Bludorn partners Aaron Bludorn and Cherif Mbodji are ready to unveil their latest project. Perseid, the duo’s first all-day concept, will open this Thursday, January 16.
Located on the campus of the Hotel Saint Augustine, the recently-opened boutique hotel in Montrose, Perseid, named for the annual meteor shower that takes place in August, aims to be a neighborhood bistro that actually draws Houstonians to dine — an almost impossible task for a Houston hotel restaurant. While the list of people who’ve tried without breaking through is long — Top Chef Masters winner Chris Cosentino’s Rosalie’s Italian Soul being among the more recent examples — Aaron Bludorn is confident that Houstonians will support Perseid just as enthusiastically as they have his three other restaurants, fine dining eatery Bludorn, seafood restaurant Navy Blue, and lively tavern Bar Bludorn.
“Being a local restaurant group gives us an advantage over other hotels that bring in chefs from out of town,” Bludorn tells CultureMap. “It’s hard to play an away game in the restaurant business. You need home field advantage.”
Also giving Perseid an advantage towards success is the strong relationship the Bludorn team has established with Bunkhouse, the Austin-based hotel group behind the Hotel Saint Augustine. As CultureMap reported in December, the 71-room property occupies five, two-story buildings that quietly blend into its neighborhood. Its location near the intersection of Richmond and Mandell is only a short walk to the Menil Collection and Rothko Chapel.
“Bludorn [the company] has never partnered with anyone in our young history,” the chef notes. “It’s a big deal to link our brand to them. We feel very comfortable with Bunkhouse. If we signed up with someone with less synergy, I wouldn’t be able to say that.”
The hotel’s proximity to the Menil Collection also inspired the direction of Perseid’s food. Building on the story of the de Menil family’s move from France to Houston, Bludorn and his team created a menu built around some of the classic French fare that diners might expect from a chef who spent 10 years leading the kitchen at New York’s celebrated Bar Boulud. That means French staples such as duck and foie gras terrine, escargot, and coq au vin will be available at lunch and dinner.
“I’ve wanted to do a French restaurant for a long time,” Bludorn says. “If you look at Gulf Coast cuisine, there are so many overlaps between French and Gulf Coast cuisine. I wanted something that really speaks to that. I wanted a place where we can have a terrine on the menu full time.”
Of course, simply pulling recipes out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking won’t do. Perseid adds some Gulf Coast flair to all of its creations, such as serving crawfish sausage as an appetizer or giving a Thai twist to its duck frites courtesy of mango, green pepper, and coriander.
Breakfast, served daily beginning at 7 am, draws liberally from the brunch menus of its three sibling restaurants. That means Bludorn’s celebrated pancakes, previously only available for Sunday brunch, are now more readily available. Pastry chef Marie Riddle has also created a full roster of viennoiserie, ensuring freshly-baked croissants and other pastries will be available every morning.
Bludorn, who began his culinary career as a breakfast cook, says he has deep respect for the morning meal. He hopes Houstonians will work the restaurant into their morning routines, such as University of St. Thomas faculty stopping by before their classes or parents coming for coffee after dropping their kids off at a nearby school such as Annunciation Orthodox.
“There are some restaurants that serve breakfast in Houston. I’d love for this restaurant to be a place where Houstonians have a breakfast meeting,” Bludorn says.
Perseid will also assist with the hotel’s bar, the Augustine Lounge, which is open for breakfast, light bites, and cocktails through the day. It will also prepare items for events at the Montrose Ballroom, an event space that’s located above the restaurant with a capacity of up to 250 standing (130 seated). Its menus will be available to hotel guests via room service during the restaurant’s operating hours.
