• Home
  • popular
  • EVENTS
  • submit-new-event
  • CHARITY GUIDE
  • Children
  • Education
  • Health
  • Veterans
  • Social Services
  • Arts + Culture
  • Animals
  • LGBTQ
  • New Charity
  • TRENDING NEWS
  • News
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Home + Design
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Innovation
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • subscribe
  • about
  • series
  • Embracing Your Inner Cowboy
  • Green Living
  • Summer Fun
  • Real Estate Confidential
  • RX In the City
  • State of the Arts
  • Fall For Fashion
  • Cai's Odyssey
  • Comforts of Home
  • Good Eats
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2010
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2
  • Good Eats 2
  • HMNS Pirates
  • The Future of Houston
  • We Heart Hou 2
  • Music Inspires
  • True Grit
  • Hoops City
  • Green Living 2011
  • Cruizin for a Cure
  • Summer Fun 2011
  • Just Beat It
  • Real Estate 2011
  • Shelby on the Seine
  • Rx in the City 2011
  • Entrepreneur Video Series
  • Going Wild Zoo
  • State of the Arts 2011
  • Fall for Fashion 2011
  • Elaine Turner 2011
  • Comforts of Home 2011
  • King Tut
  • Chevy Girls
  • Good Eats 2011
  • Ready to Jingle
  • Houston at 175
  • The Love Month
  • Clifford on The Catwalk Htx
  • Let's Go Rodeo 2012
  • King's Harbor
  • FotoFest 2012
  • City Centre
  • Hidden Houston
  • Green Living 2012
  • Summer Fun 2012
  • Bookmark
  • 1987: The year that changed Houston
  • Best of Everything 2012
  • Real Estate 2012
  • Rx in the City 2012
  • Lost Pines Road Trip Houston
  • London Dreams
  • State of the Arts 2012
  • HTX Fall For Fashion 2012
  • HTX Good Eats 2012
  • HTX Contemporary Arts 2012
  • HCC 2012
  • Dine to Donate
  • Tasting Room
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • Charming Charlie
  • Asia Society
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2012
  • HTX Mistletoe on the go
  • HTX Sun and Ski
  • HTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • HTX New Beginnings
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013
  • Zadok Sparkle into Spring
  • HTX Let's Go Rodeo 2013
  • HCC Passion for Fashion
  • BCAF 2013
  • HTX Best of 2013
  • HTX City Centre 2013
  • HTX Real Estate 2013
  • HTX France 2013
  • Driving in Style
  • HTX Island Time
  • HTX Super Season 2013
  • HTX Music Scene 2013
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2013 2
  • HTX Baker Institute
  • HTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • Mothers Day Gift Guide 2021 Houston
  • Staying Ahead of the Game
  • Wrangler Houston
  • First-time Homebuyers Guide Houston 2021
  • Visit Frisco Houston
  • promoted
  • eventdetail
  • Greystar Novel River Oaks
  • Thirdhome Go Houston
  • Dogfish Head Houston
  • LovBe Houston
  • Claire St Amant podcast Houston
  • The Listing Firm Houston
  • South Padre Houston
  • NextGen Real Estate Houston
  • Pioneer Houston
  • Collaborative for Children
  • Decorum
  • Bold Rock Cider
  • Nasher Houston
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2021
  • CityNorth
  • Urban Office
  • Villa Cotton
  • Luck Springs Houston
  • EightyTwo
  • Rectanglo.com
  • Silver Eagle Karbach
  • Mirador Group
  • Nirmanz
  • Bandera Houston
  • Milan Laser
  • Lafayette Travel
  • Highland Park Village Houston
  • Proximo Spirits
  • Douglas Elliman Harris Benson
  • Original ChopShop
  • Bordeaux Houston
  • Strike Marketing
  • Rice Village Gift Guide 2021
  • Downtown District
  • Broadstone Memorial Park
  • Gift Guide
  • Music Lane
  • Blue Circle Foods
  • Houston Tastemaker Awards 2022
  • True Rest
  • Lone Star Sports
  • Silver Eagle Hard Soda
  • Modelo recipes
  • Modelo Fighting Spirit
  • Athletic Brewing
  • Rodeo Houston
  • Silver Eagle Bud Light Next
  • Waco CVB
  • EnerGenie
  • HLSR Wine Committee
  • All Hands
  • El Paso
  • Avenida Houston
  • Visit Lubbock Houston
  • JW Marriott San Antonio
  • Silver Eagle Tupps
  • Space Center Houston
  • Central Market Houston
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Travel Texas Houston
  • Alliantgroup
  • Golf Live
  • DC Partners
  • Under the Influencer
  • Blossom Hotel
  • San Marcos Houston
  • Photo Essay: Holiday Gift Guide 2009
  • We Heart Hou
  • Walker House
  • HTX Good Eats 2013
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2013
  • HTX Culture Motive
  • HTX Auto Awards
  • HTX Ski Magic
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2014
  • HTX Texas Traveler
  • HTX Cifford on the Catwalk 2014
  • HTX United Way 2014
  • HTX Up to Speed
  • HTX Rodeo 2014
  • HTX City Centre 2014
  • HTX Dos Equis
  • HTX Tastemakers 2014
  • HTX Reliant
  • HTX Houston Symphony
  • HTX Trailblazers
  • HTX_RealEstateConfidential_2014
  • HTX_IW_Marks_FashionSeries
  • HTX_Green_Street
  • Dating 101
  • HTX_Clifford_on_the_Catwalk_2014
  • FIVE CultureMap 5th Birthday Bash
  • HTX Clifford on the Catwalk 2014 TEST
  • HTX Texans
  • Bergner and Johnson
  • HTX Good Eats 2014
  • United Way 2014-15_Single Promoted Articles
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Houston
  • Where to Eat Houston
  • Copious Row Single Promoted Articles
  • HTX Ready to Jingle 2014
  • htx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Zadok Swiss Watches
  • HTX Wonderful Weddings 2015
  • HTX Charity Challenge 2015
  • United Way Helpline Promoted Article
  • Boulevard Realty
  • Fusion Academy Promoted Article
  • Clifford on the Catwalk Fall 2015
  • United Way Book Power Promoted Article
  • Jameson HTX
  • Primavera 2015
  • Promenade Place
  • Hotel Galvez
  • Tremont House
  • HTX Tastemakers 2015
  • HTX Digital Graffiti/Alys Beach
  • MD Anderson Breast Cancer Promoted Article
  • HTX RealEstateConfidential 2015
  • HTX Vargos on the Lake
  • Omni Hotel HTX
  • Undies for Everyone
  • Reliant Bright Ideas Houston
  • 2015 Houston Stylemaker
  • HTX Renewable You
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • Urban Flats Builder
  • HTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Kyrie Massage
  • Red Bull Flying Bach
  • Hotze Health and Wellness
  • ReadFest 2015
  • Alzheimer's Promoted Article
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Professional Skin Treatments by NuMe Express

