Going Locos: Grain Shed opens Hillyard restaurant serving Texas-style “redneck” cuisine

Texas red chili is his calling card.

When Victor Lewin first moved to town and approached Grain Shed co-owner and co-founder Shaun Thompson Duffy about a job, he made up a batch, filled his daughters’ “Frozen”-themed Thermos, and brought it to share while the two talked.

About Texas. About their restaurant experiences. About their food philosophies. About honest ingredients and what it means to eat and make food locally and seasonally and authentically.

“We did talk a lot about Willie Nelson, too,” Lewin said.

Within a couple of weeks, around Thanksgiving 2018, he was working at the Grain Shed, serving up his particular brand of Texas red chili – no beans, a little tomato and lots of beef, chile peppers, house-made chile powder and other spices – as an occasional special.

He calls it his version “of what I wish I ate growing up more often. True Texas chili.”

Today, it’s on the regular menu at Locos.

The Texas-inspired eatery opened in Hillyard’s recently renovated United Building in early July, sharing a seating area in the mini food hall-esque space with an outpost of Bellwether Brewing and the new Derailer Coffee.

Lewin, now an employee-owner in the Grain Shed cooperative – which includes Locos as well as the flagship bakery-brewery combo in South Perry and downtown Cedar Taproom – is head chef. The menu reflects the tall Texan’s taste of home.

His concept: contemporary international redneck cuisine.

Think Texas favorites with Hawaiian, Mexican and other influences. Think Kalua-style pork tortas and island slaw, Mexican-style street tacos, a fajita-quesadilla with chicken or portabella mushrooms, and chili by the bowl or cup or on chili cheese fries, a chili dog and Frito pie.

Think: honky-tonk meets punk rock meets family friendly meets fun.

“I want to bring what I feel is a true representation of Texas culture and hospitality to Spokane,” said Lewin, who’s 6-foot -4 , half Scottish, half Chilean and all Texan. “It’s about showing different aspects of culture through food as an identity. I think chili is a great way to do that.”

Some people use brisket. He prefers ground beef. He also likes to make his own chile powder by cooking down dried peppers for some six or so hours with a combination of herbs and spices, straining the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, and drying out and pulverizing the solids left in the strainer.

Most people, he notes, would throw that out. But he extracts extra flavor from it. That’s one of the lessons the famed Wolfgang Puck reiterated when Lewin worked for him as an executive chef.

“That’s something Wolfie always drilled into us. He was always trying to extrapolate the most flavor from ingredients,” said Lewin, who also worked as an executive chef of corporate dining at Microsoft.

Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Lewin left the state in 1994 for Denver, moving in 2006 to Seattle, where he met his wife and started a family. The couple has two daughters: Freya, 6, and Annabelle, 11. His wife, Renee Scacco, was born and raised in Spokane, where they moved in 2018. A third child, a boy, is due in October.

Locos officially opened July 5.

The name, short for locomotives, honors Hillyard’s past as a railroad hub. It’s a bit of wordplay, too. Loco means “crazy” in Spanish.

Lewin manages the day-to-day operations as well as develops the menu. Honest ingredients and authenticity are priorities. So his chicken wings are dry-rubbed, not smothered in sauce.

“They’re not soggy; they’re well seasoned,” Lewin said. “There’s a lot of flavor.”

Same goes for his half- and whole-rack of pork ribs.

“Less is more,” he said. “I’m not trying to hide anything. I’m not covering something up with a sauce I didn’t make. When you take the time to do something and do it right, you don’t want to hide it.”

He makes two kinds of barbecue sauce at Locos: regular and spicy. The regular is “middle of the road,” not too sweet, not too hot. The ranch dressing is house-made. So are the pickles.

Also on the menu: chips with salsa, queso, guacamole or all three, plus cowboy beans, macaroni salad and potato salad. The grilled brat features a bratwurst from Uli’s Famous Sausage in Seattle and the Hillyard burger comes with herbed mayo and a hash made from bacon, onions and mushrooms.

The barbecue shrimp BLT features bacon, herbed mayo and tomato. Lewin also offers a fun, nontraditional take on a Caesar salad with romaine, Caesar dressing, Parmesan, fennel, celery, tomato, lemon and croutons. Add shrimp or chicken.

Tuesdays are for tacos along with nachos and tostadas. There are usually three different taco offerings for Taco Tuesday at Locos, which has shortened business hours that day.

“There’s nothing on the menu I’m not excited to cook, serve or eat,” said Lewin, who’s sourcing some produce from Vinegar Flats Farm and is interested in developing relationships with local farms.

He’s also interested in crafting a “barbecuterie” board featuring a collection of smoked and pickled menu items and sauces.

And he’s not afraid of vegetables, excited to draw vegetarians into the restaurant.

“I love cooking vegetables. I think the only way to have a proper meal is to have a vegetable somewhere in the meal.”

So look for a marinated portabella mushroom burger and seasonal specialties such as an heirloom tomato-and-cucumber salad.

“The menu’s delicious,” Duffy said.

“It is really damn good food,” said Grain Shed brewer and co-founder Teddy Benson.

There are four Grain Shed beers on tap, the smallest number of taps of any Grain Shed location. The flagship shop has eight, and the taphouse has 26. Note: Locos is the only Grain Shed location that serves beer by the pitcher.

One of those is the Hillyard Lager. Another is an IPA. There are also two rotating ales.

Order at the walk-up counter. Help yourself to water and moist toilettes – recommended with the ribs or wings or Kalua pork sandwich.

Seating is shared with the brewery and coffee shop. The dining area is well lighted with tall ceilings and some exposed brick, clean lines and, in the center of it all, the original door to the old bank safe.

The two-story brick Beaux-Arts building, built in 1920, originally housed the United Hillyard Bank. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and the Spokane Register of Historic Places in 2003.

“I want this to be a community center,” Lewin said.

Décor includes a model train atop the walk-in, a vintage leather saddle purchased at Dr. D’s Treasures across the street, and a small, metal armadillo painted with a Texas flag. A Texas flag covers a window in the kitchen, too.

There are also several sentimental pieces on display, including two paintings Lewin brought with him from Texas. They used to belong to his dad. One is a portrait by saddle-maker and artist Bob Moline, famous for painting the people and horses of West Texas. Another depicts a veteran. Lewin was with his dad when he bought the portrait at auction at Fort Fisher in the early 1980s.

Also on display are two antique wooden shortbread molds, one square and one round, each a nod to Lewin’s Scottish roots. Both belonged to his maternal grandfather, a pastry chef born and raised in Scotland. He hand-carved the square mold, making it extra special.

Locos has been open only for a matter of weeks. But, so far, Lewin said, “I couldn’t be happier. I feel absolutely blessed and completely humbled by the whole experience of being able to open something like this.

“I feel it’s my duty to pay back what’s been paid forward to me by giving people the experience they deserve. It’s what you do. You work hard so other people who work hard can kick back and enjoy. That’s the gift of hospitality.”