Dining
LATEST DISH! Indian Summer Avocado ‘bhel’ at Mahesh’s Kitchen, which opened in August
Fifth and Hay Merchant will soon say goodbye, as Underbelly Burger and Wild Oats bow in the Houston Farmers Market. Renovations continue at UB Preserv. Omakase, the tasting menu which means “trust the chef” in Japanese, has made a bold late-Covid-era comeback. At Kanau Sushi (2850 Fannin St.) book 24 hours for a 10- to15-course experience curated by chef Mike Lim. Chef Andy Chen of Austin import Soto (224 Westheimer Rd.) offers diners the choice of a regular or premium 18-course omakase, featuring items like fire salmon or A5 Wagyu on the hot rock. At Kata Robata (3600 Kirby Dr.), snag seats at the sushi bar for a taste of James Beardnominated chef Manabu Horiuchi’s omakase featuring fish flown in direct from Japan’s Tosoyu fish market. Neelesh and Shubhangi Musale have opened Mahesh’s Kitchen Indian eatery in the
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The new Cantacuya cocktail at Monkey’s Tail and, above, Badolina’s chocolate-chip cookies
Sugar Land Town Square, in honor of Shubhangi’s late younger brother, an aspiring chef who passed away before realizing his dream of starting a restaurant. The chic eatery boasts an open kitchen, patio dining will also be on offer. The menu incorporates homestyle, traditional dishes such as butter chicken with free-range chicken, along with unique contemporary items such as salmon with mango, habanero and ginger. Cardamom mojitos for sipping. 16019 City Walk, in Sugar Land Seasonal Chile en Nogada is on the menu at Chef Hugo Ortega’s Hugo’s (1600 Westheimer Rd.) and Caracol (2200 Post Oak Blvd.). The dish, native to the Mexican state of Puebla, is shredded pork mixed with red and green apples, pears, peaches, plantains, sweet potatoes, almonds and raisins stuffed into a poblano pepper and topped with walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds.
blends art, music and cuisine — a gallery featuring large-format paintings by Houston artists such as Bradley Kerl and Molly Koehn, music from Stacy’s eclectic personal vinyl collection, and food designed to match. There’s only one seating each night. And when you’re there, it feels like you’re at a dinner party with friends, with Stacy playing host. Blessed with rock-star good looks — blue eyes, long hair pulled up in a bandana, and a sleeve of tattoos featuring a butterfly he says represents metamorphosis — the 30-year-old chef greets all guests personally, and concludes each evening by playing the piano. Radiohead’s “House of Cards” is a favorite. Upon entry, guests are invited to relax and order apéritifs in the lounge, an area marked by brightly hued velvet sofas, cocktail tables and period armchairs positioned over colorful area rugs. Stacy refers to the design ethos as “grandma on psychedelics.” When it’s time to be seated, guests have a choice of bar seating or a communal table, where chairs are positioned to facilitate easy conversation. Cue the music. Stacy chooses different genres to fit a mood, from records like 1965’s Whipped Cream and Other Delights by Herp Alpert, or Anak Ko by Jay Som from 2019, which spin from a vintage turntable. Mousse Makeover Matcha and white chocolate mousse with nectarine sorbet
The menu, which will be updated every two months, pulls from the chef’s experience at Uchi, his love for Houston’s broad ethnic cuisines, and cookbooks like David Chang’s Momofuku and Gabriel Rucker’s Le Pigeon, creating dishes that evoke familiarity yet reflect his singular style. One recent night, the first two courses are Japanese-esque in nature — New England oyster on the half shell, served with sake mignonette and a couple drops neon-green cilantro oil; and yellowtail sashimi with pineapple vierge and lemon-drop melon. By the third dish, a chicken liver mousse served with butter crisp toast, lychee cassis reduction and radish kimchi, you’re starting to see more complexity. As the dishes become more substantial, there’s that first wow moment — a crab cake fried to a crisp and served as a butter lettuce wrap with pickles and miso orange emulsion. And then, just when you think that wow moment has passed, another one hits you in the form of a char siu pork bao, a play on a traditional Chinese dim sum dish, with cherries and pickled fennel. “I really love a tasting a menu as a way to express a full idea,” he says. “Kind of like how an artist would write a full album, and you’d listen to a full record, as opposed to just picking tracks.”
