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Camaraderie, the new fine-casual neighborhood restaurant from chef-owner Shawn Gawle, is a sterling example of the Bayou City’s ever-evolving dining culture. Located at 608 West 11th Street, tucked away just off the main thoroughfare, the Heights eatery offers a unique, world-class tasting menu experience that may be one of the most affordable in the city, alongside a stellar selection of cocktails and food-friendly wines with welcoming approachability. Reservations are now available on Resy. Houston Food Finder was invited to explore the prix fixe menu.

Gawle and his team — a top-notch array of Houston food and drink pros — have put together something truly special. Gawle left his role as executive pastry chef at Goodnight Hospitality in 2023 to begin the process of opening Camaraderie, but his culinary journey began decades ago at his father’s restaurant and deli in Boston’s South Shore. He would go on to receive his education at the late New England Culinary Institute and subsequently worked under many of the country’s most-renowned French chefs in Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. These include the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia, L’Atelier De Joël Robuchon at the Four Seasons New York and Laurent Gras’ L2O. As an executive pastry chef in San Francisco, he was a part of the teams which elevated both Quince and Saison from two to three Michelin stars. 

It all led to Gawle opening Camaraderie. “Opening Camaraderie represents my vision of creating a welcoming culture where I can help others grow and share my passion for hospitality. My goal is to make people happy, not just through great food, but by fostering genuine connections within a vibrant community.” said Gawle via a press release.

To that end, the restaurant offers two menus: a three-course prix-fixe menu in the main dining area and an à la carte menu in the bar area and on the dog-friendly, covered patio — the latter of which is reserved for walk-ins. (To be clear, if you sit in the main dining room, the prix-fixe menu is the only option.) The menus are filled with the same striking and deftly-executed dishes you’d find in high-end, Michelin-starred restaurants across the globe but at a fraction of the price, with the three-course experience costing just $75 per person.  

The à la carte menu includes snacks and full plates such as ‘Nduja Rolls with Alpha Tolman Cheese Glaze, Manchego Cheese Curls (think cheese puffs but fresh and even cheesier), Foie Gras Agnolotti, hanger steak with pommes Dauphine, tuna crudo and more. We got to try a limited special with Alpha Tolman and Parmesan polenta with sautéed ramps and a sprinkle of Piment d’Espelette, and all I can say is that it made me feel like a gleeful, carefree kid in one of those totally tubular Kraft Mac & Cheese commercials from the ’90s.

The prix-fixe experience includes four family-style dishes for the whole table to share, followed by individual entrée and dessert selections. We didn’t find a weak link among all of the dishes, but if we had to choose favorites from the shareable starters it would be the Salt-Baked Celery Root, a gorgeous symphony of textures with thinly-sliced apple, chili crunch and yuzu and the Dauphiné ravioli, a French specialty consisting of two Pop Tart-sized sheets of Burgundy-colored pasta (we Americans will measure with everything except the metric system, won’t we?) with tiny ravioli filled with Comté, caramelized onion and a drizzle of saba (a slightly acidic, sweet Italian condiment made from cooked and preserved unfermented grape must). To achieves the pasta’s eye-catching purple hue, Gawle works in beet powder, freeze dried carrot powder and spinach powder.

I wouldn’t skip out on the ricotta salata though. To me, it’s reminiscent of rotating salad options you’d find at Squable, which is to say it’s a really good salad. It’s made with beautiful lettuces from Ives Creek Organics, which uses aquaponics to grow produce — a process in which soil is replaced with water and fish to provide nutrients and create an environmentally friendly, all natural, better-tasting product. Gawle is equally conscientious about all of his supplier selections. He works with distributors such as Farm to Table, which supports over 100 local farmers, ranchers and food artisans, to source produce including rhubarb, green garlic and golden oyster mushrooms and local suppliers such as Lira Rossa Artisan Cheese.

The savory white asparagus sformato, an Italian dish similar to custard in texture, with shaved asparagus, umami-rich golden oyster mushrooms, Parmesan cream, green asparagus velouté and gluten-free brown butter panko is also a hit. You know what? Just order everything or make multiple visits. There’s no narrowing it down. Hope this helps.

