“Bia was ‘farm-to-table’ before it was cool,” smiles Brian Houlihan, relaxing on the outdoor patio of his Bia, the intimate French-inspired eatery that, remarkably, marks its twentieth anniversary in Cohasset this coming month. 

Houlihan, the chef/owner whose portfolio now includes five distinctly unique South Shore destinations – The Parrot in Hull, The Tinker’s Son in Norwell, Galley kitchen & bar in Scituate, and Trident in the Hingham Shipyard – sat down with STROLL to recall Bia’s early days, and relate how a boy from Cork, Ireland, ended up conquering the South Shore’s dining scene. 

Houlihan was drawn to the industry at an early age, by 14 he was bussing tables, by age 18, he’d put himself through culinary school, and immigrated to Boston to join his sister. For a decade, he rose fast in Boston’s food scene, starting at the Harvard Club and ultimately running the Four Seasons’ fine dining room and serving as executive chef at the Bostonian Hotel. 

He was only 29, and ready for the next stop: his own place. But high downtown rents would necessitate a partner, while he wanted to do it on his own. 

A chance trip to Cohasset for a wedding turned his eye to Main Street in the Village. “I thought Cohasset needed another restaurant or two,” he remarks mildly in his charming Irish brogue. 

He purchased Really Great Pizza ( RGP), a takeout pizza shop that left behind a gift of its 50-year-old brick oven – the source of what would soon become some of Bia’s most iconic dishes: duck confit and prosciutto flatbreads. 

“I never made a pizza before I bought a pizza shop,” Brian says. Even with a planned kitchen overhaul, he says, that storied oven is a keeper. “It’s the one piece of equipment I’m going to keep – I’ll do what I have to do to keep it going. They don’t make them like that anymore.” 

Houlihan quickly transformed the spot into a 30-seat bistro, serving traditional French cuisine he was trained on in culinary school: duck confit, cassoulet, escargot, Hanger steak a poivre. 

(Pop quiz: whence the name? Bia is the Gaelic word for “food.”

Who knew?)

Those early days of running a restaurant were a steep learning curve – the first week they opened, there was a wintertime power outage… “We were dining by candlelight,” Brian recalls. 

Locals would be perplexed when he’d change the menu weekly, and find their beloved duck confit no longer available. 

But that first year also brought successes, like a rave rating in Zagat (whatever happened to that slim maroon guidebook?) and a “Best New Restaurant” pick in Boston Magazine. 

Today, even after two decades, the place is still hopping on any given Saturday night, no small feat in a brutal industry with slim profit margins and coming off Covid close-downs. Children who once napped at Bia tableside in strollers are now staffers. 

Brian himself is now the father of 4 children, including a 7-year-old son at Osgood School in Cohasset. In his rare downtime, he’ll squeeze in a game of rugby, playing as a “hooker” with his 35+ men’s team, the South Shore Anchors. 

The town of Cohasset will forever hold a sentimental place in his heart as his first location. To celebrate the 20th, Bia will host special events and even revive favorite menu items. Some items have never come off the menu: short ribs, hanger steak, roast chicken with truffle mushroom risotto. “Give your customers what they want,” Brian believes. 

Trends in food have come and gone, but Brian firmly believes cooking local is best. 

You won’t find Alaskan salmon from the other side of the country on the night’s specials – he still works with local fishmongers like Mullaney’s Joby Norton to serve the freshest local catch of the day, often right from Scituate Harbor. 

And this spring, Holly Hill Farm will install and cultivate a small organic vegetable garden right behind the bistro. 

“We really do try to use as much local product as possible, because that’s the way I was brought up in Ireland,” Brian says. “It’s important to me that we keep it that way.”