Boot-scootin' new bar serves up trailer park chic to Washington Avenue

Visitors to The Menil Collection once again have a compelling, on campus dining option. Chrôma, the new restaurant from veteran Houston chef and restaurateur Claire Smith, is now open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Located in the former Bistro Menil space (1512 Sul Ross), Chrôma (styled in press materials as the all-lowercase “chrôma”) is an all-day cafe that serves Smith’s signature take on globally inspired comfort food.

"I'm honored by the trust the Menil Foundation has placed in me," Smith said in a statement. "Chrôma will be a space that reflects the creativity and warmth of the Menil community — a place where visitors, neighbors, and art lovers can gather, dine, and connect."

Smith worked with architect Dillon Kyle to transform Bistro Menil into Chrôma. The interior features a 30-foot sculptural bar that consists of seven kinds of marble in a butcher block pattern. The main dining room features a wood ceiling with bright orange felt leaves. Diners who opt for the 500-square-foot patio will have a view of the Menil’s celebrated Jack sculpture by Houston artist Jim Love.

"The space is an allegorical landscape," Kyle explained. "We have created a light and airy space that brings in the existing nature and landscape, aiming for a casualness that is comfortable to all.”

The menu will feel familiar to anyone who visited Smith’s previous establishments such as Shade, Canopy, and Alice Blue. Weekday breakfast includes classic egg dishes — think a green egg frittata; a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich; chilaquiles; and Smith’s signature quiche. Pair them with freshly baked pastries that include croissants, scones, danish, and a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie.

During lunch and dinner, meals start with appetizers, including Japanese eggplant, fried green tomatoes, cheese and charcuterie plates, deviled eggs, and campechana that’s made with shrimp and crab. From there, diners can pick one of six salads, including a chicken cobb, and entrees that run the gamut from a BLT to a cheeseburger, chicken flautas, and pan-seared red snapper in a Thai red curry sauce. Weekend brunch, served from 10 am-3 pm on Saturday and Sunday, offers many of the dishes from both the breakfast and dinner menus.

Considered one of Houston’s earliest advocates for using locally sourced ingredients on a menu, Smith opened Daily Review Cafe, her first restaurant, in 1994. She followed it with Shade, which debuted in the mid-aughts on 19th Street in the Heights. It earned a devoted following for its Southern-inspired comfort food such as the signature shrimp and grits.

In 2017, she transformed Shade into the European-inspired Alice Blue, with an assist from chef Jason Vaughan and beverage expert Sean Jensen — the duo who would go on to earn a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide for Nancy’s Hustle. She also operated all-day concept Canopy on Montrose Boulevard from 2009-2019.

Last year, Smith told CultureMap that she never planned to retire when Alice Blue closed in 2024. She was simply looking for the right opportunity to return to the dining scene.

“When the opportunity arose to open a project on the Menil campus, I jumped on it,” she said.

Chrôma opens daily at 7 am.

Photo by Becca Wright

Flautas and campechana are both available at Chroma.