“Never stray too far from the ocean”
His love of fishing and a passion for creative cuisine represent the perfect equation for Chef/Owner Bryan Caswell’s newest venture: REEF. A true market restaurant, REEF’s fresh menu selections change seasonally, featuring feature local ingredients and the freshest produce available at Houston’s farmers’ markets.
Caswell draws upon his extensive culinary knowledge and worldly travels to provide a spectacular seafood experience. A native Houstonian, Caswell spent most of his childhood free time along the Gulf Coast waters and became intrigued with diverse fisheries in Texas and Louisiana.
After several years working in the Houston restaurant scene, Caswell attended the renowned Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. While there, he secured a coveted six-month externship as roundsman under Chef Jose Muneisa at Michelin-rated Via Veneto in Barcelona, Spain. Following graduation, Caswell continued apprenticeships under New York’s finest — Aurole Chef Charlie Palmer, Gotham Bar and Grill Chef Alferd Portale, March Chef Wayne Nish — and also worked alongside celebrated Union Pacific Chef Rocco Dispiritio.
Caswell’s career continued to progress following his extensive tutelage with Chef Jean-George Vongerichten — a master chef in the truest sense, a legend in the culinary world and owner of Restaurant Jean-Georges in Trump Tower. Following nearly two years at the acclaimed Trump Tower flagship, Vongerichten then took Caswell to Jean-Georges restaurants in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and on two tours at the exclusive Ocean Club One & Only Resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas (as the executive sous chef and chef tournant on the restaurant’s 2001 launch team).
To deepen the breadth of his experience, Caswell embarked on a two-year association with renowned Houston-based Pappas Restaurants, where he assumed a research and development position in which he developed recipes, established cooking and training procedures, provided problem solving support and executed special events.
In 2004, Caswell opened Bank, a fine dining experience under the Jean-Georges umbrella, in Houston’s Icon Hotel. While there, Caswell became business partners with Bill Floyd, and together they propelled the restaurant to national acclaim that continued throughout their tenure. Armed with uncommon culinary and business prowess, Caswell and Floyd left Bank in 2007 to embark upon their exciting new passion and long-awaited REEF. Chef Caswell’s keen focus on frequent seasonal menu changes, sourcing local product and scouring Houston’s weekly markets, provides REEF guests with the finest, most-memorable seafood prepared with uncommon knowledge and expertise. Caswell’s vast culinary knowledge and worldly travels represent the crucial and unmatched ingredients used to create the spectacular REEF seafood experience.
