Inside My Table #47 | Restaurant listings
2001’s Best New Restaurants
This is always the most difficult Listings to write every year. To begin with, newcomers often change radically within their first months: What we ate and experienced in April may be irrelevant in November, as the restaurant tweaks to find its niche. Some newcomers die before we go to press with this list; yet does the fact that the right audience never found them make these restaurants any less charming or innovative or remarkable? With some vacillation, here are our 14 choices for 2001’s best new restaurants.
Please note: We did not include new siblings of existing restaurants — e.g. Bistro Provence, El Tiempo, Buca Di Beppo, Cafe Express, Redwood Grill, etc.
BISTRO LE CEP, 11112 Westheimer at Wilcrest, 713-783-3985. This French-accented offshoot of Joe Mannke’s Rotisserie for Beef & Bird opened in June and is a home-spun number, quite different from its big brother. The prices are moderate and the interior is understated and cozy (if often loud). The kitchen specializes in pate, mussels, roast duck, steak au poivre, liver with apples, escargot, classic onion soup. Same excellent wine list as at the award-winning Rotisserie. $$
CLOSED/*DOMINIC’S RESTAURANT & WINE BAR*, 12779 Jones Road at Grant Road, 281-807-1091. Francis Walters was the chef for a few months at the Rainbow Lodge (which, we’d better say, is doing fine with replacement Lance Youngs). Walters’ new suburban spot, named for his grandfather, takes over the location that was Luigi’s and is still in flux, both in terms of decor and the Italian menu. There’s talent and passion here; time will smooth the rough edges. $$
CLOSED/*EL BUEN BIFE*, 4527 Lomitas near Kirby, 713-523-6373. Pampas-flavored details give this big-deal steakhouse a decidedly Argentinean accent. Husband-wife team Juan Miguel Colín and Marta Malazzo spent freely to fashion this sexy revamp of the building that once was Pico’s (and others). Beef is cooked over an elaborate exhibition grill, and there’s also the centerpiece Tango Bar, which quickly become a favorite meeting spot after its fall debut. $$
CLOSED/*FOX DINER*, 2815 S. Shepherd near Alabama, 713-523-5369. The warehouse-sized relocation for this once-funky neighborhood favorite spotlights a Low Country menu, plus there’s now a full bar. The floor space itself is, oh, maybe a thousand times larger. Come here for owner Tom Williams’ Southern recipes, including shrimp and grits, “tidewater salad” and cornmeal-crusted fried oysters. On Sundays, the gospel brunch should not be missed. $-$$
CLOSED/*GREENBRIAR CHOPHOUSE*, 2200 Southwest Freeway at Greenbriar, 713-942-7992. Overlook the odd location and come upstairs for Robert Martinez’s(once with Bourbon St. Bistreaux) classic steaks and chops, served up with a slight New Orleans accent. The menu includes turtle soup, shrimp remoulade, lettuce wedge with blue cheese, filets, prime rib and T-bones, as well as five signature sauces. It opened in February. $$-$$$
IBIZA, 2450 Louisiana at McGowan, 713-524-0004. Although it sports a Spanish name, the menu is not terribly strict. Rather, the diverse Mediterranean-styled menu includes grilled shrimp resting on crabmeat cornbread, six-hour lamb shank and pan-seared foie gras. This was one of 2001’s hottest newcomers — our reviewer wrote, “walking in, we immediately felt the ‘buzz’” — and is from Grant Cooper and Charles and Sherry Clark, formerly of Tasca. $$-$$$
LE MISTRAL, 1420 Eldridge near Briar Forest, 832-379-8322. Of all the French bistros (perhaps you’ve noticed French food is suddenly everywhere), this place has the truest pedigree via owner/chef David Denis, who grew up in a restaurant family in France. He has taken over the location that once was Azzarelli’s. The menu, which includes terrine de foie gras, gnocchi de Provence, osso buco and bouillabaisse, is based on French classics with a home-style quality. $$
CLOSED/*LING AND JAVIER*, 2525 West Loop at Westheimer in the Hotel Derek, 713-961-3000. This newly renovated and highly stylized hotel dining room is hip, hip, hip, and so is the menu, a Cuban-Chinese street food coupling. Don’t mistake this for fusion cuisine; it’s bi-cuisine, separate but equal—Cubano bisteca here, sesame noodles there. The kitchen is under the direction of Alena Pyles. $$-$$$
CLOSED/*LOST RIVER BAR & GRILLE*, 7620 Katy Freeway at Silber in the Marq*E Center, 713-680-2800. Over-the-top Art Nouveau stylings (e.g. Tiffany, Gaudi, Rodin, Muka and Lalique) marries with a surprisingly bold menu (e.g. pan-seared venison, salmon in phyllo, whole roasted red snapper) from chef Michael Hollingsworth. Alas, we have to hedge our “best newcomer” designation: During the course of two visits the food here was splendid, but service was dismal. $$$
CLOSED/*PAPILLON BISTRO FRANÇAIS*, 401 Louisiana at Prairie, 713-222-6583. Just squeaking in with a late November opening in the Hogg Building, this French bistro represents a joint partnership between Youssef Nafaa (Mi Luna, Mia Bella and Zana) and Zack Ateyea (Cafe Elegante). They describe it as “French with a twist” (e.g. seared sweetbreads, herbed tuna loin on a fricassee of wild mushrooms, veal T-bone with chevre and caramelized onions). We love the huge, slightly skewed chandelier that anchors the room. $$-$$$
QIN DYNASTY, 5115 Buffalo Speedway at Westpark, 713-664-0610. We were knocked out by the opulent setting at this new Chinese spot, including reproductions of Chinese archaeological finds. Of course, you can’t eat those things, so we’re happy to report that the kitchen also impresses — Szechwan spicy dumplings, spicy green beans, pork with slender bamboo shoot, Hunan shrimp — with cooking that is definitely cranked up a notch. $$
MOVED in 2006 to 516 Westheimer at Whitney. RESTAURANT INDIKA, 12665 Memorial Dr. between Gessner & Sam Houston Parkway, 713-984-1725. Chef/owner Anita Jainsinghani’s Indika may be the most remarkable newcomer of the year. The kitchen, ostensibly Indian, surely breaks new ground with its innovative take on a classic cuisine. We’ve never eaten anything so intellectualized and so delicious: Try salmon tikkas with pickled onions and coconut chutney, lamb two ways with cashew cardamom curry and fresh seafood biryani. $$
STATE GRILLE, 2925 Weslayan at W. Alabama, 713-622-1936. Frankie Mandola and his partners took a chance when they revamped the venerable (if non-PC) Confederate House with this tribute to Texas. The cooking, now under the direction of Doug Pollard, is more varied, freed from the Old South cookery that was its raison d’etre for decades. Seasonal specials and regular wine dinners keep us interested. $$-$$$
CLOSED/*WORLD CAFE*, 1340 West Gray at Waugh, 713-520-9696. Chef/owner Charlie Watkins, who replaced his Blue Agave with this new trans-world concept this fall, offers a little of everything we love to eat at ethnic restaurants: lettuce wraps with spicy minced Thai shrimp, spring rolls, beef fajita salad, Chinese barbecued pork, very rare sesame-crusted tuna and, thankfully, at least one holdover from the old menu, garlic butter calamari. $$
