Highly anticipated dim sum and then some restaurant Yauatcha will officially open in The Galleria at 5045 Westheimer on March 29, according to a press release. This will be the ninth location (and second in the United States) of the Hakkasan Group’s esteemed, Michelin-starred eatery, which already has outposts in India, London, Saudi Arabia and Hawaii. Best of all, Yauatcha has just started taking reservations online and at 713-357-7588, so godspeed, everyone.
Do expect some exclusive menu items at the location, with executive chef Ho Chee Boon planning some Houston-inspired dishes alongside his signature Cantonese. Menu items include scallop shui mai— steamed, wheat flour dumplings with minced prawn and scallop wrapped with egg flour skin pastry and garnished with silky orange tobiko caviar — along with venison puffed pastry, Jasmine tea-smoked pork ribs and more.
The tea list runs deep, with a selection of 24 teas sourced from Five Mountains Organic Teas, including a black tea with grapefruit rinds that will be available only in Houston, and there will be a few tea-based cocktails.
Other items exclusive to the Houston location include a cocktail comprised of Sotol (a distilled spirit from Mexican), aloe vera liqueur, hibiscus, sage and dill, called the Desert Essence, not to be confused with the restaurant’s dessert essence, which will be supplied by pastry chef Graham Hornigold and his signature macarons and petits gâteaux.
The “sleek” 241-seat restaurant promises more feng shui elements than the ladies man Leon Phelps’s houseboat, thanks to a modern and “harmonious” design from Paris-based firm GBRH, but can all the sexy people in town get access to this pleasure cruise in the first month alone? That will be the question.
Yauatcha
5045 Westheimer, yauatcha.com
Planned hours: Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2017.
