Houstonians have been waiting with baited breath for the opening of State of Grace, chef Ford Fry’s first restaurant in his native city. Taking up residence in affluent mansion-strewn River Oaks, the dining room is housed in a 1950s brick build, once home to Fry’s childhood confectionary store. Best known for his popular Atlanta eatery, The Optimist, the James Beard Award nominee has paid homage to his southern upbringing with a menu that includes lobster hush puppies, shrimp a la plancha, and duck carnitas. Meanwhile, pastry chef Chrysta Poulos ups the nostalgia stakes with house-made pecan ice cream balls slathered with hot fudge sauce.
Interiors, by Fry’s long-time collaborator Elizabeth Ingram, features a colour palette of white, moss green and slate grey against open brickwork walls, walnut and leather banquettes and marble counter tops. Three custom-designed chandeliers hang from a white oak parquetry ceiling presiding over the focal point of the space; a semi-circular hand-burnished brass counter top showcasing an expansive cold bar and oyster programme. If you’re not here to join the glam crowd chucking back sea wings from the Texan Gulf, pull up a seat in the main dining room where windows frame the sprawling branches of a grand oak tree out front.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
3258 Westheimer Rd
-
Ludovic de Saint Sernin launches a beauty and fashion collection with ZaraThe Paris-based designer unveils a collection inspired by New York City subcultures
-
Inez & Vinoodh unveil romantic new photography series in ParisA series of portraits of couple Charles Matadin and Natalie Brumley, created using an iPhone in Marfa, Texas, goes on show in Paris
-
A Mexican town raises its game with Fernanda Canales’ Border OutlookBorder Outlook, a landmark community centre in northern Mexico designed by Fernanda Canales, goes above and beyond, giving hope to a region divided by the border wall
-
Dior’s new Beverly Hills dining salon raises the bar for couture cuisineFrom Peter Marino’s onyx bar and faceted mirrored walls to Nicole Wittenberg’s vast, immersive botanical canvas, Dior’s first restaurant outside Paris is here
-
This new Los Angeles restaurant is a mischievous blend of dive bar and 'psychedelic honky tonk'At Marvito, small-batch tequila and a classic rock soundtrack create a delightfully nostalgic night out
-
Fantasy – and incredible seafood – await at Carbone Riviera, now open at the Bellagio in Las VegasInterior design powerhouse Martin Brudnizki drew on the Côte d'Azur and Picasso’s ceramics for Major Food Group’s latest Sin City outpost
-
Welcome to Polymath Park, where you can spend the night in a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpieceA pair of determined Wright devotees have turned four endangered modernist houses into an overnight design retreat
-
Faena New York just landed in the Big Apple – and it's an excuse for a good timeArgentine hotelier Alan Faena’s first New York address serves up high-octane hospitality with a dash of leopard print
-
These vintage American motels will have you longing for the open road‘Vintage Motels’ documents how the humble roadside stopover has evolved into a design-led destination for a new generation of travellers
-
At Duryea’s Sunset Cottages in The Hamptons, it’s all about stillness and open horizonsA beloved Hampton restaurant becomes a tucked-away retreat set on a windswept bluff above Fort Pond Bay in Montauk
-
The return of Genghis Cohen: LA’s cult Chinese diner lives onThe 1980s Chinese-American landmark returns with red booths, neon nostalgia, and a fresh dose of Hollywood eccentricity
