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.
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.
