One Fifth is Changing Once More to … a Lot of Things

So, what’s the next iteration of One Fifth, chef Chris Shepherd’s chancy concept that offers an entirely new restaurant every year for five years?

Two words: Lightning round.

More words: Shepherd plans to try a whole bunch of different concepts in the space until the five-year lease runs out. In an announcement Tuesday, he wrote specifically about the desire to make pizzas out of the One Fifth wood-burning oven. While pizza won’t be first, it sounds like it’ll happen at some point. First up, though, is a cuisine near and dear to Houstonians’ hearts.

“We will start with Vietnamese and then move through other ideas and concepts without giving them a time limit,” wrote Shepherd. “I want to try as much as I can but still give each one our full devotion.”

One Fifth Lightning Round (the unofficial title) will close out the project but will start earlier than the others. Shepherd said he’ll close One Fifth Gulf Coast on March 23 (get those reservations now), and, get this, he’ll open Lightning Round on March 25 (get those reservations now).

For those needing a reminder, the previous iterations of One Fifth included Steak (which became Georgia James), Romance Languages (French, Spanish, Italian), Mediterranean (Shepherd is looking for a permanent home for this restaurant), and the soon-to-close Gulf Coast.