Thirteen on track
Despite trade, James Harden's Houston restaurant will open as scheduled
The January 13 blockbuster trade of Rockets star James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets will not affect the opening of his new restaurant, Thirteen. The restaurant's publicist Sherrie Handrinos issued a statement that the establishment will open as scheduled later this month (a countdown clock on the restaurant's website indicates an opening on Tuesday, January 19).
"Our entire staff and team are looking forward to providing top notch service and bringing a one-of-a-kind dining experience to Houston," she writes. "We are looking forward to sharing our extensive menu and beautiful restaurant with the city.”
Harden hired chef Tobias Dorzon to lead the kitchen at Thirteen, which will occupy the former Mr. Peeples space in Midtown. Formerly a professional football player, Dorzon followed his father's footsteps by becoming a chef. From his home in Washington, D.C., he developed a following as a private chef for professional athletes and celebrities such as DeSean Jackson, Trent Williams, Snoop Dogg, and The Game.
Dorzon tells the Houston Chronicle that his menu will offer an elevated take on steakhouse classics and comfort food. Dishes will include deep fried lasagna, crab and crawfish fried rice with buttered prawns; deep-fried red snapper; and "a plate-busting dry-age tomahawk steak with shallot and pineapple compound butter."
With Rockets fans' reactions ranging from good luck to good riddance, Dorzon seems to be taking the news in stride. He shared an image of Harden with his almost 100,000 Instagram followers.
"It’s not often Black chefs like myself get put in a position like this," he writes. "Brodie thank you for the platform; now go get you one 🏆The mobb going to hold it down on this end."
