We’ve been hearing for months that Roger Diaz, owner of the Austin-based Vivo, was bringing his restaurant to Houston and was going to open in the revamped shopping center on San Felipe just west of the railroad tracks. You know, where Roll-N Saloon used to be. In fact, construction was well under way, the logo’d awning was installed and Vivo was scheduled to open this month. But all hell broke loose late last week. According to a source, Diaz has issues with the investors/landlords of the property, and he and TV cooking star chef Paul Petersen decided to end the relationship as of Friday. They will have no connection with any restaurant the landlords decide to put in that location. Diaz says he and Peterson (who has, in the past, been nominated for a Beard Award) are still committed to coming to Houston and have already begun looking for new investors, after which they will start looking for a location.
We chatted with Arturo Boada at Sunday’s 1st Annual Meatball Invitational, and he told us he had a soft opening of his new Arturo Boada Cuisine (6510 Del Monte) Saturday evening. Soft or not, he was slammed. Look for his official opening today. He’s serving seafood, pizza, steak and pasta … We’re sad to report that Phil’s Texas Barbecue (110 S. Heights) has recently closed.