From Té to Sauté World Bistro

Connie Lacobie met her husband Kevin in 1982, when they both attended the University of Houston. A few years ago, they opened Té House of Tea on Fairview, which specializes in fair-trade teas, snacks and cakes. Now the couple has expanded to a full-fledged restaurant with Sauté World Bistro (2303 Richmond, 713-522-2106). "The building is really interesting," says Kevin. "It was built in 1930 as a family home. It's been added onto quite a few times, and now it has lots of different areas. It last housed a nightclub called Gentry's, but that was about nine years ago."

Connie explains how they discovered their wonderful chef. "Garry Holly is a young chef from New Orleans. We placed an ad on Craigslist, and we found him. We tested him out at the House of Tea, where the kitchen is tiny. He worked out, so now he's running the kitchen at Sauté." As for the cuisine concept, Kevin explains, "We call it a world bistro, and we're using internationally inspired recipes, while connecting to local farmers and ranchers."

Dish visited the place one lunchtime and found a delightful interior and an enchanting menu. Appetizers included Thai chicken satay, Chinese potstickers and South American pastelitos (mini empanadas). There was also a curry salad and a quinoa salad and lots of French crepes, as well as different panini. Dish enjoyed the pastelitos and a roasted chicken, brie and cranberry panino, and was blown away by an unassuming dessert simply titled Mexican spice cake.