Murray’s Pizza & Wine is a new artisan pizza concept brought to you from the great minds behind Leaf & Grain, and the exciting new community addition is expected to open this fall.
According to the Houston Business Journal, Murray’s Pizza & Wine is expected to open at 9655 Katy Freeway, Suite 3110, in the Memorial City area in October. The new concept sits right next door to the sixth Leaf & Grain co-owner, Deets Hoffman opened last week.
Murray’s, named after Hoffman’s wife-Murray Hoffman-is the company’s first venture into full-service dining. His co-owner is Edward Thompson.
“We’ve been talking about opening a pizza and wine spot since 2018,” Hoffman said in a press release sent to What Now Houston.
“Those plans got put on pause with COVID, but ironically, I don’t think we’d be opening Murray’s if not for the pandemic. During COVID, we couldn’t get good bread from suppliers, so we had to make our own sourdough.”
While the focus will be on pizzas, fine wines, and craft beers, there will still be a little piece of Leaf & Grain in nearly every bite of the dishes being served at the new eatery. The beloved bread that comes with many of the main dishes at Leaf & Grain, will also be featured in the pizza dough. It’s the bedrock of Murray’s pizza, as it’s their high-hydration, long-fermented pizza dough made with Texas-milled flour from Barton Springs Mill.
“The key to great pizza is great dough,” Hoffman said, “and the best doughs are extremely difficult to pull off, especially in a climate like Houston’s, but we’ve worked through the ups and downs of that for several years, and that experience is what gave us the confidence to open Murray’s,”
Murray’s Pizza will offer pizzas like the Sausage a la Vodka Pizza and the Not-Hawaiian Pizza, which features salami piccante, pickled shallot, and pineapple-infused hot honey. Small plates include the Hamachi-Salmon Crudo, Focaccia Genovese with Burrata, and Black Angus-Duroc Pork Meatball, with desserts like the Italian Bread Pudding with local gelato. The new pizza spot will also have a cocktail menu.
The Houston-based restaurant company, Leaf & Grain, opened its first location in 2017. Since then, the Hoffmans have opened five more locations offering healthy salads and grain bowls. Now, the co-owners are taking on a whole new concept with Murray’s Pizza & Wine set to also open on Katy.
According to its website, the idea is to create a “neighborhood pizza & small plates restaurant” which focuses on “thoughtful sourcing, attention to detail, great people, and gracious hospitality.” The restaurateurs have enlisted the support of a long list of New York restaurant and bar industry consultants to get the bar program and its offerings up to par.
You can check out Murray’s Pizza & Wine for yourself when it opens on 9655 Katy Freeway, Suite 3100, in October.
