Zahir Walji, managing partner of High Country Market Bistro & GastroPub, established a reputation for artisanal cuisine, fine wine and craft beer in the upscale convenience store in Round Rock, Texas. Gas Station Gourmet visited High Country on the way to the 2018 NACS Show and recently caught up with Walji to see how his business has flexed during the pandemic—and what’s ahead as Texas reopens.
The new Home Pizza Pack is a hit with customers, who often prepare them during the Virtual Wine Wednesday classes Zahir Walji and his wife, Salima, host via Zoom.
The first challenge was to determine what food he could still serve without sacrificing quality, so Walji narrowed the menu to focus on pizza and hamburgers. Pizza has always been a customer favorite at the High Country Market Bistro & GastroPub. And when Texas shut down in early March, Walji was able to offer curbside delivery, but he also wanted to make sure customers had the best experience. “We had to figure out how to make food-to-go last,” he said. “I found some artisanal pizza makers double toast the dough; we now do the same—toast the dough before we put the marinara on it.”
The signature burgers were the next challenge because beef has been in short supply, so Walji went right to the source. “We now have our beef coming right from here locally,” he said.
Meal Kits
Delivery is not perfect since the food will never be as fresh as when it goes from the kitchen to a table. To bypass some of the challenges of delivery, Walji came up with a way for customers to enjoy the same great food, hot and fresh, without having the food make the trip from the store to home. Introducing the Home Pizza Pack—a DIY artisan pizza kit. Each kit includes dough for one 16-inch pizza or three small pizzas, freshly made tomato marinara, a provolone/mozzarella cheese blend, toppings and extra virgin olive oil.
High Country is exploring whether the DIY concept would work with hamburgers. “I’ll sell five pounds of ground beef, prepackaged with freshly made pretzel buns. We give you dill pickle slices, our special burger sauce and premade packets of our rosemary white truffle ketchup,” Walji said.
#WineWednesday
Walji is a sommelier, so it’s no surprise that High Country has one of the best wine collections in the Austin area. For years, 10 to 12 wine enthusiasts have gathered at the bar for weekly classes. “I would open four or five bottles of wine; everyone would sample it, along with specially prepared appetizers to match the wines. Now, we can’t do that. At 50% capacity, I can only have six people at the bar.”
We had to figure out how to make food-to-go last.
The wine sessions are now happening via Zoom and even expanded to other cities and states. Each week, two wines are selected and posted on Facebook, along with a link to join Virtual Wine Wednesday. People can come by and pick up the bottles of wine he’s selected or buy them elsewhere. Walji sets up his laptop in the wine area, and people join the class virtually—some from Dallas and others as far away as North Carolina, Walji said.
The weekly event draws about 30 people, and Walji is excited about his new online community. “When I do my wine class, I do the pizza pack as well,” he said. “It’s fun, and they show their pizza on Zoom. People who make the pizza compare notes and talk about what they do at home. It’s a virtual happy hour. “
The Future
In July, most Texas restaurants could be back up to 100% capacity, but one caveat often goes unconsidered. Walji explained, “The social distance makes you safe, but doesn’t allow you to be at full capacity. Restaurants with only booths will have to close every other booth. Social distancing makes sense, but you will never be at 100% with social distance in play,” he said.
While many Americans are excited about dining in, Walji is aware that many are still cautious. “There’s a new order at play here,” he said, adding, “Some people want to come in and eat. They’re ready to get out, but some people don’t feel comfortable as yet dining out.”
Clean Clean Clean
High Country Market Bistro & GastroPub has a reputation for being clean, and it has doubled down on that in light of COVID-19. “We offer free masks and free gloves to all customers who visit the store,” said Zahir Walji, managing partner. “We have one person at the register making sure all who enter get their hands sanitized. I make our own hand and counter sanitizer twice a week. Our bathrooms are locked all the time. I will only give the key to the bathroom to someone who has had their hands sanitized and is wearing a mask,” he said.
Walji gives small bottles of hand sanitizer to customers at no charge. “I buy aloe hand lotion and add two tablespoons of this, so it doesn’t dry your hands out.” He added, “Everyone truly appreciates it. The health inspector mentioned that I'm always one of the highest-scoring restaurants, owing to our attention to cleaning details. People need to think along the lines of safety.”