First look: Paul Qui’s new Aqui restaurant

The Tuna Kinilaw: coconut, hearts of palm, jack fruit, coconut vinegar and coconut milk at James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Qui's new restaurant, Aqui, at 520 Westheimer. The Tuna Kinilaw: coconut, hearts of palm, jack fruit, coconut vinegar and coconut milk at James Beard Award-winning chef Paul Qui's new restaurant, Aqui, at 520 Westheimer. Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close First look: Paul Qui’s new Aqui restaurant 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

Who knows if Paul Qui made a birthday wish on Monday, Aug. 14 when he turned 37. But if he did, maybe he got his wish – a big one – in the form of Houston's buzziest new restaurant.

Qui's new Montrose restaurant Aqui opened to the public that day – by any measure a cause for culinary celebration. After all, Qui isn't just any chef, he's a James Beard Award-winning toque and "Top Chef" champ with a handful of well-regarded restaurants in Austin including the rebranded Kuneho (formerly his flagship Qui), Otoko, East Side King, and the Thai Kun food truck, as well as Pao by Paul Qui at the Faena Miami Beach hotel in Miami Beach. Aqui, his first project in Houston, brings him back to the city where he lived between 1998 and 2003 and where he maintains a strong connection of family and friends.

Monday also ushered in an important new chapter for Qui (Aqui is his biggest, most expensive project to date), who loves Houston so much he's considering opening even more restaurants here.

"Absolutely," he said, "East Side King and Thai Kun would kill it here."

And he adds, in a bit of confession/apology: "I have a hard time saying no to projects."

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. There is, after all, the opening of Aqui to take in. The new construction at 520 Westheimer, with its two dramatically pitched roofs, opened quietly after a few days of private dinners. The building, designed by Parallel Architecture in Austin (who designed the original Qui), is a serene space dominated by vast, undecorated planes of blonde wood and glass interrupted by glimpses of stone walls and pops of gray and slate blue. An enormous open kitchen – an amazingly long pass that gives unimpeded views into the inner workings – is remarkable; pure culinary theater.

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But the star of the show is obviously the food – a collaboration between chef/owner Qui and chef de cuisine Gabriel Medina, long a local foodie favorite for his work at Kata Robata, Soma Sushi, an a year at the world-famous Narisawa Japanese restaurant in Tokyo. The kitchen team is completed by sous chef Niki Vongthong, former sous chef at Uchi Houston, and Jillian Bartolome, former executive chef of Common Bond who serves as pastry chef.

The Southeast Asian menu with strong Filipino influences (both Qui and Medina share Filipino heritage) is a well-edited document offering a few raw preparations, nearly a dozen "Perfect Bites" (small morsels priced between $2.50 and $12), a few hot entrees, rice and noodle preparations, and desserts. The foods and flavors of the Philippines assert themselves often in the menu, much to Qui's delight. "My secret hope is that it's really more of a Filipino restaurant," he said.

One thoroughly Filipino dish, lechon (roasted pork belly), is presented immaculately sliced on a wood board accompanied by small bowls of sweet pickle, house-made kimchee with shrimp, sweet chile sauce, and pork liver sauce). Other dishes hailing from the Philippines include kinilaw (a raw tuna salad made with coconut, hearts of palm, jack fruit dressed in coconut milk and coconut vinegar), pandesal (Filipino bread rolls), dinuguan (a savory stew of pig's blood served with rice cake), and for dessert bibingka (Filipino coconut cake).

The chefs have lavished attention on the small "Perfect Bite" preparations – bonbon-size morsels of jewel perfection: a tiny toast with fermented salmon, avocado and cured salmon roe; a rice puff cracker topped with Muscovy duck tartar; a knuckle of diver scallop and radish; an orb of brioche holding Italian cheese and ham wearing a blizzard of grated manchego; translucent tapioca dumplings holding ground pork and peanut; and shrimp tempura on a deep emerald betel leaf.

Larger dishes include blood noodles (beef broth, brisket, tripe, liver); fried bao balls served with blue crab meat with chili sauce, egg and galangal); roast Cornish hen with sticky rice and garlic ginger oil; and an American wagyu steak with charred onions.

Gorgeous sweets: Filipino-inspired turon (banana cream roll); chocolate rice pudding; chocolate curry mousse; tamarind hibiscus granita; and coconut sorbet with salted watermelon gazpacho.

Qui praised Medina's "genuine passion for food" and his ability to inspire the kitchen team, "which is a huge blessing."

Qui said that the restaurant's culinary identity came together, like most of his projects, in an organic manner working with the entire team. "More than cooking, I like working with people, encouraging talent and discovering talent," he said. "To me that's more exciting than making a delicious bite."

He likens the process to creating music with Qui as the producer and his kitchen team as the talent. But it is definitely work as his team "discovers the language that's in my brain together – it's a bit of a process."

But a process that culminated this week with the opening of what is sure to be one of the season's most talked about restaurants.

Aqui, 520 Westheimer, 713-360-7834; aquihtx.com