DINING

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A Chic Corner

Concura Italian Bites has bowed in Highland Village, in a unique space designed by co-owner and former interior designer Jessica Biondi. For more on Concura and other food news, turn to page 84.

Stepping Up A line cook at Uchi a couple of years ago, chef Thomas Stacy has just opened his own restaurant.

Passion Play

Three years ago he was working at Amazon in Seattle. Today Thomas Stacy is chef-owner of one of Houston’s most talked-about new restaurants.

By Mai Pham, Photos by Kat Ambrose

IIn an alternate universe in which the pandemic didn’t happen, chef Thomas Stacy might still be toiling away obscurely in someone else’s kitchen. But it’s 2021, in the age of Covid, and a few months ago Stacy debuted his first restaurant, in CityCentre, an ambitious 24-seat Euro-Asian tasting-menu concept called ReikiNa.

It’s an astounding feat for someone who, until three years ago, had never worked in a professional eatery. After studying supply chain management at

UH, Stacy, a Houston native, moved to

Seattle, where he managed a fulfillment center for Amazon. In 2019, unimpressed with corporate life, he returned home to pursue his passion for cooking. With zero experience but a drive to learn, he applied for a cook’s position at his favorite restaurant, Uchi, and was hired. He worked there for nine months, till the pandemic happened.

ReikiNa, a contraction of two Japanese words which means “divine snacks,” was created as a way to facilitate human connection. “I started the concept to fill a hole for people who wanted to have a restaurant during the pandemic,” he explains. At first, it was just a dinner he held for friends at his Montrose apartment. Social media posts from that dinner led to a weekly pop-up dinner series, which, in turn, resulted in an offer, from one of his patrons, to turn his concept into a brick-and-mortar.

The restaurant, open ThursdaysSaturdays, is an experience that

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HOUSTON’S BEST FOOD NEWS, IN SMALL BITES ...

He’s from Portugal; she’s from India. Together, Rick and Shiva DiVirgilio — the husband and wife team behind Oporto Fooding House in Midtown — are making Indo-Portuguese culinary magic at their stylish Michael Hsu-designed MKT Heights restaurant, Da Gama Canteen (600 N. Shepherd Dr.). Try the crab pani puri or Goan fish curry with an East India G&T.

Concura — “with care” in Italian — has opened in Highland Village. In contemporary environs, Chef Angelo Cuppone serves elevated Italian plates for sharing, a la liver crostini and saffron gnocchi with shrimp. The menu explores the less traveled regions of Italy, like the coastal town of Fano where Cuppone and owner Jessica Biondi grew up. 4340 Westheimer Rd., 832.997.4220

Popular Portuguese-inspired South African concept Mozambik, with outposts throughout South Africa and Zambia, has replaced area locations of Peli Peli, including in the Galleria. The newbie is said to offer the rustic feel of a Mozambican beach with an emphasis on coastal fare and the braai, or grill.

Lots of Chris Shepherd news: Georgia James Tavern (737 Preston St.), offshoot of his acclaimed steakhouse, has debuted Downtown, with cast-ironseared steaks and wood-oven entrees. Meanwhile, the OG Georgia James is readying to move from Westheimer to a new buildout in the Regent Square development near Allen Parkway, followed by an as-yet-unnamed concept in same complex. His One

Eight Is Enough Octopus, potato and olives at Concura