    a love letter to texas

    Chris Shepherd sows his wild oats with new Texas-inspired restaurant

    Eric Sandler
    Feb 10, 2022 | 1:11 pm
    Wild Oats is Nick Fine's love letter to Texas.
    Wild Oats is Nick Fine's love letter to Texas.
    Photo by Claudia Casbarian

    Chris Shepherd and the Underbelly Hospitality team are ready to put their spin on Texas cuisine. Wild Oats, the company’s newest restaurant, opens tomorrow (Friday, February 11) at the Houston Farmers Market.

     

    Led by chef-partner Nick Fine, Wild Oats aims to tell the story of Texas food, just as Shepherd told the story of Houston food at the original Underbelly. That means nods to the Southern, Mexican, and ranch-style influences that come together to create traditional Texan cuisine.

     

    “It’s my version of a love letter to Texas,” Fine tells CultureMap. “I want to tell the story of the Texas I know and love. It’s a really passionate project for me.”

     

    While Fine won’t be smoking briskets — he notes that Pinkerton’s Barbecue is just down the street — he is putting his spin on seafood staples like campecha, shrimp and grits, and redfish on the half shell. Those with carnivorous habits may opt for dishes like short rib fajitas, wood-grilled chicken or steak, or a crispy pork shank.

     

    Starters include an updated version of Underbelly's signature crispy vegetables, steak tartare, and "Haven-style" shrimp corn dogs, a tribute to the farm-to-table restaurant operated by Shepherd's friend chef Randy Evans. Pastry director Victoria Dearmond's desserts are similarly traditional, ranging from banana pudding and peach cobbler to a Texas sheet cake that diners finish themselves courtesy of sides of fudge, candied pecans, and sprinkles. Wild Oats will also offer the company's first-ever children's menu.

     

    Overall, the dishes should be familiar to most Texans. Wild Oats hopes to stand out with the quality of its ingredients and by executing its dishes at the highest level.

     

    “My idea [for] the menu is for everybody to get it,” Fine says. “I don’t want everyone to be like ‘whoa, he’s doing all this crazy stuff.’ I just want everything to be really good food but also technically really sound.”

     

    Wild Oats’ chicken fried steak illustrates Fine’s overall approach. The chef says he researched the dish extensively to create a version that justifies its $42 price.

     

    That starts with using Texas wagyu beef from R-C Ranch, topping the fried patties with jalapeño-bacon gravy, and serving sides of mashed potatoes and wood-grilled green beans. Fine's chicken fried steak is served as two smaller pieces to ensure it stays crispy. Similarly, the bacon-jalapeño gravy pays homage to the tradition of cooking chicken fried steak in bacon grease. Still, he knows people will have high expectations for a fancy chicken fried steak, and he's ready to meet that meet challenge.

