Lynn's Table

Long before there was a Lynn's Table in Old Town Spring, there were two young chefs who met in culinary school. This year Matthew and Jessica are celebrating 30 years of marriage and 11 years in business, and if you stop in on any given day, you'll find them both there. Matthew is usually in the kitchen or stepping out to visit with a table. Jessica is somewhere between the dessert case, the dining room and the hundred other things that come with owning an independent restaurant.

Between the two of them, they bring more than 80 years of culinary and hospitality experience. Matthew has cooked for over 40 years, here and abroad. He's a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, trained in classical French technique, and he spent seven years teaching future chefs at Culinary Institute LeNôtre. Jessica got her start at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, went on to earn her degree from Texas A&M and graduated from the CIA too. Her career also spans more than 40 years.

Here's the part of Jessica's story we love. She grew up quiet and shy, and never imagined she'd become the public voice of a restaurant. Somewhere along the way she found that voice, and discovered that making people feel welcome and cared for is one of the things that brings her the most joy. You feel that the minute you walk in.

It's also why they chose the words they did for their motto: Make yourself at home. For Matthew and Jessica, that isn't a slogan on the wall. They point to where the word restaurant comes from, the French restaurer, which means to restore or refresh. They want Lynn's Table to be the place you step away from your day, settle in, eat something wonderful and leave feeling a little better than when you came. As Matthew puts it:

"From our kitchen to your table, every dish is prepared to nourish your body and lift your spirits. Relax, indulge, and allow us to restore you."

Some of that feeling comes straight from their own family tables. The Spaghetti Bolognese is Matthew's mother's recipe, and Grandma Pat's Pimento Cheese has become a Lynn's Table favorite in its own right. There's something special about a dish that once fed one family now feeding yours.

Elevated comfort food, thoughtfully crafted

That's how Matthew and Jessica describe their food, and they're quick to say what "elevated" doesn't mean. It doesn't mean complicated, fussy or pretentious. It means paying attention: good ingredients, real technique and care in every step.

You can see it in what they choose to cook with. The beef is Texas HeartBrand Akaushi. The bread comes from Kraftsmen Baking right here in Houston. The ice cream is Tillamook. And there's something you won't find in their kitchen at all: a conventional deep fryer. Take the Chicken Fried Steak, which is about as Texas comfort food as it gets. At Lynn's Table it starts with beef tenderloin, gets hand-breaded, then shallow-fried in beef tallow. Same dish you grew up on, made the way a classically trained chef would make it.

That's really Matthew's gift. Forty years of training doesn't show up as food you need a dictionary to order. It shows up as a burger or a chicken fried steak that's simply better than you expected. The same hands that turn out a beautifully prepared Beef Tournedos or Filet Oscar are the ones breading that steak, and the same care goes into both. An Akaushi burger and a chef's special sit comfortably on the same menu, because to Matthew they deserve the same attention. Serious technique, without taking the fun out of comfort food.

If you only know Lynn's Table as a lunch spot or a sandwich stop during an afternoon of shopping, dinner is where all of this really comes alive. There's a weekly rhythm you can plan around: that tenderloin Chicken Fried Steak, slow-roasted Prime Rib, All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Bolognese and Lobster Friday. Then there are Matthew's rotating specials, which have included Lobster & Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes, New Orleans-style BBQ Shrimp, schnitzel, gnocchi, Beef Tournedos and Filet Oscar. The menu you see this month may have something entirely new on it the next.

And please, save room. Dessert is Jessica's side of the table: cakes, pies, bread pudding, plus sundaes, milkshakes, malts and floats made with that Tillamook ice cream. Her latest love is the house-made fudge, and with the holidays coming she's working on seasonal flavors and gift selections made for sharing. If there's someone on your list who's hard to shop for, consider this your hint.

After 11 years, Matthew and Jessica know a lot of their guests by name. Their tables have hosted birthdays, anniversaries, date nights and long lunches with friends. Their favorite compliment? When someone discovers Lynn's Table and comes back with somebody they want to introduce to it. We'd love for you to be that someone this month.

Thirty years in, they're still cooking, still dreaming up new dishes and new flavors, and still looking ahead. The invitation hasn't changed: Come hungry, stay awhile and make yourself at home.