CHEF PHILIPPE SCHMIT UNVEILS NEW SIGNATURE CONCEPT:
 PHILIPPE RESTAURANT AND LOUNGE

Celebrated Houston chef Philippe Schmit will soon be back in the kitchen after spending the last two years carefully planning for his new restaurant concept, PHILIPPE Restaurant and Lounge.
 
“It’s not going to be a rehash of bistro moderne,” Schmit says, comparing his new venture with the restaurant that made him famous in the Bayou City. “PHILIPPE is going to be much more accessible and much more casual. It’s taken a lot of patience and drive to get here, but the result will be my dream restaurant tailor- made for Houston. It’s a passion project.”
 
Schmit and his team have created a culinary program certain to delight in terms of both quality and price. The food will employ classic French techniques presented in unique and unexpected ways. The menus celebrate simplicity but elevate the ordinary with a sense of playfulness, attention to detail and flawless execution.  Menu options are affordable and designed to appeal to diners across the spectrum:  perfect for “regulars” who will drop in for lunch or dinner two or three times a week; and attractive to the single bar diner as well as large groups of friends.

Located at BLVD Place on Post Oak Boulevard at Ambassador Way, Schmit has given legendary Houston developer Ed Wulfe the perfect bookend to Phase I of his high-profile urban mixed-use development, where the restaurant RDG + Bar Annie opened in 2009. The two-story PHILIPPE concept features a hip first floor lounge, a stylish second floor dining room, kitchens and bars on both levels, a ground level outdoor seating area in front of the restaurant, a nearly 600 square foot second floor terrace, and a high-end private dining room on the second level that will serve as the chef’s personal culinary playground.

The design team consists of top-tier talent including architect Shafik Rifaat and world-renowned interior designer Lauren Rottet.  Rifaat has provided architectural, design and construction management services nationally and internationally for over 35 years.  His projects in Houston include Tony’s Restaurant, River Oaks Shopping Center and The Grotto restaurant.

Rottet – also based in Houston – is one of only two designers to hold the coveted titles of Fellow of the American Institute of Architecture, Interior Design Magazine’s Hall of Fame, and Contract Magazine’s Designer of the Year. Her designs can be found around the globe from New York City to Paris to Shanghai.  PHILIPPE will be her first restaurant in Houston.

Schmit has also rejoined forces with Ludovic Poirier, who served as Director of Operations at bistro moderne and will once again take over that role at the hotly anticipated PHILIPPE Restaurant and Lounge.  Poirier brings more than 20 years of international experience to the position after training at the prestigious Residence Maxim’s and later at the Hotel Ritz’s L’Espadon, named Best Hotel Restaurant in Paris.  Before teaming up with Schmit at bistro moderne he also held positions at The Regent Hotel in Melbourne, Australia and in Houston at the Four Seasons Hotel – overseeing the transformation of Deville restaurant to Quattro – as well as Remington restaurant at the St. Regis Hotel.  Most recently Poirier worked as General Manager in the celebrated restaurant VOICE at Hotel ICON.
 

ABOUT PHILIPPE SCHMIT

Chef Philippe served as executive chef and partner at bistro moderne in Houston, where he was hailed as one of the city’s most innovative and talented chefs since his arrival in 2004.  Born and raised in Roanne, France near Lyon, he trained at three of Paris’s most respected Michelin 2-Star restaurants — Le Carre des Feuillants, Pavillon Elysee Lenotre and Restaurant Jacques Cagna — in addition to extensive training in Holland and England.  In 1990 he set sail for New York and ignited his stateside career with lightning speed, becoming sous chef at the internationally respected Le Bernardin and later as chef de cuisine at Park Bistro.

In 1994 he became executive chef at the ever-popular New York brasserie La Goulue and then executive chef at Orsay, which took the New York restaurant scene by storm in 2000, and is consistently rated as one of the best and most popular restaurants in New York City.