Pizza Motus shutters

West U Roman-inspired pizzeria folds after less than a year

Pizza Motus has closed.

Photo by Becca Wright

West University Place residents and pizza fans across the Houston area suffered a loss over the weekend. Pizza Motus, the Roman-inspired pizzeria, has shuttered after less than a year in business.

Owner Will Gruy confirmed the closure but declined CultureMap's request to comment on the circumstances surrounding his decision to cease operations. His experience living in Rome, where he attended school and had a brief career as a professional motorcycle racer, inspired him to open the restaurant.

When it opened last August, the restaurant seemed to have a lot going for it: a neighborhood-friendly BYOB policy with no corkage fee, a convenient location near neighborhood staples like Tiny's No. 5 and Little Matt's, and being one of the few restaurants in Houston to serve pizza al taglio. The style, which is popular in Rome, is known for using dough with a longer fermentation period that yields a light, airy crust. Sold as whole pies or by-the-slice, Gruy hoped to appeal to West U families.

So why didn't it catch on? For some insight, we turned to CultureMap's resident expert on both West U and pizza: columnist Ken Hoffman. He had concerns about Pizza Motus' prospects from the beginning.

"To win in Houston's extremely competitive pizza market, you need to offer a terrific product at a reasonable price. Pizza Motus did neither," Hoffman says. "Plus parking was an issue, and they didn't offer home delivery. I thought it was doomed the day it opened. Personally, I'm disappointed because I could walk there from my spring/summer house [note: it's also his fall/winter house]."

Thanks to Ken for his insight.

Fans of Pizza Motus' pizza al taglio will find a modified version at Vinny's, Agricole Hospitality's pizza by-the-slice restaurant in EaDo. True fans of the style might hope that Bonci, the acclaimed Rome-based restaurants with locations in Chicago and New Orleans, will someday make its way to the Bayou City.

pizza closings

truffle shuffle

Fine dining chef serves up casual sandwich shop in Houston suburb

Photo by Hungry AF Media

Richmond may not be top of mind among the Houston suburbs with destination-worthy restaurants — other than Larry’s Original Mexican, of course — but a new cafe could have sandwich lovers from across greater Houston contemplating a visit to Fort Bend County.

Meet Truffle & Rye Market & Café. The new restaurant, which celebrated its grand opening earlier this month, serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday. In the morning, look for freshly baked pastries such as muffins and banana bread alongside breakfast sandwiches that are made with organic sourdough bagels.

Lunch is built around sandwiches made with freshly baked schiacciata bread, an Italian-style flatbread that’s similar to focaccia, that Truffle & Rye sources from Houston's Artisan Bread Gallery. They include The Pig (mortadella, stracciatella, pistachio, pesto, and pistachio crumble), The Boar (spicy salami, whipped ricotta cheese, Italian pepper spread, and arugula), and The Bird (roasted turkey, basil pesto, provolone, roasted tomato, and arugula). Three salads are also available.

Beverage options include a full coffee program, including lattes made with Mill-King milk and house made syrups, as well as teas, lemonade, and bottles of wine.

Truffle and Rye restaurant Kaitlyn Chavez and Joey Chavez Truffle and Rye owners Kaitlyn and Joey Chavez.Courtesy of Truffle & Rye Market & Café

Photo by Hungry AF Media

The Bird is made with turkey, pesto, provolone, and roasted tomatoes.

Chef Joey Chavez and his wife Kaitlyn are the husband-and-wife duo behind Truffle & Rye. Prior to launching his private chef company The Hidden Truffle, chef Chavez worked at a number of notable restaurants, including The French Laundry, Thomas Keller’s legendary, three-star Michelin fine dining restaurant in California; the Caribou Club in Aspen; and Brennan’s of Houston, where he had a brief stint as executive chef. Kaitlyn Chavez also brings top-level hospitality experience, having worked for The Ritz Carlton luxury hotel chain.

“We built The Hidden Truffle around private dining and elevated experiences,” Kaitlyn shares. “But we kept coming back to the idea of wanting something for our community, somewhere people could come in regularly, feel taken care of, and enjoy food that still holds that same level of quality.”

While the restaurant won’t serve dinner daily, it will be open on select nights for wine tastings, sourdough classes, pop-up dinners, and other happenings.

Although he has a fine dining background, chef Chavez said he’s excited to bring this more casual concept to Richmond. “We wanted to build something we would want to go to ourselves,” he said. “A place where the food is intentional, the ingredients matter, and people feel comfortable coming in multiple times a week.”

Truffle & Rye is located in Richmond at 107 S. Third Street. It opens at 7 am Monday-Thursday and 8 am on Friday and Saturday.

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