By Eric Griffey
Photography by Brooks Burris
Before chef and restaurateur Marcus Paslay had a dining room full of paying customers, he had his parents over for Thanksgiving. He was attending culinary school in Hyde Park, New York, and he and his wife, Emily, were hosting the holiday for the first time. His family had come to see him, but there was another curiosity at the table: What, exactly, had he been learning?
Among the dishes he prepared, the butternut squash soup was the favorite. Years later, it is the one he chooses to share, a reminder of an early occasion when his developing skills became something he could offer the people who had helped him get there.
“That’s kind of why I picked it,” he says, “just because it’s a little special for us.”
The chef behind Clay Pigeon, Piattello Italian Kitchen, Provender Hall and Walloon’s grew up with Thanksgivings that were crowded, informal and shared among households. About 20 relatives would gather at an aunt’s or uncle’s home, including in Burleson. Everyone brought a dish or two. Everyone had a specialty.
There was football, plenty to eat and, for the young Paslay, one especially important provision.
“I looked forward to just putting gravy on everything,” he says.
Professional training eventually gave him reasons to reconsider parts of the meal. The cranberry sauce of his childhood came from a can; the version he makes now begins with cranberries and has evolved over successive holidays. But the soup holds the memory of something he and Emily began themselves. In a season devoted to inherited traditions, it represents the moment a young couple started contributing their own.
Paslay is reassuring about the difficulty involved. Soup, he explains, is an exercise in building flavor, with opportunities to adjust along the way.
“There’s a lot of grace involved too,” he says. “You can screw it up most of the way through and make it right at the end.”
His own experience of learning was once considerably less forgiving. By fourth grade, Paslay’s struggles with reading and writing had left him emotionally exhausted and ready to give up on school. In fifth grade, he enrolled at Hill School in Fort Worth, where smaller classes and instruction suited to his learning needs helped him regain academic ground.
That history now informs the work of the Paslay Foundation, which he and Emily started to support children with learning differences.
“Being very dyslexic myself and having struggled through school, we just thought that that was kind of the best way we could give back,” he says.
The foundation helps fund organizations providing diagnostic testing, tutoring, tuition assistance and teacher training. Its emphasis on early intervention reflects Paslay’s understanding of how quickly difficulty in the classroom can become a child’s judgment about his or her own intelligence. Getting help early can spare children years of discouragement.
The Paslays have turned their restaurants and professional relationships into a means of providing that help. Suppliers donate food and alcohol. The restaurants contribute space and labor. Guests come for an evening designed to be a genuinely good party, with a different theme each year, and their spending supports organizations including Hill School, Key School, LinkED and Literacy United.
“We can donate space and labor,” Paslay says, “and we throw a pretty good party.” Over four years, the foundation’s events have generated more than $750,000 for Fort Worth professionals and organizations serving children with learning differences.
The restaurant business continues to demand its own share of invention. Piattello is preparing to move from Waterside to The Shops at Clearfork as its 10th anniversary approaches in January. Paslay sees an opportunity to offer lunch and dinner seven days a week in a location with more foot traffic and a familiar place in his guests’ routines. Asked when it will open, he offers a carefully limited answer: “Soon.”
At Clay Pigeon, his original restaurant, Monday steak frites specials and Sunday whole-chicken dinners served family-style encourage diners to make a habit of returning. Walloon’s continues to grow on the Near Southside. Across the restaurants, the work is still about giving people a reason to gather.
For several years, Clay Pigeon even served as the family’s Thanksgiving venue. Rather than shuttle among households, Paslay invited everyone to the restaurant, which was closed for the holiday. He would cook the meat; everyone else could bring a side and something to drink. They had plenty of plates and glasses, turned on the football game and settled in.
Then the invitation spread. Friends brought friends. Family brought more family. By the third or fourth year, about 60 people were there, many of whom Paslay did not know. The holiday had become as welcoming as he intended and considerably more work than he wanted.
Thanksgiving is smaller again now, back at home. The soup remains connected to that first gathering in New York, when he was still learning his profession and his family came to see what he could do. Its place at the table was earned in a way any home cook would recognize: He made it for people he loved, and they wanted it again.
Marcus Palay’s Butternut Squash Soup
Yield: 4 quarts
Ingredients
- 2 whole butternut squash, halved lengthwise
- 1 yellow onion, cut into large dice
- 1 carrot, cut into large dice
- 2 celery stalks, cut into large dice
- 1 tablespoon ginger root, peeled and minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Salt, pepper, ground cloves, cinnamon, and white wine vinegar, to taste
- Oil, as needed for coating the squash (quantity not specified in source)
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Scoop the seeds from the halved squash.
- Lightly oil the flesh side of the squash and season with salt, pepper, and a little ground
cinnamon. - Place the squash flesh-side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 1
hour, or until tender and cooked through. - In a large pot, sauté the onion, carrot, celery, and ginger until tender.
- Pour the chicken stock over the onion mixture and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Scoop the cooked squash flesh from the skin and add it to the pot. Simmer for another
5 minutes. - Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree. Slowly add the cream while blending.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference.
Marcus Paslay’s Restaurants
Clay Pigeon Food & Drink
2731 White Settlement Road
Fort Worth, TX 76107
817-882-8065
claypigeonfd.com
@claypigeonfd
Piattello Italian Kitchen
5924 Convair Drive, Suite 412
Fort Worth, TX 76109
817-349-0484
piattelloitaliankitchen.com
@piattelloitaliankitchen
Provender Hall
122 E. Exchange Ave., Suite 110
Fort Worth, TX 76164
817-782-9170
provenderhall.com
@provenderhall
Walloon’s
701 W. Magnolia Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76104
682-224-3230
walloonsrestaurant.com
@walloonsrestaurant