Even before Textile opened, I couldn’t resist driving by the Oriental Textile Mill to see the site. Houston doesn’t do preservation well, but Scott Tycer has now successfully revamped historical buildings twice – first with Gravitas and now with Textile.

I couldn’t stay long enough for the tour of the bakery, but the restaurant has a contemporary feel  similar to Gravitas and reminiscent of Bachannalia, another restaurant that occupies a converted factory in formerly industrial areas of Atlanta. Other than the striking backlit bar the small dining room is tastefully austere, though I have to admit that given the history of the building and the restaurant’s name I expected more … fabric?

As much as I like the space, I am more interested in light and the lighting at Textile is atrocious. There are restaurants that manage to dim the dining room and illuminate the food without sacrificing atmosphere (L2O in Chicago is one example), unfortunately Textile is one of the places that insists on hiding their food in the dark. It’s really too bad, because the kitchen does a nice job of plating, especially with desserts, which often get the ho-hum treatment in restaurants. [Read more →]