In a way that Tracy Miller now describes as both humbling and fateful, doors closed and opened and closed again when it came to finding and settling on the location for LOCAL. If one space didn’t feel warm or original enough, the fine-print attached to another location would render it out of the question. However, as most stories are told, it was just another ordinary afternoon when Miller observed the small FOR LEASE sign on display at the Boyd Hotel. And in an instant, at 2936 Elm Street, she saw that her idea of an intimate, neighborhood café could take root in a space rich with history, charm, and endless possibilities. Her first thoughts: there would be room to expand if other tenants moved on, and the neglected backyard showed potential for a lush garden space that could one day host outdoor seating, as well as supply the kitchen with herbs and simple vegetables.
Miller’s wealth of imaginings about LOCAL seemed to marry perfectly with her tiny new spot at the Boyd Hotel. Yet, a remembrance of earlier challenges – plus an impending re-design of the architecture of the space – cautioned her to proceed slowly. This meant taking an independent and methodical approach, which Miller achieved in a way that made sense for her larger plan.
“Catering was always a means to the end,” she says when asked about the restaurant’s beginnings. But not only was catering an opportunity to take a careful step toward her dream, she soon recognized that it was an honest way to introduce the quality, style, and concept of Local to Dallas.
“I still had no idea it would be six years before LOCAL opened as a real restaurant.” But the time that passed between Miller’s discovery of the Boyd Hotel and the day LOCAL’s doors finally opened for service (February 13, 2003) proved fortuitous to Miller as chef and Miller, personally. The flexibilities of catering allowed her to pursue a brief stint at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in Napa, where one unexpected highlight was her first dinner at the French Laundry at the personal invitation of chef Thomas Keller, a longtime mentor. Fueled further by her passion, ongoing self-education, endless reading, and eye-opening travel, Miller – without quite realizing it herself – was evolving into the chef and confident owner that LOCAL would now require as her fine dining, dinner service restaurant.
Today, among LOCAL’s faithful clientele and press alike, the concensus is that Miller as chef has certainly arrived. But what about Miller, personally? Ask her yourself and you get a sense that she still has greater plans in mind for the restaurant, beyond the expansion in 2005 to include LOCAL’s long-awaited wine bar. “The bar was always intended to be an enhancement to the dinner experience,” she explains. “It also gives us the opportunity to be a bit more flexible with our guests without sacrificing the quality, taste, and ambiance they’re accustomed to; no reservations, totally impromptu, and yet guests know they’re going to be taken care of as if they had made a reservation weeks ahead.”
As if one successful expansion wasn’t enough, it seems Miller has returned her sights outside of the restaurant, quite literally speaking, to the Boyd Hotel’s backyard. And with plans already underway to create her idealized garden seating, the buzz around LOCAL is that the outdoor space will be a “perfect little haven for brunch.” It will be a full circle for Tracy Miller, but one she foresaw completing from her earliest vision the day she planted LOCAL’s home—and her dream—at 2936 Elm Street.