Photo by Kathy Tran
This isn’t the front porch of world master chef Sharon Van Meter’s house on the Big Island in Hawaii, but it’s the closest thing you’ll find in Dallas.
The acclaimed chef turns 65 this year, but she’s only about one-third retired, she says.
Her corporate event and catering company, 3015 Trinity Groves, stayed open until recently but lost virtually all its business at the outset of the pandemic, and that 10,000-square-foot space didn’t make sense to her in a post-pandemic business climate.
Van Meter began menu development for Beckley 1115, her cute, neighborhood wine bar, when restaurants in Hawaii were still shut down.
The table on her Hawaiian front porch seats 10, so she divided her friends into three sections. Each group tasted two appetizers, three entrees, two desserts and two salads.
“I had people calling, like ‘Do you have any openings tonight?’” she says. “I’m like, ‘It’s my house!’”
Spanish meatballs, squash toast and many Beckley 1115 dishes were perfected with tasting notes from those dinners, but the menu is constantly changing based on season, pricing and creative urges.
The Hilo fried chicken thighs ($24) come three to an order with amazing gochujang rice and are based on a dish that Van Meter liked at Hilo Bay Café. She showed chef Luke Rogers a photo and said, “Let’s do them like this.”
This isn’t farm-to-table, but it is seasonal and based on what Van Meter and Rogers are inspired to buy. Everything on the menu is under $30, which can be challenging with fluctuating prices.
Photo by Kathy Tran
Rogers wanted to put scallops on the menu, even though they cost $23.99 a pound.
“I said, ‘OK, we’ll put that on as a loss leader, and I’ll just raise the price of chicken 50 cents or something,’” she says.
The next time they ordered, the price of scallops had gone up to $37.99 a pound.
In a 50-year culinary career, she’s never seen anything like that, she says.
Staffing is also a constant struggle for everyone in the restaurant industry right now.
“But we’re having fun,” Van Meter says. “I wait tables when I’m here.”
Restaurant profit margins rarely exceed 3%, but Van Meter says she doesn’t mark up the wine as much as she could.
Three-ounce pours start at $6, and the most expensive 6-ounce glasses cost $14. Beckley 1115 serves two labels from Checkered Past Winery in Dallas, a tempranillo and a malbec, for $34 a bottle.
Order the monthly “burger for better” ($18), and a portion of the proceeds goes to a nonprofit. The special has benefitted Wesley Rankin Community Center, Mammogram Poster Girls, 24 Hour Dallas and Mercy Chefs, among others. The beneficiary for July is Promise of Peace Community Garden.
The kitchen was gutted and rebuilt for Beckley 1115, but the space is so small that there’s no room for a walk-in freezer. The wine fridge behind the bar also serves as food storage.
“You really have to be creative with purchasing,” she says. “These guys from big restaurants can come in and really learn the art of management.”
Photo of Sharon Van Meter by Kathy Tran
The restaurant is also open for lunch four days a week, with offerings such as a honey-pecan fried chicken sandwich ($17), smoked-cheddar mac ($13) and salads and small plates ranging from $8-$14.
Weekend brunch highlights include whipped ricotta pancakes ($12), and a Parisian ham sandwich ($14). There are also homemade desserts every day, such as silky toffee pudding ($9).
Happy hour is 3-6 p.m. weekdays and includes $5 wine pours along with snacks, such as whipped ricotta with Hawaiian honeycomb, for $4-$7.
Van Meter, the only woman in her class at Le Cordon Bleu Paris, wound up in Dallas for her husband’s job and was previously executive chef of Ritz Carlton International and Neiman Marcus. A side career in TV, film and radio production means she knows your favorite TV chef. Van Meter is headed back to Hawaii for a few months (she also has a residence in Plano). But she recently hired a general manager, Greg Watson, previously head of operations for Dugg Burger.
Van Meter retired from her position at Food Network in March, but she’s not slowing down.
Her company is financing the culinary dream of former Oak Cliff resident and Bolsa opening chef Graham Dodd.
“He’s one of the best farm-to-table chefs in the country,” Van Meter says.
Their restaurant and mini resort, Nosa, has been under construction for about a year and a half in Ojo Caliente, New Mexico.
Amid staffing shortages, wild price fluxes and general anxiety in the restaurant industry, Van Meter says she’s finding that highly experienced professionals are more valuable than ever.
“I thought I was going to retire, but I guess I won’t,” she says.
Beckley 1115
214.941.1115
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday
