Houston's Vallone's Puts A Modern Spin On The Traditional Steakhouse
For over five decades, the name Vallone has been synonymous with Houston's posh culinary scene. Throughout his career as one of the city's leading restaurateur, Tony Vallone has garnered national attention for his exquisite namesake restaurant Tony's. With an insatiable passion for quality and his innovation in the kitchen, it was essentially Tony Vallone who set the bar for fine dining in Houston as we know it. Currently his latest venture, Vallone's at the up and coming Gateway Memorial complex in West Houston is being hailed as a "modern classic".
At first glance, Vallone's impresses with its handsome lobby bar and lounge, an inviting staircase leading to a second level private dining room, and a corridor leading to the spacious main dining room. But it's the restaurant's dynamic menu that truly sets this establishment apart from the rest.
Conceived together by Vallone and protégé Scott Sulma (general manager and partner), the restaurant features a "technique-driven" approach to dry aged steaks and chops, and a menu which combines traditional steakhouse staples like French onion soup and jumbo lump crab cakes with out of the box selections like "The Tex" — a 6 oz. center cut fillet served with two cheese enchiladas. As the most popular choice among hungry Houstonians, "The Tex" is a hearty choice and one you won't soon see at other fine dining destinations.
The dessert menu is given equal attention with a long list of classics like Bananas Foster and the Baked Alaska, but it is the Coconut Cake which will likely make heads turn. The visually striking cake is layered in Bavarian cream and topped with marshmallow fluff and a playful pink house-made cotton candy; it's a one of a kind dessert. The contrast of colors pop off the plate and are lovely to look at.
Often times traditional steakhouses fail to avoid being stuffy and unimaginative; however, Vallone's manages to fuse trending concepts into its classic American fare. The chic restaurant and modern menu from the celebrated Houston chef is sure to welcome a new era of Hous-Tony-ans.
FTC Disclosure: This was a sponsored visit. Opinions herein belong to the author.