COOL SPACES: Inspiration behind the B&B Butchers & Restaurant building
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- When restaurateur Benjamin Berg first laid eyes on the historic Dittman Bakery on Washington Avenue years ago, he knew immediately he found the right space to open B&B Butchers & Restaurant.
"I fell in love with the character of the building," Benjamin says. "I let the history of the building do the talking and created a restaurant around it."
The original 1922 structure had been vacant for 25 years before Benjamin and his architect began the renovation.
PHOTOS: Inside B&B Butchers & Restaurant
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They incorporated the original wooden beams, exposed brick walls, steel columns and fire doors into the interior design. Today, the 7,500-square-foot, two-story building seats more than 150 with two swanky bars, an elegant dining room and upstairs patio.
Benjamin wanted to create not just a classic steakhouse, but also a butcher shop that reminded him of the corner deli from his childhood in Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood as kid.
A separate cooler door in the downstairs dining area leads to a retail butcher and deli shop, where customers can get overstuffed sandwiches and well as pick up USDA Prime steaks that are dry-aged in house.
RECIPE: B&B Butchers & Restaurant Crab Louis
B&B Butchers & Restaurant was recently awarded the city's prestigious "Good Brick Award" from Preservation Houston, whose mission is to celebration Houston's unique architecture and history.
