Since L’Olivier opened almost three months ago, this near-town stretch of Westheimer finally feels like it’s shaping up into a coherent restaurant row. L’Olivier already feels like a comfortable staple: open continuously, lunch through dinner, with an inviting pewter bar area where the drop-in diner can grab a pitch-perfect goat cheese salad or a half-dozen East Coast oysters and a glass of Muscadet.

Perching at this thick sweep of pewter is almost like being in France. The carefully opened oysters arrive on a theatrically molded coronet of ice, their shell lips stuck into it like so many shelf mushrooms. Clean tart Muscadet is such a rare Houston treat with oysters that it seems a stroke of luck that they’ll open this (or any bottle on the wine list) for you, as long as you commit to two glasses. Read: Why you'll love this safe and sure French cuisine.