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    Foodie News

    Beloved food stand makes a restaurant push: With bar closing down, the clock is ticking

    Eric Sandler
    Feb 4, 2015 | 2:15 pm

    One of Houston's most beloved food stands is ready to make the move to a brick and mortar space. For almost five years, "Buffalo" Sean Carroll has stood at the corner of Westheimer and Taft operating the Melange Creperie stand.

    Houstonians have come to love Carroll's street style crepes with imaginative, locally-inspired fillings.

    In order to raise the necessary funds to find a permanent home, Carroll and his wife Tish Ochoa started a Kickstarter campaign Wednesday morning with a goal of $50,000, which is consistent with the amount raised by food truck H-Town StrEATs for Hugs & Donuts and pastry chef Rebecca Masson for Fluff Bake Bar. If the campaign reaches its stretch goal of $100,000, Carroll vows to remain in Montrose.

    Carroll tells CultureMap he's been searching for equity investors for two years to open a restaurant, but the process has been frustrating at times.

    "I’d like to be in Montrose, because it’s where the artists and the students are. It’s the Left Bank of Houston."

    "I ran into the brick wall of high expectations and my not being a sales guy. They said 'Yes, we’d love to.' Then they absolutely disappeared, which is what happens in sales," Carroll says. He has new partners ready to support him, but is looking to the popular crowd funding site to push him "over the hump."

    Part of the reason Carroll is pulling the trigger now is that Mangos, the bar that Melange operates in front of, will close next month. Carroll says he'd love to take it over for a permanent home, but the space has two problems.

    "He’s going to ask an astronomical amount (in rent) because the property taxes are so high," he says. Beyond that, the building's interior will require a significant investment — somewhere between $60,000 and $90,000, depending on the amount of damage a contractor finds once she's able to knock down walls.

    "I’d like to be in Montrose, because it’s where the artists and the students are. It’s the Left Bank of Houston. It’s where bohemians and the Pride parade is. It’s the Greenwich Village of Houston," Carroll says.

    In addition to the cool factor of being in Montrose, Carroll has an economic motivator as well. "The entire city drives to Montrose to eat. There are lots of great restaurants in The Heights. Everyone in Garden Oaks drives to The Heights to eat. But not from Katy, not from Missouri City, not from West U," he says.

    As much as longtime Montrose residents like to complain about the changes that have occurred in the neighborhood, Carroll sees an upside to all the development and construction. "You’re going to say, ‘I do not want to get out into Montrose traffic. I am going to go downstairs and either ride my bike or walk,' " Carroll predicts.

    In such an environment, customers could peddle to Melange and enjoy a crepe before continuing on to another destination.

    Houston Restuarant Options

    If Montrose doesn't work out, Carroll has other options.

    "I would absolutely consider Washington, the Heights and downtown as being as cool as Montrose as far as being able to hit the right demographic, aka people who know what crepes are . . . Those three places I just mentioned are reasonably the same as far as price," he says.

    Part of the reason Carroll is pulling the trigger now is that Mangos, the bar that Melange operates in front of, will close next month.

    "Then you move into where it’s starting to be really hip. You have the panache of the East End. You have Midtown starting to fill in while still having lower rents compared to the Montrose and the Heights. You have Garden Oaks and you have the northeast side just east of The Heights."

    Carroll's search shows the lengths would-be restaurant owners are going to in order to secure a space. In addition to those places, he's also scouting in Eastwood, at second generation spaces along Almeda and beyond. "I talked to a realtor who’s trying to push a strip center at 34th and Ella. I had an art collector offer me a free space to build out at their Warehouse in the East End. Free rent — in five years that goes a long way."

    Regardless of where he eventually signs a lease, Carroll vows that Kickstarter backers will get their rewards quickly. First day backers are invited to a party Wednesday night at Good Dog. Pledging as little as $1 will get contributors discounts on beer at the party. Other rewards include discounts at local business during the campaign.

    Tangible rewards won't dawdle either. "We’re offering things that will come out in the summer as far as printing them and getting them out to people. Then we have the bigger rewards for crepes and parties. We’re looking at that for September," Carroll says.

    "We want a six month timeframe for this. We do not have the ability to let this drag out for two years like some restaurants."

    Dig deep Houston. The time has come to build a permanent crepe stand.

    "Buffalo" Sean Carroll's Melange Creperie has become a Montrose staple during its five years in business.

    News_Where to Eat Right Now_Melange Creperie
      
    Photo by Ruthie Johnson Miller
    "Buffalo" Sean Carroll's Melange Creperie has become a Montrose staple during its five years in business.
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    he finished the job

    Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    Photo by David Moir/Bravo
    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

    Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

    In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

    “Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

    Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

    CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

    CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
    Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

    CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
    TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

    I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

    CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
    TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

    Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

    CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
    TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

    A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

    [ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

    CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
    TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

    CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
    TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

    The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

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