welcome to the club

Posh new Houston restaurant opens with French flair and British charm

A restaurant inspired by French cooking and British traditions opens in Houston next week. The Marigold Club, the newest concept from Goodnight Hospitality (March, Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine) begins dinner service on Tuesday, June 25.

Although the restaurant occupies the former Goodnight Charlie’s space, it looks nothing like the honky tonk dance hall. Chef-partner Austin Waiter and the Goodnight partners — master sommelier June Rodil, chef Felipe Riccio, and entrepreneurs Bailey and Pete McCarthy — worked with Texas-based architects FoxFox Studios to create one of Houston’s most posh and visually striking dining rooms. As illustrated in the photos above, the 160-seat restaurant features a hand-painted mural by Pauline de Roussy de Sales, a custom-made, Murano glass chandelier with marigolds and tulips (obviously), and floral wallpaper in the hallway leading to the restrooms.

Inside the main dining room, look for green velvet ceilings, comfortable banquettes, and artwork curated by Houston-based art expert Illa Gaunt, according to a release. The space also includes an 18-seat private dining room and a 40-seat climate-controlled patio. A Steinway baby grand piano provides the restaurant’s soundtrack.

Similar attention has been paid to the food. Two years ago, Goodnight recruited former Tony’s executive chef Austin Waiter to lead the Marigold Club. To prepare for the restaurant’s opening, Waiter traveled to London where he staged at three Michelin-starred restaurants: Core by Clare Smyth (three stars), The Five Fields (one star), and Frog by Adam Handling (one star).

“Having Austin join us as a partner in our biggest and most lavish concept to date has been a complete joy,” Rodil said in a statement. “Our dream is to continue to collaborate with passionate hospitality professionals as we grow our company and enrich our community with new and exciting restaurants. Being able to bring in a new, fresh perspective while combining all of our unique backgrounds and areas of expertise makes this an especially heartfelt project.”

Waiter’s menu starts with an extensive raw bar program that includes caviar, crudos, and seafood towers. The Marigold Club team traveled to the East Coast to learn about the oysters it plans to serve Houstonians.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Marigold Club (@marigoldclubhtx)

After snacking on scallop crudo and tuna tartare, diners have the choice of dishes such as a Kaluga caviar sandwich, a riff on fish and chips that swaps the typical cod for shellfish and green beans, and a couple of British classics in the form of duck Wellington and roasted lamb loin.

One of the dessert options will be ice cream sundaes, which will be served on custom-built carts. Ice cream enthusiasts will have the choice of chai, clotted cream, or chocolate ice cream paired with a wide range of toppings. Other options include baba rum cake, banoffee pie, and citrus trifle.

As Waiter explained in a January episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast, one of the things he brings to Marigold Club from Tony’s is understanding the balance between his creative vision as a chef and giving customers what they want.

“I think that the difficult part is staying true to what Felipe and I and the business partners love about food and what we’re focusing on and still making sure the guest comes first,” he says. “I’m not the one sitting there eating dinner every night. I think our guests need to take priority.”

Sommelier Ryan Cooper returns to Goodnight Hospitality to serve as Marigold Club’s wine director. He and Rodil have created a wine list that's stocked with French selections including plenty of champagne.

Although it will only open for dinner initially (Tuesday-Sunday, closed Monday), plans call for the addition of both afternoon tea service and brunch beginning in September.

“Dining at The Marigold Club is going to be unlike any other experience in Houston,” Waiter added. “Guests will get to experience little pieces of all my favorite parts of London sprinkled throughout the menu, while enjoying an ice cold martini paired with a killer raw bar program. These are just a few things The Marigold Club will have in store, and I can’t wait for the city to experience the rest.”

Photo by Arturo Olmos

The Marigold Club opens next week.

chefs dinner marigold club montrose news-you-can-eat openings restaurant opening

a CultureMap Exclusive

Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster

Courtesy of The Rice Box

A rendering previews The Rice Box's new location in Webster.

Houston’s Chinese takeout bar from the future is coming to the Bay Area. The sixth location of The Rice Box will open in Webster later this summer.

Located at 114 El Dorado Blvd, the new location will be called Rice Box Space Center after NASA’s headquarters at the nearby Johnson Space Center. Founder John Peterson tells CultureMap that it’s a bit of a homecoming for him and his wife/business partner, Jenny Vo, as they grew up in the area. As with every new location, the restaurant created a movie-style poster to announce its opening.

Rice Box Webster movie poster The Rice Box Space Center is expected to open later this summer.Courtesy of The Rice Box

For its first truly suburban location, Peterson plans to offer a more efficient pickup system for to-go orders. Dubbed The Rice Box Pickup Reactors, the system applies Rice Box’s sci-fi aesthetic to curbside ordering. As seen in the rendering above, the building will have six slots that drivers will pull into to get their orders.

“The goal is to have guests in and out with food in hand in around 90 seconds,” Peterson writes in an email. “It’s still pickup, but we’re trying to make that moment feel more intentional and more connected to the digital side of Rice Box instead of treating it like an afterthought. We’re looking at this opening as both a new store and a prototype for how Rice Box can work in more suburban markets without losing the part of the brand that makes it feel like us.”

Bay Area-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Recently, Peterson rolled out a new version of Rice Box’s dumplings. Available in chicken, pork, or vegetable, each style of dumpling comes with a different wrapper that enhances the filling’s flavor. They’re also available either steamed or fried.

The Rice Box started as a food truck in the early 2010s. After moving to a permanent location in the Greenway Plaza food court, it has opened brick-and-mortar locations in the Heights, River Oaks, Rice Village, and Memorial.

openings news-you-can-eat the rice box