Introducing Ready Room

Prolific Heights restaurateur shakes up neighborhood with new musically inspired cocktail bar

Houston Ready Room Heights Peter Clifton bar front

Veteran Houston bartender Peter Clifton's menu represents Houston's six wards.

Photo by Eric Sandler

One of the Heights’ most prolific restaurateurs has quietly opened the neighborhood’s newest cocktail bar. Delicious Concepts owner Ken Bridge (Ritual, Lola, Republic Diner + Noodle Bar) has partnered with veteran Houston bartender Peter Clifton on the Ready Room, a new bar located next to Ritual.

Named for a Houston dive bar where Bridge went to see live blues and jazz as a teenager (he met B.B. King there once), the Ready Room has a decidedly retro vibe with a decor that features wood-paneled walls, ceiling tiles that look like pressed tin, and vintage chandeliers.

Clifton and general manager Cody Northcutt collaborated on the cocktail menu, which features different sections named in honor of Houston’s six historic wards. Drink names from each section are taken from a historic person or place associated with that ward.

“We investigated the demographics, culture, and history of all the wards. We figured out it’d be a really cool idea to break the menu up into six wards, depending on what style of drink you got,” Clifton says. “It came with a story of you understanding what Ready Room was. It’s not really about us, but it’s also about the city.”

The bar’s liquor selection starts with 64 bottles of liqueurs and amaros; it also includes an extensive collection of bourbon, global whisky, and just about any other spirit someone could possibly want, which is all part of the partners’ goal of providing the neighborhood with a welcoming space where someone could sip something neat, dive into a couple of cocktails, or even crack open a beer.

True to its namesake, Ready Room will host musical performances on Fridays and Saturdays. A vintage piano sits in one corner, and Bridge says he wants to see jazz and blues performed in the space. The bar will start hosting performers in the next couple of weeks.

“It was a big part of the concept for the Ready Room for me,” Bridge says. “Some of my favorite clubs and bars throughout the country have soloists or vocalists, some sultty jazz stuff, maybe a two piece with an upright bass. I love that.”

Bridge and Clifton are quick to emphasize they’re not reinventing the wheels on successful cocktail bars, and they’re even quicker to reject any labels like “speakeasy” for the bar, which doesn’t have a sign or much of any indication from the outside of what patrons will find when they open the door. Still, it should be poised to find a niche as a more elegant alternative to some of the other options on White Oak.

“I like to give my community what I think they want,” Bridge says. “I don’t like to put merit badges on me personally. I want people to have a good time and enjoy what we’ve done.”

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Ready Room; 2626 White Oak Street; Open daily from 4 pm to 2 am.

steak and putt

Michelin-recognized chef plans 2 new restaurants at proposed Houston golf club

Courtesy of Field Guide Festival

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A bold new plan is taking shaping that will bring a world-class golf course and Michelin-quality restaurant to Houston. Called The Burn Club at Cypress Forest, the proposal aims to transform the former Raveneaux Country Club into a Scottish, links-style course with a restaurant by Michael Fojtasek, chef-owner of Michelin-starred Olamaie in Austin.

The project is being led by Grover Smith, a hospitality professional with a resume that includes time at Austin’s Foreign & Domestic as well as Houston restaurants such as The Pass & Provisions and Bernadine’s. More recently, Smith operated Indie Chefs Week, which held a series of dinners around the country to showcase up-and-coming culinary talent.

Smith has submitted a proposal to the Cypress Forest Public Utility District, the government entity that owns the roughly 200-acre property, to lease the land to him for The Burn Club. Using an innovative nonprofit structure, the club would include two restaurants that will be open to the public, a casual concept called Campfire and a more elevated restaurant that's still unnamed.

The restaurants

As Fojtasek tells CultureMap, he and Smith reconnected via a mutual friend who knew they both loved golf. Chef Fojtasek is a regular at downtown Austin’s Butler Pitch & Putt, a par-3 golf course where he operates a food truck called Gimme Burger.

That experience informs his plans for Campfire. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant will serve sandwiches, burgers, and comfort food such as fried chicken and a chili-glazed pork chop.

As for the more fine dining-style restaurant, Fojtasek cites Maie Day, his Michelin-recommend steakhouse at the South Congress Hotel, as a starting point for the menu.

“I don’t want to call it a steakhouse, but certainly a live fire aspect,” he says. “A restaurant that speaks to what I want to cook, and the dining experience that we want to offer in relation to a place that feels easy to go to.”

The restaurant’s menu covers a wide range, with starters such as black pepper potato chips with smoked trout roe, tasso ham spoonbread and crab salad, Texas beef tartare, and a throwback chilled tomato aspic. Entrees could include whole grilled red snapper, a tomahawk ribeye, and barbecue grille shrimp.

“It’s mostly American fare,” he adds. “That’s the vernacular that I’ve traveled in for a long time. Taking some ideas from Olamaie and Maie Day and putting them together to create something that’s good for the neighborhood and folks who live around there.”

The neighborhood

Count area resident Braxton Watson as one of the plan’s supporters. He and some of his neighbors recently launched a website to urge other area residents to lobby the PUD board to consider Smith’s proposal, which includes reduced greens and membership fees for homeowners who have already contributed their tax dollars via a bond referendum that was approved in 2025.

“The problem is we don’t vote on [how to use the land],” Watson says. “People want to know what they can do to help. Be vocal. Share your comments with the PUD. The more and more people we talk to who have no idea what’s going on is frustrating. Our tax dollars are funding the purchase of this land.”

Watson got a first taste of Fojtasek’s food at a private party Smith held for friends and neighbors. “I’m excited about Michael’s restaurant. Olamaie is amazing. We thought it was an unbelievable deal,” he says.

The golf course

Smith has assembled a veteran team to help bring the Burn Clubs to life, including golf course architect Mike Nuzzo, former PGA Tour player Steve Elkington, architect Alex Warr, and golf course builder Heritage Links.

Members of the PUD board are also considering a proposal from the Dunn Golf Group, which operates courses in Amarillo, San Angelo, and the Dallas-area town of Rockwall. CultureMap reached out to a PUD board member for comment on the proposals but has yet to receive a response.

Still, Fojtasek has a simple message for his potential landlords.

“There are two young and hungry operators with great experience, looking to do something for the neighborhood and offer something that’s exceptional for a good value. I think the project is unique and interesting from the perspective of a golf outing . . . that can shine a light on Spring and also Houston at large”

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