Up Hospitality at GreenStreet: New Downtown Restaurant Serves

In Houston, Rebees, operator of the GreenStreet office, dining, and entertainment complex in downtown Houston, laid out plans to open Lila’s, a chef-driven restaurant and all-day gathering place on the ground floor of 1201 Fannin this fall.

GreenStreet spans three blocks near the corner of Fannin and Dallas. The 5,100-SF restaurant is envisioned as a place for downtown office workers and visitors to enjoy coffee and cocktails, flexible work and social spaces, and a menu that reflects Houston’s diverse cuisine.

Houston-based Rebees is a hospitality management company for retail, residential, office, hotel, and restaurant properties.

The company’s Founder Tristan Simon, who formerly founded, led, and sold Dallas-based Consilient Hospitality, and Matt Ragan, a former Consilient Hospitality executive who serves as Chief Hospitality Officer for Rebees, are creating the new concept, which is named after Simon’s French Bulldog. They have developed and operated high end restaurants in Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York. Matt Ford, Rebees partner and executive chef of Billy Can Can in Dallas, is developing the Lila’s menu alongside executive chef Garee Battad.

Lila’s interior at GreenStreet. Rebees courtesy rendering.

“Lila’s represents the hotelization of the workplace,” Ragan said when the deal was released. “Employers are competing with the comforts of home, and we saw an opportunity to create a restaurant and gathering place that offers our tenants the hospitality, service and experience you’d expect from an excellent boutique hotel. Everything has been considered, from inviting gathering spaces that support community building activities to a proprietary app that delivers meals, coffee or an afternoon pick-me-up directly to your desk, creating a more connected, meaningful, and enjoyable workday.”

Lila’s will offer another place for in-person collaboration, reflecting a trend toward hospitality driven workplaces where food and beverage, event programing and tailored amenities help companies build culture and attract employees.

Architecture and design firm RIOS will transform a former office lobby into a restaurant with lounge seating, collaborative gathering areas and a bar and dining room that will transition from morning meetings to dinner and cocktails. RIOS’ portfolio includes the transformation of Jones Plaza into Lynn Wyatt Square in Houston’s Theater District, One Beverly Hills, the 1901 Project in Chicago, and the West End Mixed-Use District in Cincinnati.

Executive Chef Garee Battad, a graduate of The Art Institute of Dallas, brings more than two decades of experience at luxury hotels and restaurants, including Nobu at Hotel Crescent Court and Charlie Palmer at The Joule Dallas. He most recently served as executive chef of Azumi in River Oaks District.

Zach Smigiel will oversee the beverage program. He previously served as beverage director for Dallas-based FlavorHook Restaurants and as the bar manager at Billy Can Can and Midnight Rambler at The Joule Hotel.