We’ve requested more information and comments on this breaking story from chef Austin Simmons. Should we receive any, we will update this article.

1/2/25, 5:57 p.m.: Article updated with comments from Haydar Kustu of Woodlands Hospitality Group, which owns TRIS.

1/7/25, 4:48 p.m.: Simmons never responded to our numerous requests for comment, but he did provide an exclusive statement to CultureMap Houston. In it, the chef claims he had to leave “in good faith” due to the condition of the space, and that more than one landlord only used “the easiest band aid” to fix issues. Simmons says his next move is to become a provider of Wagyu beef to chefs. Read the full statement at the CultureMap website.

Diners in The Woodlands and food fans throughout the Greater Houston area were shocked on Thursday, January 2 as word spread on social media that TRIS at 24 Waterway Avenue, owned by Woodlands Hospitality Group, has closed without warning. Those who try to make a reservation via the restaurant’s OpenTable page will receive a message that reads, “Due to Chef Austin’s resignation, TRIS is now permanently closed.” Additionally, the restaurant listing on Google also shows “permanently closed”. 

Update, 1/2/24, 3:54 p.m.: an official statement of the closing has been posted on the TRIS website, and it confirms that Woodlands Hospitality Group’s other restaurant concerns, The Kitchen and Black Walnut Café, will remain open.

The “Chef Austin” in question is executive chef Austin Simmons, and the closing isn’t short-notice only to the dining public. Haydar Kustu of Woodlands Hospitality Group says the chef gave notice of his immediate resignation on Tuesday, December 31. As much as possible, TRIS’s employees are being relocated to Woodlands Hospitality Group’s other restaurants, The Kitchen and Black Walnut Café. Kustu says that it’s been a silver lining that restaurateurs have already been in touch to inquire about any others who need jobs. 

According to Kustu, Simmons stated that he wants to spend more time with his family. Kustu is not aware any other plans that Simmons may have.

“TRIS was named for Austin’s daughter and he was very much entwined with the restaurant. For those reasons, my business partners and I did not believe that we could continue TRIS without him,” said Kustu. He also says that while he’s not ruling out opening a new concept in TRIS’s former space, it’s most likely that Woodlands Hospitality Group will be seeking a new operator to take over. Anyone holding an unredeemed TRIS gift card can fill out this form to request a refund.

Simmons is regarded as one of the best chefs in the Greater Houston area. For that matter, TRIS was considered by many (including us) as one of the best restaurants in The Woodlands and beyond. In 2018, we named it as the best new restaurant opening of that year, and former Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Alison Cook gave it a three-star review. More recently, Simmons was one of the chefs showcased in our The Perfect 10 Gala last year. 

It had an interesting evolution. It started as a bistro attached to (and named for) Hubbell & Hudson, a gourmet grocery store in Waterway Square. The grocery store closed in 2014, but the restaurant, helmed from the start by Simmons, continued. The reinvigorated bistro included a tasting menu restaurant called Cureight, which caught the attention of food writers and fans alike. This was in the early days of tasting-menu restaurants in Houston. Cureight was among the first, which included Oxheart (which evolved into Theodore Rex) and The Pass, part of long-closed The Pass & Provisions. It was there that Simmons — a protégé of Dallas-based chef John Tesar, who helmed the short-lived Tesar’s in The Woodlands —  perhaps shined the brightest. (You can learn more about Simmons’ background in an article I wrote for the Houston Press way back in 2015 about up-and-coming Houston chefs. At the time, Simmons was only 28 years old.) We called the experience at Cureight, “the best tasting menu experience that you probably haven’t had yet”. 

It was also the setting for CollaborEIGHT, where Simmons would invite chefs such as the aforementioned Tesar, executive chef Jassi Bindra of neighboring restaurant Amrina and Bobby Matos of State of Grace to create special one-night-only dinners with him. The Cureight tasting menu experience disappeared during the pandemic, and the CollaborEIGHT dinners were discontinued in 2022. Simmons had also extended his talent developing menus for Woodlands Hospitality Group’s other restaurants: The Kitchen and Black Walnut Café (which will remain open).

Since this news started traversing social media, and since the publication of this article, we’ve fielded inquiries and comments from dozens of readers. If TRIS’s and Simmons’ fans had any idea that one of their favorite restaurants was about to close, many would have made one last pilgrimage.

This story will be updated should we get responses from Simmons. 

Phaedra Cook

Phaedra Cook has written about Houston’s restaurant and bar scene since 2010. She was a regular contributor to My Table magazine (now closed) and was the lead restaurant critic for the Houston Press for two years, eventually being promoted to food editor. Cook founded Houston Food Finder in November 2016 and has been its editor and publisher ever since.