Today we’d like to introduce you to Craig Vanis.
Craig, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My education and professional life started at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. My major was mechanical engineering with a concentration in manufacturing and material science. While in school, I had internships in Boston and Cincinnati with GE Aircraft Engines, and worked at the Metal Processing Institute assisting research on advanced metal casting techniques. After graduating, I ended up taking a job at a small oil company in Houston, doing some labor in the field, as well as engineering work in the office. Undoubtedly, I learned a lot in those years, but let’s just say that it wasn’t a great fit.
I had daydreams of pursuing a career in vegan cooking and opening a restaurant of my own someday. When my entire department at the oil company was laid off in early 2009, this was the shove I needed to get started.
After a few of years working a variety of jobs in Houston (restaurant, farmers markets, and bakeries), I headed to Austin in pursuit of a wider breadth of work experiences and to attend culinary school. I was inching forward. Inching towards this crazy cowboy dream of professional cooking. A dream that took many forms over the years; would it be a pizza shop, a little cafe and community center, or a more upscale, date-night type eatery?
Not too long after culinary school, my friend, Ryan, and I were talking about the type of food we wanted to see in Austin. We had an enviable array of vegan eateries available to us, but we wanted to see a place where the cuisine and attention to detail was worthy of a celebratory night out, balanced with the approachableness of everyday dining. If such a place didn’t exist here, why couldn’t we be the ones to make it happen? This was the spark of what became Bistro Vonish.
Why did we choose that name? Well, the name “Vonish” is the phonetic spelling of an old pronunciation of my last name “Vanis”, chosen to embody and exemplify the ways that identities shift over time. Like how celebrations and rituals change, the ideal is to relish and preserve the most important parts of traditions, and update the remainders for our current place in time.
The dream had a name and a general shape as I worked full-time at a meal delivery service. Any freetime was used doing pop-ups selling kolaches and hosting private events and supper clubs with Ryan in an effort to build up a name and reputation.
The meal delivery service ended up going out of business. We were nowhere near ready to open a brick and mortar, but this once again provided the shove needed to start pursuing this dream full-time. No more day jobs. In January 2015, Bistro Vonish opened as a food trailer, quickly landing on North Loop. The grand idea was to grow the business into a larger venue. But, you know… “the best laid plans…” and all that.
Saying “covid changed everything” feels almost obtuse. It was a small blessing to not be tied to a restaurant lease in 2020. Everything that came next made me question whether a brick and mortar would ever really be a good idea. Chasing concepts like “growth” and “expansion” sounds absurd where “preservation” and “survival” are the immediate focus.
Everything has changed and evolved, in food service and beyond. With over ten and a half years of trailer life behind me, there’s no reason to think that the evolution should ever stop or feel so daunting. Ten and a half years and I’m still finding new ways to express my personality. Ten and a half years of Bistro Vonish and I’m continuing to find new meanings, new joys, and new ways to connect with community.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Setting out to be a cook has resulted in me learning about plumbing, appliance repair, navigating interpersonal conflict, and so much more. It seems like every day is an opportunity for something to break or chaotically go awry. The fridge froze all of the lettuce, a pipe cracked, the blender won’t turn on, and I messed up a big order? Time to improvise, adapt, and be better prepared next time.
I don’t mean to dwell on the topic, but I’d be remiss to not mention Covid as the biggest and most obvious example of things not going as planned. It was harrowing to try and not go out of business, while also prioritizing the health and well-being of everyone who worked here, and by extension, all of our loved ones. It seemed that the world had gone crazy and was getting crazier by the hour.
The memento mori of it all served to demonstrate what is important; what we cherish, who we cherish, and who we feel cherished by. The wake of the pandemic left material and emotional realities that killed the dream of opening a brick and mortar restaurant. It was an agony and it left me burnt out. I have had to relearn and redefine what it is about my work that I love the most.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love being able to create something tangible, and for that creation to bring joy and delight to others. Sharing skills and knowledge, and being helpful are the ways in which I express love in my life. And now these expressions are something I can get paid for? That’s wild. The temporariness of food makes it that much more special. The setting and company and context for a meal is valuable, but eating is most important, otherwise it’s not a meal. For a few minutes, we consume this creation, and it’s gone. In the end, though, it’s just food, and maybe I shouldn’t take it too seriously. But I do take it seriously. And I’m serious about having whimsy in the midst of it all.
For Bistro Vonish, the kolaches are where it all started. They continue to be must-haves, slowly inspiring me to branch out into other baked goods like cinnamon rolls and scones. The crowd favorites have always been the varieties of pan-seared Mac&Cheese, especially the Spicy Brussels Sprout Mac&Cheese. I’d like to think that what sets Bistro Vonish apart is an attention to detail and an emphasis on scratch-made. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well, and it’s worth continuous improvement.
How do you think about happiness?
“Happiness” is inconspicuously loaded when the world seems absurd. Happiness might only be a flash in time, but those flashes are worth everything.
I’m happiest when my hands are busy; cooking food, modest woodworking, doing small repairs, learning new crafts, and petting dogs and cats.
Cowboy, Hailey, and Sabbath are my dog and two cats. Existing alongside them or seeing pictures of them looking exactly like they did yesterday are all it takes to melt my heart and make a heavy world a little more bearable. They’re little, uncomplicated, dopamine bombs that occasionally have expensive vet bills.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BistroVonish.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bistrovonish/
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/bistrovonish
- Other: https://BistroVonish.square.site
