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    Chopped Chef On The Move

    After Chopped experience, rising star chef moves to iconic Houston restaurant

    Eric Sandler
    Jan 27, 2016 | 3:26 pm
    Martin Weaver KUU restaurant
    Martin Weaver is the new executive sous chef at Brennan's.
    Photo by Kimberly Park

    Martin Weaver is having a pretty good week. In addition to coming within an overcooked cake of winning $10,000 on Chopped, he has started a new job.

     

    Weaver, who earned a CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Rising Star Chef of the Year nomination for his work as chef de cuisine at upscale Japanese restaurant Kuu, has taken on a new role as executive sous chef at iconic Creole restaurant Brennan's of Houston. Weaver began his new job on Wednesday, one day after the popular Food Network show aired.

     

    The new position gives Weaver the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a kitchen that's served as a training ground for any number of prominent Houston chefs including Underbelly chef/owner Chris Shepherd, Holley's chef/owner Mark Holley, and State of Grace executive chef Bobby Matos. The time had come to move on to the next stage in his career.

     

    "I’d been with Kuu for about two years. I felt like I’d learned as much as I needed to learn there. Adison (Lee, Kuu's executive chef) taught me a lot," Weaver tells CultureMap. "I had heard about the position opening here from one of my purveyors. I saw it as a good opportunity for me to grow and learn for my eventual goal to own my own restaurant someday."

     

     The Chopped Experience

     

    On Tuesday night, Weaver competed against three other chefs on a episode of Chopped that centered around a series of challenges designed around the Chinese New Year. The contestants included another Houston connection with Vanarin Kuch, who worked at Tiny Boxwood before moving to New York. California chef Kathy Fang took home the $10,000.

     

    Weaver says Kuu's publicist first alerted him to the Chopped casting call. After a couple of Skype interviews, he earned a trip to New York. Although he only watched a couple episodes of the show, Weaver says his previous experience with mystery basket-style competitions had him feeling well-prepared.

     

    "As a chef, you get customers who want something off the menu," Weaver says. "Coming up with something on the fly is something we do on a day to day basis. On the show, you’re doing it in on a national competition level."

     

    Weaver regularly shops at the Urban Harvest farmers market on Saturday mornings. He compares creating specials using fresh produce to the challenge of the show, although a chef at the market gets longer than 30 minutes to develop a dish.

     

     Mixing things up

     

    Brennan's executive chef Danny Trace tells CultureMap he hired Weaver because "I wanted to mix things up a little bit. I knew about Martin through some other chefs. Word of mouth is always the best way to hire. I knew Adison through different events and know he got good training under Adison. Speaking with Martin, I figured it was a good fit."

     

    Trace says he hopes Weaver will bring his experiences from Kuu to the restaurant's recently introduced cold seafood platters in the form of crudos and other dishes. Even Brennan's realizes that diners want to eat lighter, and the cold station has enabled the restaurant to offer its customers more options.

     

    While Weaver's new role will keep him busy, the chef hasn't given up his dreams of reality TV stardom. He'd like another shot at Chopped but has his eyes on an even more prestigious prize.

     

    "One of the shows I most want to do is Top Chef. If I got the opportunity, I would take it," he says.

     
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    news/restaurants-bars

    HRW Menu Day 2025

    10 eateries participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks for the first time

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 15, 2025 | 12:22 pm
    Kitchen Rumors restaurant lobster dumplings
    Photo by Chris Furia
    These lobster dumplings are available as a supplement at Kitchen Rumors.

    One of the most eagerly anticipated days of the year for people who love Houston restaurants has arrived. Houston Restaurant Weeks has released the first wave of menus for its 2025 event.

    Held from August 1 until Labor Day (Monday, September 1), the charity dining event recruits as many as 400 Houston restaurants to serve two, three, or four-course, prix-fixe menus at set prices — $25 for lunch and brunch and $39 or $55 for dinner. HRW organizer The Cleverley Stone Foundation collects a $1 donation for every $25 menu sold, $3 for every $39 menu sold, and $5 for every $55 menu sold. It uses that money to make a substantial donation to the Houston Food Bank — just over $2 million from the 2024 event alone and over $22 million in the event’s 22-year history.

    Prior to her death in 2020, HRW founder Cleverley Stone described the event as a “win-win-win.” That is, a win for the restaurants who turned the traditionally slow month of August into a busy time. A win for diners who got good deals on meals at some of the city’s top restaurants. And a win for the Houston Food Bank, which turns every dollar raised into three meals for Houstonians in need.

