Today we’d like to introduce you to Murph Willcott.
Hi Murph, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Texas French Bread was founded in 1981 by my parents. I worked for the family business while pursuing a degree at UT in the 1980s. In 1988 I moved to New York where I continued cooking and baking for a couple of years before attending law school at Harvard. I practiced law for much of the 1990s, but missed the pleasures of the bakery/restaurant business. In 2001 I returned to Austin and assumed management duties and in 2007, I organized the acquisition of a majority interest in the company in partnership with my bother Ben. In 2007 we began hosting a locally sourced farm to table supper club, which by 2008 evolved into a bistro dinner service and later a wildly successful brunch program. By 2019, Texas French Bread had been “rediscovered”, finding a wide new audience that embraced our offerings. And we were just beginning to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic this year when on a fateful Monday night late in January, I received a call informing me that there was a fire. The building that had been home to Texas French Bread since 1987 burned. But refusing to give up, we spent the summer establishing an offsite commissary that would allow us to bake for wholesale customers and farmers’ markets, and just before Thanksgiving, we were able to open in the garden at our site on 29th & Rio Grande in a trailer with outdoor seating, where we now offer many of our signature baked goods and bistro offerings in a beautiful outdoor setting while we continue to formulate plans to redevelop the site.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our primary challenge at this point involves learning to do business in new ways. We’re learning how to prepare our menu in a 1971 Airstream trailer, and looking at ways to make more of our products available online. The biggest challenge we face is the long road back for our building. We’re currently seeking partners who can bring resources and expertise that will give us the best opportunity to succeed.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Bakery & Bistro We specialize in handcrafted baked goods, made from scratch, using 100% heirloom and organic wheat. We offer a full line of coffees, pastries, and breads and a signature list of sandwiches, soups, and hot breakfast items. We are meticulous in our sourcing, using local produce and organic/sustainable products wherever possible.
What sets us apart/what we are most proud of, is the strength of our relationships with the community who supports us. We work at building these relationships every day, treating everyone who comes to us with kindness and attention and working to make sure they have a great experience. (As a business owner, I would note that this starts with making sure that we build healthy, positive relationships with our staff, doing everything we can to insure that Texas French Bread is an employer where staff voices are always heard as we work together to build a work community where everyone is valued.)
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What I like best about Austin is its beauty and access to nature and the outdoors – I love that I can bike almost anywhere I need to go. And while I’m certainly biased having grown up here, I love that Austin is a city that despite dramatic growth, still values the ties of long established communities. I’m still friends with many of the folks I went to high school and college with who stayed in Austin, which is kind of wonderful.
The tough part is easy – the very popularity of our city has made it increasingly unaffordable for all but the most affluent. Housing prices in particular make it increasingly difficult for young, creative folks who’ve historically been such a driving force for our city to get a start here. Austin became the “music capital of the world” because young people could rent a house where their band could practice in the garage for a couple of hundred dollars a month. Those days are no more.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.texasfrenchbread.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/texasfrenchbread
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/texasfrenchbread
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/txfrenchbread
