Chef-driven dining hall coming to downtown Houston

Renderings of Bravery Chef Hall, a new dining hall concept with five distinct chef-led stations being proposed for a 9,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Aris Market Square apartment tower under construction at 409 Travis. less Renderings of Bravery Chef Hall, a new dining hall concept with five distinct chef-led stations being proposed for a 9,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Aris Market Square apartment tower under ... more Photo: Bravery Chef Hall Photo: Bravery Chef Hall Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Chef-driven dining hall coming to downtown Houston 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Imagine a dining hall in the heart of downtown anchored by five stations, each with a different food concept overseen by a chef cooking directly in front of guests.

That's the concept being forwarded by Bravery Chef Hall, a chef-driven dining hall proposed for the new Aris Market Square apartment tower under construction at 409 Travis. The owners of Prohibition Supperclub & Bar and Conservatory food hall have yet to sign a lease, but their project is solidly underway at the Hines-owned high rise overlooking historic Market Square.

Anh Mai and Lian Pham, the business partners behind Prohibition and Conservatory, have conceived of this first-in-Houston dining experience within a 9,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of Aris at the corner of Travis and Preston. Bravery Chef Hall will feature five kitchen/dining stations anchored by a chef with a unique dining concept. Each of the stations can seat between 30 and 40 diners (imagine a square format with chef and work station in the middle ringed by guests sitting at a bar with direct views into the cooking area). Guests sitting at the stations will dine with real plates and silverware. But each station will also have a walk-up area where guests can order from that particular station, take a number, and then find table seating within the hall. Their meals will be served with disposable plates and utensils. The latter option is currently what's in play at Conservatory, the city's first food hall concept in the basement of 1010 Prairie.

In addition to the five kitchen stations, there will be two separate cocktail bars. The hall also will sport a 4,000-square-foot patio and sidewalk café seating.

Mai said he currently is looking for chef-led businesses for each of the kitchen/dining stations, as well as operators for the two cocktail bars. The chef hall concept, he said, frees chefs to concentrate on creative cooking and interacting with guests. The chefs will only have to supervise their cooking team and serve the customers at their particular dining station. There's no waitstaff to train, no front of house to manage. As he has done with selecting food vendors for Conservatory, Mai said he is carefully curating the kinds of chef-driven concepts for Bravery.

"This is not like Conservatory, it's something brand new," he said.

Still, the food hall concept he brought to Houston when Conservatory opened last year appears to be something the Houston dining public is embracing. Last month a new food hall was announced for an early 2018 opening at The Jones on Main in the JPMorgan Chase building at 712 Main. With Conservatory, that would give downtown Houston two food halls.

The proposed Bravery, scheduled to open first quarter 2018, would be the third such concept. But Mai said he thinks of his chef hall as something more special than a traditional food hall. Because it is chef-driven the hall's success will depend on the individual chefs and their concepts. Ditto for the two bars which Mai hopes will be operated by dynamic bartender/owners.

"This is an opportunity for chefs to be truly creative," he said.

Last week the Downtown Management District approved a $140,000 grant toward the $1.8 million project, which currently is seeking investors. Mai said he hopes to sign a lease for the hall soon.

"It's the future of dining," he said. "A brave new world."

And the title of that Aldous Huxley novel is what prompted the project's name: Bravery Chef Hall.