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Mongolian Fusion Ignites In Bryan By NIKA HANCOCK

Pyro is located at 3700 S Texas Ave. in Bryan (979) 268-7976

Pyro opened on January 28th in the North Park Plaza Shopping Center in Bryan. Its professional, upscale façade might lead you to believe it’s a chain restaurant; however, the original is taken directly from owner Jeff Harmon’s love of Mongolian grill style food. Upon entering, a ceiling height glass waterfall streams in front of you, while lighting dances on the walls and mosaic tiles gleam behind the grill. Each element of décor, ambiance, and design was carefully considered by Harmon in order to create the final look. Custom wood stains, hand-crafted light fixtures, and uniquely decorated restrooms combine to provide a one-of-a-kind experience. “In the day it looks one way, and at night it looks completely different,” the owner says while explaining the atmosphere. “It’s just the little things that people talk about and that brings people in.”

Mongolian refers to a method of cooking and not a type of food or spice. The Mongolian grill, a round counter-height iron surface, maintains a constant 600 degrees and cooks food sauté style in minutes while the customer watches. Basically, the patron piles as much as they want of vegetables, meats, sauces, and spices into a bowl. The bowl gets passed to the “Pyro-tech” who cooks the food. The customer is then asked to select a starch such as penne pasta, tortillas, white or brown rice, or rice noodles, to accompany the dish. With a few turns of the cooking swords or sticks, the meal is ready.

Harmon emphasizes that all the meats and veggies are fresh and never frozen and prepped for the table as needed on a daily basis. This makes his grill unique since most Mongolian-style restaurants do not carry the quality of products that he provides, nor the variety. With 26 vegetables, 8 meats, 31 sauces, 5 starches, and a myriad of spices to choose from, the possibilities are mathematically staggering. “You can choose whatever you want, and you can go back as many times as you like, and you can always get something different,” says Harmon.

Fusion refers to a variety of ethnic and stylistic influences combined to create something new. Choices fuel the fusion at Pyro. For example, with sauces such as Fajita Seasoning, Caribbean Sauce, Alfredo, Pesto Wild Mushroom, and Raspberry Chipotle, each person at the table can get a different style of food. Many of the choices are not necessarily Asian. In fact, one of the most popular recipes at Pyro is the Chicken Alfredo. A few recipe suggestions are available, but Harmon feels that part of the fun lies in each person being able to play “cook” without any of the tiring, mundane details like shopping, chopping, or messy clean up.

Grill customers can expect to find convenient parking at the location. Harmon selected North Park Plaza for his restaurant because he felt that it offered easy access. People will not have to drive around to find an open spot and it is still just about a mile from campus. Soon, Pyro Mongolian Fusion Grill will be adding an outdoor patio that seats up to 40 guests and plasma televisions for watching Aggie sports. Pricing is simple: Lunch is $9 for a single grill visit and $12.99 for unlimited visits; Dinner is $11.99 for a single grill visit, $15.99 for unlimited visits and the dinner meat selection includes seafood.