Cooking With Tre

How to get intimate and hands-on with a Dallas Top Chef contestant

Chef Tre Wilcox is opening an actual brick-and-mortar space.

Photo by Rhi Lee

Chef Tre Wilcox, who became a local celebrity of sorts after his 2007 appearance on Top Chef, has a new venture called Tre Wilcox Cooking Concepts that is occupying an actual brick-and-mortar location at 8200 Preston Rd., right on the edge of Plano and Frisco.

The 3,200-square-food space combines a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen with the intimate touches of a home kitchen. It will serve as a hub for events, catering, team building competitions, and cooking classes where guests can work with Wilcox in a hands-on environment.

After a 20-year career as a restaurant chef, private chef, and TV personality, Wilcox is taking everything he’s learned and applying it to a new setting where he can offer his brand of fun, educational cooking classes:

Hands-on cooking classes. Classes of up to 16 people will participate in making three-course menus. Classes will be offered for adults and children; all ingredients, tools, and recipes will be provided. After the class, attendees are invited to bring a guest and some wine to enjoy their three-course dinner with full-service staff.

Couples cooking classes. Intimate class of no more than 16 people will enjoy a quick interactive cooking demonstration and tasting with Wilcox. Upbeat global music will set the mood, and guests will pair off to prepare three small plates recipes. The three-hour evening session will include cooking instructions by professional chefs, a meal of four small plates, and copies of each recipe.

TRE demonstration classes. "TRE" stands for "Techniques, Recipes, Execution." An intimate, interactive look at cooking with a lesson by Wilcox or a professional guest chef-instructor that might include Top Chef contestants, local celebrity chefs, or nationally known chefs. Four-course menu will include tastings while guests take notes and watch the chef work. BYOB.

Corporate team building. Groups of up to 40 will work together to prepare their own gourmet meal in one of three themes: Family Dinner, Iron Chef Battle, or Market Basket Challenge. The two menu styles offered are a chef-crafted buffet or three-course plated dinner.

The space will also be available for corporate parties and private events, Monday-Saturday, 6-10 pm. The building will be equipped with wireless internet, a plasma screen, and access to other AV needs.

"This is the culmination of two decades of hard work and a love for both cooking and teaching," Wilcox says in a release. "I'm excited to bring Tre Wilcox Cooking Concepts to fruition and to share this vision with the public in a fun and instructional hands-on setting."

openings

Taking the field

Dak Prescott-backed Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux kicks off in Wylie

Photo courtesy of Walk-Ons

Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux is opening in Wylie on August 10.

A Louisiana sports bar chain that counts Cowboys QB Dak Prescott as a partner continues to build its fan base in Dallas-Fort Worth: Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux is set to open a new location in Wylie on Monday, August 10.

Announced earlier this year, the restaurant is at 906 FM 544, near the intersection of Highway 78 and FM 544. The opening marks the chain's 20th Texas location and its second operating restaurant in the DFW area.

Founded in Baton Rouge in 2003 by former LSU basketball "walk-ons" Brandon Landry and Jack Warner, Walk-On's has grown to more than 80 locations nationwide. The company is co-owned by former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (an Austin native), and franchise partners include Prescott, along with former NFL player Derrick Brooks, and college football coach Dabo Swinney.

Walk-On's Sports Bistreaux Wylie The new Walk-On's is at 906 FM 544, Wylie.Photo courtesy of Walk-On's

The menu is centered on seafood and classic Louisiana dishes: fried seafood platters, pastas, burgers, sandwiches, po'boys, fried oysters, gumbo, fried alligator, and boudin balls. Prices range from $10 to $20.

Starters include waffle cheese fries, fried pickles, boneless wings, cheeseburger sliders, spinach-artichoke dip, and venison nachos. They have a bread pudding made with Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

There's also a plentiful selection of beers on tap, plus margaritas and other crafty-ish cocktails.

The Wylie restaurant is owned by franchisee Cooper Thomson, who says the community made the city an appealing place to expand.

"I am thrilled to expand Walk-On's presence in Dallas, and particularly in the community of Wylie," Thomson says in a release. "To be a part of the growth in this area - to serve families and be a place where little league teams celebrate and football fans cheer on their team - is such a special opportunity."

Although Walk-On's has been in the DFW market since pre-pandemic times, Wylie will be its second restaurant in DFW open currently, joining a location at Grandscape in The Colony. Earlier Dallas-area locations in Irving and Arlington have closed, although the company has previously said it plans to reopen the Arlington restaurant at a new location.

The Wylie restaurant features a sports bar with dozens of TVs, a large outdoor patio, and a family-friendly dining room designed for game-day crowds.

Grand opening festivities will kick off at 10:30 am on Monday, August 10, with a ceremony featuring Walk-On's founder Brandon Landry, franchise owner Cooper Thomson, Wylie Mayor Matthew Porter, city officials, and representatives from Wylie High School and Wylie East High School.

The celebration will include donations to the two schools' athletic departments, followed by a ribbon-cutting at 10:45 am. Doors open to the public at 11 am, and the first 100 guests to dine will have a chance to win free Walk-On's for a year.

Walk-On's will be the second sports bar concept with celebrity cred to open in DFW within a few days' time. Shark Club, from Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi, opened Friday, August 7 in Northlake.

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