Houston’s New Plush Lounge Raises the Culinary Bar and Wows the City’s Power Ladies — Inside Bar Moon’s Special Preview

While The Bastion Collection introduced its refined, upscale Bar Moon to a spirited throng in Houston the weekend before its official opening, it was the intimate luncheon the day before its formal debut for a select group of dynamic women that set the stage for the future of the posh lounge, located above the restaurant group’s Italian restaurant Tavola.

The sophisticated ladies swooned over the menu and the plush surroundings of this new spot at 1800 Post Oak Boulevard. The menu was created by an extraordinary international clutch of Michelin-starred chefs..

The elegant lunch turned into a celebration of the Bastion Collection’s hospitality trifecta — the fabulously elegant Bar Moon; Soleil, the lavish event space next door to Moon; and Bastion Events, an off-site catering venture aiming to bring world class food to the Houston events. If this lunch is any indication of the grouop’s culinary powers, Bastion Events will be a game changer.

Setting the stage for Bar Moon and Soleil, grandeur reigned. The second floor elevator arrives to a plush foyer where walls are upholstered in emerald green velvet and lacquered emerald green doors flank the hostess desk. One door leads to Bar Moon and the other to Soleil.

The interiors alone would elevate any lounge experience with its emerald green velvet wall coverings and tigerwood paneling, hiding two wide screen televisions. A rain forest of suspended faux emeralds cascades from the ceiling adding design oomph to the surroundings. Think after-work chic cocktails, late night nibbles in black-tie garb after a gala, or merely popping in for a dose of sophisticated socializing with bar food unlike any other. No spicy chicken wings, thank you.

Unexpected is a swank private room behind the bar, a jewel box of a space that found the lunching ladies French champagne in hand, dreaming of elegant birthday parties and anniversary soirées. If one desires, the entire bar can be booked for trés chic private evenings.

Such is the glamour and nature of Bar Moon that reservations are recommended. On its opening night, the bar was fully booked.

Welcoming the clutch of Houston power women to the very special occasion were Bastion Collection’s charming chief 0perating officer Deleon Pinto and the talented Cafe Natalie owner Chris Nguyen, partner in Bastion Events, Soleil, and Moon

The luncheon in Moon, The Bastion Collection’s swank bar at 1800 Post Oak Boulevard, began with a divine caviar dish. (Photo by Shane Dante)

Michelin Star Worthy Dining

For this preview lunch, an all-star culinary team led by Chef Alain Verzeroli, culinary director of the 10-Michelin-star-awarded Bastion Collection restaurant group, which in Houston includes Michelin star recipient Le Jardinier, located at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

He was joined by executive chef Felipe Botero of Houston’s Le Jardinier; Olivier Jean, the executive chef of L’Atelier Robuchon and Le Jardinier at The Woodward hotel in Geneva, Switzerland; James Friedberg, the executive chef at Le Jardinier and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Miami; Salvatore Martone, the executive pastry Chef of The Bastion Collection; and Chef Marco Incerti, executive chef of Tavola and Bar Moon.

We  gasped in surprised delight as servers presented to each of us a tin of caviar filled to the rim — delicious crab salad on the bottom, a generous layer of caviar next and a dollop of créme fraiche on top. Never before have I seen such a thing.

Second course was a divine burrata and pear salad laced with pecans. Butternut squash agnolotti with chantrelle mushrooms and chestnuts followed. The entree was a delicate grilled branzino served with salmoriglio sauce, fennel and olives. A dreamy chocolate “mushroom” completed the lavish meal. As a takeout treat, we received a chocolate and hazelnut financier.

It was a remarkable feast.

Among the ladies who lunched as guests of Shelby Hodge and The Bastion Collection were Houston Ballet board chair Kristy Bradshaw, eight-time Houston Fire Fighters Foundation gala chair Elizabeth Stein, Houston Ballet board members and former gala chairs Kelley Lubanko and Leigh Smith, PaperCity Philanthropy in Fashion Best Dressed luncheon chair and former honoree Stacey Lindseth, Houston Astros minority partner and Laura Mercier Cosmetics founder Janet Gurwitch, former Houston Ballet Board chair Shawn Stephens, and public relations powerhouse Dancie Ware of DPWPR.

The new Bar Moon is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 5 pm to midnight and Fridays and Saturdays from 5 pm to 2 am.