Future looks promising for the casually eclectic The Nash
I had my visit to The Nash all planned out in my head.
I wanted to sample the casual menu drafted by chef Omar Pereney, the Venezuelan wunderkind who opened the ambitious Mexican seafood restaurant Peska Seafood Culture, back in the day. I had loved his sauces and his raw seafood treatments there, and I was curious to see what he’d bring to a more eclectic American mix of pastas and pizzas, salads and snacks.
Too, I wanted to sit on the barrel-vaulted arcade that runs along the restaurant’s southern side so badly I could taste it.
Houston doesn’t offer diners many grand urban architectural spaces, and the soaring stone columns that mark a rhythm along the 1915 Texaco Building perimeter certainly qualify. The weather had warmed, the sun had been out for days and the advent of daylight saving time promised that an early supper on that patio, when The Nash opened its doors at 5 p.m., would offer some magical light to go with the food and the downtown views.
Houston’s weather had other ideas. The afternoon turned chilly, and then the rain started just as I set out for downtown.
The parking garage at The Star — the name of the luxury apartment high-rise that now occupies the former Texaco Building — was difficult to use for a newbie. I managed to park in a forbidden slot, then wandered around looking for the way to the restaurant, trying various locked doors and finally exiting down a stairwell to the wet street.
Rain spit down at me as I stood gazing upon that gorgeous, deserted arcade, with its neatly set tables and chairs. I felt forlorn. And nervous, because I hadn’t eaten inside a restaurant in nearly a year.
Within minutes, though, I felt so welcomed and reassured that I calmed down. The staffers on duty were double-masked. The room was cavernous, the tables well distanced. “I can open the doors to the patio if you’d like,” offered