HEALTH FOOD
Restless Palate wants to make sure its customers are eating well, and eating good.
Sometimes the smartest food trends are obvious. While doing restaurant research the co-founders of Houston-based Hospitality USA were drawn to menus boasting farm-fresh produce, locally sourced meats and fish, nongenetically modified grains and dairy, and cage-free eggs.
“One of the things we learned is better-quality food leads to better entrees, and I think that’s what people are looking for,” said Edgar Carlson, who founded HUSA with business partner Larry Martin. “We saw trends of restaurateurs doing good things with fewer ingredients and ingredients that are healthier for you. Some call it clear or transparent menus. Like all food trends, they’re pretty obvious.”
While their portfolio of restaurants (including Baker St. Pub & Grill, Sherlock’s Baker St. Pub, Local Pour and Watson’s House of Ales) hasn’t traditionally been associated with goodfor-you foods, the company decided its newest brand would move toward that “clear” realm.
Enter the Restless Palate. While in no way branded vegan or vegetarian — or even “healthy” food — HUSA wanted to tap the healthy-eating and healthyliving lifestyle that places a premium on quality food choices. Even before they opened on the green at La Centerra at Cinco Ranch in Katy, the owners were interacting with locals, asking what types of food they were drawn to and what didn’t exist in their market.
“They talked about great salads, simple grilled fish, flatbreads and a good burger,” Carlson said.
All of that, and much more, appears on the menu at Restless Palate, which opened a few weeks ago in the former home of D’Amico’s, at 2643 Commercial Center Blvd. The restaurant’s name suggests an adventurous appetite.
“You’re not resting from all the flavors, you’re constantly discovering,” is how HUSA chef Pablo Gomez described the rationale behind the name.
And that drive to discover new flavor paths helped focus Gomez in developing a menu aimed at fresher, cleaner, healthconscious fare.
The Restless Palate’s lunch and dinner menus feature wheat-flour flatbreads (topped with chicken pesto and artichoke; firecracker rock shrimp; or roasted pears, blue cheese and candied pecans); toasts (avocado and cucumber; mozzarella and tomato; and roasted beets and ricotta); soups and entrée salads; sandwiches and burgers; and starters such as warm goat cheese and San Marzano tomato dip, edamame and roasted garlic hummus, bay scallops and shrimp ceviche, and peppered bacon deviled eggs. Entrees include herb-grilled salmon with kale, asparagus and quinoa; shrimp with Thai curry, broccoli, carrots, fried basil and brown rice; seared sashimi-grade yellowfin tuna tacos with Mediterranean couscous; and a churrasco steak served with brown rice with quinoa, black bean and sweet potato medley and chimichurri sauce.
Restless Palate aims to create healthier (and flavorful) food whenever possible, Gomez said. Strategies include using more vegetables, fresh Gulf seafood, limited to no use of butter and cream or heavy sauces, and frying in rice bran oil. The restaurant, which offers craft cocktails, beer and wine, also brews local Geva Premium Coffee and makes aguas frescas each day.
Chef Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys and 8th Wonder Brewery was brought in as a consultant while the menu was being developed to give Restless Palate’s food an even greater creative edge. Marcus said he welcomed the opportunity to work with Restless Palate.
“Doing projects like this is important to me to grow as a chef,” he said. “I enjoyed having the creative liberty to do cool new things.”
A restaurant boasting a menu with more healthful ingredients might be welcome in a retail and restaurant community where neighboring brands include Bernie’s Burger Bus, Torchy’s Tacos, Bonefish Grill, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, and HUSA’s own Baker St. Pub & Grill. Who knows — maybe a little “clear” will rub off on one of the sister brands?