Just a few days out from celebrating the first anniversary of Rye's second location, the team behind the restaurant is mourning the loss of the first.
“A day I would’ve never remembered has become a day I will never forget. The call is just, ‘The restaurant is on fire. You need to come now,'” said owner Tanner Agar.
Monday morning, Agar rushed to downtown McKinney as firefighters battled flames in an alley courtyard that left part of Rye's kitchen destroyed and, in a sense, Agar and his partners' dream.
“The three of us, we're 25 years old, we start this restaurant, 13 tables, 165-year-old historic building and we just started a restaurant to cook what we believed in,” he said.
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That was four years ago. Since then, they've developed a loyal following, regulars with reservations now on pause for the foreseeable future.
While managing two other businesses, Agar and his team are turning their focus to starting over.
“It’s just become this absolute, all out, everybody, all hands on deck, what are we doing,” said Agar.
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For now, Agar said he has more questions than answers.
Though his team has been cleared of liability, they still don’t know a cause for the fire.
Rye was closed at the time it began.
Still, as they move forward, Agar said he feels buoyed by support he never imagined would travel all the way to his location on lower Greenville.
“I’m looking over my reservations for the next three days, and it's so many names that I know are making the drive down here to be supportive of our work,” he said.
Agar said it could be six months before the McKinney restaurant is back up and running.
“I promise the version of Rye that comes back is going to be bigger. It's going to be better,” said Agar.
