Gingerbread Build-Off

Amazing gingerbread houses pay tribute to Hogwarts, London Bridge — and demolished Foley's building

At the fifth annual AIA Gingerbread Build-Off, 30 teams from across the city competed to build the most stunning, over-the-top gingerbread-based creations. The teams had five hours to assemble the creations, and all of the building, frosting and decorating had to be done on-site. Despite temperatures in the 40s and a fierce wind at downtown's Hermann Square Park on Saturday that toppled a couple of entries, most of the teams displayed high-quality, highly creative work.

Teams ran the gamut in terms of experience, with professional architectural firms competing against student groups and even a group of neuroscientists.

A three-judge panel that included an architect, an engineer and a food writer (aka, me) evaluated each of the entries for a variety of awards including Grand Prix de Show, Best Architectural Icon and Most Creative Use of Materials. Teams ran the gamut in terms of experience, with professional architectural firms competing against student groups and even a group of neuroscientists. Entries needed to be at least 80 percent edible and assembled entirely on site.

Unofficially, Houston architecture icons seemed to be the theme of the day with three different versions of the Williams Tower and its corresponding Waterwall, the Astrodome and the recently-demolished Foley's on Main Street all making an appearance. Teams also turned to pop culture for inspiration with Harry Potter's Hogwarts, The Wizard of Oz, Breaking Bad and Despicable Me all getting gingerbread treatment.

As a first time visitor, I was struck by a couple of things. First, Rice Krispie treats are a surprisingly important structural element in building large-scale gingerbread houses. Second, it seems that almost every team had a different candy component for water (jello, gummy bear, almond bark, etc.)

In the end, architecture firm Kirksey took the top prize for their London Tower Bridge with a working cantilever drawbridge and boat below. A student-group from the Art Institute of Houston upset several pro teams for second with the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, "Gingerbread Fallingwater." Gensler placed third with a replication of Hogwarts Castle. The crowd selected the Despicable Me house as its favorite.

All entries are currently on display at the Architecture Center of Houston through Friday.

A team from PDR won Best Architectural Icon with a whimsical take on the downtown Foley's demolition.

12 Annual AIA Gingerbread build-off December 2013 Best Architecture Icon _PDR with Jingle Bell Demo - Foley's

Photo courtesy of AIA Houston

A team from PDR won Best Architectural Icon with a whimsical take on the downtown Foley's demolition.

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truffle masters recap

Street corn shines at Houston's truffle-powered chef competition

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.

One of Houston’s top Mexican restaurants took the top prize at this year’s Truffle Masters competition. Victoria Elizondo, chef-owner of Cochinita & Co., bested 24 other Houston chefs with Elotitos, corn brushed with chiltepin aioli, dusted with seven chile spice, and finished with shaved truffles and Parmesan.

“The team killed it last night,” Elizondo wrote on Instagram. “We won 1st place at @thetrufflemasters all while having fun and cooking with love! Food doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to be made with corazón!”

The attention couldn’t have come at a better time. As CultureMap reported last month, Cochinita & Co. is currently in the process of opening a second location in Lindale Park. Customers can invest in the project via the NuMarket platform in exchange for credits at the restaurant.

Second prize went to Camaraderie in the Heights for its black sesame and black truffle gelato, while Cocody, a French restaurant in River Oaks, took third place for its truffle-shaped Lollys Persillade Escargot Cromesquis, essentially an escargot lollypop with with black truffle and quail egg in the middle.

Montrose sushi restaurant Soto won People’s Choice with its Engawa fin muscle with truffle balsamic unagi sauce, kizami, and chocolate black truffle masago arare. Aniket Bhingare, a bartender at Michelin-starred restaurant Musaafer, won the cocktail competition with his Pour Me a Slice, made with truffle and herb-infused and a clarified mix of roma tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, basil, and truffle oil.

Other standout dishes included a Yukon Gold potato with truffle brown butter from Michelin-recognized sushi restaurant Hidden Omakase, truffle s’mores from Israeli-inspired steakhouse Doris Metropolitan, beef tartare and truffle ice cream from fine dining sushi restaurant Katami, and Credence’s truffle duck sausage with plums and truffles. Maximo, a Mexican restaurant in West U., maximized (sorry) its truffle usage with a Cachetada de Barbacoa Taco, made with nixtamalized truffle tortilla, truffle-braised barbacoa, and sottocenere al tartufo cheese with black garlic-habanero salsa

More than 350 attended the sold-out affair, which took place at the Astorian events space in Sawyer Yards. The judging panel include both media members (such as this author) and hospitality pros. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the KNOWAutism Foundation.

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.