Local Austin Chef Sonya Coté Feeds Body & Soul
Space for Community
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Eric Morales
Over the past ten years, Chef Sonya Coté’s menus at Hillside Farmacy, Eden East, Eden West, and now Store House Market & Eatery have become a benchmark for farm-to-table cuisine in the Capital City. That’s because, for Sonya, serving guests is more than just putting food on plates.
For her, cooking is about commitment to community. And commitment looks like fresh Texas produce, supporting her staff, and the friendship of each guest who orders a dish.
“It’s just creating a guest experience…a positive experience for anyone who could walk in from the community,” she says. In fact, the community she has generated spreads beyond loyal restaurant patrons to their families and even a few celebrities who now frequent her establishments, sitting elbow-to-elbow, enjoying fresh conversation and seasonal fare.
A meal at any of the locations where Sonya’s imagination has touched the menu is sure to leave taste buds tingling in anticipation of the homestyle dishes complemented by her trademark tweaks that up the ante. But more so than the food, the atmosphere she cultivates maintains the air of a familial kitchen. It is not uncommon for the staff and the guests to have a relationship that transcends the routine acts of ordering, serving, and savoring a meal.
Despite being one of the preeminent chefs in Austin whose uncompromising determination to showcase the Texas terroir led the trend toward high-gloss farm-to-table restaurants, maintaining her commitment to farming the produce that she serves has not always been an easy row to hoe.
“I mean it’s hard. The burnout level is real for farmers. A lot of farmers take the summers off, but we don’t have a lot of options right now. You know, there are not a lot of local foods available at this time in this area,” Sonya explains that peppers, eggplant, and okra abound, but cooking them requires imagination to keep frequent visitors intrigued.
In spite of a harrowing summer and the perpetual pivoting that this requires for her menu, Sonya’s love of the kitchen has not waned. While experimenting in the kitchen is a driving force behind Sonya’s decade in the Austin restaurant scene, it is only a fraction of the reason she continues to quietly cultivate her cuisine amid the splashy concepts that are popping up all over town. For Sonya, her staff, many of which are long-time employees, are some of the most important people she serves.
“For me, as a restaurant owner, whether it’s Hillside Farmacy or our new restaurant in Bastrop, it’s just having the opportunity to employ people in a good place,” she explains simply. With good people, good food, and good vibes, Sonya has managed to establish a flavor in this community that is all her own.
Sonya’s Latest & Greatest!
Sonya has brought her signature style to Bastrop with the Store House Market & Eatery. It is located on Main Street, only a stone’s throw from the accompanying farm plot that her husband David Barrow cultivates to supply the restaurant.
Contact:
Store House Market & Eatery
813 Main St., Bastrop, TX 78602
