Leo’s River Oaks – Fine Dining and Fresh Tomatoes
LEO is the fifth sign of the Zodiac. These folks are impossible to miss since they love being on stage. Making an impression is job #1 for Leos, and when you consider their personal magnetism, you see the job is quite easy. Leos are an ambitious lot, and their strength of purpose allows them to accomplish a great deal. The fact that this horoscope sign is also creative makes their endeavors fun for them and everyone else. — Astrology.com.
Leo’s River Oaks lives up to that description with extravagant interiors, bold menu choices, and decadent cocktails. Opened late last year, Leo’s River Oaks is the crown jewel in the Culinary Khancept’s stable that includes a line of upscale cinemas with dining options including the beloved River Oaks Theatre, State Fare Kitchen & Bar, and Liberty Kitchen & Oysterette.
Leo’s River Oaks sits right next door to the theater in the River Oaks Shopping Center. And while you can snack on popcorn, as well as crab cakes and tuna tartare that you can order right from your seat while sipping the likes of a signature cocktail, Leo’s River Oaks makes for a far more elevated dinner. Chef Tim Reading entices diners with soaring seafood towers, decadent caviar service, and briny oysters on the half shell, before putting forth an entrée menu fit for a royal banquette. Imagine the most melt-in-your-mouth A5 Wagyu steaks, tender veal Milanese, or perhaps a pistachio-crusted lamb chop. Wash it all down with a fine wine or the restaurant’s signature martini. Save room for pastry chef Eunice Grassa’s chocolate and ginger souffle or chocolate tart topped with an edible gold lion head. It’s all very posh (they even have a dress code you should check out on the website before dining) and has a supper club feel, complete with the occasional artist tinkling the ivories of the baby grand in the bar.
This September, Leo’s river Oaks is one of four restaurants in the River Oaks Shopping Center teaming up with nonprofit Urban Harvest Farmers Market to bring farm-fresh ingredients to their menus. The fine-dining jewel from Culinary Khancepts is celebrating one of the season’s greatest pleasures: tomatoes. The dinner-only New American restaurant will feature tomatoes from Atkinson Farms in Spring in a cocktail (heirloom tomato and thyme martini), and in a tart (broiled heirloom cherry tomatoes).
“Our partnership with Urban Harvest is about bringing the community together through food while celebrating local talent,” said Lauren Granit, General Manager of River Oaks Shopping Center. “The collaboration not only highlights kitchen inventiveness from these very talented River Oaks Shopping Center chefs through creative, seasonal dishes, but also showcases the bounty of local artisan food purveyors.”
Brasserie 19, Goode Kitchen & Cantina, and Zanti Cucina Italiana are the other shopping center eateries joining the September special. Ten percent of all sales from the menu additions will go back to Urban Harvest to promote initiatives that support the nonprofit’s goals of transforming food accessibility in Greater Houston.
Founded in 1994, Urban Harvest cultivates thriving communities through gardening and access to healthy, local food with three core programs: Education, Community Gardens, and Farmers Markets. Urban Harvest has garnered a well-deserved reputation as a leader in the local food movement. Their farmers market on Buffalo Speedway is one of the most popular in Houston and a well-attended Saturday morning event.
Culinary Khancepts is also planning a new eatery in the Galleria area, The Audrey Restaurant & Bar on the ground floor of the 40-story luxury high-rise Aspire Post Oak. Planned as a 5,500-square-foot space including an outdoor patio, The Audrey will feature a similar menu to its namesake in The Woodlands which opened two years ago. In a statement Culinary Khancepts’ CEO Omar Khan said, “Aspire Post Oaks is the perfect blend of elevated style and welcoming comfort, an ideal home for The Audrey.”
While you have to wait until next year to check that out, you can comfort yourself with Happy Hour at Leo’s River Oaks, Tuesday through Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., with half off wine by the glass, half off all classic and signature cocktails, and delicious bites on patio and at the bar.
Leo’s
2009 W Gray St # A
Houston, TX 77019
leosriveroaks.com
