) in Houston. But before Cafe d' Amerique another restaurant - Confederate House - had occupied that site for years. Throughout Cafe d' Amerique's short lifespan a glass case holding plates and other items from Confederate House stood silently in its dining room, reminding both staff and customers alike that all things must pass!

I worked at the Plaza Club (as a cook and also briefly as a waiter) from the summer of 1989 until sometime in 1993. It was a good operation, but probably too exclusive for B/CS. As a private club, only members could use it, but how to boost membership was always a big problem. The Plaza Club was part of the global ClubCorp chain, so it was connected to a much larger network. But, the parent company eventually cut it loose and it went under, maybe in early '94. We served great dinners, hosted excellent private parties and weddings, and also had a fine Sunday buffet, which I used to prepare almost entirely by myself. A lot of good people worked there while I was there - here's to them (where is Chef Mike now?) And here's to the Plaza Club.