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Stella Sola, the Texas-Gulf-Coast-meets-Tuscany restaurant in the Heights, has closed, owner Bryan Caswell said Tuesday. The restaurant served its last meals on Saturday.
Ribollita with guanciale and poached egg as served at Stella Sola.: Alison Cook : 29-95
Owners Caswell and partner Bill Floyd (who also own and operate Reef, Little Bigs and El Real) said that the restaurant’s landlord has been in the process of selling the building, which put a question mark over Stella Sola, Caswell said.
But then after chef Adam Dorris left in April, it became clearer to the restaurant owners that they probably couldn’t continue operating.
“If Adam wouldn’t have quit and put in his notice, we probably would have gone on. But for me to go out and try to recruit a chef would have been the wrong thing to do – to convince a young chef to get excited about something we couldn’t guarantee,” Caswell said. “So we’re shutting it down. It was a tough decision.”
Stella Sola opened in November 2009 in the home of the former Bedford. After a quick shuffle in the kitchen that saw chef Jason Gould out only days after a soft opening, Stella Sola was earning praises for the work of its young chef de cuisine Justin Bayse hailed for his way around meats, particularly charcuterie. Soon foodies were flocking to the restaurant for its cured meats, giant meatballs, marrow bones and wild boar ragout.
Joanne Witt photo
“I love the way Bayse’s short, smartly edited menu shifts daily to reflect the market,” Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook wrote in her March 2010 review of Stella Sola. “Favorites remain, but lights-out specials like meltingly tender roast suckling pig or roasted grouper collar sneak in, along with subtle shifts of locally sourced ingredients.”
Caswell said he has been aware for months of rumors that Stella Sola was closing. But the ongoing negotiations to sell the building by its owners and the departure of Dorris (a career shift by the chef who left the restaurant on good terms) were obstacles Stella Sola couldn’t overcome.
“It sucks,” Caswell said, “there’s no other way to call it.”
While Caswell is disappointed, he said he is proud of the partnerships the restaurant has had with chefs Bayse and Dorris. “I feel humbled to have had a part in their career,” he said.
About 80 percent of the restaurant’s staff will find work in the partners’ El Real or Reef, Caswell said.
While acknowledging that the Stella Sola name and concept could be transferred to another restaurant in Houston, Caswell said the restaurant’s closing gives him more time to devote to his signature Reef. “My focus for 2012 is Reef, 200 percent,” Caswell said.
I loved this place and I am sad to see it go. I couldn't go too often, but I always enjoyed it when I did. I know everyone loves Reef, and El Real is the new hot spot, but I thought Stella Sola was the best of the bunch.
I agree...that roast suckling pig was to die for.
This is unbelievable. The landlord has totally shot him/herself in the foot by trying to sell without making sure that the buyer would keep Stella Sola. Instead of selling a building with a thriving tenant, the landlord will now be selling empty space in need of a very expensive build out if the Stella Sola guys take a lot of their fixtures with them. Sad to see such a great restaurant go.
The last time we went, they did not have the suckling pig....and the food preparation was poor....vegetables too salty, food undercooked....a big disappointment and we promised it was our last time going there... now maybe I understand why the food was bad.....
Mark- I agree, last time I went was a few months ago and it was not good. It was a Firday night at 7pm and the restaurant had only 3-4 tables. Sign of the decline of food.
So sad. Site of my first date with my Baby. I was going to propose there.
Leasing contracts super-cede any sales contracts. I think its more the fact that he lost his chef.
Correct. Buyer takes subject to any leases, unless the seller is in foreclosure. I would have to assume that Stella Sola's lease was coming up soon (they opened in 2009--couldn't have more than a 5 year lease). Not knowing the terms a new landlord will want from your business can be a serious issue for a business, especially a restaurant that is facing a change at chef.
WRONG. This was by far Bryan Caswell's best restaurant. One of my favorites in town. Where did the chef go?
I cant believe it. Took many out-of-towners there and it was always a big hit.
Wow, really bummed by this news. Loved Stella. They had great food, excellent service, and a killer wine list that was fair in it's mark ups. Also had great sommeliers to help with wine selection. Sad new for Houston, this is a loss to the restaurant scene.
Sure Caswell...sure. I do not buy this for a second. I garantee you that another resteraunt will open in its place. I think he has bitten off more then he can chew and p/o a few people along the way.
Much about nothing. High prices and snobbish food and preparation to make it look like you are getting food of the elite. They lost their star chef who had run out of outlandish things to offer and they went broke. Next...
what is wrong with "food of the elite." one cannot live on barbecue alone.
restaurants always go out of business because the food is great! uh-huh, yep, thats the reason. say it long enough and you might believe it.
The bone marrow was salted to death and the restaurant was dead the last time I went (January). They probably made the right decision.
Stella Sola closes but El Real stays open. I don't want to live in this world anymore.
Precisely!
Both the Chron and the Houston Press have just "reported" what they've been fed by the PR machine... any "journalist" would dig deeper and realize that even if a building is going to be sold (and this one is just 'maybe' being sold) the tenant will still remain and the new owners assume the existing lease. Their lease could not be up so soon - likely either 5 or 10 years as is usual - so the "excuse" about the landlord selling is just that - an excuse. More probably the place has not been doing well for a while, which is why the chef left, and they're cutting their losses. It's sad that this is what passes for "journalism" these days.
They opened in 2009 and probably entered into a lease before then to rebuild the place to undo the weird stuff the Bedford had inside. If they leased in mid 2008, they are probably coming up on the end of a five year lease (doubt a restaurant would ever enter into a 10 year unless it was a cruddy Landry's chain).
I suspect that the property owners may have an offer from someone who has a restaurant tenant lined up who wants the space. Stella Sola packed it in. Glass Wall prints money. Liberty Kitchen could have people sitting on the curb on Studewood if they wanted. Sonoma is opening down the street. There is bigtime demand for good restaurant space in the Heights. Maybe someone with a really big bag of money wanted the location more than Caswell wanted to find a new chef.
unbelievably sad
hopefully they will open another place soon.
Loved Stella Sola. Loved.
Chef Dorris is amazing. I live a block from this place and while I'm sad to see it go I look forward to what Dorris opens up next...in the mean time I hope there might be more Ghetto Dinners in the future!! Let's just hope some chain doesn't move in.
This place was doomed when Dave Poss left.
Sad to see, yet another small business gone
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Would love to see another restaurant like Shade or Glass Wall that have the trappings of fine dining without the pretense.
I'd love to be own next door neighbor! Think of the block party potential!
YESSS Shepard!! DO IT! We would love another like you in the hood.
I hope all of the Heights, give the Killen's a chance in Stella Sola's place. They are good people and their food has always been good.