Restaurateur Sally Harlow has closed her eatery at the airport and has a new restaurant in Iowa Park bringing new twists to old favorites and opening Doorway To Gourmet. Torin Halsey
They say when one door closes, another opens.
For Sally Harlow, that next opportunity was a new restaurant in her hometown of Iowa Park – Doorway to Gourmet.
After nearly three years at the Wichita Falls Regional Airport, the Gourmet on the Fly restaurant – Harlow’s first foray in the restaurant business – closed last week.
In March 2015, the city contacted Harlow about running the airport food area.
During her time at the airport restaurant, Harlow said she loved the opportunity to serve travelers and military personnel from all over the world.
The location, however, was not quite the type of restaurant she wanted.
When the location at 109 West Park Ave. in Iowa Park – former home of Kathy’s Bakery – became available, Harlow decided it was a golden opportunity to bring her skills to a new clientele.
One of the first things people may notice when visiting the restaurant are the intricately carved wooden doors that outline the entrance. Harlow said they were a find that her mother made on a trip to New Mexico.
There is not a sign with the restaurant's name on it yet, but Harlow said it's in the design process. In the meantime, they plan to have a banner soon to direct diners to the locale.
The interior has undergone significant expansion and renovation since the previous ownership.
The dining tables are handmade locally. The sturdy metal legs welded and tooled by an Iowa Park native and the thick natural wood tops custom made from Windthorst.
Harlow says she grew up in Iowa Park and comes from a family of great cooks.
Learning to cook for herself, however, was a process over time.
She started out making simple recipes, a hamburger-helper kind of gal, she says. A passion born of boredom, Harlow said during her job at a bank years ago, she would look at countless recipes on the internet – dreaming of ways to make them new and better.
Later she would browse grocery shelves learning about unique ingredients, then cook each dish, learning to make things simple – yet amazing.
For the many fans of Harlow’s cuisine, it was welcome news that while one restaurant was closing, they could still enjoy similar fare at another location.
The new eatery opened toward the end of December 2017, starting slow with just lunch, then ramping up to include three meals a day plus a bakery and weekend brunch.
Doorway is open every day except Monday.
Harlow said before opening Gourmet at the airport she was a caterer for six years, a field that remains her passion, her "niche," she says.
A great team at the new restaurant, including her mother, Chi Chi Price, waitstaff and a baker, allow Harlow to pursue catering along with the tasty offerings Gourmet on the Fly visitors had come to expect.
For those who know Harlow’s food – what to expect, is the unexpected.
Fried deviled eggs, she said, are her latest experiment. She's still testing out recipes, next trying a bit of candied jalapeno in the center.
Doorway Nachos offer a taste of the familiar offered in a unique way. Nacho chips are topped with barbecue sauce, pulled pork, cheese sauce and topped with house-made pico de gallo.
An unusual, but popular creation, Harlow said, is their gyro pizza. Pizza dough with piled with thinly sliced spiced lamb, roasted red peppers, red onions, feta and mozzarella cheese. After cooking, the pizza is topped with fresh spinach.
An Elvis-themed pie is a banana cream with peanut butter and bacon shaved on top.
Every week there will be new menu items and a dinner special daily.
Harlow said she often gets asked what’s her favorite thing to cook – but the joy, she said, is the quest of getting each dish just right.
“I like the challenge, the more I can add to it. It’s not can you put a twist on it, but what can I do to make it mine, make it better. It’s taking something and making it awesome,” she said.
Knowing she’s catering to a country-style crowd, Harlow does not veer too far from the familiar.
Harlow said she aims to have a mix of home-style foods that people may not be able to get locally, such as lasagna, and unique finds that people will drive from towns over to try.
A Wichita Falls specialty popular at her former restaurant, Harlow often features Western burgers – a loose-meat sandwich encased in bread dough – at the new Iowa Park spot on Fridays.
“I want to give people what they want that they could not get otherwise. I believe if the food is good, they will come,” she said.
The Times Record News Lunch Bunch has been a longtime fan of Harlow’s cuisine, giving Gourmet five forks on two separate reviews. Gourmet on the Fly was also the top restaurant for the Bunch’s 2016 favorite food finds.
The Bunch visited Doorway this week and gave the new eatery five forks as well, saying it was some of the best food they ever had.
Latest: Doorway to Gourmet yummy addition to Iowa Park
Doorway to Gourmet is open Tuesday through Sunday.
Regular hours are 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (dinner still available on weekends). Their phone number is 940-592-3354.