Turkey leg curry with roti at Kitchen 713 Image: Cooper + Ricca

When co-chef-owners James Haywood and Ross Coleman closed Kitchen 713's original Canal Street location on June 22, it was with the promise to relocate to a larger space. Fans of the chefs' global soul food—which flits from India to Thailand to the Caribbean, then back home to the South with nary a pause—won't have to wait much longer to have Kitchen 713 back in their lives. Haywood told Houstonia this morning that he hopes to reopen at 4601 Washington Avenue in as little as two months. "It’s got a lot more things in place than we ever could have expected," Haywood said of the space that was mostly recently home to Commonwealth. "It’s ready to go—we’re just waiting to get the liquor license."

With the new 4,700-square-foot space comes plenty of room for a bar program. When bartenders talk about chef-driven cocktail menus, they don't usually mean it literally, but in this case, Haywood created the cocktail recipes himself. The chefs are also working on a menu of bar bites, too, which will be served until 2 a.m. on the weekends; the kitchen plans to close at 11 p.m. on those days and 10 during the week.

Haywood said to expect a more refined experience than the counter service at the original location. The restaurant will be open seven days a week serving lunch and dinner, with brunch on the weekends. The menu will be greatly expanded, the Haywood added, and will include small and large plates and shareable items.

"We’re going to showcase what we’re able to do from a culinary standpoint," he says of going slightly more upscale. "We're tapping into the soul of different cultures around the world and integrating it into a Southern context. We’ll still feature some Southern things." They'd better. As much as we loved the turkey leg vindaloo at the old location, there's nothing quite like Kitchen 713's shrimp and grits.