It's Official: Brennan's of Houston to Rebuild

Turtle soup lovers can breathe a sigh of relief: Brennan's of Houston is officially rebuilding and will be open to Creole junkies in October 2009. After being mostly destroyed in a devastating fire during Hurricane Ike, no special occasion dinner has been the same for thousands of Houstonian foodies.

This morning the remaining Brennan's staff, owner Alex Brennan Martin and Mayor Bill White met to announce the official rebuild of the restaurant:

Eighty percent of the historic building, designed by the great Houston architect John Staub in 1930, will be restored. Houston-based Linbeck Construction - whose portfolio includes the Omni and St. Regis hotels in Houston - will oversee the project alongside Pin Oak Interests and Studio Red Architects whose architects have participated in such notable projects as Moody Gardens, Wortham Theater Center, and Texas Heart Institute.

“We didn’t burn down, we burned up,” said Brennan Martin. “We are honored and humbled by the outpouring of support we have received over the past year and are looking forward to opening our doors this fall and welcoming back our guests.”

The restaurant recently launched a Brennan's Blog to keep hungry patrons updated on building news and we are personally drooling over the photos of dishes and times past they post on their Flickr account. We'll be back to stuffing our purses and pockets with pralines in no time flat. Hurray!

Photo courtesy of Ed Schipul.