One-time Dallas-based chef John Tesar opening restaurant in Houston

by PegNews wire

Texas may not have been the most likely place for an east coast kid who grew up in the Hamptons to settle but that’s exactly what he’s doing. Notable five-star seafood chef, John Tesar announced today he would open Tesar’s Modern Steak & Sustainable Seafood this August in the Woodlands, approximately 30 miles north of downtown Houston. The chef says his roots are submerged deeply in the ocean he grew up near and always will be: “I identify with the sea there so completely and it’s companionship with our modern steak concept though I look forward to opening my first eponymous restaurant in Texas. Texas and Texans have been kind to me. I lived in Dallas for three years and loved it. Came back to New York for less than three months and found I missed it,” said John Tesar.

Tesar, a 2009 James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef: Southwest has seen crowds gather for his fare and his commitment to sustainable food sources when he revamped the menu and restaurant into three distinct dining areas at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. Nationally lauded restaurant critic, John Mariani wrote Chef Tesar brought “New York edge to Texas swagger,” when he named the Mansion Restaurant one of Esquire’s Ten Best New Restaurants of 2008. Since his early 20”s Chef Tesar has created his own restaurants and reinvented others for some of the best chefs, hotels and resorts from New York, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas and Dallas. “I’ve been asked many times to brand my name, but timing is everything, and this is the time. Tesar's will be a special place,” Tesar commented.

Fresh from his success in Dallas, Tesar looked to investors who believed in modern gastronomy for his next adventure. “Planning this concept has been intense,” Tesar says. “Plenty of investors showed interest, but I needed to find the dedicated ‘sustainable' backers. We take from flora and fauna without regard to maintenance; even poisoning it with the chemicals we use to make ‘earth-foods’ grow. But, people care more about what they eat now and my customers are desirous of the locavore and sustainable movement,” states Chef Tesar.

Tesar tapped David McCarble the sole proprietor of David Development and David Restaurant Group for backing and partnership. “That it only took three months was remarkable and rewarding and I think the residents of the Woodlands will be very pleased once we’re open. In the race for commerce we forgot to be human.” says Tesar. “I asked John to consult on my Steamboat Springs project and in a nanosecond I knew we would be great partners in my burgeoning restaurant group,” commented David McCarble.

Tesar’s Modern Steak & Sustainable Seafood will parlay the chef’s talents with a varied menu loaded with organically grown, super "green" selections using side-by-side comparisons of grass and grain-fed beef and earth-easy seafood. “Modern Steak is not only tastier it’s healthier.” Tesar’s will provide an education and journey through choices, flavor profiles and health options. “I’m currenttly engaging ranchers who practice these newer, cleaner modern ways of raising and aging cattle. My entire menu will be 100 percent sustainable created with a zero-waste food ethics in mind. This will also include our hamburgers served at our outside burger bar,” Chef Tesar informs. Tesar’s will have plenty of options and price points for diners including a bar lounge menu, raw bar, chef’s room and main dining room with whole fish choices. “Whole fish will be a principal part of our menu. It’s an amazing way to taste the true flavor of the sea and the quality of finfish,” informs Tesar.

McCarble and Tesar say they hope this to be the first of many restaurants. "Diners are searching for modern thoughtful cuisine everywhere, and the demand is high,” states Chef Tesar.

Source: John Tesar