Justin Yu and Bobby Heugel, who helped put Houston’s food and cocktail scenes on the national map, will launch their new restaurant House of Louie this summer.
The French-Italian neighborhood restaurant will open at 1931 Fairview St. in Montrose, with a menu tinged with modern American influence. It pays homage to a California restaurant launched by Yu’s aunts Betty Louie and Josephine Yeung more than 40 years ago. That establishment, too, went by House of Louie.
Yu worked his first job there, long before he made a name for himself in Houston with Oxheart and Theodore Rex. He bussed tables, served the smoking section and scooped the rainbow sherbet.
“House of Louie was how I fell in love with restaurants. There was a magic there,” Yu said in the release. “I can’t wait to share that in Houston, the city I’ve grown up in, returned to, made my life in, and inspires me daily.”
At the second-generation House of Louie, the menu will offer a mix of warm starters, light appetizers, pastas and mains. Yellowtail cures in chardonnay vinegar. Spot shrimp marinates in Pernod with bergamot and fennel pollen. Fried lasagna, served with Comte cheese fondue, might arrive at the table, followed by roast duck with green chartreuse or chicken in giardiniera brine.
On the drinks side, Heugel and general manager Tyler Jay Wang will oversee a menu of house cocktails that lean into Gulf Coast seasonal trends. The Fair View cocktail, for instance, riffs on a Rome with a View by putting local hibiscus front and center. It gets combined with Becherovka, sherry and gentian tea, and topped off with sparkling wine and pineapple. The wine list combines classic bottles with more modern and natural wines.
This represents just the latest collaboration for Yu and Heugel, both notable local restaurateurs. Yu established himself here in 2012 with the tasting-menu-only restaurant Oxheart, winning a James Beard Award four years later. He’s since transformed the space into Theodore Rex, which remains a fixture on the Houston Chronicle’s Top 100 list.
Heugel, meanwhile, first made a name for himself with Anvil, the cocktail bar he opened in 2009 with a list of 100 classic cocktails, plus seasonal specials. It racked up accolades, including 10 semifinalist or finalist nods for James Beard Awards.
The two have since teamed up to launch several establishments through their joint hospitality group Thorough Fare. Together, they run restaurants and bars including Squable, Better Luck Tomorrow and Refuge. At House of Louie, they’ll bring on Kirk Thompson, who previously worked at Leo’s River Oaks, as executive chef.
Correction (July 13, 1:40 p.m.): This story has been updated to reflect that the menu will be tinged with modern American influences.