One of this year’s most anticipated new restaurants is opening its doors this week. Little Bird will debut this Thursday, October 29.
Led by chef-owner Graham Laborde, Little Bird is, essentially, a New Orleans-style neighborhood restaurant dropped into the middle of the Heights. It draws on Laborde’s Louisiana roots, as well as his time working in New Orleans restaurants such as Commander’s Palace, Stella!, and Boucherie. Locally, the chef is known for Bernadine’s, his Gulf Coast-inspired restaurant that closed in 2017, and as the co-owner of Midtown restaurant and bar Winnie’s, which is known for its lively atmosphere and creative sandwiches.
“I love what we do at Winnie’s, but the idea of being able to serve a pork chop properly cooked or a piece of fish properly cooked was really appealing to me,” Laborde tells CultureMap.
While only two items — the New Orleans barbecue shrimp toast and ribeye au poivre — are holdovers from the Bernadine’s days, Laborde acknowledges there are ties that bind Little Bird to his former endeavor. One of those is sourcing as many ingredients from Texas and the Gulf Coast as possible. Consider the Breaux Bridge Platter, an entree of fried catfish and fried shrimp that are sourced from a purveyor near the Louisiana town.
“For me, vendor relationships are super important,” he says. “I want to serve Felix’s [Florez, owner of Cherry Block Craft Butcher in Katy] pork because it’s excellent. We get our steaks from local Texas ranchers, because they’re delicious.”
Currently, the menu is tight. It offers three raw items, five appetizers, eight entrees, plus a couple of salads, gumbo, and sides. Julia Doran, who led the pastry program at Bernadine’s, has created three Southern-style desserts. Laborde says the menu will grow slightly once the kitchen staff is dialed in, but don’t expect too many more items.
“We’ll figure out how to grow it a little, but I love the flexibility and tightness of a neighborhood restaurant. It doesn’t have to be big if there aren’t any misses,” he says.
The 168-seat space itself has a similar feel. Formerly home to casual seafood restaurant Flying Fish and short-lived neighborhood bar The Kid, both the interior and patio have been spruced up, but Laborde and general manager Chelsea Thomas worked within the space’s major features. For example, they kept the large bar in the front part of the restaurant. Local artists Whitney Garrett-Yarbrough and Dayle Booth (aka The Paint It Ladies) contributed a bayou-inspired mural that brightens part of the dining room.
“The dining rooms, one of the things I love is that, it’s a deceptively big space, but it's compartmentalized,” Laborde explains. “You can be in the front and it will still feel busy because you have people concentrated in different pockets.”
One part of the restaurant’s patio will be available for dining, while another is reserved for sipping cocktails either before or after dinner. Thomas installed the landscaping, including the patio’s fountain.
Thomas worked with sommelier Mark Sayre (beverage director for Houston’s Local Foods Group) on the wine list, which leans towards French bottles priced between $50-70. Justin Ware, who oversees the cocktails at Winnie’s, Starduster Lounge, and Johnny’s Gold Brick, looked to New Orleans for Little Bird’s offerings, which include takes on classics such as the margarita, Sazerac, and Old Fashioned, as well as a frozen drink inspired by the Southern tradition of putting peanuts in Coca-Cola. Little Bird’s freezer martini is a variation on the drink that Ware served at Night Shift, his late, lamented East End cocktail bar.
“We wanted the beverage program to be approachable, fun, and featuring wine you couldn’t get just anywhere — everything had to go with the food and the personality of Little Bird,” Thomas explains. “The bottles run the gamut from straight-up delicious sauvignon blanc to funkier rosé and balanced tempranillo — something for everyone for every part of the meal. It’s also a list that I can work on with Houston’s excellent local distributors to expand thoughtfully as we grow.”
Little Bird has most of Laborde’s attention at the moment, but he’s left Winnie’s in good shape, too. Then again, the chef has experience keeping a lot of plates spinning.
“I have a great team at Winnie’s right now. We’re getting ready for Miracle [the annual holiday pop-up bar]. My Q4 may be the busiest I’ve ever had,” he says. “I ran Bernadine’s and Hunky Dory. I’m used to getting pulled in a lot of different directions. It’s fun for me.”
Located at 1815 North Durham Dr., Little Bird is open for dinner daily, plus lunch on Fridays and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. Laborde will introduce his lunch and brunch menus in the coming weeks. For now, the dinner menu is available during all hours of service.
