First look: Peska Cocina Latina

Fried pork cheek on corn puree with cilantro and carrot salad at Peska Cocina Latina.

Fried pork cheek on corn puree with cilantro and carrot salad at Peska Cocina Latina. Photo: Dave Rossman, For The Chronicle Photo: Dave Rossman, For The Chronicle Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close First look: Peska Cocina Latina 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

It would not be an understatement to say that this has been a tumultuous year for the restaurant formerly known as Peska Seafood Culture in the Galleria area.

The troubles first came to light in February when chef Omar Pereney, the restaurant's wunderkind, announced his departure on Facebook. Pereney was apparently unhappy with the owners' decision to rebrand the restaurant as Peska Prime Steaks & Seafood, according to a lawsuit he filed in May to be released from his noncompete contract. (Pereney is now with A La Carte restaurant consultants.)

There were other changes, too, as Peska the seafood restaurant transitioned to Peska the steakhouse and seafood restaurant: the owner of Grazia Italian Kitchen in Pearland came on board to operate the restaurant and help its owner make changes. That brought in Grazia chef Steve Haug, who after a few months with Peska left to join Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland after former executive chef Joe Cervantez left Killen's to return to Brennan's of Houston. (Haug apparently is no longer with Killen's.)

The chef shuffle left an opening at Peska for Chris Loftis, who joined the team in June only a week after Peska tapped Bobby Boenig, formerly of Max's Wine Dive, as its new general manager.

And that's where Peska finds itself today: a new look (the entire seafood marketplace and retail area is gone and the bar has expanded); a new name as Peska Cocina Latina (Peska Prime Steaks & Seafood has been ditched, so too has any notion that it would be called PesKarne); and a new chef who vows to get Peska back on the Houston restaurant map.

Calling his short tenure at the Pearl downtown disappointing and filled with uncertainty, the 30-year-old Loftis was happy to make a new start at Peska, immediately infusing his new restaurant's menu with Mexican flavors. He traveled to Mexico to visit the restaurants owned by Peska proprietor Maite Ysita and immediately understood the allure of Peska's original intentions, Loftis said. "The simplicity was inspiring," he said. "It just made sense."

Peska Cocina Latina's menu soon began sporting lighter dishes and more Mexican ingredients while still offering a variety of fish and meat options. Loftis calls the menu "Latin inspired and Gulf Coast forward."

His recent dinner menu includes crudos and cold seafood presentations: oysters, snapper or octopus tiradito, sashimi, and a ceviche of shrimp, octopus, and grouper. For appetizers there's jumbo lump crab cakes with roasted poblano and corn; Gulf fried oysters with Valentina aioli, bacon and pepperoncini; smoked short rib empanadas with black beans and chipotle aioli; yellowfin tuna tostada; octopus a la plancha; and queso fundido with bblack beans and chorizo. The dinner selections include seared snapper with fried artichokes and romesco sauce; ancho chile blacked redfish with lobster cream; seared scallops with roasted corn and chorizo; pecan-crusted grouper with jumbo lump crab and lemon butter; coriander crusted tuna with curry corn; grilled hanger steak with Mexican gnocchi, queso fresco and cilantro salad; and filet mignon with poblano mashed potatoes.

Soon more dishes will roll out: Short rib taquitos, smoked white fish guacamole, huitlacoche tostadas, crab and nopal salad with roasted corn, Gulf grouper with pineapple puree, and fried pork cheek with corn puree.

Both Boenig and Loftis said it's important to reconnect with its Galleria neighbors and re-establish the Peska brand.

"If we continue to do what we're doing now, we're going to be fine," Loftis said. "We still have a lot of work to do."

And hopefully, he said, that work will erase the confusion that has beset Peska in recent months.

"There's been a lot of changes at Peska," he said, "but the changes we've made have been one of the best things that could happen to the restaurant."

Peska Cocina Latina, 1700 Post Oak, 713-961-9229; peska.us