Houston’s New Remi Restaurant and Bar Lifts Up Hotel Dining With Style — Hotel Granduca Breaks The Mold

You may heard Uptown Park’s luxurious Hotel Granduca recently underwent quite an expansive renovation. (You certainly have if you read PaperCity.) After its sale to Houston-based Transwestern, the new owners decided it was high time for a modern refresh as they labored to take the hotel’s gracious public rooms and restaurant area down to its studs and reimagine the fabled Duke’s residence anew. Known for its European air of elegance, the powers that be hired local design luminary Kara Childress to add a contemporary but classic flair to the storied hotel, which, for many checking in, serves as a homey longterm residence too.

In addition, the new owners tapped Morton Steakhouse scion David Morton and his nationally recognized culinary firm, Episcope Hospitality (formerly known as DMK), to create the Houston hotel’s new restaurant Remi and its intimate counterpart Bar Remi. Collaborating with Childress, the aim was to conjure a residential feel to the appearance of Remi, where diners could choose to eat in the cozy library setting, outside on the veranda, or in the handsome Bar Remi decorated in warm and inviting tones of sienna with gleaming brass and marble accents.

Talented executive chef Maurizio Ferrarese, whose CV boasts time spent in the kitchens of the Four Seasons Hotel group, has stepped up to the challenge of executing breakfast, lunch and dinner services. Meanwhile, Episcope’s team (including two partners who were previously hired to create the menus of the RH (Restoration Hardware) restaurants aimed to devise a menu that was both ingredient and technique-driven but lacked pretension.

Diving Into The Remi Menu

If you begin your meal with a margarita ($15) or a spirit-free blood orange spritz ($10), rest assured that all the juices are freshly squeezed and the syrups are all made in-house. The wine list includes 120 thoughtful selections, many procured from small producers where your best values can be found on the higher end.

Bar snacks bring out the child in us all but elevate the common to something a bit more uncommon, like corn dog poppers ($9) made with Wagyu beef, truffle-scented popcorn ($6) and humble crispy hash browns topped with a dollop of caviar ($16).

Moving on to the starters, don’t overlook the beautiful crispy Roman artichokes ($18). Each baby bite-sized choke is like a sunflower whose delicate leaves have opened when fried until crisp. The dish is served with a roasted garlic aioli. The white bean hummus ($14) topped with crisp chickpeas is served with a crudité of baby vegetables and bomba bread, a warm cross between pizza crust and pita bread, while the hearty chef’s meatball ($20) is a tender softball-sized sphere made with veal, beef, and pork sausage in a spicy pomodoro sauce.

Pizza selections range from the traditional margherita ($14) with a twist — basil pesto in lieu of fresh basil leaves atop and ricotta — to a mushroom ($22) with a truffle-scented bechamel and fontina cheese, to the spicy Spianata with Calabrian salami ($16). Pastas, made in-house, include the tagliatelle Bolognese ($26) with rich Wagyu beef and pancetta ragu and the pesto Caserecci ($24) topped with shavings of pecorino.

The wild-caught ora king salmon is a standout served on a piquant Spanish-style romesco sauce with spears of charred broccolini ($36). Those who crave a hearty steak can choose from an eight-ounce prime steak frites option ($36) with sauce au poivre, a six-ounce filet mignon ($42) with whipped truffle butter, a dry-aged prime-cut ribeye ($68), or the Remi cheeseburger ($22) on a brioche bun.

Remi is open daily from 7 to 11 am for breakfast, 11 am to 3 pm for lunch, and 5 to 11 pm for dinner. Afternoon tea is coming soon.