Changes at Bosta
Museum District cafe temporarily shutters, but tasty changes are coming
A popular Museum District destination for coffee and wine has temporarily closed as it evolves to meet the needs of its neighborhood, but it will return soon.
Bosta Wine & Coffee will be closed from May 7 until May 23 to allow newly hired general manager Jonathan Lopez to retrain the staff. In addition, the cafe has filed for permits with the City of Houston that will allow it to install a full kitchen and become a restaurant called Bosta Kitchen.
Lopez explains that the two week closure will allow him to ensure that Bosta’s staff is working together and executing consistently.
“I want to be able to train a new staff and provide them with the right tools to give amazing service,” he says. “It comes from having the coffee come out the same from every barista and the panini the same from every different barista. It should be the best-testing in the neighborhood.”
While the two week closure will cause a short-term disruption, the addition of a full kitchen will allow Bosta to fulfill Balcor Hospitality managing director Christopher Balat’s original vision of bringing a neighborhood restaurant to Museum Park. Once the kitchen has been built, Bosta will offer food that's similar to Montrose favorite Paulie’s, with a menu of sandwiches, pastas, and salads that are being developed by chef Chris Leung. If all goes according to plan, that process should be completed within 90 days.
“The changes should have come sooner after Museum Park Cafe closed so that we could provide a more extensive menu to everyone,” Balat tells CultureMap. “We know the neighborhood is craving more. We felt it was important that we have a food portion in addition to the wine and coffee selection.”
Balat says he considered finding another operator for Bosta, just as he turned the Museum Park Cafe space over to Barnaby’s, but opted instead to build on the success Balcor has had with Rice Village ice cream shop Cloud 10 Creamery.
“We know how to execute. We just have had a history of not executing with the right people,” Balat explains. “We think we’ve found the right teammate . . . if we can implement that with a good operator like Jonathan, who we believe in, hopefully it will go well. All we can do is give him a chance and see what happens.”
