Common Bond in The Heights

Rumor no more: Common Bond bringing sweet treats to hot Heights development

For the last few months, rumors have been circulating that Common Bond, the acclaimed Montrose bakery and cafe, would be expanding to at least one additional location.

Those rumors are true.

Common Bond’s owners Johnny Carrabba and George Joseph have reached an agreement with local real estate developer Braun Enterprises to open a second location at the company’s Heights Waterworks development. The bakery will join previously announced tenants Hopdoddy and Ripe Cuisine at the project.

Common Bond will occupy the space that had been slated for Dallas-based coffee shop Ascension, which will no longer be opening at the development. Josh Jacobs and Jamie Weaver with EDGE Realty Partners represented Common Bond in the transaction.

Braun Enterprises owner Dan Braun tells CultureMap that he’s had a long history with Common Bond. He grew up with the bakery’s founder, chef Roy Shvartzapel, and has been a fan of Carrabba’s as both a diner and successful business.

“We think incredibly highly of the Carrabba team, to the point that I’ve brought young restaurateurs to meet with Johnny and his team in the past for guidance,” Braun writes in an email. “In our estimation, Johnny is one of the best restaurateurs in the country. Bringing Common Bond will help facilitate our vision of this project being something special that the neighborhood will enjoy for generations.”

Since the project is still early in the stages of creating the new location’s design, Carrabbas president Hieu Nguyen tells CultureMap that the company isn’t ready to commit to a firm timeline for when it might open. Still, that Carrabba's is ready to move forward with a second location is a testament to the company’s success in integrating the bakery into its portfolio since acquiring it in December 2015.

“People come to the cafe on Westheimer, and they really enjoy themselves,” Nguyen says. “Our goal is to produce more to serve more people on a consistent basis and show we serve a great croissant and a great chocolate walnut cookie and great artisan bread.”

Over the last year or so, Common Bond has expanded its hours to include dinner service and improved operations so that it maintains inventory throughout the day, because nothing is more frustrating than a croissant craving that goes unfulfilled. Customers can even order custom cakes and other items that were not available when the bakery first opened.

"First of all, when we bought Common Bond, there was a learning curve," Carrabba says. "Common Bond’s not a hot dog stand. It takes time to figure out. It’s been two years since we bought it, and we moved very slowly, because we had to get the concept where you could grow."

Carrabba emphasizes that he aims to grow the concept slowly, based on having the right people in place. The company chose The Heights for a second location, because it feels like the area's residents will appreciate its offerings.

“With the team we have in place now, we’ve been able to extend our hours and not only keep the original recipes but add variety to it,” Nguyen says. “I think we’re in a really great place right now with our team and our leadership.”

Construction has begun on the site with the first tenants slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2018. Braun adds that the project still has one building available, but the company is being “extremely selective” in order to find “the right complement to the existing tenants.”

The Heights remains Houston’s hottest neighborhood for new restaurants. As long as places like Common Bond continue to see opportunity there, that won’t change any time soon.

Common Bond is coming to the Heights Waterworks.

Courtesy of Braun Enterprises

Common Bond is coming to the Heights Waterworks.

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bring on the Bacalhau

Michelin-starred Houston restaurant heads to Portugal for new season

Photo by Zach Horst

No conversation about Houston’s best restaurants would be complete without mentioning March, Goodnight Hospitality’s Mediterranean-inspired, fine dining, tasting menu restaurant in Montrose.

For its 12th season, which begins this Friday, August 7, March will take a broad look at Portugal. Over the course of pre-dinner snacks in its lounge, seven courses in its dining room, and take away desserts, chef-partner Felipe Riccio and his team will guide diners through all aspects of Portuguese cuisine, including its trade routes with China, India, and North Africa.

Riccio tells CultureMap that Portugal was the logical follow up to March’s 11th season, which examined northern Spain. He began the research process a few months ago, drawing upon published literature, cookbooks, and his own experiences as a stage at a restaurant in Lisbon. More than a menu update, seasons at March also include changes to the beverage offerings and creating service touches that enhance the experience.

Photo by Zach Horst

Rabbit cozido.

“Portugal is so close geographically to the north of Spain, and there’s a lot of similarities,” he says. “The menu really explores a lot of places outside of the Mediterranean where the Portuguese had influence and were influenced by. It’s all these trade routes.”

Priced at $230 plus drinks, tax, and gratuity, a meal at March begins in the lounge with four snacks, including a peri peri-spiced duck rillette, a delicate tart with lobster and caviar, a tempura-fried fish (peixinhos da horta) and the Macau-inspired porcho balichao made with manilla clams.

As always, March brings premium ingredients to its take on classic dishes. For example, it sources Japanese Almaco Jack for a crudo that’s inspired by Portuguese salt cod (bacalahua). Cozido, a slow-cooked stew that’s a staple of Portuguese cooking, gets reinterpreted as a house made rabbit sauce with foie gras. Riccio acknowledges that diners expect a certain level of luxury at this price point, but diners may not always realize how valuable properly-sourced ingredients are.

“I don’t think it always has to be so overt. I think the majority of people, the experience as a whole delivers that value,” Riccio says.

Similarly, the Portugal menu continues March’s move to a set, seven-course menu instead of giving diners the choice of either six or nine courses. Riccio see that as another sign of the restaurant’s maturity.

“A tasting menu is restrictive. We needed to earn that trust and give people options. I felt like people trust us and we’ve proved we can create an experience,” he says.

Since part of the criteria for a Michelin star is consistency across visits, March’s ability to hold its star while still changing its menu twice a year is a testament to the kitchen’s skill. Add in the server’s deep knowledge of every dish on the menu, its comprehensive beverage offerings, and a dining room that features museum- quality art, and it’s reasonable to think that March might become Texas’ first restaurant to earn a two-star rating. For his part, Riccio would welcome the recognition.

“I think March as an entire experience, as a restaurant day-in and day-out, we can be at that level. We strive to give people that experience to where they have that menu and feel it’s well worth it,” he says. “That recognition. I’ve seen what it means for the team, for the guests, and for the validation of the experience, and, obviously, for my career and the restaurant as a business.”

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