Yesterday I lunched with Nick and Kelli Barclay, the dashing couple who once operated Barclay’s, the popular modern Euro-British restaurant in the once darling Victorian house on Fairmount Street. The house went on to house Van “Morrison” Roberts’ Lola, where David (Lucia) Uygur was a chef, and The Common Table. The Barclays left Dallas in 2000 and returned to Cornwall, Nick’s homeland in the southwestern tip of England. There, in the small town of Looe, they built their dream hotel/restaurant, The Barclay House. They sold the hotel in 2006 and have been having a blast with their Blueplate Restaurant near Looe.
During our barbecue feast at Lockhart Smokehouse in Oak Cliff, we discussed the possibility of Nick coming back to Dallas. Twelve years is a lifetime in the restaurant business and I wondered if Nick felt his cooking style was still relevant. “Relevant?” Barclay said with a laugh. “I’ve been doing farm-to-table cooking all of my life.”
This is true. Barclay’s was a special place and Nick’s menu was always filled with local ingredients. “If we were going to make a move back, now would be the time,” Kelli said. “Our kids would be very excited.” The Barclay’s have a 15-year old daughter, Hanna, and 12-year old twins, Nick and Lucy. They still own a home in Dallas, Kelli’s home town.
