Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1538827
By Laurann Claridge. Architecture photography Leonid Furmansky. From top: Camaraderie is chef Shawn Gawle's first restaurant. Summer Veg Tart at Camaraderie. C hef Shawn Gawle has spent almost 25 years working in every station you'll find in a restaurant kitchen, from savory to sweet. Educated at the New England Culinary Institute, this Boston-bred chef has earned an impressive CV working under talented toques from Jean- Marie Lacroix at his namesake eatery in Philadelphia to the late French legend Joël Robuchon at the premiere of his Four Seasons Hotel New York restaurant, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Most recently, Gawle served as executive pastry chef at Houston's Goodnight Hospitality, where he helped launch their concepts Rosie Cannonball, Montrose Cheese & Wine, and the Michelin-starred fine dining spot March. This spring, Gawle — who has been hailed as Best New Pastry Chef by Food & Wine magazine and Rising Star Chef by StarChefs — finally realized a dream: He opened his first restaurant, Camaraderie. He enlisted Schaum Architects to transform a former metal and woodworking workshop in the Heights — basically a wood-framed, gable- roof garage — into the elevated fine- casual eatery. Schaum p r i n c i p a l Tr o y Schaum says "Shawn wanted to create the s e n s e o f w a r m t h and connection that you might feel in a mountain retreat, but in the middle o f c o s m o p o l i t a n Houston. That tension between informality and refinement led us to look at refined Swiss chalets and Japanese ryokans. T h e y a re s p a c e s designed to make guests feel invited and comfortable. This was part of a kind of 'urban cabin' logic that drove the design of the dining room." T h e c l e a n - l i n e d i n t e r i o r o f Camaraderie has warm, light woods and a vaulted ceiling with skylights that bathe the room in natural light. Three sections — dining room, bar, and lounge — focus on a market-driven menu of contemporary American cuisine rooted in French technique. The dining room, which accommodates 32 guests and faces the open kitchen, features Gawle's prix fixe menu ($75 per person). The three-course meal begins with shareable snacks and appetizers, followed by house-made bread, family-style sides, individual entrees, and a choice of dessert for the table. Whether you start with a glass of wine or a cocktail ($16, or a mini one for $10), the Manchego cheese curls are the perfect go-with: playful spirals of fried dough akin to savory funnel cake, dusted with more shredded Manchego ($12). I was lured to order the in-season heirloom tomato pie ($18), but what I really loved was the shareable tarte flambée ($18). After Gawle attended a wedding in the Alsace region (the northeastern France region with a strong Germanic cultural influence) and indulged in numerous iterations of the classic dish; he recreated the unleavened cracker-like crisp crust Camaraderie Opens Heights in the An Urban Cabin ARTURO OLMOS (Continued on page 116)