Star Fish shutters
Shuttered Heights-area seafood restaurant gins up new look, name, and menu
![Star Fish restaurant interior](https://houston.culturemap.com/media-library/star-fish-restaurant-interior.jpg?id=30541823&width=2000&height=1500&quality=65&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Local restaurant group Sambrooks Management Company continues to put its stamp on the restaurants it purchased from Cherry Pie Hospitality last September. Having already changed Lee's Fried Chicken and Donuts into Sam's Fried Chicken and Donuts, the company now turns its attention to the seafood restaurant Star Fish.
That restaurant has served its last meal. When it reopens after a month or so of renovations, it will be named 1751 Sea and Bar.
Physical changes will be fairly extensive. The private dining room is being eliminated to expand the bar, particularly its community table. Former design elements like the fish tank and the rock and roll marlin will be removed. The new atmosphere will be "warm, inviting, and vibrant," according to a statement released by the company.
Sambrooks culinary director Lyle Bento worked with executive chefs J.D. Woodward and Michael Nutt on a new menu that features dishes such as crawfish souffle, smoked duck gumbo, and paneéd flounder. The new menu's goal is to give diners the ability to choose either a traditional multi-course meal or split an array of shareable plates.
“Lyle and his team have created a menu that we believe will make 1751 Sea and Bar the premier seafood destination in Houston," owner Michael Sambrooks said in a statement. "They have honed their recipes over the last several months in tasting menus at Star Fish to great review, and we couldn’t be more excited to support their creations with a refreshed and rebranded concept.”
The restaurant's new name takes its inspiration from the Gin Act of 1751. As that implies, the cocktail program will focus on gin. Beverage director David Maness will have over 100 varieties of gin available on the back bar, and his cocktail list will feature the spirit.
With the switch from Star Fish to 1751, the Sambrooks team can turn its attention to two more projects: possibly rebranding Pi Pizza and developing ideas for the still-unnamed Tex-Mex restaurant it plans to open in the former Montrose location of Cane Rosso.