Conservatory opening March 1 as Houston’s first food hall



less Business partners Lian Pham, right, and Anh Mai, left, have opened Prohibition Supperclub & Bar located at 1008 Prairie in downtown Houston. They are co-owners of Conservatory, the new food hall underneath Prohibition. Business partners Lian Pham, right, and Anh Mai, left, have opened Prohibition Supperclub & Bar located at 1008 Prairie in downtown Houston. They are co-owners of Conservatory, the new food hall underneath ... more Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Conservatory opening March 1 as Houston’s first food hall 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

Houston's first curated food hall – a multi-vendor culinary wonderland featuring a beer garden with more than 60 taps and seating for 250 – is quietly being readied in an underground space downtown.

Conservatory is the name of the concept that is expected to open March 1 at 1010 Prairie at Main (under Prohibition Supperclub & Bar). Prohibition co-owners Anh Mai and Lian Pham, the entrepreneurs who opened Prohibition in 2014, are working hard to debut the food hall in a 7,500 square-foot basement space (where the Mercury Room once operated) they envisioned in the former 1930s Isis Theatre.

Four food vendors have been selected to operate in Conservatory: Melange Creperie (which will partner with Southside Espresso of Montrose to offer crepes and coffee); El Burro & the Bull (a barbecue concept from pitmaster John Avila); Samurai Noodle (a Seattle-based ramen shop which currently has a brick and mortar store on Durham); and Myth Kafe, a Greek café moving from its downtown location.

Ben McPherson, executive chef of Prohibition and culinary director for Conservatory, said the partners, who hand-picked the vendors for the project, were looking for operators who were unique and had a strong local following. "Each will have its own identity and look," McPherson said.

The Prohibition-run bar will offer tap beer, wine and sake with selections that will work well with each of the food concessions. Example: Greek wines will be offered to pair with food from Myth Kafe.

"We were looking for not just the four best vendors, we were looking to hit certain markets – coffee and crepes, an Asian concept, another ethnic concept and something that was very Texas like barbecue – so that there was something for everyone," said Mai.

Conservatory will feature an entrance anchored by a "living garden" wall of plants. A grand staircase takes customers down to the large beer garden where the vendors will line the left and right sides of the room with seating in the middle and under the stairs. There's also seating at each food station and in front of the long beer tap section. Pham said Conservatory is meant to evoke a living green house. Overall the room will have a raw, industrial look with exposed piping and fixtures.

The partners are calling Conservatory Houston's first food hall which, unlike a mall food court, is open after lunch hours and features mostly independent vendors specializing in unique culinary offerings. Nationally, food halls are hot stuff: there's the new St. Roch Market in New Orleans; Union Station in Denver; Gansevoort Market in New York; Krog Street Market in Atlanta; Grand Central Market in Los Angeles; and Chicago French Market in Chicago to name a few.

Mai said his vendors are not precluded from growing their brand outside of Conservatory. "We want them to open other things. This can be a springboard for them to open a brick and mortar and maybe refine their concept a little more," he said.

Conservatory will further distinguish itself from local food courts (and from other downtown restaurants, for that matter) with its hours. It will open daily for lunch and dinner starting at 11 a.m. through midnight; on Thursdays it will stay open until 2 a.m. and Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. Brunch will be offered on Saturday and Sunday.