     

    “I was talking to Nina [Quincy], our director of operations,” Fine says about the dish. “[She said], no one will have a problem with [the price] if it’s the best chicken fried steak they’ve ever had. It’s got to be technically sound and done with the best product possible. I hope that’s what we’re doing.”

     

    To help achieve serving the best, most technically sound dishes possible, Wild Oats will utilize a custom-built wood-burning grill created by legendary pitmaster Aaron Franklin of Austin’s Franklin Barbecue. The modular design allows for steaks to be seared on high heat, vegetables to be slow roasted over coals, and chickens to be hung above the embers. Franklin and Shepherd have been friends for years, and Franklin always draws the longest line at the annual Southern Smoke Festival that Shepherd organizes.

     

    “We’re not in the business of making grills, but I cook a lot with fire,” Franklin said in a statement. “I’m pretty handy with it, as it turns out. If a friend needs something, I’m pretty quick to design something. This is something we wanted to do for our friends. It’s designed to be able to utilize all aspects of the fire.”

     

    The restaurant’s beverage program will feature Texas wines as about a quarter of the 60 selections. Cocktails will include a selection of staples like the paloma and ranch water alongside seasonal cocktails that utilize produce sourced from the market and a couple of frozens. The spirits list will focus on agave-based options as well as Texas-made products.

     

    Designer Amanda Medsger has created a dining room with nods to Texas’ different regions and eras in its history, including vintage decor from legendary Houston bar Gilley’s and a display of Stetson hats.

     

    “I think all of our restaurants have been cool, but this is the prettiest restaurant I’ve ever been in. I love it,” Fine says. “If you had the fanciest Luby’s mixed with your grandma’s ranch house, it’s so fancy and so cool.”

     

    This year will see lots of changes for Underbelly Hospitality. Last month, the company closed its craft beer bar Hay Merchant, temporarily relocated its luxurious steakhouse Georgia James to the space occupied by One Fifth, and opened Underbelly Burger at the Houston Farmers Market. In the coming months, Georgia James will move to its new, permanent home in the Regent Square mixed-use development where it will be joined by Pastore, a new Italian-American restaurant modeled after One Fifth Red Sauce. Also coming soon will be Everlong Bar & Hideaway, a new concept for the space formerly occupied by UB Preserv.

     

    A look inside Wild Oats.

    Wild Oats dining room
      
    Photo by Claudia Casbarian
    A look inside Wild Oats.
    chefsopeningsnews-you-can-eat
    news/restaurants-bars

    one night only

    Award-winning NYC chefs join Houston rising star for pop-up dinner

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 10, 2025 | 4:45 pm
    Barbacana restaurant interior
    Courtesy of Barbacana
    Barbacana will host the special dinner on July 22.

    One of Houston’s rising star chefs is teaming up with two of his mentors for a one-night-only experience. New York chefs Fabián von Hauske-Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone are coming to downtown restaurant Barbacana on Tuesday, July 22 for a collaboration dinner with chef-owner Christian Hernandez.


      
     
     
     
     
     
     
    View this post on Instagram
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    A post shared by Barbacana Restaurant (@barbacanahtx)


    Stone and von Hauske-Valtierra earned a Michelin star and a Food & Wine Best New Chef award for their New York City restaurant Contra. First opened in 2013, Contra served an affordable tasting menu of dishes that could change from night to night based on available ingredients. It closed in 2023. The chefs opened a new concept called Bar Contra in 2024.

    Hernandez worked at Contra as a line cook in 2016 and 2017, which is when it first earned a Michelin star. He tells CultureMap that he turned down an offer from Eleven Madison Park, then considered one of the best restaurants in America, to cook at the smaller, more innovative Contra.

    “It really shaped everything I did afterwards,” Hernandez tells CultureMap. “Their level of creativity, their confidence and comfort with what they do — we’d change the menu every couple of days. It showed me a lot of what it takes to perform on that level consistently.”

    For the collaboration dinner, Stone and von Hauske-Valtierra will prepare three dishes alongside three dishes from Hernandez and the Barbacana team. Even though the dinner is only a couple of weeks away, Hernandez hasn’t finalized the menu yet. The plan is to shop for ingredients the day before and let them dictate what’s served.

    One possibility is a dish Hernandez is testing that’s inspired by his time at Contra. It’s a tuna crudo with seasonal melson and lacto-fermented blackberry consomme.

    “Two or three elements, simple plating — as I’ve been working on this tuna dish, I’ve been thinking about them,” he says.

    Hernandez opened Barbacana in late 2024. Located near Market Square in downtown Houston, it takes inspiration from Houston’s immigrant traditions, filtered through the chef’s work at fine dining restaurants such as Oxheart, March, and Contra.

    The six-course dinner is priced at $200 with an optional, $100 wine pairings. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    news-you-can-eatchefsdinnerbarbacana
    news/restaurants-bars

    most read posts

    Growing burger chain slides into first Houston location

    Houston is one of America's most overpriced cities, study finds

    This Houston suburb had the highest apartment rent prices in June

    Loading...