Like many guys in their late thirties to early forties I am a geek. Not so much a SciFi geek – but I can name specific Star Trek episodes by name – but rather a BritCom geek. British comedies from the Two Ronnies, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Fawlty Towers and anything Monty Python. I am THAT guy who can and will quote verbatim entire passages from ‘The Meaning Of Life’ and ‘The Life of Brian,’ so when I was driving north on Preston the other day, I just had to stop at a place called The Holy Grail.

As everyone knows, the original Holy Grail was the mythical chalice or cup that was supposed to have been used by Jesus at the last supper. Legend was the cup had mystical powers and through out the Middle Ages the quest to find it and many other icons of Christianity were behind The Crusades, wars and became part of the stories of the Knights of Templar and ingrained into folklore throughout Europe.

The period of romantic knights, Robin Hood, and great quests are the inspiration behind the Holy Grail Pub. “I have always been a fan of that period and have been reading stories of Crusades and the Grail for years,” explains Brian Rudolph, owner of the Holy Grail Pub in Plano. “It is not really a Monty Python reference, but I was a huge fan and watched it all the time when I was younger.”

After spending 14 years in the business of brew and food, Brian and his wife Christi managed to take their shot at opening a gourmet tap. Christi’s background as a real estate analyst came in very handy in choosing a location. “We searched from Addison to Southlake and when this location was being built we had to grab it,” says Brian, “Christi looked at everything from drive by traffic to demographics to even the simple fact that in Plano we can stay open until two while a mile up the road in Frisco they have to close at midnight.”

If it sounds like Brian is not your average mom and pop operator you’re right. After working his way around Austin’s famed 6th Street as a bartender and manager, he decided he needed a little more understanding of the business aspect. He went to work for Bennigan’s and got a trial by fire understanding of business structure and processes.

“I wanted to understand the business better and the corporate world does some things very well, some things not so well. Getting a handle on why things are done in certain ways and understanding corporate structure was a great education.” Brian continues, “The big problem right now is it is so expensive for a mom and pop operation to get off the ground. Look at the cost of real-estate in a suburb like Frisco, to put a stand alone structure anyplace close to where the other big box retail is located and you are looking at a 2 million dollar investment just to get the doors open. That is a lot for a small operation to carry.”

Brian and Christi moved to Dallas a couple of years ago to continue their own quest for the Grail. He landed at the Old Monk and says the operators there were great inspirations to him to keep moving towards the dream of his own place.

Finding their Preston Road location as the developers began backfilling an area just north of Headquarters was a bit of a stroke of luck as the external façade is more of a Tudor old English style than the more common Spanish Colonial influenced developments up and down the street. The Grail concept fit right in. And one of the things about being a hands on owner is you end up getting them dirty, especially when you are building your bar. With hammer and paint brush Brian did almost all of the finish out himself, “What it would have cost me to get a contractor in here to do all the work I did would have been as much as a full year’s salary for a regular employee.”

The Bar is as expected: dark wood paneling, Crusade inspired banners, rustic beams and the stone accent wall bring the look and feel of an old English or Irish tavern. “When Christi and I were traveling in England and Ireland we would walk into places like this and we were amazed at the sense of community we felt there,” explains Brian.

A feeling of community is also something the duo is trying to achieve with the Grail, “With all the companies that are based around this area like Nokia, Pepsi, and Cadbury, there are a lot of people who have traveled all over the world, they come in and tell me about a beer they tried in Norway or something they tried when they were in Scotland. We try and bring in what we can, and I’m pretty happy with the selection we have, but we are always looking at what works,” he continues. With over 120 beers on hand and 28 taps offering a broad spectrum of Texas craft brews like Franconia from McKinney to Fireman #4 and others.

“When we first opened, one of our craft brews from Europe outsold Bud Light 3 to 1,” says Brian. That brew was from Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest existing brewery established in 1060 in the Bavarian town of Freising, “I guess there was a pent up demand in the area.”

Taking a big step into the bar business in the middle of a recession can take faith, guts or both, but one of the key ingredients was still missing, the food. Brian continues, “One thing about a recession is there are some amazingly talented people out there looking. We placed an ad for a chef to develop our menu and we had over 60 highly qualified candidates.” The weeding down of the selection brought forth their ideal candidate.

After years at Club Med, The Libertine and Wolfgang Puck’s 560, the man who would help develop their specialized, but limited choices was found, “We brought it down to only a couple and Shimmy understood what we wanted to do and had some fantastic ideas, too.” Brian is a bit of a geek when it comes to sustainable agriculture and produce, so it was important to have someone who wanted to embrace the same concepts and create unique dishes.

“A lot of places have 50 or 60 items on their menu but only do 4 or 5 well, others are kind of throwaways, so we limited our selection to 23 items, all are done exceptionally well,” says Brian. The obvious pride Brian takes in doing things the proper way is obvious from the selection.

Fried Goat Cheese, spiced and flavored with infused fennel, dipped in a light batter and served on a tomato jelly topped with fresh shaved veggies are just the start. The batter is light and fluffy – almost pastry-like in its consistency – and is also used for the traditional Fish and Chips.

The fish is fresh North Atlantic Cod with hand cut fries dusted with sea salt. Again the golden crispy batter caught my attention, as it didn’t taste like any other British batter I have ever tried. Shimmy explained that instead of basing his batter with flour like most kitchens do, he uses a maize base mixed with Shiner beer, which gives almost a Tempura texture to the batter.

For those not on a seafood kick, a generous Pork and Beans plate made from kitchen crafted, slow cooked beans are topped with a stack of slow roasted pork ribs glistening in a Guinness reduction that gives a molasses texture and taste to the soft meat. Topping the pile of ribs are candied jalapeño slices prepared in-house.

About the only thing they don’t prepare themselves are the bangers – or sausages – because they just don’t have the equipment to stuff their own sausage links, yet. Brian has that on his to do list for next year, “We are also constantly evaluating our beer selection and seeing what else we can find.”

The Grail is one of those places you love to find, the personal dream of someone dedicated to quality food, beverages and service. Judging from the way they have approached and executed the first restaurant of their own I am willing to bet the North Texas food scene is going to see a lot more of Brian and Christi.

And, even without the direct Monty Python reference, if you stop by they might be able to tell you the average air speed velocity of an unladen sparrow….

The Holy Grail Pub
8240 Preston Road
Plano, Texas
972-377-6633