Latest Dish: December 2019

Its mission sounds dauntingly broad — nothing less than to encourage people “to explore the world through food and drink” — but owner-operator Matthew Mitchell’s new Traveler’s Table actually comes across as a friendly neighborhood restaurant, with a fun, worldly menu and an unassumingly hip environment. The latter is thanks to smart ideas such as positioning the main entrance at the edge of an eat-in garden, and to space designer Gin Braverman’s palette of retro-sophisticated mossy greens to complement walls of glass and loads of light-toned and linear hardwood accents; the vibe calls to mind the living room of a well-to-do great uncle’s warmly mod lake house back east.

One of Houston’s most famous purveyors of rich regional food has reappeared after a brief hiatus — in one of Houston’s most old-school neighborhood spaces. Just in time for the holidays!