7 minute read
DINING OUT
from AUGUST 2021
A Garden of Delights
MFAH’s new restaurant sprouts fresh and creative fare.
By KIM HOGSTROM
Gone are the days when Houston was known as the land of steak and potatoes. Still, our city had been missing something—in spite of its current reputation as a dining destination rich with regional and global flavors and experiences. Absent from our dining scene was a garden of delights.
Welcome to town, Le Jardinier.
Located in the landmark Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), the new restaurant offers visitors fresh, creative fare, served in the comfort of a soft, welcoming interior.
With its prestigious museum address, one might imagine Le Jardinier to be stuffy or intimidating. Add to that the restaurant’s Michelin-starred, French-trained chef Alain Verzeroli, and you might guess that reservations are hard to come by. Not so.
The dining environment is absolutely fresh, yet strangely familiar—both awe-inspiring and warmly embracing. And the prices allow for more than rare visits on special occasions. According to Chef Verzeroli, the restaurant’s culinary director, the average all-inclusive check is about $110 to $120 per person.
Le Jardinier complements its museum host perfectly. Floor-to-ceiling windows draw one’s attention to the magnificent Cullen Sculpture Garden just beyond. Lush banquettes and soft chairs invite one to sit for hours and watch the evening light change. Mirrors behind the lengthy bar reveal the animated faces and excitement of the guests.
Many shades of greens, browns, yellows, pinks, and blues emerge from a large tapestry by Houston artist Trenton Doyle Hancock. Art and nature blend here, as the textile is the artist’s impression of a forest. It was commissioned specifically for Le Jardiner, and seems to be a perfect choice for this beautiful botanical garden.
The menu echoes nature, as well. Le Jardinier features a refined, vegetable-forward concept rooted in modern French culinary technique. Seasonal ingredients work with the rhythms of nature, taking full advantage of the Texas growing seasons. The restaurant sources the highest-quality seasonal fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs and greens, sustainable seafood, poultry, and meat in close relationship with local suppliers.
Chef Verzeroli brings to Houston his culinary artistry and decades of experience in some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants. Paris-trained, he spent 10 years in Japan prior to becoming Le Jardinier’s culinary director. “The Japanese are very attuned to nature,” the gracious chef explains. “They have learned how to wait for every ingredient to arrive at the very peak of its flavor. This ability presents so many options for the menu we have at Le Jardinier. It makes all the difference.”
“That’s for certain,” adds Houstonian Gracie Cavner with a chuckle. Cavner has become the city’s leading authority on vegetable gardens after founding her nonprofit Recipe for Success Foundation 16 years ago. The agency, which now has a global reach, is dedicated to combating childhood obesity by changing the way children understand, appreciate, and eat food. She was even invited to the White House when First Lady Michelle Obama launched her Let’s Move children’s nutrition initiative.
Cavner and her husband have been out of town since the opening of Le Jardinier, but
they are looking forward to their first visit.
“When we eat vegetables that were picked just hours before, when they have arrived at the height of their growing season, that’s the ultimate in dining,” Cavner emphasizes. “Each vegetable has its own flavor profile, but if they are prepared properly, at the proper time, there are so many wonderful things we can do with them. They are one of nature’s perfect foods.”
While Le Jardiner is plant-centric, there are other delights not to be overlooked. Verzaroli is pleased with what he has discovered in Houston, in terms of fresh seafood and meat options. And his pastries are already making waves.
“I had never visited Houston, so I spent many months here before we opened,” Chef Verzaroli says. I got to know the suppliers, and I am happy with the wonderful produce and products available in this city. I’ve also spent a lot of time learning about what Houstonians crave, and developing a menu that incorporates the unique terroir of the city.”
Verzaroli’s unusual menu is indeed a work of art that blends healthy options and indulgences without compromise. Guests will find dishes such as Texas Gulf shrimp with Homestead Gristmill grits and a spicy bisque for $36. The Ora King salmon with courgettes and lemongrass emulsion is $46, and who could resist the $48 Wagyu bavette au jus with broccolini, charred eggplant mousse, and chips?
Texas Gulf Shrimp
For more information about Le Jardinier, go to lejardinier-houston.com. Recipe for Success information is at recipe4success.org.
When: Dinner served 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Lunch service will begin later this year. Where: Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 5500 Main
—Heyd Fontenot
Luke Hamilton dances on the artFACTORY stage. Colton Berry as The Emcee in artFACTORY’s upcoming production of Cabaret.
Luke Hamilton (l) and Colton Berry (r) in rehearsal for their upcoming world premiere musical Gatsby.
Art with an Edge
The upcoming artFACTORY 2021–22 season has a lineup worth watching.
By SAM BYRD Photos by HEATHER HALL
Houston is a theater-lovers’ best-kept secret. While we may not have the prestige of Broadway or the star power of Los Angeles, we do have the second-largest theater district in the country, and we’re one of only five American cities with permanent professional resident companies in all the major performing-arts disciplines (dance, theater, symphony, opera). Better yet, the performing arts are made even more accessible by the many smaller stages located throughout the city. One of those hot spots is artFACTORY, and they’re eager to raise the curtain and welcome audiences to their 2021–22 season.
Operated by gay couple and theater buffs Colton Berry and Luke Hamilton, artFACTORY is located at 1125 Providence Street near the University of Houston-Downtown campus. The organization has operated out of this location in The Docks (formerly occupied by another Houston gem, The Catastrophic Theatre) since 2018. Before artFACTORY, Berry and Hamilton ran another beloved venue, EaDo Playhouse.
Berry’s involvement in theater actually started at a tender young age. “I have three older brothers, and my father has a degree in physical education. We were a very sportscentric family, but it wasn’t my thing. I got a flyer in elementary school in second grade for a youth theater. I did a production of The Emperor’s New Clothes and never stopped. In middle school, my dad and I built an outdoor theater. I started producing at 13 years old, and I’ve been producing my whole life,” Berry says.
Hamilton’s story is quite similar. He began extracurricular drama programs in elementary school, and then found himself heavily drawn to dance in high school. His performance as Harold Hill in Clear Brook High School’s The Music Man in 2011 earned him attention from Theatre Under The Stars’ Tommy Tune Awards, where he was nominated for Best Leading Actor. He later attended Texas State University to study musical theater.
The powerhouse couple first met a decade ago through Houston’s performing-arts circuit. “We saw each other across the room and said, ‘Okay, this is it,’” Berry recalls.
Their relationship has been a boon for Houston’s performing-arts scene, with their artFACTORY vision of offering Houston theater-creators a unique outlet for their artistry through the development and production of new works and the reinvention of existing works.
“We endeavor to continue producing musical theater and grow. We hope to provide interesting new programming for Houston. We don’t replicate [traditional forms of] musical theater; instead, we look at everything from a new perspective. We also try to do new Houston premieres. We want to write and produce original work. We’d like to continue growing in that direction and make artFACTORY a staple in Houston,” Berry explains.
The duo notes that their upcoming season will resemble much of the pre-pandemic season they had finalized before COVID-19 shut down the performing-arts world. “This was originally our 2020 season, [since] we decided that we’d hold on to the titles we had already licensed,” Hamilton says. “We’re mounting three productions in 2021 and five in 2022. Our regular patrons can see that’s a spaced-out season, compared to how we normally operate. It gives us more time in the rehearsal process, and to see how the shows run.”
The pause in production during COVID-19 also afforded the couple lots of time to write new material. One of those projects will be
