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    Hotel Restaurant Drama

    Chef drama: Power couple suddenly released from downtown hotel restaurant

    Eric Sandler
    Jan 23, 2018 | 12:48 pm
    Bryan Caswell Oxbow 7 construction Jennifer Caswell
    Bryan and Jennifer Caswell are no longer affiliated with the Le Meridien hotel.
    Courtesy photo

    What happened at Oxbow 7? The question has been buzzing around Houston’s restaurant community since Friday’s news that Jennifer and Bryan Caswell had been “released” from their contract to manage the food and beverage operations at the Le Meridien hotel.

     

    The revelation came as a huge surprise. Oxbow 7 had received rave reviews from a number of local publications. Many cited the high quality of the food that resulted from Bryan Caswell’s personal connection to the restaurant’s “elevated bayou cuisine” that reflected influences of his lifetime spent living and exploring the Gulf Coast.

     

    Oxbow 7 served as a reminder of the acclaim Caswell earned when he opened Reef in 2007, including a Food & Wine Best New Chef award and James Beard Award nominations. It also seemed poised to change the way Houstonians think about hotel restaurants.

     

    “This town has never really been a hotel restaurant town,” Bryan Caswell tells CultureMap. “Seeing Xochi and having it right down the street and having that location, we loved the location and we loved the building. We were really excited.”

     

    Gary Prosterman, president and CEO of DSG, Inc, the company that owns the hotel, told the Chronicle that the Caswells wanted to focus on rebuilding Reef, which has been closed since suffering extensive water damage during Hurricane Harvey, but the couple disputes that claim.

     

    “No, that’s not why,” Bryan Caswell tells CultureMap. “I mean obviously Reef is our focus. That’s always been our focus. Nothing changed from the beginning. We’re rebuilding it, but it doesn’t keep us from doing that job as well.”

     

    Prosterman also suggested that changes needed to be made to speed up service. Again, Caswell says he was aware that, for example, eggs ordered for room service arrived cold. Having served as the chef at Bank by Jean-Georges at the Hotel Icon prior to Reef, Caswell says he knew that getting all of the pieces of the food and beverage operation to run smoothly would take some time, but things were improving.

     

    “We raised things to them, and they raised things to us,” Caswell says. “Speed of service is always an issue. They raised it, and we make changes.”

     

    Diners aren’t likely to notice any immediate changes to Oxbow 7’s menu, at least in the short term. Chef de cuisine Michael Hoffman, sous chef Sarah Schnitzer, and general manager Lauren Fernandez all remain in place.

     

    So what really happened? DSG declined CultureMap’s request for additional comment, but Caswell notes that when DSG opened another Le Meridien in Tampa, Florida that it split with the restaurant group that operated the hotel’s restaurant within five months of opening. Both parties described that decision as amicable, but this separation clearly isn’t.

     

    In both Tampa and Houston, DSG utilized an affiliated company named Maximum Hospitality to operate the hotel. The Caswells aren’t ready to speak on the record about any conflicts with Maximum, but Jennifer stated plainly that it’s her opinion that DSG is “in breach of the agreement” it signed with them.

     

    Does that mean they’re considering filing a lawsuit?

     

    “We are currently exploring that with our general counsel,” Bryan Caswell says.

     
    chefsdowntown
    news/restaurants-bars

    What's Eric Eating Episode 476

    Award-winning Houston chef dishes on season 4 of hit show The Bear

    CultureMap Staff
    Jul 15, 2025 | 6:00 am
    The Bear cast photo
    The Bear/Facebook
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    On the most recent episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss season four of The Bear, the FX series set in a Chicago restaurant. It’s become an annual tradition for the two men.

    (Spoilers ahead for all episodes of season four of The Bear.)



    In season four, which debuted on June 25, the show’s eponymous restaurant is struggling to find its footing after a review in the Chicago Tribune criticized the inconsistencies of chef Carmy Berzatto’s constantly-changing menu. The stressful environment leads chef de cuisine Sydney Adamu to contemplate leaving for a new restaurant. Yu relates to the other chef’s desire to hire Sydney away from The Bear.

    “This constantly happens in the restaurant business. We become both friends with and fans of people working under other people. You envision opening something new and having that person work for me. How do we get them to move over,” Yu says. “The ability to create is one thing. Money is a big thing. The promise of work-life balance is one thing. Those are ways to get people to move from one place to another.”

    The duo also take up the topic of sous chef Tina Marrero’s struggles to get the timing down on the pasta course that’s part of The Bear’s tasting menu. Sandler asks Yu about encouraging cooks to improve their skills

    “It’s trust but also training and the ability to have them understand what each dish means, the way it should taste and why, and how fast or slow it should go. A long time ago when we were being trained, we were told to cook the food and not given a reason for why it should be done that way. Whereas, we try our very best these days to explain the reasoning behind having a dish with fewer components so it can be plated up more quickly to get another turn on a table.”

    Listen to the full episode to hear Yu’s thoughts on Carmy’s decision to step away from The Bear. He also provides an update on some big changes come to the menu at Theodore Rex, his restaurant in downtown Houston’s Warehouse District that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.

    chefsinterviewjustin yupodcaststhe beartv
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