Endless Pasta-bilities
Fresh pastas and chicken parm await at new Houston Italian restaurant
Benjy Levit is almost ready to unveil his new Italian restaurant. Milton’s will open Friday, September 27.
Located above Local Foods in the former Eau Tour space, Milton’s puts a fresh spin on classic Italian dishes. Created by Levit in tandem with Local Foods Group culinary director Seth Siegel-Gardner and executive chef Kent Domas, the restaurant will feature handmade pastas and meats cooked in a wood-burning Josper oven.
Diners may begin with a Tigelle Platter, which consists of a baked-to-order flatbread topped with salumi and pickles or chicken liver mousse and whipped ricotta. From there, they may choose pastas such as cacio e pepe ricotta gnocchi, a classic bolognese, or mortadella-stuffed agnolotti in brodo.
Chicken parm you taste so good.Photo by Julie Soefer
As Siegel-Gardner told CultureMap in May, chicken parmesan will be featured, although diners may opt for either eggplant or veal instead. The restaurant will also put its spin on 100-layer lasagna.
Beverage director Máté Hartai (Tongue-cut Sparrow, Refuge) has created a cocktail menu that includes a house martini, a riff on limoncello that uses Texas Ruby Red grapefruit, and the Caffe Incoretto, a fresh take on the café corretto made with housemade amaro and pistachio milk. Wine lovers will find a range of Old and New World options at competitive price points.
Levit enlisted Brittany Vaughan of Garnish Design to transform Eau Tour into Milton’s. Instead of the usual Italian restaurant tropes, she created a space built around green and gold hues with mahogany accents and brass lighting fixtures. The restaurant seats 60 in its main dining room, 11 at the bar, and a few more on a covered patio.
“We wanted to create an intimate space where people can come together to meet old friends and make new ones, " Levit said in a statement. "Reflecting back to the golden age of gathering, our team has worked tirelessly to create an elegant yet unpretentious dining experience with comforting, shareable dishes and incredible drinks that evoke a subtle nostalgia.”
Next up, the team will begin redesigning Lees Den. Formerly a wine bar next to Eau Tour, it’s being transformed into a speakeasy-style cocktail bar that will serve as a companion to Milton’s. Expect a winter opening.