Sam Houston Hotel relaunches bar, restaurant space

H3D Hospitality Design, under the leadership of principal Candice Schiller, has completed an extensive rebrand, redesign and relaunch of the restaurant and bar space at The Sam Houston Hotel in Houston under the collective name The Pearl Restaurant & Bar. H3D implemented a comprehensive campaign for The Pearl – designing all elements of the new space and cultivating a timeless original logo for the brand that is featured prominently throughout the restaurant and bar.

Schiller collaborated with architect Craig Schuster of Schuster Inc. to take the space down to the studs and replace it with a warm and contemporary aesthetic.

The Pearl’s newly renovated dining and bar spaces offer an urban coastal oasis to hotel guests and visitors alike. With vintage brass light fixtures and accents, caramel-colored leather Chesterfield sofas, black leather chairs, zinc and brass tables, cement tile insets, and plantation shutters, The Pearl offers a relaxed, sophisticated setting.

The classically cool interior is made all the more stylish with brick and live-edged cedar walls, chairs covered in buckskin-colored upholstery along with caramel-colored woven chairs and banquettes covered in black and cream Ikat fabric – a subtle nod to Sam Houston’s own Cherokee lineage. It also features vaulted ceilings made of pressed tin, vintage brass lamps, and antique mirrors soaring above a steel and glass wine room visible from the hotel’s contemporary lobby.

Bartenders at The Pearl Bar mix up their magic in front of a black wooden wall and serve their craft cocktails on a Calacatta bar top with a heavy zinc edge. Two prominent oyster chandeliers give the space a welcoming visual element. In the kitchen, executive chef Chris Loftis joins The Pearl after a stint as chef de cuisine at Killen’s Steakhouse. Loftis has cultivated a balanced menu that will satiate guests with savory appetizers and salads, entrees like classic shrimp and grits, grouper with lentils and curried corn, scallop carbonara, and short rib braised in Dr. Pepper.