In case you missed it, Cleverley has a great post today about the specifics of the concept Scott Tycer is developing with Textile.
Textile is a much more ambitious project than I anticipated, focusing on multi-course tastings and progressive cooking techniques. A sort of a transposed version of the Jose Andres’ minibar in Washington (minibar serves 30+ dishes to 6 people, Textile will serve 7 dishes to 30 people).
The main attraction at Textile will be the tasting menu, offered every night. The tasting menu will consist of five or seven courses. Approximate charge for the five course will be $75 and the seven course will be $95. There will be a very small a la carte menu with only three appetizers, three entrées and three desserts.
This is a continuation of Aries. I’m going back into the kitchen to cook the way I really, really want to cook. I won’t repeat any dishes from Aries but I’ll put a little science into the food at Textile, a la Ferran Adrià, like with different types of heated caviars, like wasabi caviar. We’ll explore some of the mysteries of food, but not too much, because I don’t think that’s what food is really about. We’ll hit the basics really hard with clean flavors and precise textures. And we’ll have a lot fun doing it.
More details in the original post.
The big question is whether Houston is ready for an uncompromising restaurant like Textile. Scott Tycer is taking a risk, but I have a feeling it just might work. I ordered a tasting menu at Soma several weeks after it opened and looking around the room it seemed like many tables were doing the same - and that’s without Robert Gadsby humping his Iron Chef pedigree.
Same story seems to have played in the opening weeks at Voice; Michael Kramer mentioned that he was surprised by the number of degustation orders he received early on. So who knows? Maybe a technique forward restaurant focused on a tasting menu is exactly what Houston needs right now.
Elsewhere in the country people are buckling under the weight of rising gas prices, slowing economy and the unwinding real estate bubble. In Houston, rising gas prices actually help create jobs (unemployment rate is lower now than it was in 2000), businesses are growing and real estate prices are holding steady. People pre-ordering all those luxury high rise apartments have to eat somewhere.
So, maybe we’ll see a mini explosion of restaurants focused on progressive cuisine over the next few years. Houston is the new Chicago, after all.
My wish list for Textile:
- Diners really should have a choice whether to order the tasting or a la carte menu. The requirement that the entire table order a tasting menu seems entirely unnecessary.
- Vegetable-centric dishes are given serious treatment as at Manresa and Ubuntu. It’s time to put the notion that only vegetarians care about vegetables to rest.
- Speaking of vegetarians, it would be great if they were allowed on premises. And served some sort of food.
- I hope techniques used at Textile go a little further than caviars and tapioca pearls. I think Scott Tycer is on the right track by not turning his dishes into a science experiment, but when a technique is widely used by also-rans on Top Chef and at the rather conservative French Laundry (below), it’s ok to push the envelope just a little further. I am sure Randy would be more than happy to come in and play technical consultant.
French Laundry: Oysters and Pearls
You are a fool if you think Houston is the new Chicago. Houston can’t doesn’t or never will come close to Chicago’s restaurants, arts, archtecture, beauty, class; ect, ect, ect. Ican go on for days.
Thank you for your insight.
Chicago today is the premiere American city for many of the reasons you mention. In fact I have written about it before here:
http://www.tasty-bits.com/index.php/2008/03/27/better-demons-prevail-no-alinea-for-nyc/
Given a choice of living anywhere outside of Houston, I would choose Chicago first and never look back.
That doesn’t change the fact that Chicago has been stagnant in growth and economic opportunity for many years now. Between 2000-2006 Chicago lost 4.63% of it’s population and 1.1% of it’s jobs. In the same period Houston has gained 3.1% and 8.18%, respectively.
No one can change the fact that Houston (or LA or NY for that matter) cannot rival Chicago in aesthetics today. But you need more than aesthetics to continue to be a truly great city.
Houston today very closely approximates the trajectory Chicago took when it began to rise in status as a great American city. More relevant to my original point is that this type of expansion paves the way for innovative restaurants patronized by an upwardly mobile population with plenty of disposable income to spend on fine dining.
Feel free to come back and apologize for taking a crappy tone, once you have figured out that you lack mental dexterity to articulate a counterpoint. You can find more information here.
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/lone-star-rising
The issue with Houston is that instead of being on or ahead of the curve we’re light years behind. I’m sick of Houston apologizing for what it’s not, or trying to be the next Chicago. It’s utter bullshit that all Houstonians ever hope to have are restaurants/clubs/arts like New York, LA, or Chicago. I wish Houston could “grow some balls” and be willing to just be Houston.
Houston is not “trying to be” anything; it is just a young, dynamic city with a lot to offer in the form of the arts (visual and performing) and culinary scene. I don’t know why we need to compare ourselves to other places, particularly cities that are more that twice our population. (There are nearly 10 million people living in greater Chicag, or Chicoagoland as it is affectionately known, vs. 5.5 million in greater Houston.) And I certainly don’t understand why “No minced Words” seems to have a chip on his/her shoulder about it.
There are many truly great cities in America, and Houston ranks among them. Each has their own charm and a unique set of challenges that any resident will regale you with. Thankfully Houstonians enjoy countless very talented folks who have migrated here, or in Scott’s case decided to come home rather than disperse their genius in faraway cites. Good for him and everyone else who is content to work in their own backyard–think natives like Bryan Caswell, Randy Evans, Monica Pope and Chris Shepherd among others. They could very easily have continued to knock the socks off of New Yorkers or Europeans or Californians and others, but thank goodness for those of us who live in Houston, that they made other choices.
Thanks for the post, information, and opinions. Very insightful. I agree that now is the time for tasting menus in Houston, and I very much look forward to hitting up Textile. Houston has a great restaurant scene on its own accord… Why must we constantly compare and be compared? The beauty is in the distinction.
Houston does not even approach Chicago in terms of anything that makes a real city. Unbelieveable comparison