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Goodnight Hospitality said a final goodbye Friday to their beloved Montrose bar Goodnight Charlie’s in style — with a Dolly Parton-themed blowout. Now, it’s making way for a big hello to its newest establishment.
The hospitality group is slated to open the Marigold Club this fall, offering a swanky and upscale dining option in the Montrose area, with art deco decor and a speakeasy-inspired private dining room for guests.
Chef Austin Waiter, previously executive chef at Tony’s — a high-end Italian restaurant in Upper Kirby — will lead as Marigold’s executive chef, serving up modern continental cuisine stemming from an era of French and American cooking that often informs many chefs’ culinary training. The restaurant's wine list and cocktails are expected to match its ambiance— similar to that of the hospitality group’s other Montrose properties, which include Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine, and March.
Goodnight Hospitality partner and sommelier June Rodil said the decision to open the Marigold Club came following some hesitation during the pandemic. Goodnight Charlie’s, the group’s first venture, closed in early 2020 and occasionally hosted events — but the group was cautious about fully reopening a live event venue.
“Any time we’d think about it or doing a pop-up, we’d take a couple of steps back,” she said. “We had a lot of introspection and realization that we really love restaurants.”
Offering an elevated dining experience seemed exciting, and safer, too, said Rodil, who described the Marigold Club as having the casual energy of Goodnight Hospitality’s restaurant Rosie Cannonball, the tasting menu of March and the vibes and the exclusive feel of a supper club — without the requirement of paying dues.
“It’s about being able to have that aspect of staff who make you feel at ease and feel included. ... We want it to be community-driven,” Rodil said.
The restaurant group is targeting a fall opening, with Rodil noting that certain processes that previously took weeks in the restaurant world now take months during the pandemic.
While many details, including design and menu specifics, are still being determined, chef and partner Felipe Riccio said in a statement that the goal of the Marigold Club is “to tap into the wealth of variety that modern continental cuisine will afford us, while still keeping our eye on a foundation.”
The latest collaboration with Waiter, a Tony’s alumnus, also follows Goodnight Hospitality's canceled plans to open the Edmont with Grant Gordon, Tony’s former executive chef and James Beard Award nominee, before he unexpectedly died in 2014.
Good Hospitality partners Bailey and Peter McCarthy said in a statement that recreating Gordon’s vision without him would be impossible, but their goal is to hold his memory close in their plans for the Marigold Club.
“It is meaningful to us that Grant and Austin worked together, albeit briefly, and we hope we all make him proud with the Marigold Club,” they said.
