Star Chef Aaron Bludorn Is Taking Over a Rice Village Food Hall

Big news for fans of buzzy Taft Street restaurant Bludorn: star chef Aaron Bludorn will open up a second restaurant, and the team scored a key piece of real estate for the project.

Bludorn, his restaurateur wife Victoria Pappas Bludorn, and manager Cherif Mbodji are scooping up the lease for shuttered Rice Village food hall Politan Row, which closed in 2020 during the pandemic after only a year in business.

Their plan is to open a new restaurant in the 7,100-square-foot mid-century-modern-style space. Bludorn, who hails from NYC’s Cafe Boulud and has appeared on Netflix cooking show “The Final Table,” opened his eponymous restaurant in Houston in the midst of the pandemic.

The team picked Rice Village due to its charm and walkability, as well as its proximity to the Texas Medical Center, Hermann Park, and the Museum District. This new restaurant in the former Politan Row is slated to open in summer 2022. A rep for the restaurant declined to reveal any details about what food this new outpost will serve.

• Chef Aaron Bludorn’s Much-Anticipated Houston Restaurant Sets an Opening Date [EHOU]
• Superstar Chef Aaron Bludorn Secures a Space for His First Houston Restaurant [EHOU]
• How One of Houston’s Most Compelling New Restaurants Opened During an Endlessly Complicated Year [EHOU]
• Rice Village Food Hall Politan Row Permanently Calls It Quits [EHOU]