Wimberley Supper Club coming together

To say the new Supper Club just off the Wimberley Square is a beehive of activity would be an understatement.

Carpenters are pounding, tree trimmers are hanging from the branches of a majestic oak, workers are hustling to get a kick-off party set up, and the staff members are hunched over their computers fine-tuning the dishes and the cocktail menu.

There’s a lot going on.

Nevertheless, says partner and executive chef Mark Grimes, mid-March is the target for opening.

The Roosevelt Supper Club of Wimberley, at 13900 Ranch Road 12, will be something different. Along with the upscale restaurant there will be two satellite businesses on the premises that will complement the Supper Club. In the nearby cabins — one which housed a hunting and fishing guide service and the other, Ball Brothers Painting — will be a sandwich shop called The Carvery and the Wimberley Concierge, where people staying at short-term rentals can get their refrigerators stocked before they arrive in town.

Clearly, the Roosevelt Supper Club of Wimberley is the crown jewel. The club gets its name from Franklin Roosevelt who was president in 1933 when Prohibition ended.

Explains John D’Alexander, the club’s director of beverages and procurement, “if you think about when the first supper clubs came into being, they were built over speakeasies. They were places you could go for a good meal and go down below and get a drink. We want to go back to that history. We want to go with that tradition.”

Mark harkens back to his Midwestern roots where speakeasies, Al Capone, G-man Eliot Ness, and bathtub gin defined the 1920’s. He also has a business angle. Right now, there’s just the Roosevelt Supper Club of Wimberley, but if the concept catches on there may be a Roosevelt Supper Club of, say, Fredericksburg in the future.

Mark and his wife Kimmie Dunlay teamed up with the Collins family, which owns the property where the club will be. Over the years, Mark has opened dozens of restaurants all over the country. The Collins’ own 12 short-term rentals around Wimberley which will pair nicely with the concierge service they are offering.

Dark, quiet

The supper club will have a dark, quiet, unhurried feel about it, says Mark. “It won’t have any windows,” he points out. Only dinner will be served.

“We like to say it’s a place where Lady Gaga meets Tony Bennett,” says Mark.

The menu features pasta dishes in the $20 range. Twelve ounces of prime rib goes for $34. There’s a shellfish tower — with oysters, crab and lobster — that runs $175. Steaks range from $22 to $150 (five grams of shaved black truffle can be added for $15).

The caviar starts at $60 an ounce for Golden Kaluga to $130 an ounce for Golden Osetra.

The menu is a work in progress says Mark and a lot will depend on market prices. Things are a little crazy in the restaurant business these days and costs and access can fluctuate wildly. In fact, steak prices have already dropped some from those posted on the club’s website: www.supperclubstx.com.

The steaks come from Indiana-based Linz Heritage Angus. “It’s some of the best meat you can buy anywhere,” says Mark.

The club hopes to enroll up to 200 “members.” For $2,000, a couple will get access for a year to an exclusive Tuesday nights with complimentary cocktails, wine and hors d’oeuvres and a special menu. They will also receive complimentary dinner vouchers for special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. “We wanted Tuesday night to be reserved for locals,” says Mark, “and we wanted it to be something special, something unique. A lot of restaurants around here are closed on Tuesdays so we wanted an option for the locals to come in.”

About 80 memberships have been sold so far.

Complete bar

The wine selection will be extensive. John, a certified sommelier, has assembled a list that ranges from $35 for a bottle of rosé to a $550 California cabernet sauvignon. Naturally, for a bar that traces its roots back to the 1920s, there will be classic cocktails — including five different types of Old Fashioned — to the Hemingway Daiquiri, which legend has it the author once consumed 17 at one sitting.

There will be lockers available where members can store their own bottles. The booths will be plush. “It’s a very sexy restaurant,” says Mark.

There will be room for 100-110 people including outdoor seating around a fire pit.

Eventually, the supper club, shopping service and sandwich shop will employ 50-60 people, says Mark’s wife Kimmie. About 60 percent of the positions have been filled so far. “We are trying to create an atmosphere where employees are valued and respected and appreciated,” says Kimmie. Three chefs are already on board.

About six of those employees will work at The Carvery.

“The Carvery will be meat-centric,” explains Mark. The menu will feature sandwiches such as the Pastrami Cuban — pastrami, ham, pickled onions, pickles and mustard aioli — and the Italian Cheesesteak Hoagie — shaved prime rib, provolone cheese, onions, peppers, lettuce, and tomato. Prices for the sandwiches are in the $12-$14 range. Meat will also be sold by the pound and there’s a large selection of sides.

They are planning special events, as well, such as crawfish boils with live music.

The shopping service will feature everything from grill packages to chocolate milk. “When someone comes into town, we’ll fill up their kitchen for them’” explains Mark. “We’ll send out an email a couple weeks before a visitor arrives and it’ll have a menu so they can order everything they need.”

Private chefs will be available to cook dinners ranging from barbecues to Tex-Mex to Italian food.

If that isn’t enough, Hill Country Hospitality, the company that oversees everything, is opening a wedding venue on Burnett Ranch Road. Called Videre, the site overlooks an eightacre lake and can accommodate up to 300 people. There will be room for weddings, conferences, private parties, and wine dinners.

The first wedding there is scheduled for the end of May.