LH Press Library
Residents mix talents, bring funds to table to open family-friendly
eatery
Dallas Morning News, by Bob Pittman
November 27, 2004
Lake Highlands' newest business brings another meaning to the phrase "neighborhood restaurant."
The Highlands Cafe in the Lake Highlands Plaza shopping center at Kingsley and Audelia roads was started when about 20 local families pooled their resources as an investment and to help stimulate local business development.
"The community has been just ablaze and so excited about it," said Anita Siegers, one of three principals involved in the restaurant's day-to-day operations since it opened in October.
Tommy Steele came up with the cafe's concept and design. Kathy Stewart has taken on marketing and legal issues, and Ms. Siegers, a self-described "wanna-be foodie," develops the menu.
"Each of us brings something different to the table," Ms. Stewart said.
Mr. Steele, who creates functional art and sculpture, said operating a restaurant is "something that I've always wanted to do." The plan began to take shape over a 10-year period when he lived in California and New England. He moved to Lake Highlands about five years ago.
Meanwhile, Ms. Stewart and Ms. Siegers had been working on ways to draw more businesses to the area just north of White Rock Lake. Although home to thriving retail businesses as it began developing in the 1960s, by the 1990s many neighborhood stores had closed.
After joining a Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association subcommittee, the women learned that the situation was complicated by economics, the emergence of "big box" retailers, neighborhood shopping habits and absentee property owners.
As luck would have it, Mr. Steele, working to realize his restaurant plan, crossed paths with them. When a bakery closed in Lake Highlands Plaza, the space provided a likely opportunity for combining their efforts.
Initially, they planned for a few investors. But a neighborhood resident, Bill Cronin, suggested drawing in more investors from the tightly knit community. Eventually, about 20 families came on board, contributing amounts ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.
People who had not already heard it through the grapevine were formally tipped off at Lake Highlands' annual Fourth of July parade: Investors and their children sported puffy white chefs' hats on one of the floats. After the parade, they adjourned to the cafe's future site and began remodeling.
They liken the experience to a community barn-raising and proudly show off a scrapbook filled with photos of investors and others putting in sweat equity.
"People with no financial relationship at all pitched in," Ms. Stewart said.
What finally emerged was a distinctive new place for lunch and dinner.
The menu features Thai chicken satay with peanut sauce; hot spinach and artichoke dip; homemade chicken tenders; an extensive range of appetizers; soups; salads; burgers; deli-style sandwiches; and desserts.
The Highlands Cafe demonstrated its flexibility when several people requested chicken salad. The item soon appeared on the menu.
"The main thing about us is that we're trying to be family-friendly," Ms. Siegers said. While they aim to keep the food distinctive, "we're not trying to be the Mansion on White Rock Creek," she said.
The three strive to offer a small number of items done well, adding one or two every week or so, she said.
During the labor-intensive months leading up to the cafe's opening, Mr. Steele said, he learned that, "It's beyond the ability of one person to start up a restaurant. All of us really depended on support from our families."
His wife, Linda, is coordinating displays of work by area artists at the restaurant.
"I think a restaurant is such a great place to showcase art," she said. "Many people are hesitant to go to galleries or even to visit museums. There are so many things that constrict us, but art expands us. ... This is an opportunity to help people see how art exists all over their community."
Mr. Steele's work is also part of the eclectic decor. For example, he created a metal wall hanging and what the three call their "community table." The long table's top is made up of thick pine planks. Segments of heavy I-beams make up the legs in an unexpected twist of industrial chic.
The three say business has exceeded their expectations during the first few weeks. And they have been touched by the response from residents as well as the neighboring businesses. Ms. Siegers said she still gets choked up over the gesture of a florist who operates across the shopping center's parking lot. He changed his store sign to read "Welcome Lake Highlands Cafe. Good people serving good food."
Bob Pittman is a freelance writer in Lake Highlands.
Reprinted with permission of The Dallas Morning News and Bob Pittman.
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