Beloved Local Pastry Chef Joins the Stiles Switch Team: Callie Speer: ambassador of fun – Food
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Make photo by Rod
Long-time Austin chef Callie Speer, former owner of Downtown Austin Diners Holy Roller, has a new home. She recently joined the Stiles team at Switch in Dripping Springs, and we caught up with her to talk about the past, present, and future of one of Austin’s finest.
What prompted this switch to the switch:
“We closed Holy Roller during COVID [in late October 2020]and I got bored, you know? Restaurant people have such a hard time sitting still, and I did it for a while. COVID was just tough downtown. Everything closed: the bars, the hotels, the offices, everything. It was kind of a brawl, and it got to the point where we made the smarter financial decision. Who ever thought we’d have a global pandemic? “
About their relationship with the Stiles:
“[The Stiles] had expanded their company considerably and only needed a few hands on deck, [and] Shane and Catherine have been really good friends of mine for a long time. We did a lot with them at Holy Roller, using their product for a brisket biscuit. They have been great teammates for a long time in this regard. I remember saying to my fiance [now husband]”Man, I don’t think I’d ever go for anyone but you.” Then one day Shane called and I said, ‘Yeah, man.’ I was very grateful that he got in touch because I love them so much and admire them as people and in general how they run their business. Catherine is one of the toughest workers in the business – it’s crazy because she does so much for all three of her locations and does social media and does the grill woman [cocktails] Thing. It’s bananas. She has a really great sense of humor. As I said, it was a simple yes.
“And it’s a very family-oriented organization and they take care of their people. So I thought we could go to Dripping Springs and have some fun.”
What to expect from the Switch:
Big red birthday cake (Photo by Rod Make)
“We [recently had] an anniversary [so we had] a big red birthday cake. [It was] Vanilla cake soaked in Big Red and covered with vanilla frosting. I love trash ass desserts [so] I’m really excited about that out here. I can do some shit. What was interesting was that I made the original dessert menu three years ago when it opened, so it was fun making another one. To be completely honest, I don’t think either of us knows exactly what I’m doing. I laugh and ask Shane what my job role is and he doesn’t know!
“I’ve never worked on a barbecue area before, but it’s so interesting to me from that angle. Today we went in with pans of coleslaw, like eight of them. We had no coleslaw at 4 pm – you have to make bathtubs. ”Full of that stuff! It’s pretty impressive to see how much product these guys bring out. And it’s a little grungy, a little bit trashy, so I can go along with that. That was fun. Shane always says that it’s me the ‘ambassador of fun’. “
What the future brings:
“So it’s an interesting thing for me to have everyone say, ‘What are you going to do next?’ and I say, ‘I don’t know.’ Honestly, I don’t. We don’t have many years before our daughter is out of the house so it’s this place where you don’t know what to get for a 10 year lease. We have five more years together , basically until she goes to college. It’s like what if we want to move to Colorado or sail the world? Everything I do is so permanent. At least you sign a 10 year lease. It is really hard i don’t have anything i love enough to want.
“It’s like when I don’t know what I want to do, fortunately I have skills that allow me to help the people I care about get where they want to be. And why not?”
The counter, 166 Hargraves Ste. G-100, 512 / 212-7211. theswitchdripping.com.
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