It’s (Almost) Official: Chef Hugo Ortega Plans Restaurant For New Downtown Hotel

It’s long been rumored that James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega and his restaurateur wife Tracy Vaught had big plans to bring a restaurant concept to Downtown, and it now appears that those rumors have all but been confirmed.

Today, CultureMap Houston reports that Ortega and Vaught have inked a deal with the forthcoming Marriott Marquis hotel in Downtown to open a restaurant called Xochi. Prior to this development, In The Know Houston discovered that Vaught had founded Rosalina, LLC, with intent to open Xochi, along with registering a domain name for the restaurant.

The duo is staying mum on their plans for now – Eater’s requests for comment from Ortega and Vaught’s publicist Paula Murphy have gone unanswered. Murphy did tell CultureMap that the project would be a "group effort," and that all involved parties will decide when to publicly share more details on this concept and others at the hotel.

The Marriott Marquis is set to open in November, no word yet on whether or not the restaurant will be completed in time for the big reveal.

• Today's hot rumor: Hugo Ortega sets sights on luxurious downtown hotel for new restaurant [CultureMap]
• Hugo Ortega And Tracy Vaught May Have Big Downtown Plans [In The Know Houston]