One of Houston’s most successful pop-up chefs has found a permanent home. Chef Jane Wild has brought her Jane and the Lion Bakehouse to the Heights.
Located in the former Morningstar coffee shop at 4721 N. Main St., Jane and the Lion gives diners a daily option for the chef’s signature pies, pastries, breads, and other creations that earned her Best Pop-Up in the 2024 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. Wild tells CultureMap that Morningstar owner David Buehrer, pastry chef Christina Au, and commercial real estate broker Chelsea Padon helped facilitate her move to the new move.
“I have a following [in the Heights] from when I had the food truck at the Ashe Building,” Wild says. “We have such an amazing following from the Heights farmers market. This part of the Heights is growing pretty fast. It’s such a cool space.”
Working alongside her partner Nathan Christensen, who handles front of house service, her son Maxx Wild — a Leo who’s the cafe’s namesake “lion” — veteran Houston pastry chef Alyssa Dole, and others, Wild serves a menu that reflects her long-time passion for using locally-sourced and seasonal ingredients. Also, in her words, the Bakehouse doesn’t use any “crap,” meaning all of its products are free of seed oils, hydrogenated oils, and synthetic colors and flavors.
“I worked for Whole Foods back when it was the real Whole Foods,” Wild says. “I drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago and believe that local, natural, no synthetics — that’s the way we should be going. Now everyone’s talking about it.”
Diners will find a wide range of options on the menu. Grab-and-go items includes all of Wild’s pies, cookies, sourdough breads, focaccia, biscuits, and more. Prepared items, called Jane’s Pantry, includes many of the ingredients used at the cafe, such as grains from Texas-based Barton Springs Mill, local salts, and Texas olive oil.
The dine-in selections include sandwiches, toasts, salads, and a vegan breakfast burrito. A daily plate called “The Lion” appears to carnivores, gluten-free, and keto types with a rotating, locally-sourced protein, lacto-pickles, and cheese. In time, the menu will expand to include soups, sourdough croissants, sourdough pizza, Roman pizza, and hot grinder sandwiches such as a meatball or toasted prosciutto.
Although the Bakehouse isn’t certified for celiacs, Wild does bake a gluten-free sourdough. She notes that it’s baked before wheat-based doughs to help prevent cross-contamination. “If I served it to you as toast, you wouldn’t know the difference unless they were side by side. It’s really incredible,” she says.
Beverage options include a rotating selection of coffees from local roasters Geva, Little Dreamer, Xela Coffee Roasters, and Amaya.
Jane and the Lion will open in three phases. Currently, the cafe is open Thursday-Monday from 8 am-4 pm. Soon, it will be open daily from 7 am-7 pm. Once a new oven is installed, Wild will start serving pizzas and hot sandwiches as well as shareable snack boards.
“In my heart, I’m a chef. To be able to plate and serve and offer the hospitality of being in my space has always been the dream,” Wild says. “It’s what I did at Jane and John Dough. Now, I’m able to do it in Houston for all of my customers from the farmers market. I’m so excited to have them in and treat them like they’re at my house.”
Photo by Gisele Morales
The pastry case is fully loaded with breads, pastries, and more.
