‘MasterChef ’ Ha and partners announce restaurant
When she opened The Blind Goat at Bravery Chef Hall last year, chef Christine Ha promised that her own stand-alone restaurant was in the works.
True to her word, Ha announced this week that her follow-up to the wildly successful outpost within the chef-driven food hall will be a modern Vietnamese restaurant with partners Tony J. Nguyen of Saigon House and her husband, John Suh, a Blind Goat partner.
The three are taking over the former Decatur Bar & Pop-Up at 2310 Decatur (the home of the late, lamented Beaver’s) for a new modern Vietnamese restaurant they’re calling Xin Chao. Pronounced “sin-chow,” it means “hello” and “goodbye” in Vietnamese. The partners plan to start welcoming diners in April or May.
The new concept is a major next step for chefs Ha and Nguyen. For Ha, winner of Season 3 of “MasterChef,” it’s a much-anticipated follow-up to The Blind Goat, which earned a three-star review from Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook in December. For Nguyen, it’s the chance to jump back in the game after his Saigon House in Midtown closed in September, though he also intends to open a smaller version of Saigon House soon at a new address,
3645 FM 1960.
For both, Xin Chao represents an opportunity to collaborate on a menu the chefs say aims to change the perception of traditional Vietnamese food.
“Tony and I are both from Houston. We grew up here,” Ha said. “We wanted to honor what our families and ancestors have done with their cuisine but put a fresh spin on it. There are so many great mom and pop shops doing traditional cuisine. We’re not trying to replicate that or compete with it. We just want to be really creative.”
Nguyen said the kitchen intends to use as many local ingredients as possible, including Texas beef. “We want to bring high quality ingredients and very beautiful presentation to Vietnamese food,” he said.
Though the chefs have not yet shared their menus, photographs of concept dishes from Xin Chao include smoked brisket pho, lemongrass snails, grilled live scallops and Manila clams in coconut broth. Described as a Vietnamese “izakaya,” the restaurant will serve beer, wine and craft cocktails to accompany dishes such as tamarind king crab, grilled clams with chive oil, pork belly braised in a clay pot, smoked duck salad, and smoked beef dishes. While there may be a few dishes from both The Blind Goat and Saigon House, the menu will consist mostly of new dishes that Ha and Nguyen have been developing.
The Decatur Bar & PopUp space will be redesigned to reflect a new aesthetic, Ha said. The building’s owner, Adam Brackman, who also owns Axelrad
Beer Garden, is an investor in the project. Xin Chao also raised investment through NextSeed.