Located in the Heights, Down House is a restaurant-coffee shop-bar hybrid with a Darwinian theme, named after his home in Kent.

Down House seems to always be open, with brief, locally-focused and well-executed menus available for breakfast, lunch/dinner, late night and brunch. Up late? Down House serves up small plates like calamari, Down Frites, flatbreads and gnocci until 2am daily.

The neo-classic cocktails, the outfits on the servers, the used books that carry the checks — they’re all arranged just so in order to cultivate a certain tone, a precise aesthetic. And it’s a very nice tone when reclining on a tufted leather couch with a quince swizzle or snifter of Belgian beer in hand.

• Included on Texas Monthly's list of the 40 best breakfast spots in Texas (2011).