Holley's Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar Lures Diners with Top Seafood

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Paula Murphy, 713/520-7111
paula@pattersonandmurphy.com

Mark Hanna, 281-870-9994
Mtexas1969@aol.com

HOLLEY’S SEAFOOD RESTAURANT & OYSTER BAR
LURES DINERS TO HOUSTON’S MIDTOWN

HOUSTON…When Chef Mark Holley opened the doors to his new Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar at 3201 Louisiana Street this July, many people who have worked with him in his two-plus year’s quest to reach this point may think he’s broken a self-made promise.
More than once, the renowned chef, whose resume includes a number of Houston and New Orleans namesake restaurants like Brennan’s of Houston, Commander’s Palace and Pesce, has said he would not open a restaurant with his name on the sign.
Holley has proven them – and himself – wrong.
It may sound like a technicality, but Holley says that it is not his name on the sign. It’s his family name. And when he presents the enticing menu in this grand new addition to Midtown dining, he’ll be the first to say it’s his family and their history represented throughout those pages.
The sign says something else, too. Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar.
There’s no technicality in that message.
Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar presents the finest fish and shellfish available, prepared with the culinary influences of the Holley family roots – roots that stretch from the Midwest to the east and south – and the many cultures that have intertwined with them.
With an oyster-shucking station at one end of the elegantly long Lancelot Bar in the front room to a wide offering of fresh seafood and shellfish dishes, the restaurant has just about everything but surf and rising tides. For those whose tastes tend more toward the land, there will also be beef and lamb. The menu selections will include Pan-American touches such as ceviche and crudo made with locally obtained ingredients; a selection of Southern caviars; seafood towers like the Holleywood; whole-roasted fish; simply grilled fish; and a variety of shellfish preparations.
Just a few of the signature dishes guests will discover include Oyster Shooters with cucumber, basil, habanero mignonette and Tito’s Vodka or, in a nod to summer, a bowl of Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with pickled Gulf shrimp, compressed watermelon, watercress and celery root-cumin chips. There’s locally-caught Redfish served with Bourbon-smoked oxtail agnolotti and Lady Creamer succotash; or chicory-dusted Beef Tenderloin with a soft quail egg, dandelion ravioli, charred corn grits and a rhubarb confit.
Acknowledging the Pan-Asian influences of Texas and Louisiana, Chef Holley presents whole Thai-style barbecued Red Snapper Kim Chi with Bok Choy, collard greens, and rock shrimp-ham hock fried rice. Looking to satisfy a sweet tooth? Consider Chef Holley’s Texas Peach Parfait with Flat Creek Muscat Brulee, filo & cane crumble and fresh blueberries, or the already-famous Coconut Cake.
There will also be gluten-free and vegetarian options.
While Chef Holley’s grassroots style and pursuit of local flair will have him buying from local farmers and fishermen as much as possible, seafood and other regional ingredients will be coming from all coasts – an opportunity to bring to his dining room the myriad of flavors, ingredients and regional specialties that played a part in his formative years as a chef.
The bar, with its fresh oyster station, will be the Lancelot, a tip of the hat to the Chef’s Kentucky-born grandfather, Lancelot Holley. With its own pre- and after-dinner menu, this will also be an appealing, late-night destination. A professional mixologist will keep the cocktails both tasty and imaginative, and there will be special emphasis paid to creating one of the best Bourbon whiskey selections in town. The Bourbon menu will feature a signature drink called Sir Lancelot, made appropriately with Old Grand Dad Bourbon.
The Lancelot Bar has seating for 75 including the seating at the bar. It presents a lively and casual bistro atmosphere with tones of black, mother-of-pearl and deep burnished orange. One attraction in the well-stocked bar is two community tables where larger groups can gather, or where strangers can start the evening and end up friends. Bourbon is known for that happening.
Since leaving Pesce in 2012 after ten years in that hugely popular kitchen, Chef Holley has traveled throughout the country exploring other restaurants, exploring his family’s food traditions and connecting with the men and women who work the sea to deliver the finest fish and shellfish to the nation’s restaurants. He’s gone through the Bourbon country of Kentucky and the low country of the Piedmont, up and down the Atlantic coastal plains, back to the steamy streets of New Orleans and all along the windy shores of the Gulf.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, the Chef has traced his family back through many states, and in the process, learned the family meals he learned to savor while growing up were as much a history of all his past generations as they were a pathway toward becoming the chef he is today.
It all comes together in the spacious-made-intimate location at the corner of Elgin and Louisiana, the former Sushi Raku space. While the restaurant can actually hold almost 200, the space has been divided into a long, comfortable bar area facing Louisiana, a central dining room which can seat around 60, a semi-private dining room called The Lawrence (a tribute to Chef Holley’s father), a private room seating 16 called Mary’s Wine Cellar (named for Mary, the Chef’s stepmother), and finally, a Chef’s Kitchen Table in an area adjacent to the kitchen which seats 10.
Designed by Ed Eubanks of the renowned Eubanks Group Architects, the entire space was transformed to be an environment that is upscale yet casual – spaces that are comfortable yet dramatic. Specially designed furniture and lighting throughout the restaurant add subtle nautical touches and sleek black and dark blue color palettes.
The semi-private Lawrence will provide seating for up to 40 off the main dining room. This, too, offers a sophisticated color palette of black and bright blues as well as custom-made consoles with hand hammered steel, flat screen TV’s for audio-visual presentations and dramatic lighting.
One of the crown jewels of the new restaurant will be the Chef’s Kitchen Table. Semi-private with views of both the working kitchen and the main dining room, this long, custom-made, inlaid wood table is surrounded by wine towers and tile walls. It comfortably seats 10 and gives both the chef and the diners a chance to explore a Chef’s Tasting Menu. This ever-changing menu will be available to those who reserve seats in advance and is paired with wines from the restaurant’s collection of wines, selected by sommelier/general manager, Paul Ramirez.
Parking comes easy with both valet at the rear, garage entrance and self-parking in the multi-story parking garage behind Holley’s.
Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar, located at 3201 Louisiana at Elgin, will be open for dinner Monday through Saturday. It is closed on Sunday. Lunch will be added later. For more information, go to www.HolleysHouston.com.

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