ROD's 2 new restaurants

River Oaks District heats up with Houston's newest Italian hot spot and fresh, healthy Mexican restaurant

River Oaks District welcomes two new restaurants this week. One is the Italian fine dining concept that development has been missing while the other is an all-day cafe with roots in Mexico City.

Together, Bari Ristorante and Ojo de Agua add to River Oaks District’s status as one of the Inner Loop’s most lively dining destinations, joining everything from Steak 48 and Le Colonial to CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Best New Restaurant winner MAD.

Let’s start with Bari, which opened Monday, May 15. Located in the former Tom Ford boutique, the new Italian restaurant is led by chef Renato De Pirro, a veteran of the Hotel Granduca and the Dallas-based Lombardy Group who is also a certified Italian master chef, according to press materials.

He’s joined by operating partner Thomas “Tommy” Nally, whose resume includes Toulouse and other restaurants. Both men have lengthy careers that also include time at The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. While all of River Oaks District’s other restaurants are part of larger groups, a representative tells CultureMap that Bari is funded by an anonymous group of “private investors.”

Open daily beginning at 11 am, De Pirro’s menu focuses on Italian classics that many diners will be familiar with. Meals at Bari could start with items such as beef carpaccio, frito misto, or steamed mussels. The housemade pastas include favorites such as tagliatelle carbonara, spaghetti vongole, and pappardelle bolognese. Pizzas are produced in an imported oven.

Moving on to entrees, the selections begin with seafood options such as salt-crusted branzino, Dover sole, grilled salmon, and risotto with a range of shellfish. Those with more carnivorous habits may opt for a bone-in veal Milanese, ribeye tagliata, or a chianti-braised short rib. Pair them with Italian cocktails such as the negroni or bellini or selections from an Italian-oriented wine list.

“We look forward to welcoming diners to Bari,” Nally said. “The menu is a fantastic combination of dishes from Italy that are on everyone’s short list when visiting any of the major cities to seaside resorts.”

Turning to Ojo de Agua, the all-day cafe opens this Wednesday, May 17 in a new space that’s across from Hopdoddy Burger Bar. Houston will be the restaurant’s second American city, joining an outpost in Miami and more than 40 locations across Mexico.

The 3,200-square-foot restaurant’s interior features details such as native succulents, wicker chairs, and lamps made from milk bottles. Local graffiti artist Daniel Anguilu contributed a mural of a mockingbird, Texas’s official state bird.

Open daily from 8 am until 7 pm, the menu covers a range of tastes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Mornings could start with a fresh juice or smoothie from the juice bar or a breakfast classic such as chilaquiles, acai bowl, or avocado toast. Lunch options include sandwiches, salads, bowls, tacos, and more. They’re paired with wine, beer, and wine-based cocktails.

“We’re excited to give Texas a first taste of Ojo de Agua’s vibrant flavors and fresh ingredients,” partner Rafael Montero said in a statement. “Our healthy menu and our extensive menu of juices and smoothies will resonate with Houston’s diverse clientele.”

Photo by Debora Smail

Bari's spaghetti vongole.

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spoiler alert

Houston chef Thomas Bille sounds off on his Beat Bobby Flay appearance

Courtesy of Food Network

Thomas Bille took on Bobby Flay.

Add another Houston chef to the roster of cooking competition champions. Belly of the Beast chef-owner Thomas Bille won the Tuesday, August 4 episode of Beat Bobby Flay.

Titled “Mole Mania,” Bille went head-to-head with celebrity chef Bobby Flay in a battle of duck en mole negro. Although the dish usually features more than 30 ingredients and typically takes hours to make, both Bille and Flay both only had 45 minutes to make their dishes.

“I did one trial run mole at the restaurant. I finished it in about 32 minutes,” Bille tells CultureMap. He adds that he used the same recipe on the show that he does at his restaurant, except for the restaurant’s mole mother.

During the cooking portion of the competition, Bille blends a wide array of chiles to begin making the dish. He also charred tomatoes, plantains, and tortillas before adding them to his pot. He then cooks his duck skin side down to render its fat. Bille plated the dish with a garnish of cacao nibs and almonds.

“I figured out a strategy,” Bille explains. “I had a dutch oven. I charred everything. I needed to put all the missing pieces and adding it to the pot. Charring things, adding it. So I had it all cooking right away, rather than building how I normally do it.”

The judges panel of Lourdes Castro, Alex Stupak, and Grace Ramirez hailed Bille’s dish for its depth of flavor and presentation, but they criticized him for not achieving a sufficiently crispy skin on his duck.

“I think darkness on top of darkness is a huge plus,” Stupak said about Bille’s presentation. “That’s a positive. Black on black is my favorite.”

The judges found that Flay’s duck mole negro with pomegrante, apricot, and green chile relish didn’t put enough emphasis on the mole, with Lourdes calling it too sweet. “This feels like a really great duck dish,” Stupak added.

Prior to beating Flay, Bille faced off against Austin chef Keegan Andrews to create the best dish with manchego cheese. He created a Spanish-inspired manchego tartine with herb salad, macerated dried apricots, and toasted marcona almonds. The judges stated that Andrews manchego fritters were too doughy.

Bille is no stranger to the spotlight. In 2025, he won Best Chef: Texas in the James Beard Awards. Belly of the Beast, his Mexican-American restaurant in Spring, holds a Bib Gourmand designation from the Michelin Guide.

The chef joins a small roster of local Beat Bobby Flay winners. Back in 2016, Roost chef-owner Kevin Naderi won the show by making cabbage rolls. In 2023, Stanton Bundy, formerly culinary director of Traveler’s Table, won a chilaquiles battle. Last year, Top Chef winner Tristen Epps won with Trinidadian brown stew chicken. Filmed in January, the chef says he kept the secret from even his close friends, but it feels good to finally share the news.

“It’s great. I beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay,” Bille says. “Being able to go to his kitchen and beat him, he has such a high win rate.”

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