Grandeur. Awestruck. Regal.
These are just some of the feelings guests experience when they walk into Cocody Restaurant & Bar in Houston. The beautiful hues of pink and gold accents, along with its iconic crystal light centerpiece, command the attention of even the most distracted once inside for this Black-owned fine dining experience.
While the interior often gives guests a magical surprise upon entry, co-founder and visionary behind the restaurant, Edith Bosso, would simply tell you it is an extension of who she is.
“I’ve always been like that. I love big and beautiful things,” she tells Travel Noire.
“Look at the husband she picked,” her husband and co-founder, Edwin Bosso, quickly chimes in.
Every space inside feels like the backdrop of a romantic story. Between the dining room that seats 115, the Wine Room, a frequently booked room among Houston’s dignitaries and businesses that seats just over 30, and the exclusive and intimate space known as Chef’s Table, it’s a hard reservation to obtain. And just when you think it’s hard to top this design-forward restaurant in the city’s River Oaks Shopping Center, guests will find that the true beauty of Cocody lies behind the glitz and glimmer in what the restaurant represents.
Never Too Late To Follow Your Dreams
Cocody Restaurant & Bar
Edith maneuvered through a lot of change over the last two decades. Born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, she moved to France at 17 to study fashion. She met Edwin while living with a roommate in Paris. Her father somehow convinced her to let Edwin stay on their couch because their families knew each other well.
The two didn’t know each other outside of their parents, but Edwin said it took about a week to persuade Edith to travel back to the Netherlands with him to formally meet his family. As fate would have it, Edwin asked Edith to marry him. They eventually relocated with their 2-year-old daughter, Kenya, after Edwin received what he called “an opportunity of a lifetime” to stay in the U.S. for 18 months.
“When we arrived, the immigration agents told us, ‘Welcome home,’” both Edith and Edwin recall. “They told us in so many ways that once you come here, you don’t ever leave.”
That agent was right. While Edwin’s work required him to travel the world extensively, Edith stayed home. Her challenge was navigating a new city without speaking English, a driver’s license, and a support system.
Kenya struggled to communicate at first but eventually learned English, starting in preschool. She brought it home and taught her mother. Edith, also a trained pastry chef, had three more children and made it her mission to get them through school before returning to her dream of a coffee and pastry shop.
How Cocody Restaurant & Bar Houston Is Unlocking Something Bigger
No matter where life has taken Edith, she has remained steadfast in who she is.
“As I said, my character is never to think small. I don’t see small things,” she smiles and says.
So, when she told her husband that Chef Lionel Debon, who originally trained in Grenoble, France, was available, she dreamed bigger than the coffee shop. The couple met Chef Debon over 15 years ago.
“When there’s an opportunity, you go for it because you don’t know if another opportunity will come,” she says.
Edwin is a willing participant and investor in Edith’s ideas. His reason is simple: she invested and poured her heart into raising their children and caring for their family.
Supporting his wife has given them something like a fifth baby: Cocody. The name represents the community where they both grew up in Abidjan. The French-inspired restaurant has a rotating menu that changes every four months. Fan favorites include the lobster pasta, moulard duck breast, lamb chops, and mushroom risotto. One item that won’t change is the Lollys. The appetizer is inspired by Côte d’Ivoire and combines protein and starches on a skewer. It’s the restaurant’s signature dish.
For Edith, the bright eyes of guests when they walk in make her most proud.
“I can see how the inside makes people dream every time they enter,” she says, smiling.
She also hopes her restaurant reminds people that no idea is too big. Think expansive in life and never settle. That mantra also applies to a good meal and amazing vibes — the kind you get at Cocody.
