Meet Carli Dunham | Restaurateur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Carli Dunham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Carli, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I grew up in Quanah, Texas and come from multiple generations or restaurant owners and chefs.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Prior to Cafe Blackbird, I was a stay-at-home parent. My husband and I have two children who are both home educated. Together, we ran a successful dairy goat farm and soap company for eleven years. I’ve always been a creative entrepreneur with a passion for whole foods, farming, and a simple way of life. I’ve always chosen projects that create a real-world learning environment for our children. I’m most proud of what our little family of four has built. We’ve never had partners or investors. We’ve had each other, a common goal and the drive to reach it.
The biggest challenge so far was choosing to move the restaurant from Quanah to Denison. Not only were we right in the middle of COVID, but we just turned our entire lives upside down by leaving the only place we had ever lived. Of course there were financial risks that were terrifying. There were many times where I thought that we were going to fail, and that I wasn’t strong enough to keep going. It has been two years and I still feel so much anxiety when I look back on those days, but we just kept going and our customers kept coming back.
We still have difficult days and hard decisions to make, but every day we’re striving to reach that goal.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m sad to admit that we don’t spend much time outside the cafe, but there are a few things that you must do when in Downtown Denison. First, antiques! Check out Vintage Mercantile and Main Street Mall. Both are carefully curated, beautiful shops. 2 Chicks Market for gifts, Rae of Sunshine for the most amazing candles. Zig Zag Gallery for art. Go to the RailYard and have rosemary fries at Sliders. Take a hike at Eisenhower State Park and of course, visit the lake!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandfather was the chef at the very iconic Dutch’s Restaurant, located in Quanah, Texas, throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. People always talked (and still do) about his amazing food and I just remember being so inspired by their stories. His financial situation never afforded him the opportunity to own a restaurant of his own, but I believe that the legacy and success of Dutch’s belongs to him. My mother and aunt are also a great source of inspiration to me. Both are great cooks and opened a cafe together; also in Quanah. I guess having those decades of experience, knowledge, and family recipes to lean on was the encouragement I needed to take the chance. Without them I don’t think I would have ever considered this path.
It’s a well-known fact that statistically, restaurants are not always successful. Even the good days at a restaurant are hard, but when I see a customer enjoying a bite of something that came out of my kitchen, it’s success. It’s pride. It’s years of history, dreaming, planning, and hard work coming to fruition.

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Facebook: facebook.com/cafeblackbird