Mod Motels, the debut lodging company from veteran Texas entrepreneurs Lisa Lennox and Kirk and Cathy Bonner announced today they have entered into a Licensing Agreement with Chef Stephan Pyles to concept The Seeker, the restaurant which will be located within its debut luxury motel, Interstate Inn, in Stephenville which is scheduled to open in Summer 2024. After many years of meticulous planning and strategy, Mod Motels is already in the process of transforming its first acquisition, Stephenville’s historic Caravan Inn, into a fully reimagined boutique, luxury, mid-century modern, 33-room motel now with the addition of a full-service restaurant collaboration—The Seeker.
“We are thrilled to introduce The Seeker with Chef Stephan Pyles to the growing community of Stephenville,” says Lisa Lennox, the visionary behind the motel’s transformation and the restaurant’s concept. “Our goal is to share the love of food and create an experience where guests can savor the ambiance of the motel while enjoying innovative and delectable dishes that showcase the best of Modern Texan Cuisine.”
This much-anticipated lodging and culinary destination is set to revitalize the spirit of American motoring and revolutionize the dining scene in Stephenville, Texas, and beyond. Led by the legendary James Beard Award-Winning Chef Stephan Pyles, The Seeker will bring his signature brand of Modern Texas Cuisine steeped with many influences from his upbringing in Big Spring, Texas, to his extensive travels throughout his career showcasing the bold flavors and rich heritage from cultures around the world.
Chef Stephan Pyles, who coined the term Modern Texas Cuisine, has been an indomitable force in the world of Southwestern cooking earning him the esteemed reputation of a true pioneer and game-changer. As one of the founding fathers of the Southwestern cooking scene in Texas, Chef Pyles has played a pivotal role in transforming the culinary landscape. More than two decades ago, Craig Claiborne, writing in The New York Times, said “Stephan Pyles is almost single-handedly changing the cooking scene in Texas.”
With his vast expertise and unmatched creativity, he brings his culinary genius to The Seeker, promising an unrivaled dining experience for all who venture through its doors. Pyles is a 2-time winner of the prestigious James Beard Award and has been nominated another 12 times. His very first restaurant, Routh Street Café, forever put Texas on the global culinary map, winning countless awards, including the AAA Five Diamond Award, and helped make North Texas a tourist destination. He has been recognized as Outstanding Chef of The Year by Esquire Magazine, The Dallas Morning News, Texas Monthly, CraveDFW, Dallas Observer and Dallas Voice.
Pyles went on to win the esteemed Nation’s Restaurant News MenuMasters Hall of Fame Award in 2017, an honor he shares with Daniel Boulud, Jose Andrès, Wolfgang Puck, and Eric Ripert. “Working with Mod Motels and Lisa Lennox’s family perfectly intertwines my past with the present. Its destinations are right on trend in a market where Americans are moving beyond the big cities and enjoying small town life again as locals, vacation homeowners, nature lovers, or travelers preferring the open road. My own hometown of Big Spring as well as Fredericksburg, Wimberly, Round Top, Marfa, Marathon, Georgetown, and Alpine are increasingly more popular destinations now for travel and cultural pursuits and many more towns like them are reemerging every day in Texas,” said Pyles.
