Claudia Lee and Richard Hargreave said goodbye to their first hospitality venture several weeks ago but are almost ready to raise the curtain on their next chapter in South Austin.
The married couple, who relocated to Austin from Los Angeles, made the difficult decision in early March to close their hybrid restaurant-wine bar, Underdog, in the Bouldin neighborhood.
They opened Underdog in spring 2023, bringing together Hargreave’s career in the wine industry and the cuisine of Lee’s Korean heritage. Though Underdog landed on the Statesman’s list of Best New Restaurants in 2023 and later on the New York Times’ list of best restaurants in Austin, the business had trouble defining itself clearly in diners’ minds, with neither the wine bar concept or Korean-inspired restaurant dominating the narrative and attraction.
“Underdog was a very personal space for Claudia and me, and we put a lot of our heart and soul into that place,” Hargreave told the American-Statesman. “But I wanted to get back to this idea of a restaurant in a neighborhood setting.”
Hoping to create an inviting space that can be a weekly draw for dinner and drinks (including, importantly, cocktails), the couple teamed with longtime Hargreave friend, chef Casey Wall, to create Le Calamar, a Texas seasonal Texas bistro taking cues from French cuisine.
A former peer of Hargreave’s in the Australian hospitality scene, Wall, whose career spans from New York City’s Le Cirque and The Spotted Pig to acclaimed Melbourne establishments like Bar Liberty, says he hopes the comforting and familiar vernacular of French cuisine can serve as a draw and a launching point for his unique approach.
“French gives us a base and then we expand from there,” Wall said. “My restaurants down here in Australia build upon creating relationships with products of all sorts, wine, spirits, farms, fisherman, really relationship dependent. And the more relationships we build with producers in Texas, the full scope will continue to develop. I think we really love a bistro and how it’s used in France and its importance in French culture. I would say we’re probably a Texan restaurant with French inspirations.”
That will mean eschewing the same half-dozen standards you might expect from a bistro for a locally sourced menu that includes unique spins like trout almondine with brown butter salsa macha, and oysters charentaise made with Texas hot links; steak tartare with house-made pain de mie and comté frico; and a French dip at weekend lunch that is inspired by some of the partners’ favorite local birria spots.
“They have this kaleidoscopic use of produce and technique in Australia. It’s very hard to pin down what genre it is,” Hargreave said. “I just love that limitless capacity that chefs work with down there and the opportunity to work with Casey in Austin and showcase a new set of ideas got my juices flowing creatively. And it’s an opportunity to define a new set of roots for ourselves and add something to the conversation that is unique without being esoteric.”
Another major difference between Le Calamar and Underdog will be the inclusion of a full bar that the partners designed to complement dinner and draw people in for a casual drink with snacks.
The spirits program will lean on the three pillars of martinis, Manhattans, and mezcal, along with several French classics. The wine list from Hargreave, a sommelier who worked for David Chang’s Momofuku group for about a decade, will draw inspiration from France, while celebrating wines from Texas and Mexico, regions Hargreave says are underrepresented and underappreciated.
“My brain is fascinated by the potential of it all. I’m seeing similar patterns here to what I saw in Australia,” Hargreave said. “What I would like to do is really start championing the progressive winemakers of Texas and give them a chance to showcase their product.”
Those Texas winemakers are Hargreave’s new(ish) neighbors, and ones he intends to work with for years to come.
“When we moved here, we moved here for the long haul,” he said of himself and Lee, who are first time parents to a five-month old. “We’re committed to it. We love the city. I’m just excited to get another chance.”
Le Calamar is slated to open in May, with dinner service Thursday-Monday and lunch service Friday-Sunday. It is online at le-calamar.com and on Instagram @le_calamar_.
This story has been updated to correct a typo.
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