BY TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
Get ready to savor the taste of luxury as Verdant Bistro brings Hays a blend of modern elegance and the finest seasonal ingredients.
The new restaurant, 230 E. Eighth St. is in the former The Press location in the Hadley Center.
Austin Petz, executive chef of Verdant Bistro, was raised in Schoenchen but attended Hays High. At the age of 18, he became manager of McDonald’s before managing Applebee’s and Golden Corral.
In the meantime, Petz worked with his grandmother in catering as young as 9, starting off as a dishwasher before purchasing his grandmother's company around 2018.
Petz recently served as the food service director at the Hays Area Children's Center, starting his small catering business called AGourmet LLC in December 2021, which sprouted into Verdant Bistro within the Hadley Center.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to open up a restaurant,” Petz said. “Coming from a management background here in Hays, I really just wanted to manage restaurants. I wanted to be the general manager of my restaurant.”
Verdant Bistro dining room will open this Monday and will operate through reservations due to limited seating.
Petz said there are too many alternative routes in the culinary industry like pre-packaged meals and frozen food items, detailing how frequently restaurants in Hays practice this method.
“These shortcuts make it easier for business owners to buy these pre-made products and then they give them out to the community, which causes this misconception in the community of what great food really is,” Petz said.
Verdant Bistro's menu has undergone several changes since its opening on Aug. 1 for catering. Petz said you won't find anything typical of what you can find in the community.
“There's not a single item on this menu that anybody else has in the restaurants around here, and that was the idea is to bring something new and refreshing to Hays,” he said.
Petz highlights a few menu items that he believes will be popular among the community.
“I think our focaccia bread is really what's going to be a staple of this restaurant,” he said. “There's nowhere here in town where you're getting a lamb chop or even the snapper and our swordfish loin are all going to be incredible menu items.”
Other items featured on the menu include mushroom squash risotto, scorched wagyu slider trio, bacon wrapped chicken roulade and pistachio crusted pork schnitzel.
The restaurant’s full menu and reservation form can be found on their website.
The idea behind Verdant Bistro’s menu is to cycle out food items depending on the season and available ingredients.
“Seasons come and go so everything about this menu is seasonally picked by our chefs,” he said.
Head Chef Joel Frith is one of the talented chefs at Verdant Bistro with a diverse culinary background. Although he was born and raised in Texas, Frith dedicated several years to exploring a multitude of flavors and techniques in Japan and the Netherlands.
"When I started Verdant Bistro, originally it was supposed to be this Italian Mediterranean type of food, but when I brought him [Frith] in, I realized I would be an idiot not to let him shine," Petz said.
Verdant Bistro also provides a private dining experience in the restaurant's oak room, which is separated from the main dining area by a set of doors. This reservation-based room will feature chefs personally serving meals and providing explanations about their backgrounds.
A salad bar that works as a grab-and-go area will also be available for customers, offering quick meals with high-quality ingredients at an affordable price.
“Really because this is so upscale, we want to be able to feed into the lower scale or that mid-ranged area as well,” Petz said.
The environment that his restaurant offers is something Petz said is worth dressing for, a setting that's been missing from the Hays area.
"You should be able to walk in here and wear a dress and suit and tie and not feel out of place. Somewhere where you can have a nice date and you can sit and you can focus on the food, you can focus on the guest experience," he said.
The patio area of the restaurant will be open to customers during nice weather conditions.
Petz credits several people for helping him establish Verdant Bistro.
He acknowledges Phil Kuhn for providing the space in the Hadley Center. Chef Kevin Reed inspired him to prioritize food quality over management, and Emily Campbell, founder and executive chef of The Elephant in Hoxie, offered guidance and mentorship to Petz.
Verdant Bistro is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays. You can also follow the restaurant on Facebook.