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A bell dings sharply from inside the kitchen, signaling the next order is ready. Tracy Wessel walks quickly into the kitchen, asking “What have you got?” and emerges a moment later with plates of hot food balanced up to her elbows. It’s Saturday afternoon on Nov. 16, and On the Fly is nearly full with customers enjoying a late brunch.

As synthy ‘80s music blasts from a speaker in the corner, guests chit-chat over their meals, clinking silverware and stirring sugar into their coffee. Tracy flits from table to table, refilling mugs, taking orders and checking on customers. In the kitchen, her son, Gray Wessel, is busy whipping up each order from scratch.

Every once in a while, Gray pops out of the kitchen to greet customers. Though he recognizes a few as regulars, he and Tracy treat each customer like a longtime friend.

On the Fly is a Cajun-inspired diner that opened its doors in Syracuse’s Lyncourt neighborhood in late July. The Wessels, originally from Seattle, came to Syracuse a few years ago looking to open a restaurant. The Wessels’ said their goal is to make people feel at home and provide comfort with their elevated diner food.

“We’re big comfort food people,” Tracy said. “We like comfort, and we’d like to share that with everybody, because I think everybody needs some comfort right now, especially, in the world.”

In the few months it’s been open, On the Fly has attracted its fair share of regulars and carved out its spot in the community. On the Fly’s name speaks to its informal, scratch-made nature, as Gray said it’s “kitchen jargon” for needing something stat. Their top priority for their food is freshness and consistency.

“If you come in here and you decide you love the shrimp and grits, I want to make sure that every time you come in, you get the same shrimp and grits,” Gray said.

Gray has spearheaded the diner with the support of his parents, Tracy and John. Tracy covers the front-of-house responsibilities while Gray cooks. Meanwhile, John takes on other projects, like the mural that stretches across the diner’s back wall behind the coffee bar. The mural depicts a sci-fi scene of skylines from Seattle, Syracuse and New Orleans.

The family left Seattle because they felt like their hometown’s atmosphere changed for the worse. In central New York, they said Syracuse chose them. They originally had their sights set on Ithaca, but it didn’t click. They made more friends in Syracuse, eventually finding the current On the Fly location and signing a lease within a few days.

While they’ve enjoyed living in the Syracuse environment so far, Tracy said they want to continue bringing positivity and southern hospitality to the city.

“Even though we’re not from the south, we’re big appreciators of the southern hospitality and the food,” Tracy said.

The Wessels came out to central New York almost four years ago, but their shared love for Cajun food runs deep. Tracy and John visited New Orleans for their honeymoon and returned when Gray was a teenager. Tracy said Gray didn’t pay much mind to the local sights, but instead focused on the food.

Joe Zhao | Video Editor

Gray Wessel sprinkles powdered sugar onto crunchberry pancakes for a finishing touch. Crunchberry pancakes are an On the Fly special.

After beginning his career in construction and landscaping, Gray was burnt out from working outside in the dreary Seattle weather. He switched gears and started working in the restaurant industry, eventually entering culinary school. But he got sick of fine dining.

“I apply a lot of those techniques to what we do here, but I always wanted to run a diner or a tavern,” Gray said. “It’s all about the comfort and the nostalgia that food brings.”

Creating On the Fly wasn’t straightforward. They went in a few different directions with former business partners, including operating as a ghost kitchen for a while before officially opening its doors in late July. During the almost-year-long renovation process, Tracy said they opted for “mess hall” seating to enhance the communal feel of the diner.

After their former business partners departed, the family set up a GoFundMe to help with operational costs. Gray said the amount of people who have donated to it and shared it is beyond what he expected, especially from people in the local restaurant industry who want to help out.

“That was crazy because I’m of a mind that you can make money back. Time, you don’t get back, so any time that people want to invest in us means everything,” Gray said.

Gray is also working to share his culinary expertise with other local restaurateurs and anyone else who’s interested. Joey Marcus, a local resident, struck up a friendship with Gray after he came into On the Fly with his partner for lunch a few times. Marcus is now learning how to cook from Gray after a career in advertising.

Joe Zhao | Video Editor

In the kitchen, Gray reaches for ingredients. After studying at culinary school, he wanted to open a diner that used fresh, locally-sourced ingredients.

Marcus said he’s learned foundational cooking and kitchen communication skills from Gray. When he helps out in the kitchen on weekends, he said he can see the joy cooking for people brings. Marcus noticed Gray’s attentive manner with customers and appreciated the time he took to introduce himself to newcomers.

“Just with that little interaction, we knew that this place was going to be a regular spot because it wasn’t like anything else in Syracuse,” Marcus said.

Tracy said she’s seen moments of connection between customers while working at On the Fly. Once, a woman paid for another customer’s meal after seeing him eat there with his young son.

“It was just the exact sort of community moment that I was really hoping for, where people see each other, and it made this place worth it to me, like, ‘OK, I wanted to bring this together under this roof, and it just happened right in front of me,’” Tracy said.

One of the diner’s regulars is Kyaw Klay, a local Syracuse police officer. He said he tries to come to On the Fly once a week, but sometimes, he can’t help himself from coming in more.

The first dish he tried at On the Fly was the fried chicken sandwich, but the shrimp po’ boy sandwich kept him coming back. On Saturday, he came with Thalia Frometa, who ordered the diner’s signature crunchberry pancakes for her second visit.

“You can’t find the food here anywhere else,” Klay said. “We eat out all the time, all over Syracuse, whether it’s DoorDash or sit-down. Most of the food, it tastes the same. This is different.”

Another local couple, Domini and Cameron Vaughn, returned to On the Fly for a second time to sample more of its Cajun menu. They both ordered gumbo for their first visit but shared the biscuits and gravy and shrimp and grits on Saturday. They also said the Wessels’ clean, courteous service enticed them to visit again.

The Wessels currently live in Auburn and wake up at 4 or 5 a.m .to come up to the restaurant and prepare for the day. For now, their menu for breakfast and lunch is simple, as Gray cooks all the meals by himself from scratch — so prepping is key to their operations. Tracy contributes the diner’s signature biscuits every day, too.

They’re hoping to add more staff to distribute the daily workload and expand the menu ahead of the holidays. Gray said he hopes On the Fly can further grow by getting a liquor license and even opening a location downtown someday.

But for now, the daily rhythm of the diner keeps them going. Tracy called the work of running On the Fly a “labor of love.”

“It’s important to me, to us, to feed people who are hungry. It’s not a status thing,” Gray said. “You can come in here, and you can get a good bite to eat in a cool place, where we’re going to treat you right without breaking the bank.”

Published on November 21, 2024 at 1:24 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu