Lucille's grows

Talented Museum District chef-owner serves up 2 exciting new Houston restaurants

Dawn Burrell Chris Williams Lucille's Hospitality Group

Chefs Dawn Burrell and Chris Williams.

Photo by Jenn Duncan

Houston chef Chris Williams is going to be busy in 2021. The chef-owner of Museum District favorite Lucille's announced that he's formed Lucille's Hospitality Group to open two new concepts in Houston, a restaurant in Nova Scotia, and an art gallery.

“It’s been a long road to get this point, and I am so grateful to be surrounded by a work family that not only shares LHG’s vision for the future, but fully understands the work required to make it happen,” Williams said in a statement. “The LHG perspective to the work is unique as nearly every single member comes from restaurant kitchens. We know how to grind!”

For Houstonians, the most intriguing new concept is Late August, which will be led by chef Dawn Burrell, who earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for her work at downtown restaurant Kulture. Slated to open in late 2021, Late August will "explore the soul of Afro-Asian flavors." The menu combines Burrell's various experiences; the olympian-turned-chef has worked locally for Monica Pope and as a sous chef for Austin's acclaimed Japanese restaurant Uchiko.

Working together on Late August builds on a professional relationship the two chefs established in 2019 when they teamed up for the Food Apartheid Dinner Series with chefs Dominick Lee (formerly of Poitín), and Jonny Rhodes (Indigo). After leaving Kulture in early 2020, Burrell founded the Pivot meal kit delivery service; it will evolve into a pop-up series that will preview potential dishes for Late August, her first time project where she'll have an ownership stake.

“Being a part of this team is really a dream come true for me," Burrell said in a statement. "I get to do what I love to do with food creatively while also meeting the needs of so many people through Lucille’s 1913 [Williams' non-profit]. I’m excited to be apart of it.”

In addition to partnering with Burrell to open Late August, Williams will also Rado Cafe. Expected to open in the Third Ward in 2022, Rado will serve coffee, cocktails, and "cuisine with purpose," according to a release. Hogan Brown Gallery, a venue that will promote African American art and artists, will open as a companion to Rado.

Locations for both Late August and Rado Cafe will be announced soon, a representative tells CultureMap.

Before any of the new Houston projects open, Williams will launch Emile's Black Point Bistro in Nova Scotia. The pub will blend Lebanese influences, a nod to the founders' heritage, with local ingredients and modern techniques. It will open this spring.

In order to manage all of his new projects, Williams has tasked Lucille's chef de cuisine Khang Hoang with leading the restaurant's day-to-day operations. Josh Lopez has been promoted to general manager.

In addition to the new concepts, Williams has also expanded Lucille's 1913, the non-profit he founded with his brother Ben to feed Houstonians who have struggled during the pandemic. Galveston native Lawrence Walker serves as the organization's culinary director, and Robertine Jefferson brings 25 years of experience in fundraising to her role as the organization's director of development.

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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