one night only

Chef's Table star Mashama Bailey picks Montrose restaurant for special one-night only meal

The chef and managing partner of one of the South's most acclaimed restaurants will be in Houston for a special, one-night only event. Chef Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano, partners in Savannah's award-winning restaurant The Grey, will be in Houston at Montrose restaurant Traveler's Table on October 14 as part of a tour to promote their book Black, White, and The Grey.

Bailey scarcely needs an introduction, but let's give her one anyway. A New York chef with Southern roots, Bailey won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2019 and was featured in a season six episode of the Netflix documentary series Chef's Table for her work at The Grey, which Eater selected as its restaurant of the year in 2017.

Black, White, and The Grey tells the story of how Morisano, a white media entrepreneur, and Bailey, a Black chef, overcame numerous obstacles to create a business partnership, a friendship, and one of America's most acclaimed restaurants. For the tour, the duo are visiting 11 restaurants across the South, starting with Poole's Diner in Raleigh on October 6 and ending in Atlanta on October 22. Along the way, they'll make two Texas stops: Dallas's Meridian restaurant on October 13 followed by Traveler's Table on October 14.

Each restaurant will serve a four-course meal inspired by the recipes in Black, White, and The Grey. In a statement provided by Traveler's Table, Morisano explains why he and Bailey selected Thy and Matthew Mitchell's globally-inspired Montrose restaurant as the Houston stop on their trip.

“I think it was really the diversity of the owners’ view on food,” Morisano said. “With Thy growing up as a Vietnamese-American and Matthew being in the business world before he decided to follow his passion into restaurants, there were elements of their story that seemed similar to ours and part of what we are doing on this tour is celebrating other restaurants, cities, and truly unique offerings that have stories that resonate. We are always trying to learn from people and places like that.”

“We all share a passion for exploring the world through food and drink,” Matthew Mitchell added. “It’s a thrill to be collaborating with The Grey where we will be cooking and meeting new friends and fans of their Southern cuisine here in Houston. My team and I have been in conversations with them for weeks as we plan a menu that will compliment theirs. It’s been a lot of fun and I know guests will be blown away by the creativity.”

Attendees have the choice of an either a 6 or 8:30 pm seating. A VIP cocktail reception with Morisano and Bailey will be held at 5 pm. Tickets, $125 for the VIP reception and the 6 pm meal or $85 for the meal, are on sale now via Resy, which is sponsoring the tour. All attendees will receive a copy of Black, White, and The Grey.

True to form, Traveler's Table has brought its eclectic perspective to Bailey's dishes. Here's the menu:

Passed appetizers and cocktails (VIP hour)

Margie's Deviled Eggs: "Jammy" Japanese-style ramen eggs, chicharrones
Fried Viet-Cajun oysters on the half-shell
Paper Plane (Monkey Shoulder gin, Amaro Nonino, Campari, blood orange juice) Blood Orange Juice
The Revolver (Bulleit rye, Licor 43, Kahlua, etc)

Appetizer

Texas Tartare: Akaushi beef, hatch chili seasoning, whiskey vinegar, quail egg, toast points

Second Course

Dirty Rice: Cognac-glazed sweetbreads, duck liver, Louisiana popcorn rice

Entree (choice of one)

Sizzling Smoky Pig: pork knuckle crackling, Steen's Cane jus, Amaretto cornbread, braised collard greens
Whole Grilled Fish: Whole-roasted Branzino, Chermoula marinade, blood orange reduction, harissa carrots

Dessert

Caribbean-spiced honey chess pie, aged rum, almond cookie crust, Velvet Falernum merengue, sweet plantain compote

Even before its recent appearance on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Traveler's Table has been on an upswing. The restaurant raised almost $17,000 for the Houston Food Bank during Houston Restaurant Weeks, making it one the event's largest donations. Matthew Mitchell and executive chef Stanton Bundy have introduced a number of new dishes to the menu, including tea smoked duck, Nigerian-style suya skewers, and a vegan take on chiles en nogada.

Traveler's Table will host the one night only event.

Photo by TK Images

Traveler's Table will host the one night only event.

books news-you-can-eat chefs

What's up, Doc?

Houston's new retro-styled jazz supper club sets opening date

Photo by Matthew Casby

Doc's Houston opens November 15.

Brent “Doc” Watkins has a very specific reference for Doc’s Houston, his new jazz supper club that’s opening November 15 in the historic Tower Theater in Montrose.

“I ask them if they’ve seen the movie Goodfellas,” Watkins tells CultureMap. “If they have, there's that famous scene where Ray Liotta takes his girlfriend to the supper club. They walk through the secret entrance and go in through the kitchen. They bring out a special table with the white tablecloth and they sit down and the show starts.”

The very famous scene captures the spirit of what Watkins wants to create at Doc’s Houston — an intimate venue serving classic American fare and showcasing live music in genres such as jazz, R&B, soul, and the blues. It’s a formula that Watkins developed at Jazz, TX, his original jazz supper club that’s part of San Antonio’s Pearl District since 2016. He says Houston was always a logical choice to expand the concept.

“Doing a proper jazz supper club, there wasn’t anything like that in Houston 10 years ago, and there wasn’t anything like that now until Doc’s,” Watkins says.

Let’s start with the jazz part first. Doc’s will host live music Tuesday through Saturday in a variety of genres. Artistic director Graeme Franci, who, like Watkins, holds a doctorate in music from the University of Texas, is a Houstonian with a deep knowledge of the local music scene. He’s been reaching out to musicians and booking them to play Doc’s. In addition to local acts, the venue will host national touring acts — Tony Danza recently played San Antonio — and as many as 30 performances by Watkins himself.

From his perspective, Doc’s provides an essential space for friends and neighbors to connect during a shared experience.

“We aren’t inventing a brand new concept. We’re reviving something that had been lost,” Watkins explains. Later, he adds, “These are really essential spaces. It’s a very ancient tradition to gather as smaller groups of people for a meal and some music. It’s a very timeless thing. There was a blip on the radar where we lost these rooms for about a generation.”

In terms of the food, chef Jose Avila’s menu is built around classic supper club fare such as steaks, seafood, and pastas. Specific dishes include grilled octopus, short rib empanadas, pork belly chicharron paella, coq au vin, and Chateaubriand that will be carved to order tableside.

“We’ve got a massive kitchen. We’ve got the ability to do a big menu and do it right,” Watkins says. “You can’t be all things to all people, but we’ll get pretty damn close.”

Doc's Houston jazz club staff Watkins has assembled an experience team to lead Doc's Houston.Courtesy of Doc's Houston

The Tower Theater has had a number of lives. Most recently home to Acme Oyster House and El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, it’s also been a movie theater and a video store, among other iterations. To turn it into Doc’s, Watkins and his team added all-new lighting and sound, built a stage, and added a wraparound balcony.

“When we found it, it was pretty wonky. The orientation was all wrong,” Watkins says. “We decided to go big and do it right. That balcony is new, but it looks like it’s always been that way. It’s how the space needs to be and wants to be, even though for 100 years it did not have a full wraparound balcony.”

Reservations and tickets will be available via the Doc’s website in the coming days. Memberships will be available that come with perks such as preferred seating and advance access.

“I hope we’re around for a very long time,” Watkins says. “I think we’ve set ourselves up to be around for a very long time. We’ve got all the ingredients that go into success. Now we just have to execute.”

Photo by Matthew Casby

Doc's Houston opens November 15.

openings news-you-can-eat performing-arts music concerts nightlife