The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston made its mark on the art world when it opened in November. It’s now ready to impress Houston with two new restaurants set within the breathtaking addition to the museum.
Café Leonelli, led by Michelin star chef Jonathan Benno, opens today as a casual restaurant offering attended counter service and a menu of Italian fare including baked goods and pastries, focaccia with toppings, sandwiches, soups, salads, baked pastas and meat and seafood dishes. Diners will sit beneath a suspended lighting sculpture, Spencer Finch’s “Moon Dust (Apollo 17)” consisting of 150 fixtures with 417 incandescent bulbs. Later, perhaps May, the second restaurant, the fine-dining Le Jardinier, under the director of chef Alain Verzeroli is set to open.
Both restaurants from The Bastion Collection (which includes Houston’s Le Table as well as L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in New York, Miami and Geneva) boast Michelin star pedigree. Benno and Verzeroli have worked at restaurants with multiple Michelin stars. And Bastion’s executive pastry chef Salvatore Martone, which is providing Café Leonelli with Italian pastries, baked goods, and ice cream, is also a Michelin star recipient.
Benno developed the café menu with Houston in mind, forging relationships with local purveyors such as Houston Dairy Maids, Lonestar Mushrooms, and Homestead Gristmill.
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Breakfast items include baked goods such as brioche, sfogliatelle (Italian pastry with candied orange and ricotta), cinnamon rolls, danish, coffee cake, breakfast sandwiches, yogurt, oatmeal, and coffee drinks.
The lunch and daytime menu offers soup (ribollita and tortellini en brodo), salads (chicken Caesar, marinated Gulf shrimp with cannellini beans and radishes), sandwiches (vegetarian, roasted chicken salad, porchetta and provolone, Italian meats combination), focaccia (margherita, meatball, eggplant parmigiana, pepperoni, pizza bianca), and hot dishes including eggplant parmigiana, lasagna, chicken cacciatore, roasted salmon with olives and capers, and beef meatballs.
Desserts include Italian cookies, chocolate chunk cookies, cannoli, babka, eclairs, and other baked goods. There’s also homemade ice cream, popsicles, cookie sandwiches, and milkshakes from Frohzen, Martone’s Miami-based ice cream shop that will also have an outpost at the museum.
“We are delighted for Cafe Leonelli to open on the Museum’s campus. The Bastion Collection restaurants are known for their Michelin star chefs, premier hospitality and visitor experience — qualities and commitments to excellence we strive to offer our visitors every day,” said Gary Tinterow, museum director. “These distinctive eateries are the natural extension of our campus transformation and a wonderful addition to Houston’s innovative culinary offerings.”
Café Leonelli, 5500 Main, 713-714-3014; cafeleonelli.com. Café hours are Monday through Wednesday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Greg Morago writes about food for the Houston Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter. Send him news tips at greg.morago@chron.com. Hear him on our BBQ State of Mind podcast to learn about Houston and Texas barbecue culture.
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April 16, 2021 at 08:47PM
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Café Leonelli opens today at MFAH’s Kinder Building - Houston Chronicle
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