Emmer & Rye

What Emmer & Rye does

Emmer & Rye is a single-location farm-to-table restaurant in Austin, Texas, founded in 2015 by Chef Kevin Fink. The concept is built around a daily-changing menu driven by seasonal availability from local farmers, ranchers, and foragers. Its core technical capabilities are operational rather than digital: in-house heirloom grain milling (including emmer wheat for house-made pastas, breads, and desserts), whole animal butchery, and an extensive fermentation program that captures peak-season flavors for off-season menu development. The restaurant operates as a carbon neutral establishment through a partnership with Zero FoodPrint, a positioning that has supported consecutive Michelin Green Star recognition in 2024 and 2025.

The business model is direct-to-consumer fine dining, with dinner service Tuesday through Sunday at the 51 Rainey Street location, reservations routed through OpenTable, walk-ins welcome, and email booking for large parties (7+) with custom set menus. Revenue streams include nightly dinner service, an award-winning beverage program (Wine Spectator Award of Excellence 2024, 2025, 2026), the bi-weekly Breaking Bread collaborative chef dinner series, private events and catering for parties up to 14 (managed via Tripleseat), and gift card sales through Toast Tab. The target customer is the fine dining enthusiast in Austin seeking sustainable, locally-sourced, chef-driven cuisine. Brand authority is reinforced by a 2020 James Beard Best Chef Texas finalist designation for Kevin Fink, a 2016 Food & Wine Best New Chef honor, and national press coverage in Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, The New York Times, and Forbes. The company appears to operate as an independent private restaurant group with references to 'sister restaurants' under Emmer Hospitality, though no formal ownership, funding, or subsidiary structure is disclosed.

Name

Emmer & Rye

Legal name

Emmer & Rye

Website

https://emmerandrye.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Emmer & Rye is an Austin farm-to-table fine dining restaurant founded in 2015 by Chef Kevin Fink, serving daily-changing seasonal menus with in-house grain milling, whole-animal butchery, and fermentation. It holds Michelin Green Star and Bib Gourmand recognition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fine Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Caterers (72232), Food Service Contractors (722310)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm-to-Table & Contemporary American Restaurants (THAFACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Full-Service Catering (Off-Premise) (HSACAGAA)

Keywords

• Farm-to-table dining
• Seasonal cuisine
• Fine dining restaurant
• Heirloom grain milling
• Sustainable hospitality

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Dinner Service: Fine dining dinner service with seasonally changing menu. Operates Tuesday-Sunday, 5:30pm-10:00pm (Sun-Thurs), 5:30pm-11:00pm (Fri-Sat). Closed Mondays.
2. Beverage Program: Extensive cocktail and wine program with award-winning wine list recognized by Wine Spectator. Beverage menus change daily.
3. Breaking Bread Events: Collaborative dinner events held every other week featuring guest chefs from Austin and beyond. One-night exclusive dining experiences with collaborative dishes and drinks.
4. Private Events & Catering: Private dining room options, catering, and full-service offsite event options. Event packet available for planning.
5. Gift Cards: E-gift cards and physical gift cards available for purchase.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Emmer & Rye is a single-location farm-to-table restaurant in Austin, Texas that serves a daily-changing seasonal dinner menu built around local farmers, ranchers, and foragers. Its culinary identity is anchored in in-house heirloom grain milling (notably emmer wheat), whole animal butchery, and an extensive fermentation program. The restaurant also operates a Breaking Bread collaborative chef dinner series, hosts private events and catering, sells gift cards, and maintains an award-winning cocktail and wine program.

Product overview

Emmer & Rye is a single-location farm-to-table restaurant offering a daily-changing seasonal menu focused on heirloom grains, in-house milling, whole animal butchery, and fermentation. The restaurant operates as a unified dining concept with several complementary sub-products: Breaking Bread (collaborative guest chef dinners), Private Events (catering and event hosting), Gift Cards (e-gift cards via Toast Tab), and an Award-Winning Beverage Program (cocktails and wine). The restaurant uses OpenTable for reservations, Toast Tab for gift card sales, and Tripleseat for private event bookings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emmer & Rye Restaurant

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Zero FoodPrintcoreOthersCarbon neutrality partnership. Emmer & Rye works with Zero FoodPrint to offset carbon emissions, achieving carbon neutral restaurant status. This partnership supports the restaurant's sustainability mission and Michelin Green Star recognition.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Foreign & Domestic: Austin farm-to-table restaurant with house charcuterie, whole-animal butchery, and a daily-changing seasonal menu closely paralleling Emmer & Rye's culinary approach.
• Suerte: Award-winning Austin fine dining concept (James Beard recognition) serving chef-driven seasonal cuisine with an emphasis on local sourcing and house-made components.
• Barley Swine: Chef Bryce Gilmore's tasting-menu Austin restaurant emphasizing seasonal Texas ingredients and creative culinary technique in the same fine-dining category.
• Olamaie: Austin farm-to-table fine dining restaurant also recognized in Michelin Guide with Southern-influenced seasonal cuisine and a similar high-end Austin positioning.
• Dai Due: Austin whole-animal butchery-focused restaurant and butcher shop championing Texas-sourced heritage ingredients with strong chef/owner identity.

Broad incumbents

• Husk Restaurant: Sean Brock's farm-to-table restaurant group emphasizing Southern heirloom ingredients and house preservation/fermentation — comparable for chef-driven heritage-grain and fermentation positioning.
• Chez Panisse: Pioneering farm-to-table restaurant (Alice Waters) with a daily-changing seasonal menu, local sourcing, and an industry-defining reputation — the historical reference point for Emmer & Rye's concept.
• Blue Hill at Stone Barns: Iconic farm-to-table restaurant and industry benchmark for heirloom grains, whole-animal butchery, and chef-driven seasonal menus — a leading comparable for culinary positioning and pricing power.

Emerging players

• Sqirl: Los Angeles specialty restaurant known for heirloom grain bowls, house jams/fermentation, and a chef-driven identity — comparable for grain-and-fermentation-led differentiation.

Regional players

• Uchi: Acclaimed Austin Japanese-influenced restaurant with multiple locations and James Beard recognition; competes for the same fine-dining Austin guest and supplier relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/emmerandrye

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Emmer & Rye