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    8 things to know

    8 things to know in Houston food right now: Montrose Chinese favorite bids farewell

    Eric Sandler
    Jan 15, 2021 | 12:47 pm

     Editor’s note: Houston’s restaurant scene moves pretty fast. In order to prevent CultureMap readers from missing anything, let’s stop to look around at all the latest news to know.

     

     Openings, closings, and coming attractions

     

    Korean fried chicken restaurant has Bonchon has opened its first location inside the loop in Midtown at 2100 Travis St. In addition to its signature fried chicken — available in spicy, soy garlic, or half and half — the restaurant serves a range of Korean specialities including bibimbap, japchae, and bulgogi alongside a full range of beer, wine, and cocktails.

     

    On January 21, the restaurant will celebrate its grand opening with a special offer of a free dozen boneless wings with purchase of any combo meal. The restaurant opens daily at 11 am.

     

    Time is running out to get one last order of crispy, spicy asparagus at 369 Oriental Bistro. Like Half Price Books, the Chinese-American Montrose staple will close after this weekend to make way for Skanska USA’s massive new mixed-use development at the corner of Westheimer and Montrose.

     

    An employee tells CultureMap that the restaurant is looking for a new location but hasn’t found the right fit yet. Fingers crossed that it happens soon. Life without those fried dumplings and General Tso’s chicken will be a little poorer. CultureMap ranked 369 as the city’s 99th best restaurant on its 2019 list of Houston’s top 100 restaurants.

     

     JCI Grill (f/k/a James Coney Island) has permanently closed its Town & Country restaurant (701 Town & Country Blvd.). In response to a post about the closure on the Memorial Area Eats Facebook group, JCI director of marketing Michelle Holmes writes that the company decided to move on from the location due to its lack of a drive-thru, which has proven to be essential during the pandemic. She adds that the company is actively searching for a new outpost to serve Memorial-area diners.

     

     Eaker Barbecue will close after service on Friday, January 22. In an email sent to the food truck’s supporters, pitmaster-owner Lance Eaker writes that sales have declined dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic. Fans will have a few more days to get Eaker’s Central Texas-style barbecue brisket and gochujang pork ribs at the Westbury Baptist Church (10425 Hillcroft St.)

     

    “I can't begin to tell you how much our friends, family, and our customers have meant to us as we have made this crazy journey,” Eaker writes. “That's what kills me, after all of your support and patronage we feel like we are abandoning you guys. Please know that this was not an easy decision to come too and that it weighed heavily on our minds for months now.”

     

     Torchy’s Tacos will next two new Houston-area locations will open in Stafford (11327 Current Ln.) this spring and Richmond’s Aliana development (4818 Waterview Town Center Dr.) this summer. The Austin-based, gringo taco slinger recently received a $400 million private equity investment that will allow it to expand to 10 more states over the next four years. Currently, Torchy’s operates more than 80 locations in seven states.
     
     Other news and notes

     

    Austin food festival Hot Luck has selected Houston’s Southern Smoke Foundation as its charity beneficiary. Founded by Franklin Barbecue pitmaster-owner Aaron Franklin, Hot Luck is a multi-day food and music happening; no announcement has been made about whether the festival will return in 2021 or wait until 2022. As part of the partnership, two of the festival’s sponsors — Yeti Coolers and Tito’s Handmade Vodka — have made donations to the foundation’s emergency relief fund that provides cash assistance to restaurant industry workers.

     

    “I’m in awe,” Southern Smoke co-founnder Chris Shepherd said in a statement. “Aaron has supported Southern Smoke since day one, and I’m so honored that he and the Hot Luck team chose Southern Smoke as their beneficiary. Hot Luck is an incredible event—one I look forward to every year—and now, the Hot Luck team is family.”

     

     Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House has named Chris Loftis as its chef de cuisine. Executive chef Joe Cervantez and Loftis are childhood friends who’ve worked together many times over the years, including at Killen’s Steakhouse. Loftis will assist Cervantez with overseeing the kitchen and developing new dishes at the San Leon restaurant.

     

    “Chris is very passionate. He takes a lot of pride in what he does, and I know I can count on him to deliver and execute well,” Cervantez said in a release. “But it’s also nice to have a friend there. I know the future is going to be really bright. It’s going to be a great partnership. This is just the beginning of what’s to come.”

     

     FM Kitchen & Bar has updated its offerings for 2021. Chef Bety Barrera’s new additions include grilled salmon tacos, flank steak with salsa verde, and a birria torta. In addition, the comfort food restaurant has added some zero proof cocktails that will remain on the menu even after dry January ends.

