"This is a dream for me," Brittni Clayton tells me. "I've been in this industry for 18 years, and this has been a long time coming." It's a weekday evening at Goldie's, and the restaurant is packed with locals. Goldie's hasn't even been open a month, and it already has a neighborhood feel.
Clayton, a Plano native and long-time restaurant industry vet, partnered with Brandon Hays of This and That Hospitality and his wife Brittany Hays, owner of Session Pilates, for the Lake Highlands restaurant.
Inside, the restaurant is intimate and classy. "There is gold throughout the restaurant, but it's subtle," says Clayton. "You have to look."
The menu, created by Goldie’s Executive Chef Matt Perry, is classic comfort food, but with a modern, thought-out sensibility. You can get a NY strip, a pork chop and a burger — all well executed — but also magic chicken thighs, a beautiful interplay of chicken, ginger guava, mashed yams, mustard greens and deliciousness. No wonder it's quickly becoming their signature dish.
"We are truly here to serve the neighboring communities in every way we can," Brandon Hays previously said in an official statement. "Whether it’s for early dinners with the family, a nightcap after a night on the town, sipping on martinis with friends, or to catch a couple of “Goldie’s” (owners’ coined term for champagne). At Goldie’s, we are bringing our style of hospitality closer to our homes to share with our neighbors."
That was the goal. As I sit in a booth, I look around. That's exactly what Goldie's does. Bravo.
I admire the feel and the food of Goldie's. This isn't just another restaurant. It aspires to be much more — something local. And there's a purity in that.
"At night, I look at this place, and I think, she's beautiful," says Clayton. Goldie's is a long time coming, but this was worth the wait.
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