Dean's

That was a fun project because the building has so much history. We did a lot of reclaimed woods and reclaimed furniture. We got lucky and found 100 year old timbers from the Saint Arnold Brewery building and turned those into the 30 foot long bar top. The liquor display is made up of old wooden crates and we have the oldest electric elevator in Texas (3rd oldest in the country) and turned it into a private conversation room. We have a library area that has a few of the original ledgers from when it was a credit clothing store; it also has a smoked crystal chandelier. My partners Bob Diego and Grace Rodriguez and I wanted to create a sexy lounge that pays homage to the space and to Houston.

Fifteen years ago Downtown Houston had a vibrant nightlife scene mostly clubs with a few bars/restaurants. But about five or six years ago, almost all the bars/clubs/restaurants started to close down and the few that stayed open had a small and very young crowd. It was kind-of a ghost town for a while. Then about a year and a half ago, a new breed of great restaurants and bars started opening all within two blocks of one another, Original OKRA Charity Saloon (is bar that donates their profits to local charities), Goro & Gun (one of the city’s best noodle houses),Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bear (a craft cocktail bar with a great patio that overlooks main street), Batanga (a great Latin American tapas restaurant), Pastry War (a very well done mezcal/tequila bar), Little Dipper (A cool bar) Clutch City Squire (a nice chill bar with a dance room upstairs) and soon to be open are Trigger Happy, El Big Bad, and a Coffee/Cocktail bar. It’s great for Houston to have all these amazing bar/restaurants within a two block area; it’s making nightlife much better.

I learned a lot promoting in NYC but the biggest lesson I learned was the power of networking to different groups! Another lesson was don’t do mass marketing it kills your rep.

Houston’s great and it’s maturing as a city, it’s getting better every year. Fifteen years ago it was way too car centric but now there are a lot more walkable areas and a light rail that’s starting to feel more like NYC where you take the subway to work, shop or meet friends for a drink – You’re starting to see that here. NYC is the finance and fashion capital of the world and Houston is the energy and medical/medical tech capital. Also downtown Houston has the largest theater district outside of NYC. NYC is more fashion forward than Houston but it’s catching up. For nightlife a big difference is that Houston does not do the celebrity doorman or follow promoters in the way people in NYC do. Moving here from NYC you have to learn that and adjust.

Since we are a lounge we needed to have you hear the music but still have a conversation. Therefore, 8 JBL Control 29’s and a Crown amp since it’s only a 2,000 square feet space are used. This allowed us tons of head room on the sound system so you get a nice clean sound but you can still talk.