RESTAURANT REVIEW: Perseid

For a while last decade, Chris Shepard was the undisputed king of Houston restauranteurs. From his flagship Underbelly, to more innovative ideas like One Fifth, and even the best bar in Houston, Hay Merchant, his concepts were all must-visit, and new ones continued to open year after year. However, when he parted ways with his restaurant group to focus on the Southern Smoke charity, the restauranteur belt was vacated for a few years. Sure, there are other fantastic groups such as Agricole Hospitality and Hugo Ortega's H-Town Restaurant Group, but Aaron Bludorn has absolutely rocketed to the top of this list from almost out of nowhere in the past few years, filling Shepard's void. His maiden offering Bludorn first opened during COVID in 2020, followed by Navy Blue in 2022, and then my personal favorite Bar Bludorn in 2024. Now the pace has increased even more, with Perseid opening earlier this year, and another BB outpost in The Woodlands scheduled for 2026.

Named after everyone's favorite (or at the very least top 5) meteor shower, Perseid is located in the Hotel Saint Augustine in Montrose near the Menil Collection. This boutique hotel is unlike anything else in Houston, designed by Lake Flato with multiple two-story buildings surrounding a beautifully landscaped central courtyard area. The restaurant is located right in the middle of it all, and since it is a hotel eatery, is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I can only speak to the latter, as my group dined on a Saturday night, when there was a pretty healthy crowd filling the beautiful modern bistro space (the hotel's bar in a separate building, the Augustine Lounge, was absolutely slammed later in the evening). The cuisine is labelled contemporary French (chef Bludorn previously worked at legend Daniel Boulud's restaurants in New York), and while I wouldn't necessarily put it into that category of my own accord after seeing and tasting the menu, I'm happy that they do, as it adds some much-needed depth to my Best French category over on my Houston Restaurant Guide.

It's refreshing to see a menu with a fairly straightforward listing of appetizers, entrees, and sides, as these days things often seem to be so much more complicated. Our party shared several of the starters, including the unique crawfish sausage. The crustaceans (you will never EVER catch me using the term "m*db*gs", which I hate) were piped into casings with a healthy dose of herbs, grilled to a nice crisp, and served over a creole sauce topped with some frisée. I still prefer more traditional meat sausage, but this was an interesting alternative, and the piquant burnt orange sauce really popped, both in taste and visually against the striking bright blue plate.

The smoked salmon dip, however, was a bit more pedestrian. I've mentioned several times that salmon is definitely not my fish of choice (in dips like this cod is a far superior option), and here the fishy flavor which I don't care for was not completely offset by the smoked preparation. It was topped with "everything spice", which has become something of an epidemic these days. I'm not sure if people were just extremely moved by the bagel in Everything Everywhere All At Once or something, but this combination of seasonings seems to be... everywhere (sorry) now. Anyway, at least the housemade potato chips were solid.

By far the superlative appetizer was the squash blossoms, massive specimens which were stuffed with shrimp jambalaya and deep fried. Perfectly crispy exteriors encased a delicious sweet briny prawn mixture, and more of the creole sauce drizzled over the top provided a welcome kick. There was also some sliced celery above and what tasted like a celery puree (unlisted on the description) below, for a touch of freshness. Sometimes it's good to offset the cholesterol spike with a bit of green, I suppose. I'm told squash blossoms are seasonal, so you may want to run and try this dish before it's too late.

For my entree I went a bit off book, as I prefer not to order the same thing as anyone else at the table, and since I went last my top two choices were already taken. However, I'm glad I did, because the tomato risotto was quite the unexpected delight. We all know about the risotto curse on Top Chef, but apparently whatever sous or line cook that prepared this dish was stirring their ass off, because the rice was perfectly creamy and al dente. The confit tomatoes (cooked in olive oil) were so rich, with that sugary and acidic flavor that only these lycopene bombs could provide. There was also a basil pesto and some stracciatella (the mozzarella-based cheese, not the gelato) to complete the dish. By default there's no protein, but our server offered to throw some shrimp on there, so I agreed. They were just fine, but, and I can't believe I'm saying this, I don't think any kind of meat or seafood was needed for this one.

Fortunately, thanks to the generosity of my companions I was able to taste my other preferences, and the roasted duck breast was another winner. Cooked to a spectacular, juicy medium rare, the bird was sliced and served with sweet Bing cherries, haricot verts, almonds, and red quinoa, with a lovely duck jus coating the whole ensemble. Quinoa isn't necessarily my favorite superfood, but here it was quite tasty, bringing some texture along with the almonds. Apparently the red version comes from South America, so maybe now I'm just more inclined to enjoy things from my new favorite continent.

There was another pasta as well, a wild boar bolognese reminiscent of a similar rabbit dish at Bar Bludorn. Fettuccini was tossed with that delectable gamey boar sauce, and topped with parmesan and garlic bread crumbs. Another friend ordered the pork chop, and while did try one bite of the meat, I can't really comment on the dish as a whole, but he seemed to enjoy it.

For dessert we enjoyed some beignets, fluffily fried and filled full of vanilla pastry cream and a peach coulis. Topped with the mandatory flurry of powdered sugar, these were dense and delicious, very sweet but cut by the fruity acidity of the peach. The bar program is strong as well, and I especially enjoyed the frozen mezcal margarita, smokey and cold as Houston's endless summer continues.

It's becoming evident that Aaron Bludorn never misses, though if I was forced at machetepoint to rank his restaurants, I'd probably put this one fourth, just because of the lack of absolute showstopper dishes that I've tasted at the other three. Still, it's a great restaurant, hotel or otherwise, and worth a look.

RANKING UPDATE: Despite French food being arguably the mother of all elevated cuisine, and the birthplace of our bible the Michelin guide, I don't tend to eat a ton of it. Thus, this modern version ranks highly for me, slotting in at #2 on the Best French category of my Houston Restaurant Guide. However, there are still a lot of spots I need to try, such as Chardon, Maison Pucha Bistro, and The Marigold Club, so there may be more updates in the semi-near future.

NEXT UP: My first ever pizza review!!