A hospitality powerhouse team has come together for the opening of Hue, a new restaurant and entertainment venue at a storied former jazz club in Copley Square Hotel.
Three of the four owners have decades of experience between them, having opened some of the top restaurants in the city. Maurice Rodriguez is the man behind Somerville favorites La Brasa and Fat Hen. George Aboujaoude debuted acclaimed Boston restaurants Committee Ouzeri & Bar and Eva. And Robert Eugene is the longtime curator of the city’s popular Silk R&B party, which brings DJs and performance pop-ups to local restaurants and music venues.
The hospitality vets (along with the fourth owner Nick Saber, a tech entrepreneur) are spotlighting dishes inspired by Asian, Indian, and Caribbean cuisines in a lively venue that honors jazz legends such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, who performed there when it was known as Storyville. A speakeasy with Art Deco vibes is part of the two-story restaurant, as is a DJ spinning beats nightly after 9 pm.
“Hue is a really good representation of what [the city] actually is,” Rodriguez says. “Boston is a diverse city, so why not highlight that?”
Hue isn’t bound by any particular cuisine, but the focus here is comfort food from around the world. Kofta, or meatballs, are simmered in an Indian-style tomato curry. A vegetarian burger is topped with a spicy Thai tomato jam. And crab rangoon, the deep-fried American Chinese pockets, are served in a sweet-tart passion fruit sauce. Nearly all of the menu items are under $30, a rarity at Back Bay restaurants.
All of these are available in the restaurant’s first-floor dining room and lobby bar. Given that Hue is midway between the Copley and Prudential Center malls and equidistant from the Theater District and Symphony Hall, the upper floor is an ideal spot to grab a quick bite before a show or shopping.
The ground floor space is set up for ordering some of the restaurant’s larger plates, though there’s significant menu overlap from upstairs. Executive chef Barnett Harper, who previously spent 11 years at Boston’s legendary Cafe Marliave, helped the owners put the menu together. Beef chow fun, the Cantonese wide-rice noodle stir fry that’s cooked with oyster sauce, is a highlight. As is the Indian chicken and waffles, where the poultry is cooked tandoori-style and the waffles are made with chickpea flour, both ideal for dipping into the cooling honey raita on the side.
“I think people will be excited and surprised to see how we’ve taken comfort food that people know and love and added another layer of flavor to it,” Rodriguez says.
Although Hue is part of a historic space, the cocktail list is anything but old fashioned. The signature drink, the Hue, blends Japanese whisky with apricot and honey syrup, while the Mezpresso has mezcal, coffee liqueur, and mole bitters.
A robust drink menu was a must, Aboujaoude says, especially for the downstairs, which doubles as a speakeasy. The restaurant has enough distinct spaces that diners will always have an option, whether they’re looking for a glass of wine after work or a laid back cocktail, Aboujaoude says.
Bottle service is available downstairs, where diners can order from an extensive wine list (both international and domestic) featuring wines that aren’t easy to find in Boston, and champagne.
A vibrant Billie Holiday mural welcomes diners as they walk upstairs at Hue. Holiday was among the many beloved singers who performed at Storyville after famed jazz producer George Wein opened it in the 1940s. In subsequent years, it played host to other greats including John Coltrane and Duke Ellington.
At Hue, interior designer Kristen Bender Daaboul has honored that history with the mural and juxtaposed it with light and dark marbles, plus a floral wallpaper. Large windows on the first floor look out on Huntington Avenue. The restaurant’s name is both a nod to its location at the corner of Huntington Avenue and Exeter Street and its multicultural menu.
“There’s this ‘wow’ moment right when you walk in,” Rodriguez says. “You see those marble pillars, you see the wallpaper, the tilework. It’s just breathtaking.”
Boston artist Rob “Problak” Gibbs complemented the upstairs with a mural recognizing Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald (among others) in the main dining room downstairs. This floor has more intimate vibes, and given the space’s history, excellent acoustics. Owner Eugene, known for his Silk R&B parties, knew that was critical to this restaurant’s success as an entertainment venue. Much like the food, the music won’t be bound by any genres either.
Each component of Hue is about harmony on levels beyond the music, Aboujaoude says. “We’ve all worked together on events for years and stayed friends,” he says of his partners. “We thought it would be perfect to team up and do this project. We all lend something to the restaurant that nobody else does.”
Hue is soft open for walk-ins only. Reservations will begin when the downstairs space opens.
Carley Thornell-Wade is a Boston-based food, travel, and technology writer who’s been to more than 70 countries and delighted in tasting the regional delicacies of each.