    FM Kitchen has introduced a birria torta.

    FM Kitchen birria torta
      
    Photo by Kirsten Gilliam
    FM Kitchen has introduced a birria torta.
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    roll out

    Self-taught chef slices into Houston with high-quality sushi to go

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 17, 2025 | 5:57 pm
    Kaisen Sushi Houston nigiri
    Courtesy of Kaisen Sushi Houston
    Each order of nigiri comes with a house made sushi sauce.

    The ghost kitchen phenomenon may have diminished somewhat since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the idea of a delivery and to-go-only restaurant still draws talented chefs who want to focus on food at a lower overhead than a traditional brick-and-mortar. One of those chefs is Sunny Bertsch, whose restaurant Kaisen Sushi Houston is already drawing buzz from inner loopers looking for a more affordable, at-home sushi experience.

    Located at the Blodgett Food Hall in Third Ward, Kaisen Sushi serves typical nigiri, maki, and temaki (hand rolls), along with a steak bowl. Prices are a little lower than what someone would find at a typical sushi restaurant, with an eight-piece nigiri set priced at $18.99 when ordered through the Blodgett Food Hall website (expect to pay more if ordering via a third-party delivery service such as Uber Eats or DoorDash).

    While Bertsch’s food may be familiar, his story is not. The diners who’ve rated Kaisen with 4.9 stars on Google may be surprised to learn that he’s only been cooking professionally for two years. As Bertsch tells CultureMap, prior to becoming a professional chef, he worked in fields as varied as aerospace and dog walking.

    “I’d always been interested in cooking,” he says. “I was blessed to be born into a great Korean American family. My dad and my grandparents always cooked great food. I learned by osmosis.”

    Bertsch began his career as a private chef by working for friends. He built his business by catering lunches to powerhouse law firm Vinson & Elkins. Eventually, his clients asked for private sushi dinners, and he had to figure things out.

    “I got an opportunity to do a sushi omakase. It was brutal. It was messy. But I knew once I did that, I wanted to dedicate my life to sushi,” he says. “Since then, I have studied and practiced. I threw a lot of money and time and fish at it.”

    Bertsch improved his speed and knife skills by taking a $13-per-hour job at Japanese grocery store Seiwa Market. While there, he says he made thousands of pieces of nigiri, rolls, and sushi bowls. That experience, along with meals from similar to-go-only concepts in New York and San Francisco, convinced him to open Kaisen as a ghost kitchen.

    “So far, I’ve spent $90,000. That’s more than the average investment for a food hall kitchen,” Bertsch explains. “I’m a clean freak. I’m a technology freak. I’m an authenticity freak. I outfitted my kitchen in the way I thought was necessary for long-term success.”

    Just as he spared no expense in specing out his kitchen, Bertsch puts thoughtful touches into his food, too. For example, every order of nigiri comes with a dipping sauce Bertsch makes himself from low sodium soy sauce, kombu, vinegar, and sake.

    “It’s a complex sauce that’s less salty and tastes good,” he says. “You know when you don’t have it and you’re given cheap soy sauce.”

    Similarly, his California rolls use imitation crab (as do most restaurants), but it’s seasoned with a housemade, Japanese-style kewpie mayo, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and sesame oil for more umami and less sweetness. Since the chef uses more crab mix than other restaurants do in their rolls, Kaisen’s California roll not only tastes better — at $11.99, it’s a better value, too.

    The chef showcases Japanese techniques and Korean influences with his $25 steak bowl. A USDA Choice ribeye or strip is cooked sous vide with a marinade made from garlic, tamari, and seasoning salt. Once a diner orders the entree, the steak is seared in a pan, basted with Kerrygold butter, seasoned with furikake and sesame oil, and served with short-grain sushi rice and microgreens from local farm Zero Point Organics.

    Word of mouth has been building. Even though it’s only been open for a month, Kaisen already has over 2,000 followers on Instagram. Once he’s able to hire a full roster of cooks, Bertsch plans to expand the menu and offer lunch service. Despite some challenges, he’s pleased with the restaurant’s progress.

    “The support I've gotten on social media has blown me away,” he says. “It’s been amazing. I could not have done it without Instagram. It blows my mind.”

    Kaisen Sushi Houston nigiri
      

    Courtesy of Kaisen Sushi Houston

    Each order of nigiri comes with a house made sushi sauce.

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