Foodie News

Dinner theater: Pilot Light chefs offer a casual new pop-up venture

Tomato soup and grilled cheese? Gruyere-crusted bread baked inside a tomato soupcan, served with a tomato aspic

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
A sweet-n-sour palate cleanser: Frozen grapes kicked up with grape juice andsherry vinegar

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Lamb tartare served with a goat's milk curry, pickled apples, cilantro stems andpistachio

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Black sesame noodles topped with uni at Pilot Light's inaugural dinner lastsummer at Revival Market

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Gulf shrimp served on seaweed with hazelnut foam and celery leaves

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Terrence Gallivan wields his tweezers to the delight of diners everywhere.

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner in the kitchen at Revival Market

Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller

It’s confirmed: The creative duo behind the Pilot Light Restaurant Group is heating up the kitchen again. As they work toward a regular restaurant location, Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan are hosting communal 8-person dinners to hone their chefery, work towards a menu, and get to know their patrons.

This past summer hundreds of people waited patiently outside Revival Market in the searing heat for tickets to the duo’s most recent meals. Limited seating for the dinners and only three nights to choose from meant many were turned away disappointed. And the chefs just weren’t OK with that.

Perhaps the most alluring aspect to these meals is the opportunity to interact with the chefs in a dinner-theater of sorts.

The new dinners, dubbed "inResidence," began quietly several weeks ago as a way to accommodate demand. Those commitments now honored, Siegel-Gardner and Gallivan are opening their kitchen again, just in time for the season of celebration.

Both chefs are well pedigreed, boasting stays at globally renowned restaurants like The Fat Duck, Danny Meyer's The Modern, Restaurant Gordon Ramsey, Aquavit, Viajante, August, and Aureole, among others. Here in Houston they’ve launched several successful pop-up ventures and now are offering this new opportunity as they work toward a permanent spot in town.

If you’ve sampled their style before, you already know how expertly they play with flavors, textures, and accouterments. Siegel-Gardner and Gallivan take food that’s familiar and add unlikely elements and creative combinations; they are masterful mixers, skilled with their skillets, offering creative cookery and enticingly edible art. These new meals are the essence of the duo's desire for a casual dining experience in a contemporary setting.

Perhaps the most alluring aspect to these meals is the opportunity to interact with the chefs in a dinner-theater of sorts. An intimate setting and small group allow diners to witness the process up close and interact with the chefs: Watch as they use simple kitchen instruments to whip up unspeakably remarkable dishes, take notes on their perfect plating, question their choice of ingredients, and vow to replicate their culinary prowess at home (while silently knowing you never, ever could).

Siegel-Gardner and Gallivan can accommodate vegetarians, vegans, pescetarians, and carnivores alike: They’ve even been known to prepare special creations for those with a baby bump. So grab a group or go it alone — just be sure to go.

The new dinners are five courses, with a few extras thrown in for good measure, and BYOB. The cost is $88 per person, paid in advance. The location varies; call 832-713-7574 to reserve a spot, and one of the chefs will fill you in on the options, and follow @PilotLightRG on Twitter for more news and announcements.

Check out Seth Siegel-Gardner's "inResidence" video preview:

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bring on barnaby's

Favorite Houston comfort food spot picks Garden Oaks for 10th location

Courtesy of Barnaby's Cafe

Barnaby's Cafe is coming to the Stomping Grounds this fall.

Earlier this week, real estate developer Bryan Danna promised “big news…very soon” about a new tenant for the former LuLoo’s Day & Night space at his Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks. That news is that Houston favorite Barnaby’s Cafe has claimed the space for a new location that will open later this year.

When a Barnaby’s decal appear on the restaurant’s door a couple of days ago, news of the restaurant’s imminent arrival spread quickly on social media. It will be Barnaby’s tenth location, joining outposts in Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, and more.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,250-square-foot space at the Stomping Grounds. It will offer a to-go window for people hanging out in the development’s green space as well as a gated, dog-friendly patio. Houston artist Roberto Cervantes will contribute works to the restaurant’s interior.

Founded in 1992 by restaurateur Jeff Gale, Barnaby’s is known for its wide-ranging and affordable menu of classic American fare, including salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and dinner entrees. Customer favorites include the Lebanese chicken fattoush salad, chipotle black bean burger, baby back ribs, and green eggs, which are scrambled with spinach and artichoke hearts. Dogs can snack on a special “puppy menu” of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, or scrambled eggs over brown rice.

Stomping Grounds green space A to-go window will expedite orders for people in the Stomping Grounds' green space.Courtesy of Stomping Grounds

“Bringing Barnaby’s to Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been on my wish list for more than a decade, so I’m incredibly grateful that Jeff Gale and his team saw Stomping Grounds as the right fit,” Danna said in a statement. “Jeff and I go back to his first Heights location, which was one of Barnaby’s first big moves north of Montrose, and I have always respected what he and his longtime team have built. Thirty years in the restaurant business is a serious accomplishment. You do not make it that long unless you know how to take care of people, build loyalty, and become part of the neighborhood.”

When it opens this fall, Barnaby’s will be open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. It will join other restaurants at the Stomping Grounds, including Fat Cat Creamery, Tex-Mex restaurant La Mex, Bollo Woodfired Pizza, casual sushi restaurant Himari, Little Sister Cake Shop, and High Five Mini Bar. Earlier this week, casual Vietnamese restaurant Pho Prime announced that it had claimed the space formerly occupied by The Pho Fix for a new location that will also open this fall.

news-you-can-eat openings stomping grounds barnaby's cafe