Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1433459
HOME GROWN TWENTY TWO NORTH HOLLAND IN BELLVILLE By Laurann Claridge. Photography Jack Thompson. C hef Cody Vasek is a Texan whose l i n e a g e i n t h i s state goes back for generations. Born and reared in the historic hamlet of Bellville on a 140-year-old farm homesteaded by his Czech ancestors, he's come home to live out his dream of opening his own restaurant. Coined Twenty Two North Holland after its physical address, his Bellville eatery is open Thursday through Sunday. Situated in the seat of Austin County, it's a stone's throw (35 minutes) from Round Top and just over a one-hour drive from Houston. Trained at The Art Institute of Houston in the mid-'90s, Vasek worked in the kitchens of such Houston luminaries as chefs Chris Shepherd and Randy Evans before making his way eastward to man the range at the Austrian-inspired Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont (yes, the family that inspired The Sound of Music). After eight years there, he ventured back to Texas to buy and rehab an historically significant hotel (circa 1850) in the center of Bellville and took up residence upstairs. Twenty Two North Holland is on the ground floor of the hotel, where the original peg-wood floors are intact, and behind the bar — where Prohibition- style cocktails are poured — Vasek took down sheetrock to expose the antiquarian bricks beneath. His open kitchen is framed by blocks of limestone Chef/owner Cody Vasek Stuffed Bandera quail with black-walnut jus 24