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Kevin Williamson, the award-winning chef and owner of Austin Ranch 616 and the celebrated founder of the legendary Texas Ranch Water Cocktail, passed away on November 26th; he was 59.
Williamson was a charismatic food and drink personality with a great love for Texas and a passion for Texas hospitality and food. He has also been referred to as the creator of the Original Ranch Water, the simple cocktail made with tequila and sparkling water that became his own mega-success story in the spirits world.
“The Texas sky will be a little darker tonight,” said a post on Ranch 616’s Facebook page announcing Williamson’s death. “His larger-than-life life was truly a celebration of the best of life – with a distinctly Texan point of view.”
Williamson was born in Austin on July 2, 1962; he grew up in Austin and then graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He worked on Wall Street before moving to a culinary career, cooking at La Jolla in New York and the Ajax Tavern in Aspen, Colorado.
In 1998 he opened Ranch 616, the iconic South Texas-style ice house in downtown Austin – with a signature tequila-and-water cocktail called Ranch Water, presented as a classic margarita with a bottle of Topo Chico sparkling water on the side.
Williamson expanded the cult item Austin Ranch Water into a Texan phenomenon by introducing it in 2010 at the Gage Hotel in West Texas.
“If you follow the Ranch Water custody chain, one name keeps popping up: Kevin Williamson, owner of the Ranch 616 restaurant in Austin,” says a story by thrillist author Kevin Gray. According to the Washington Post, Williamson even filed for a trademark application for the Ranch Water name.
“He loved a good cocktail,” said the 616 ranch Facebook post. “In fact, he loved her so much that he invented the original ranch water here at 616 ranch.”
Known for his generosity and pouring his time and energy into organizations like DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) and the Austin Film Festival, says Greg Haynes Johnson, a close friend, former DIFFA board member and DIFFA chairman emeritus.
“So many people say today that it changed their lives,” says Johnson. “He had a way of connecting people.”
Johnson says he also has a robust sense of style.
“Brightly embroidered western shirts were a mainstay of Kevin’s wardrobe,” he says. “He was elected to the DIFFA Style Council in 2005, a group of ambassadors who help raise money. There’s always a big photo shoot, everyone goes out and gets a stylist and spends loads of money, and Kevin was there with his western t-shirt. He stood up.”
Johnson hosted the iconic Texas Party with Williamson at the annual Aspen Food & Wine Festival for more than a decade.
“They used to not let in Texan wines,” he says. “There are tons of corporate brands throwing glittery parties at this festival, but people have always tried to get invitations to the Texas Party. Texas wines have since become a huge part of the festival, and that’s developing something that he was in the ’90s. “
“That’s one of the things he loved the most – representing Texan cuisine and products,” says Johnson.
Williamson was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 but went high on the Kevin brand.
“He started hospice care around this time last year, but then decided he wasn’t ready,” says Johnson. “Instead, he’s spent the last year taking friends to Las Vegas, New York City, Cabo – often on short notice. He also fulfilled his dream of having a home in Marfa and as many days, nights, sunrises, sunsets as he could with his family and close friends. “
Williamson leaves behind his mother Jackie, sisters Lezlie Glade and Jennifer Lucchese, daughter Channing Wakeman and five grandchildren.
A spokesman says a “Celebration of Kevin’s Life” is in the works.
“In the meantime, we’re grateful for what Kevin has built here in Austin, the relationships with great people he’s cultivated, and we fondly remember all the laughter, warm moments and good times, just like KWOW would like it from us. “
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https://austin.culturemap.com/news/city-life/11-27-21-kevin-williamson-ranch-water-ranch-616
