Holley's Shuttered
Acclaimed Midtown seafood restaurant shutters as the latest victim of Harvey
Hurricane Harvey's flood waters may have receded a month ago, but the Houston restaurant community is still feeling its effects.
Midtown seafood restaurant Holley's announced on Facebook that it had closed effective immediately.
In response to CultureMap's request for additional comment, chef-owner Mark Holley cited damage done to the restaurant during the storm as a contributing factor to the decision to close.
"As you know, we were forced to shut down the restaurant for three weeks post Harvey, and unfortunately we were not able to fully recover from being closed for that extended amount of time," Holley wrote in an email. "It is with a heavy heart that we close our doors to this fabulous city."
When it opened in 2014, Holley's represented a new start for the chef who rose to prominence during well-regarded stints at Creole institution Brennan's and high-flying seafood restaurant Pesce. He mixed Southern and global influences and tapped a couple of rising star chefs in Brandon Silva and Kenten Marin (now both with The Kirby Group) to help realize the vision. Of course, he kept his signature fried chicken pop-ups, which attracted sold-out crowds for the family style feasts.
Given his devoted following, hopefully Holley reemerges at another restaurant soon. If he followed a similar path to John Sheely's recent evolution from fine dining Mockingbird Bistro to more casual Lowbrow, Holley could have an interesting new career that would allow another generation of diners to experience his Southern-inspired cuisine.