Expanding the burgeoning Benton Harbor Arts District just a little farther south, brother and sister act James and Cheyenne Galbraith opened Houndstooth in September of last year. The name of the casual eclectic eatery is an homage to their Scottish heritage and to the material used to make chefs’ uniforms.
Cheyenne is the former executive chef at Bistro on the Boulevard in downtown St. Joseph, MI, and James worked as her sous-chef there. For Houndstooth, they renovated a 1905 building into a sleek space incorporating old and new. Exposed original plaster and brick walls, hexagonal tiles, wood floors and tin ceilings share space with the glossy white oak tables and backbar made by their father, a carpenter.
“We blew the budget on the bar stools,” says Cheyenne of the modern, minimalist stools lining the long stone bar where two chefs are prepping tonight’s dinner.
They also broke the bank on the pottery, designed by Cincinnati-based Christine Goodfellow of C.G. Pottery; they liked the choice of colors and the feel of the heavy earthenware.
“She only designs pottery for two other restaurants: Please in Cincinnati and Elske in Chicago,” says James.
Drilling down to the minute details is part of their DNA. Take the egg yolks, which they cure by burying them in salt for seven days and then dehydrate for three more. These yolks are grated into fine filaments into their Wagyu Tartare to add deeper flavor.
Cheyenne and James have the same father but different mothers, and they grew up in different homes in Southwest Michigan. When Cheyenne returned from New Mexico, where she had worked as a chef, they would go to one of their homes after cooking all day and cook together into the early hours. James began working in restaurants at age 13 as a dishwasher, cooked at Bread+Bar in Benton Harbor for three years, and apprenticed at such Chicago eateries as Blackbird, Boka, Elske and Duck Duck Goat.
For Cheyenne and James, owning a restaurant is a dream come true. To finance their venture, they ran a Kickstarter campaign, planning to ask for $20,000 but upping it to $40,000 just before going live.
“We raised 53K,” says Cheyenne. “We were so touched by the community buy-in—they had invested their money in us. It shows what a great community this is.”
Word of mouth was such that Chloe Lindstrom, the bar manager at S.K.Y. in Chicago, left the big city to head their cocktail program.
“She took what we thought was going to be a really good bar program and now it’s really over the top,” says James.
Since Southwest Michigan is their home, the siblings know all the key players for sourcing ingredients locally. The list is long and includes Cindy Grewett of Kitty Hill Organics in Dowagiac, Red Arrow Roasters in Harbert, Live Station Farm in Coloma and Sower’s Purse in Benton Harbor. The Livery in Benton Harbor makes a special brew for them. The name? Houdini, after Cheyenne’s dog, who is a master at getting away.
At the Bistro they cooked primarily French food, and while they continue to use their French technique, the emphasis now is global. Pacherri, a type of pasta often used in Neapolitan cuisine, is paired with milk-braised pork, mustard cream and tarragon; Brisket Tlayuda, based on Oaxacan street food, is served with green chiles, cabbage and queso fresco.
“We like to break the rules,” says Cheyenne about their use of exotic ingredients, “but you have to know the rules before you can break them.”
132 Pipestone St.
Benton Harbor, MI
269.252.5250
eathoundstooth.com
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