september new restos

fall in houston not only holds the excitement of cooler weather but will also see the opening of lots of new restaurants. this month, check these out:

tesar's in the woodlands had a soft opening last night after a busted piped delayed the opening by one day. the "modern steak & seafood" menu offers parallel tastings of both grass-and-grain-fed beef, 4 types of kobe ribeyes, and fish dishes have an emphasis on whole fish. in addition to the proteins and raw bar, i'm looking forward to trying the butter-poached king crab, beef cheek ravioli with crispy sweetbreads, and cauliflower brulee, the outdoor tesar's burger bar will also offer grass-and-grain-fed beef burgers and handcut fries with your choice of truffle oil, wasabi, or chili. here's is the dinner menu and cocktail & dessert menu.

valentino serving contemporary italian cuisine opens in the hotel derek [corrected: in mid-september]. vin bar complete with an italian raw bar will be opening first and the formal dining room will be in full operations a couple weeks later.

straits serving upscale singaporean cuisine will be opening in town & country's citycentre on sept 28th.

read my write-ups on these new restos on juli b for more info.

in addition, lynette hawkins' giacomo's cibo e vino is set to open on sept 9th in river oaks on westheimer & bammel where pan y agua once stood. hawkins opened the now defunct la mora in the 90's. the menu which features antipasti, panini, pasta, and grilled items has been posted to their website. take a look.

[added: the folks that brought us pink's pizza & dragon bowl is opening lola in the heights on sept 12th. check out 29-95.com to sample their casual comfort food at a special preview event the night before.]

[added 9/7: tony vallone's new casual, italian eatery named ciao bello will be opening in the former jimmy wilson's spot on san felipe & sage on sat, sept 12th. tune into southbound food on sat, sept 12 at 11am to hear tony give us the full deets and the run-down on all the changes they are making.]