Where to Eat on Easter

10 best Houston restaurants for bountiful Easter brunch

Easter brunch is a perfect way gather the family, without the fuss of a big, multi-course meal. We looked across the Houston dining landscape to find some of the city’s newest and most intriguing brunch options to celebrate the holiday.

Some of these options have an interactive component, too. After all, why just go out for the same brunch menu that's served every week at a marked-up price? Here, then, are 10 spots that are sure to bring some intrigue to a traditional holiday meal.

2840 at Dukessa
This Easter brunch popup offers a variety of tastes for all palates. Chef Ross Coleman's menu includes avocado toast, a cedar-smoked salmon eggs Benedict, a choose-your-own omelet station, artisanal fruits and cheeses, a carving board with herb-crusted New York strip, New Orleans bread pudding, and an ice cream bar. The cost is $58.75 for adults and $14.95 for kids under 10. Buy tickets here.

Brasil
From 7:30 am to 3 pm, this fun Montrose spot offers an Easter “Booze & Brunch,” showcasing its spring cocktails. Diners can opt for a frosé made with Liberation de Paris rose or a pineapple thyme daiquiri, among others. Chef German Mosquera will throw a few rum-infused dishes into the mix with all the usual brunch classics. No reservations necessary, no tickets to buy. 2604 Dunlavy St.; 713- 528-1993

EggHaus Gourmet
The restaurant serves its daily breakfast fare, but it’s added in celebratory touches for kids and adults. In addition to dining on options like the drunken chicken kolache of hand-shredded chicken, Spaten Lager marinade, sautéed peppers and onions, blended with Buffalo sauce, or the pretzel grilled cheese sandwich with bacon on a pretzel bun, there will be free mimosas for adults. Kids can have their photos taken with the Easter bunny or take part in one of two Easter egg hunts along the White Oak Bayou Greenway Trail, at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. 2042 East TC Jester Blvd.; 713-489-6719.

The Grove
Easter Brunch on the Green comes with live music from 11 am to 3 pm. Feast on a build-your-own breakfast taco bar, meat-carving stations, and house-made pastries and desserts. Specialty cocktails including mimosas, sangria, and mojitos are available for $15 with one-cent refills. Brunch is $35 per person and $15 for children aged 2 to 12. 1611 Lamar St.; 713-337-7321.

Helen in the Heights
The upscale casual Greek restaurant commemorate both traditional and Greek Orthodox Easter (April 28) with a lamb roast. Chef William Wright and the team cook a whole lamb, served with Greek sides of roasted potatoes and greens. The celebrating begins at 11 am and lasts until the lamb is gone. 1111 Studewood; 832-582-7146.

Indianola
The EaDo hot spot offers a special pre-fixe Easter brunch menu along with its traditional a la carte fare. Diners choose a small plate, large plate, and dessert option from selections such as a snow peas and pea tendril salad of fava bean falafel, pickled spring onions, herb-laced yogurt, potato, and salsa verde; deviled eggs with fried oysters and trout roe; a grilled ribeye; duck eggs Benedict served with duck confit, Szechuan agrodolce and a polenta cake; and a milk chocolate caramel peanut bar. The pre-fixe brunch is $45 per person, and reservations are recommended. 1201 St Emanuel St.; 832-582-7202.

Kiran’s
The upscale Indian favorite has two seatings for Easter Brunch, one between 11 am and noon, and the other from 1 to 2:30 pm. The three-course meal includes a starter of deviled eggs, then choices of first and second courses such as lamb aloo methi hash, lamb vindaloo, and a Goanese fish curry. Vegetarian options are available, too. Finish with one of several desserts. The cost is $65 for adults and $35 for kids under 10 (kids under 5 eat free). 2925 Richmond Ave.; 713-960-8472.

One Fifth Mediterranean
Chris Shepherd and his team have added half a dozen special options to the menu for Easter brunch. Among them are shakshuka, an egg dish of braised rabbit, roasted peppers and Yonder Way eggs; harcha, a Moroccan semolina flatbread, offered with Aleppo honey and barberry jam; and kookoo sabzi, an herbed omelette done with garlic, labneh, and barberry walnut relish. All items are served a la carte. Reservations are a must. 1658 Westheimer Rd.; 713-955-1024.

Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille
All locations are opening early at 11 am on Easter Sunday. In addition to the full menu, which is available all day, there are two seasonal, brunch-inspired dishes and cocktails. Diners can choose an 8-ounce filet Creole Benedict, filet mignon cut into two Cajun-spiced tournedos topped with egg and dijonnaise, then served on toasted English muffins for $44.95 or the crab cake Benedict, crab cakes with herb Hollandaise sauce covered with poached eggs and garnished with chive, dill and parsley for $38.95. Drink specials include mimosas, Bloody Marys and milk punch for $6.95 each. Multiple locations.

Postino
The Heights’ wine bar goes “Old Skool” for Easter, with a Hippity-Hop Brunch. From 9 to 11 am, they’ll play old-school hip-hop tracks to accompany offerings like walnut toast with triple cream brie and berry preserves; the B.E.L.T., a breakfast panini of bacon, scrambled eggs, Dijonaise, lettuce, and tomato on ciabatta; and grilled focaccia with eggs over easy, asparagus and tomato salad. As a bonus, the cafe will serve $5 glasses of rose all day long. 642 Yale St.; 346 -223-1111.

Kookoo Sabzi (herbed omelette with garlic labneh and barberry-walnut relish) is on the menu at One Fifth Mediterranean.

Photo by Nuray Taylor

Kookoo Sabzi (herbed omelette with garlic labneh and barberry-walnut relish) is on the menu at One Fifth Mediterranean.

news-you-can-eat holidays brunch

he finished the job

Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

Photo by David Moir/Bravo

Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

“Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

[ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

Photo by David Moir/Bravo

Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

chefs interview q&a top chef tristen epps