Looks like Caswell is done. Reef closed.
http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/11-26-19-reef-restaurant-closed-shuttered-bryan-caswell-midtown/
One of Houston’s most acclaimed restaurants has served its last crispy skin snapper. Chef Bryan Caswell has closed his Midtown seafood restaurant Reef.
The restaurant released the following statement confirming the closure:
Caswell’s fortunes took a turn for the worse in 2017. Reef suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Harvey and closed for almost two years. During that time, the chef closed Little Bigs, his Montrose burger restaurant and ended his partnership with Floyd.
Earlier this year, Caswell and his wife Jennifer began divorce proceedings. In October, he closed El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, citing a lack of business.When Caswell reopened Reef in June, things got off to a promising start. The chef introduced a number of new dishes that earned raves, but it never drew the crowds necessary to sustain itself.
Fundamentally, the restaurant belongs to a different era when independently owned, chef-driven concepts would seat 200 or more diners. Now, the city’s most culinarily ambitious restaurants (Riel, Nancy’s Hustle, Nobie’s, etc) typically accommodate fewer than 100 diners at a time.
Caswell declined CultureMap’s request to comment on his future plans. Hopefully, he makes a comeback in a smaller, more economically viable situation. Houston’s a better dining city when Caswell is cooking for it.