Not everyone was lucky enough to grow up with their great-grandmother during those formative years of their youth. But chef Chris Cosentino did, and the impact his Italian nonna Rosalie would have on his life and career is evident in the intimate restaurant he named for her at the C. Baldwin Hotel in downtown Houston.

The chic hotel (formerly a Doubletree) opened in late 2019 with a splashy fete that left people chattering for weeks about the sleek Curio brand remodel and its newly installed restaurant dubbed Rosalie Italian Soul. Yet the fanfare quickly ground to a halt a few short months later when the COVID pandemic reared its ugly head.