Editor’s note: Well, actually, if you’d like to just test out Camaraderie, you can go grab one of those aforementioned patio or bar seats and order a few things before committing to the prix fixe in the dining room. That’s what I did — and now I can’t wait until I get to try the full dining experience. There are four taster-sized cocktails, too, such as the tiny ‘tini. Do be aware, though, that the bar only has six seats and there are no guarantees that you’ll get one.   

As an entrée, we shared the dover sole en croûte for two. It’s finished in a copper oval pan before being plated, which Gawle was more than excited to show us with the beaming, unwavering look of a proud papa. The sole is delicate and flavorful, with buttery flesh encapsulated in hand lamimated golden-brown pastry shaped like a fish, which is (unsurprisingly) executed impeccably. It’s served over Swiss chard with fragrant Sauce Américaine. You could say it was quite the sole-ful dish.

We were also delighted to try the veal ossobucco, plated inside an immaculate dome of bucatini over brunoised mirepoix. It’s as toothsome as it is stunning. 

Other options include a vegetarian lion’s mane mushroom dish with celery root and preserved lemon and halibut with smoked potato and clam chowder.

Main courses are also served with sides of soft and fluffy lilac-hued pain au lait with milled ribbons of high quality butter and a plate of broccolini covered in miso bagna càuda — a luscious riff on a classic Piedmontese sauce of warm anchovies, wine, garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

The menu can get a little esoteric, and the listed descriptions highlight only a few ingredients, so don’t be afraid to have your server repeat the full-length descriptions and explain what each unfamiliar ingredient may be. I sure did. This isn’t just cooking; it’s haute cuisine stripped of the pomp and circumstance. Gawle removes the curtain (quite literally, with an open kitchen on full display to the main dining area) and personally visits as many tables as he is able to during service. It’s inviting and demystified gourmet artistry.

Dessert highlights Gawle’s history as a pastry chef, and the choices are currently Raspberry Frozen Marshmallow Sorbet or White Sesame Chiffon with black sesame gelato. When dining at a place like this, you’re gonna want to get something from the thoughtfully-curated after dinner beverage menu which includes dessert wines, eaux-de-vie and brandy, and non-alcoholic options like coffee and tea. Dinner also begins and ends with housemade madeleines.

As Phaedra Cook covered earlier this year, Gawle has assembled an all-star beverage team led by wine director and general manager Gillian Malone (formerly of Michelin-starred Montrose restaurant March and Midtown wine bar 13 celsius) and beverage manager Kristine Nguyen, an alum of Nancy’s Hustle, Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge and Lei Low Bar. The talent amassed here is an embarrassment of riches that cannot be understated.

“Everything on our menu has an intention behind it. Like the half-bottles of wine, the selection of mini classics [cocktails] are about giving guests the freedom to explore. We’re creating a program that complements Houston’s distinctive drink culture and the restaurant’s values of generosity and community,” says Nguyen. There’s also a focus on lower-ABV and zero-proof cocktails and shareable cocktails served in vintage decanters.

As for the wine list, Malone has options that are chosen with great care and meant to cover any occasion or pairing. “I want our guests to have options that can be enjoyed communally or individually with a bottle for the table, a half-bottle, or a glass. We’ve built the list so every guest can find something to drink no matter their preferences or budget,” she said. “The abbreviated wine menu offers utilitarian and eclectic labels from across the Old and New World, including a compelling half-bottle selection to encourage exploration.”

It’s all tied into the restaurant’s namesake mission. In a time when so many feel like Hannibal is at the gates, hospitality of this caliber provides a most welcome, and vitally optimistic escape for a couple of hours where everyone is part of one big happy community. The experience here is nourishing for the body as much as it is the spirit. 

Camaraderie is open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. in the bar and lounge area and from 5 to 10 p.m. in the main dining room and from 5 to 9 p.m. on Sunday. Parking is available onsite via the entrance on 11th Street between Ashland and Waverly.

Mario-Sebastian Berry

Mario-Sebastian Berry is a wine and spirits vendor who has been in the hospitality industry since 2002. Currently, he represents Blanco, Texas-based Andalusia Whiskey Co. He holds numerous wine, beer and spirits certifications including Certified Sommelier. Somehow, he also finds time to be Houston Food Finder’s associate editor and social media manager.