It’s official: Big-deal Japanese restaurant Katsuya by S+ARCK is debuting its first location in Texas, and it will be in the West Ave development on Westheimer at Kirby. Adding another high-end sushi restaurant to the Houston dining scene, sbe – a hospitality, real estate development and lifestyle company – today unveiled their plans for its first Katsuya by S+ARCK location in Texas and also announced that the group intends to open a total of five such restaurants in the state. This is the seventh collaboration between sbc founder/CEO Sam Nazarian, designer Philippe Starck and master sushi chef Katsuya Uechi. The restaurant is set to open early 2012. The local partner in this much-anticipated deal is GEG Group, helmed by CEO Ali Ansari (he’s in the coffee business) and chairman Charlie Chanaratsopon, founder of Charming Charlie (a fashion accessories retailer).
While sipping and sampling at Central Market’s 10th anniversary party last evening, we chatted with former Tony’s chef Olivier Ciesielski. As reported last week, he is indeed partnering on The Brownstone Cafe, which should open soon in the old Brownstone location at 2736 Virginia. But Ciesielski is also opening his own place, to be called L’Olivier Restaurant & Bar on lower Westheimer directly across the street from Feast. In addition to the restaurant, which he hopes to have up and running by the end of the year, he will operate L’Olivier Maison, a full-service catering company.
Brooks and Maricela Bassler of BB’s Cafe are opening a third location of their casual Cajun eatery at 2701 White Oak Drive across from Fitzgerald’s. The grand opening is planned for Sunday, June 26 … Sam Beier (formerly at *17 and Hotel Icon) has joined catering company A Fare Extraordinaire as chef … Cookbook author/food writer Robb Walsh will give a talk at his restaurant, El Real Tex-Mex, as part of the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s Cultural Feast series on Tuesday, June 7, and again on Tuesday, July 12. His talk, Tex-Mex! The Cuisine, will focus on the evolution of the oldest regional American cuisine. Tickets are $73 ($63 for HMNS members) and include a full Tex-Mex dinner… Chef/restaurateur Scott Tycer is selling his Gravitas restaurant to Keith Magruder and Stephen Ross, partners who have Liquid Gold Hospitality Group. When we spoke to Magruder, he said the restaurant would be freshened up, but that it would basically remain the same with executive chef Fidel Flores heading up the kitchen.