    Now under the direction of her daughter, Katie Stone Cappuccio, Houston Restaurant Weeks maintains its status as the city’s premier charity dining event. Participating restaurants include all four restaurants in Bludorn Hospitality — Bludorn, Navy Blue, Bar Bludorn, and Perseid — all four of James Beard Award winner Hugo Ortega’s restaurants — Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi, and Urbe — and two of the five Houston restaurants that hold one Michelin star — BCN and Le Jardinier.

    For diners, one of the most exciting aspects of the event is the opportunity to try a new restaurant with the certainty of a fixed price (plus beverages, tax, and tip). Towards that end, CultureMap has compiled a list of many of the first-time participants to help guide people’s selections. Diners are encouraged to keep checking the HRW website, because more establishments will be added between now and August 1.

    Bar Bludorn
    Aaron Bludorn’s Memorial-area tavern is serving a three-course, $55 dinner menu. Starter choices consist of shrimp tartine, chilled corn soup, or arugula salad with watermelon. For an entree, select ricotta gnocchi, branzino, or pork loin. Finish with blueberry cake, chocolate mousse, or ice cream.

    Barbacana
    Chef Christian Hernandez’s downtown restaurant that celebrates Houston’s diversity will serve both a two-course lunch and a three-course, $55 dinner. Choices include jicama salad, wagyu carpaccio, mushroom donburi, and grilled vermillion snapper. Supplements include octopus with mole poblano and a Texas wagyu Denver cut steak.

    Derby
    Located at a storage facility for collector cars, this restaurant is serving a three-course, $39 dinner menu. Choices include bacon with maple glaze and cayenne, apple walnut salad, fried green tomatoes, blackened chicken pasta, and a wagyu burger.

    Doko
    Part of Duckstache Hospitality (Handies Douzo, Aiko, etc.), this sushi restaurant in Autry Park is serving a four-course, $55 menu. Start with scallop aquachile, scallop ceviche, or a tomato salad. Choices for the second and third course include yakitori-style skewers with proteins such as short rib, chicken meatball, and wagyu ribeye as well as one of three sushi rolls — wagyu beef, avocado, or fried shrimp. Finish with one of three desserts.

    Kitchen Rumors
    This inventive, Indian-inspired restaurant from the team behind acclaimed Woodlands restaurants Amrina is serving a three-course, $55 menu. The first course offers five regular choices and two supplements, including lamb keema infladita, blue cheese chicken kebabs, scallop ceviche, and lobster dumplings. Choose from seven different entrees such as pan fried paneer, goat biryani, prawn curry, and bison short rib nihari.

    Maven Coffee & Cocktails
    This neighborhood restaurant that touts Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr as one of its owners will serve a four-course, $55 menu. Choices include a gazpacho shooter, bread and butter, “Caesar cups,” deviled eggs, steak au poivre, spicy rigatoni pasta, and a cheeseburger.

    Okto
    Part of Sof Hospitality (Doris Metropolitan, Hamsa), this Mediterranean restaurant in the Montrose Collective mixed-use development is serving a two-course brunch and a three-course, $55 dinner. At brunch, look for dishes such as ricotta toast, frena bread with pistacchio butter, beet-cured lox, and shakshuka. At dinner, the choices include hamachi tartare, octopus carpaccio, squid ink linguini with crab, and steak frites.

    Perseid
    Bludorn Hospitality’s French restaurant at the Hotel Saint Augustine is serving both a two-course lunch and a three-course, $55 dinner. Both menus include options such as white gazpacho, smoked salmon dip, tomato risotto, and the signature chicken paillard with fingerling potatoes and arugula salad. Dinner adds three desserts, including a chocolate entremet with salted caramel and coffee ice cream.

    Pizzana
    The Los Angeles-based, neo-Neopolitan pizzeria is serving a three-course, $39 menu that includes one of three pizzas — margherita, pepperoni, or the signature cacio e pepe — paired with a choice of three salads and three desserts. We recommend the little gem Caesar and the tiramisu, but that’s entirely up to you.

    Solarium
    Lance McCullers’ pickle ball bar in Midtown is also participating in HRW with a two-course brunch and a three-course, $39 dinner. Both meals include choices such as a chicken skewer with jalapeno-dill yogurt, Caesar salad, and cheeseburger. Brunch adds breakfast options such as pancakes or an egg sandwich, while dinner adds chicken tenders, a pulled pork sandwich, and choice of dessert.

    Kitchen Rumors restaurant lobster dumplings
      

    Photo by Chris Furia

    These lobster dumplings are available as a supplement at Kitchen Rumors.

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