The new River Oaks District – on Westheimer just inside Loop 610 – had yet another restaurant unveiling last week, and like Toulouse Cafe & Bar, Steak 48 and Hopdoddy Burger Bar before it, the fledgling Le Colonial is a contender for best in class.
This gorgeous new spot across from jeweler Harry Winston is an upscale Vietnamese restaurant, a two-story jewel box that is a paean to 1920s French Colonial Indochina. Architect Mark Knauer has kept the scale intimate and used many found treasures, such as cement tiles from Provence in framed rug patterns reminiscent of houses and hotels in turn-of-the-century Saigon; antiqued mirrors from Brooklyn; brass wall sconces, hanging pendants and silk shades from Paris; mahogany millwork, wicker dining room chairs and brass Art Deco tables bases. An enormous bird of paradise rises from the middle of the room.
The upstairs lounge features more antique mirrors and period photography from Vietnam. Second-level terraces are available for alfresco dining, and there’s also sidewalk dining downstairs.
We were guests of the restaurant at a recent dinner and were delighted by the cocktail service, wine list and the food. Among the outstanding dishes we sampled: cha gio (crispy rice paper spring rolls with shrimp, pork and mushrooms, $13); banh cuon (delicate steamed ravioli filled with chicken and wood ear mushrooms, served with chili lime garlic sauce, $14); ca song (ahi tuna tartare with fresh seaweed, tomato and cucumber, served on taro chips, $17); cari tom (Gulf shrimp in a fragrant green curry, $27) and mi xao don chay (wok-seared vegetables and tofu in light garlic oyster sauce served on a crisp egg noodle nest, $19). Yes, the menu is significantly pricier than at your favorite mom-and-pop pho spot, but surely you can see why.
The kitchen is under the culinary direction of Nicole Routhier (photo below), a frequent instructor at Central Market’s cooking school. As it happens, Routhier, who has lived in Houston for many years, is also widely considered one of the country’s foremost writers on Vietnamese cookery. Her cookbook The Foods of Vietnam received a Julia Child Award for best American cookbook from the International Association of Culinary Professionals in 1990.
Interestingly, Routhier was also the culinary director of the original Le Colonial in Manhattan where she first developed the restaurant’s menu more than 20 years ago. At the Houston iteration of Le Colonial – this is the fourth in the small chain, along with NYC, Chicago and San Francisco locations – she works alongside executive chef Dan Nguyen.
Other folks you will recognize working at Le Colonial include director of operations Martin Theis, formerly the GM of La Table, wine director Sebastien Lavar, also formerly of La Table and La Colombe d’Or and veteran restaurateur Rasheed Refaey, who is currently managing the dining room.
Le Colonial, 4444 Westheimer, #6140, 713-629-4444, lecolonialhouston.com