The proprietors of Catch, the New York-based, celebrity-favorite restaurant that has become a national brand, decided to open a “corner joint” in Manhattan's trendy SoHo neighborhood.
A new eatery set to open Monday at 475 West Broadway in Houston's corner will be called simply “The Corner Store,” and it envisions serving classic dishes from around the city.
Think classic steak frites, the kind most commonly served at Raoul's but also found at Odeon and Balthazar, or a pastrami Reuben like you'd find at Katz's, or a fancier version at Polo Bar uptown.
Pizza, of course, is on the menu in the form of a five-cheese pizza roll, and there's even a raw section with Dirty Martini oysters.
“I went to the corner store because it literally had everything I needed,” Catch Hospitality Group co-founder Eugene Rehm told Side Dish. “I knew the people there, and if I wanted batteries or a carton of milk, I'd go there every day. They had everything.”
Of course, the perfect corner location is also a factor in the name, he added.
Cocktails include Ollie's Dirty Martini, made with a house-made vermouth base, brine, olive oil washed vodka and white vermouth; Tomato Martini, Sour Cream and Onion Martini and Tuxedo No. 2 Martini, made with gin, Dolin Blanc vermouth, Noilly Prat, lemon and absinthe.
“I think our drinks program is super special. We have martinis served tableside in custom glass bottles that are precisely diluted and perfectly chilled. You pour it yourself, so you're never drinking a warm martini,” Rehm said.
It was exactly 13 years ago this month that Rehm and Mark Birnbaum launched the first Catch, and in 2017 they brought on board billionaire Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Houston Rockets, Landry's CEO, and operator of Catch as well as other major restaurant chains including Morton's Steakhouse.
While most of Catch's restaurants are large, seating between 300 and 400 people, The Corner Store, which will open in the former Dos Caminos space, will have 80 seats inside, 13 at the bar and about 50 seats on an outdoor glass-enclosed patio.
The design, by David Rockwell's Rockwell Group, includes a green onyx bar top and an antique mirror behind it.
The main dining room features two types of banquette seating with green velvet and leather chairs and box-patterned oak tabletops.
The Corner Store's menu was created by Catch Hospitality Group's Executive Chef Michael Vignola and Executive Chef Paul Castro.
The drinks menu is being overseen by the group's beverage director, Lucas Robinson, alongside industry veterans Alexis Belton, formerly of The Aviary at The Linea Group, and Dev Johnson, formerly of Employees Only.
“We were first and foremost inspired by NoMad Bar, that's all,” Rehm says. “It had the perfect mix of quality cocktails and traditional American cuisine. It was my favorite place.” Catch opened in New York in September 2011.
It followed by a Los Angeles location in 2016 and a Las Vegas location in 2018. A second concept, Catch Steak, opened in New York in 2019.
“Then we opened Aspen in December 2021, right in the middle of COVID,” Rehm said.
Catch Steak is set to open in Los Angeles in June 2022, with its Miami location opening in May earlier this year.
