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    The Revenant Reborn

    Lessons learned: Veteran chef cooks up serious values with Briargrove restaurant's revival

    Eric Sandler
    Oct 28, 2020 | 11:45 am
    La Vista Greg Gordon
    Chef Greg Gordon is back in Briargrove.
    Courtesy photo

    Chef Greg Gordon is back where he belongs. Best known as the chef-owner of La Vista restaurant, Gordon has returned to Briargrove as the chef and operating partner of the restaurant formerly known as The Del, a family-friendly, neighborhood establishment that opened in 2015.

    To note the changes associated with Gordon's arrival, the restaurant has been rebranded as Del Vista Local Bar and Grill. Gordon has installed a new menu based on the dishes he served at La Vista, the Italian-inspired, BYOB restaurant he operated on Fountain View for approximately 20 years.

    The new restaurant represents a fresh start for the chef. In 2018, Gordon relocated La Vista to Lazybrook/Timbergrove with a new menu and a full liquor license, but it closed after a year. Looking back, Gordon tells CultureMap he didn't understand the value of what he'd created until it was gone. He's approaching this venture with a fresh attitude.

    “I don’t know why I didn’t get it years ago. I look at people like Charles Clark who are gracious and understand the hospitality of what we do. I just wasn’t,” Gordon says. “You were lucky to eat my food instead of me being lucky you were eating my food. I don’t know why I never got that relationship.”

    While The Del isn’t BYOB, Gordon says he’s offering value by pricing name brand wines at or below retail and keeping his menu items affordable. For example, Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon is $79, The Prisoner red blend is $47, La Crema Chardonnay is $37, and Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio is $29. Most cocktails cost $10 or less, and the most expensive dish is a $30 tenderloin in a port wine sauce.

    The menu includes options such as personal-sized pizzas, a selection of pastas, and shareable starters such as calamari and bruschetta. La Vista’s signature coconut cream pie is present and accounted for.

    Those dishes will likely taste better than ever before, too. After La Vista closed, Gordon worked at Porta’Vino, restaurateur Bill Floyd’s wine-driven restaurant. While there, he worked alongside Potente chef Danny Trace, who Gordon credits for improving his culinary techniques in areas such as brining and how food is seasoned during cooking.

    “Observing him and working with him and seeing what he did, I think it’s in everything I do now,” Gordon says. “The lasagna has smoked brisket in it now . . . There’s a lot of Cajun seasoning that’s subtle, but it adds to the profile of my food.”

    In addition to a new menu, regulars of The Del will notice that Gordon has replaced the children’s play area with more outdoor seating, a necessity at a time when many people prefer not to dine indoors. Del Vista will remain family friendly — kids with limited palates could order a dish like pepperoni pizza or fettuccine Alfredo — but they’re expected to remain seated with their parents throughout their meals.

    Gordon says he’s pleased with how his first couple of weeks have gone. Former La Vista regulars are finding their way to Del Vista, and he’s winning new fans.

    “Maybe it’s another opportunity. I’m The Revenant, back from the dead,” Gordon says. “Maybe I’ll get to fix all that shit from the past. I try anyway.”

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    a fresh start

    Award-winning Houston cocktail bar diverts to new home in Montrose

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 12, 2025 | 5:00 pm
    Diversion cocktail bar Montrose
    Photo by Manoah Rodriguez
    The Vilanova Ritual is prepared tableside in a teapot.

    An award-winning Houston cocktail bar has found a new home. Diversión will reopen Thursday, June 19 in Montrose’s food-focused Harlow District development.

    Located at 1226 W Clay Street, Diversión Montrose will occupy one of the two houses that comprise Emma Jane, the European-inspired teahouse that opened last year. It replaces the original location of Diversión that opened in early 2021 in Spring Branch. Both Diversión’s original location and Degust, its companion tasting menu restaurant, quietly closed last year.

    Known for its polished service and elaborate cocktails, Esquire magazine named Diversión’s original iteration to its list of the Best New Bar in America for 2022. That ethos has been “refreshed” to be “a more intimate and playful setting,” according to press materials.

    Patrons will find a new cocktail menu that includes drinks such as the Operation: ‘White Flame’ (vodka, dry vermouth, Earl Grey, and caviar); the Sand Dollar Beach, an on-trend mini martini; and the Vilanova Ritual, which is prepared for two people in one of Emma Jane’s signature tea pots. Food options include Korean fried chicken, a Japanese-style mushroom salad (sunomono), and caviar service with crème fraiche dip, soy caramel, and crepes.

    While the original Diversión required a special trip to Spring Branch, the new one could be one stop on an evening in the Harlow District. Located on the property that served as the home to treasured Italian restaurants Nino's, Vincent's, and Grappino di Nino, the development now includes upscale Italian restaurant La Griglia, premier sushi spot Katami, and lively patio bar Verde Garden.

    Diversión will be open Tuesday-Sunday from 5 pm-1 am.


    Diversion cocktail bar Montrose
      

    Photo by Manoah Rodriguez

    The Vilanova Ritual is prepared tableside in a teapot.

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