BCN Taste & Tradition Will Expand With A Brand New Spanish Eatery

The minds behind BCN Taste & Tradition, Houston’s finest Spanish eatery, are planning to open a brand new restaurant that will focus on pinxtos in the River Oaks District.

Sebastien Laval, the general manager of the forthcoming restaurant, tells Eater that it will be called MAD. “It’s the airport code for Madrid,” Laval says. “It’s also a play on the word “mad” as in mad-crazy, because we want the experience to be intensely good,” he explains. The restaurant will set up shop at 4444 Westheimer Road, in the space that was formerly going to be occupied by Arizona-based restaurant Sumomaya, which quietly squashed its plans to open in River Oaks.

“We are going to be serving Spanish small bites and finger foods inspired by the tradition of the pinxtos,” says Laval. “Pinxto means ‘something that is supposed to be stabbed with a toothpick,’ but it’s evolved so that now it’s more finger foods and small plates. We’ll be taking the pinxto tradition and being creative with it. There will also be large plates to share,” he says. Inspiration for the upcoming restaurant was gathered over weeks of intense travel to Spain, during which Laval, accompanied by owners Ignacio Torras and chef/owner Luis Roger, visited more than 40 restaurants in cities across Spain.

When it opens, MAD will offer lunch, brunch, dinner and late night service. The beverage program will consist of beer, wine and creative cocktails.

“We’re not re-creating. It’s inspired. It’s not going to be too regional. It’s a combination of things. We’re not re-doing proper traditional food from a region. It’s going to be food that’s inspired from our trip to Spain.” And, he says, “We want it to be really fun.”

MAD is expected to debut in River Oaks before the end of 2018. Stay tuned for more details on its progress.