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    Sneak Peek at Toukei

    Sneak peek: Hip Japanese pub pours it on in buzzy Chinatown spot

    Eric Sandler
    Oct 1, 2019 | 3:39 pm

    Chef Mike Tran’s newest restaurant opens Tuesday, October 1. Toukei Izakaya, his take on a Japanese pub, is ready to serve the dining public.

    Located in the same Chinatown shopping center as his restaurants Mein, Ohn Korean Eatery, Night Market Thai, and Ishin Udon (9630 Clarewood Dr.), Toukei features an enhanced design compared to Tran’s other restaurants. Careful attention was paid to the metal signs hanging above the dining room; they’ve been weathered to give the restaurant an older, more lived-in feel.

    Up front, an intimate bar showcases a dedicated tap for Japanese-style highballs made with Suntory Toki whisky. Beyond that, the dining room features all booth seating, each with a view of the open kitchen and its custom-built, wood-burning grill.

    View this post on Instagram

    A post shared by Mike (@_miketran) on

    Sep 26, 2019 at 1:38pm PDT

    Inspired by multiple trips to Japan taken by Tran, his business partner Jack Tran, and frequent collaborator Rikesh Patel, the menu covers a wide range of dishes found in traditional izakayas. The chefs provided CultureMap with an almost-final copy of the menu as well as the opportunity to taste a few dishes.

    Dinner at Toukei will likely begin with selections from the extensive selection of snacks that are designed to be paired with a cocktail or two; they include both cold dishes such as soy-braised snails, cold smoked duck, and potato salad as well as hot dishes such as fried chicken skin, stir-fried bean sprouts, and gyoza.

    Although Toukei isn’t explicitly a sushi restaurant, it does offer a number of raw fish preparations, including half a dozen sashimi options, two different ceviches, and hamachi crudo. From there, diners will want to consider more than a dozen different skewers: everything from chicken thigh and chicken heart to beef short rib and whole prawn.

    Patrons could make a meal out of the small plates, or they could save room for some combination of larger grill items — miso-marinated black cod, lamb chops, yellowtail collar, etc. — or for a bowl of ramen. While Tran would probably do just fine serving Tiger Den’s broth, he’s created a new seafood and pork stock that serves as the soup’s base. Thick noodles help soak up each drop.

    Highballs, made with either Japanese whisky or shochu, anchor the cocktail program. The space also features dozens of lockers filled with an extensive selection of both Japanese whisky and Scotch. Selections run the gamut price-wise, with gems like Yamazaki 18 and Hibiki 21 sprinkled in among more regular fare.

    Like Ohn, Toukei will be open until 2 am, and its kitchen will serve food until 1:30 am.

    Since 2015, Tran has been transforming the shopping center with food he likes to eat from Japan, Korea, and China. With the opening of Toukei, the project is complete, but Tran's work isn't done. He's still working on a Vietnamese pub that will replace shuttered poke restaurant Laki Fish to Tiger Den — and probably another trick or two.

    A look inside Toukei Izakaya.

    Toukei Izakaya interior
      
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    A look inside Toukei Izakaya.
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    he finished the job

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

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    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?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

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

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