Astros baseball and doubles tennis played quietly over the bar on 46″ flat screen TVs, reminding diners of three things: this is casual, this is local, and this is undeniably European.
Your server will be right with you. Enjoy.
You’re about to have the best lunch in Houston.
Carnivores will delight in the options at the downstairs outpost of what many argue is the finest fine dining establishment in Houston but vegetarians and those willing to indulge in alternate sources of protein are the true winners at Marché.
Walk past the adorable macaroons neatly positioned in straight lines like Madeline and her Parisian boarding house mates. Take a seat along the high top sofa complete with throw pillows that rims the wall opposite the bar.
From here you can watch the barkeepers, pouring and chatting, keep an ear on titillating conversations, if that’s your thing, and sideye what Andy Murray and his partner are up to when it’s their serve.
Order the caramelized cheese souffle and avocado salad. The former is served with two asparagus tips so perfectly roasted you’ll wish your lover could approximate the tenderness, while the latter, the most popular item on the Marché lunch menu, proves as refreshing as a dip in a pool on a hot Texas midday, as crisp as an unexpected breeze funneled between two uptown buildings, as cool as a smile from your kid when you walk through the door on a Friday evening because they know you’re theirs for the weekend.
This meal, the souffle and the salad, is the loveliest lunchtime combination of flavors and smooth textures I’ve found in all my travels. This is the best lunch in Houston. It’s served with care and unfussy attention to detail, meaning my 8-ounce water glass never sat empty for more than a beat. Servers, Marché general manager Bobby Boenig, and the maître d’ on lunch duty all took turns refilling from the wire-lidded bottle sitting only an arm’s length away on my table as they passed, eyes scanning the room to see who needed what and then completing thoughtful tasks without so much as a thought, or a word, needed. Their service is as natural as breathing and because of it, Marché is living its best life.
And when you eat lunch at Marché, you will be doing the same.
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