a one fifth shocker

Chris Shepherd electrifies Houston's dining scene with wild change to One Fifth

Chris Shepherd is ready to make more changes at One Fifth.

Photo by John Davidson

Since its inception in 2017, the premise for One Fifth has remained the same: five years, five concepts, one building. The time is flying by. Chef-owner Chris Shepherd only has 18 months remaining on the concept, which is now in its fourth iteration, One Fifth Gulf Coast.

By any measure, the project has been highly successful. One Fifth Steak became Georgia James, and Shepherd says he’s still looking for a permanent home for One Fifth Mediterranean.

The only problem is that Shepherd and his team, specifically Underbelly Hospitality culinary director Nick Fine and chef de cuisine Matt Staph, have more than one concept they want to test in the historical building at 1658 Westheimer. Never one to reject an idea simply because it sounds absurd, Shepherd and his team came up with a new format for One Fifth.

They call it (somewhat jokingly) One Fifth Lightning Round. Essentially, they plan to use the space to test several additional concepts between now and July 31, 2021.

“Very few times do you have in your life, 'we’re going to close a restaurant in 18 months.' That’s our reality. That’s what we have,” Shepherd tells CultureMap. “Why not just go for it all?”

Gulf Coast will close on March 23. It will reopen as a Vietnamese restaurant shortly thereafter. That will last for as long as Shepherd and his staff find it interesting. Then, they’ll move on to something else. Diners will get a three week warning before the next One Fifth opens.

“It could be 2 months, it could be 6 months. Who knows,” Shepherd says. “If and when we do change, the staff will know a month out. We’ll start training a month out.”

Shepherd rattles off a number of potential concepts: Thai, Indonesian, a Houston’s-style classic American bistro. One possibility that seems particularly likely to happen is Italian-American — a concept Fine quickly labels “One Fifth Sopranos.” It would feature pizza made in the restaurant’s wood-burning oven along with dishes like chicken parmesan and lasagna.

“We tried very hard [to pick one concept]. We’re just not good at committing,” Fine says. “We have too many ideas. I think we could do any of them for a year, but we have other people who have a lot of ideas.”

Whatever the concept, Shepherd says they’ll do their homework before it opens. That could mean reading cookbooks and other source materials or inviting a guest chef to teach specific techniques.

“When we talked to Matt Staph, he said, ‘Fuck yeah. That’s what we need to do,’” Shepherd says. “That’s what every cook wants to do is learn.”

“The amount of knowledge people are going to get out of the next 18 months is awesome. What makes me not question that is how deeply everybody dove into Mediterranean. And how respectful it was made me realize we can do this.”

And yes, Shepherd knows at least one concept he won’t do — Peruvian. Sorry-not-sorry, ceviche fans.

“I guarantee we’re not going to do that,” he says. “You can keep your sweet potatoes and raw fish to yourself. Not my thing.”

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Spoiler Alert

These 7 Houston restaurants could earn Michelin Guide honors this week

Photo by Vivian Leba

Chef Manabu Horiuchi looks poised to earn a Michelin Star for Sushi Horiuchi.

The eyes of the culinary world will be on Texas this Thursday, October 8, as the Michelin Guide announces its third annual selections for the state’s restaurants. Unlike in 2024 and 2025, when Michelin hosted a ceremony in Houston that drew almost all of the state’s top culinary talent, this year’s announcement will be made via email.

As a reminder, the selections are determined by anonymous inspectors who evaluate restaurants on five criteria: product quality; mastery of cooking techniques; harmony of flavors; the personality of the chef as reflected in the cuisine; and consistency over time and across the entire menu. Based on those criteria, inspectors may recognize restaurants with one of three designations:

Michelin Stars, rated at one, two, or three for restaurants that offer exceptional experiences
Bib Gourmand, described as “restaurants that offer great quality food at good prices”
Recommended, for good restaurants that don’t quite meet the level of either a Star or Bib Gourmand

The Guide also presents special awards to individuals. Elliot Wood of Credence received the Michelin Service Award in 2025, and Steven McDonald of Pappas Bros. Steakhouse received the Sommelier Award in 2024.

Last year, Michelin added three Starred restaurants statewide, bringing Texas’ total to 18, along with eight new Bib Gourmands and 16 new Recommended restaurants. Overall, 140 restaurants were included in the Guide in 2025.

Naturally, rumors have been flying about which Houston restaurants could be added. Based on conversations with various people in the hospitality industry, CultureMap has identified at least seven establishments that are likely to receive good news on Thursday.

They are:

Sushi Horiuchi: Chef Manabu Horiuchi’s six-seat omakase counter looks poised to be the newest Houston restaurant to hold a Michelin Star.
Oru: This sushi restaurant in the Heights from Comma Hospitality — the Houston group behind Japanese-inspired restaurants Neo, Toga, and Kira — could be in line for either a Bib Gourmand or Recommended designation.
Osteria di Mercato: One of this year’s buzziest openings, chef Mauricio Alvarado’s 30-seat Italian restaurant in West U. might not be Star-worthy (yet), but it should join the Guide.
Angie’s Pizza: Just like his mentor Chris Bianco’s eponymous Pizzeria Bianco, chef Angelo Emiliani’s recently opened Italian restaurant in the Heights should add a Bib Gourmand designation to its growing list of accolades.
1111: Chef Emmanuel Chavez already holds a Star at Tatemó, his Mexican tasting-menu restaurant in Spring Branch. Now 1111, the Montrose bar with a Mexico City-inspired menu that includes a tuna tostada, tacos, and sea bass with red and green salsa, should soon celebrate its own spot in the Guide.
Kitchen Rumors: Chef Jassi Bindra may have had a too-brief run on Top Chef, but his restaurant in Old Sixth Ward that blends Indian flavors with global influences will likely join the Michelin Guide with either a Bib Gourmand or Recommended designation.
Murray’s Pizza & Wine: Founded by Leaf & Grain partners Deets Hoffman and Edward Thompson, this Memorial-area restaurant devoted to sourdough pizza, small plates, and wine should join Angie’s as Houston pizzerias with Michelin designations.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Chef Manabu Horiuchi looks poised to earn a Michelin Star for Sushi Horiuchi.

Some restaurants that locals are rooting for — such as Camaraderie, Squable, Milton’s, and Barbacana — still seem to be shut out of Michelin recognition. Perhaps opening Zaranda will finally earn James Beard Award winner Hugo Ortega his first spot in the Guide.

What’s not clear is whether Michelin will elevate any local restaurants above their current status. For example, some people have speculated that Baso, the Basque-inspired live-fire restaurant in the Heights, will move from Recommended to a Star. Similarly, one-Star March could be in line to become Texas’ first restaurant to hold two Stars.

While Michelin could also lower a restaurant’s designation or remove it from the Guide entirely, we’re erring on the side of optimism that all of Houston’s entries will at least maintain their current status.

The future of Michelin in Texas

This year marks the end of the initial three-year, $2.7 million agreement between the Michelin Guide, the destination marketing organizations of five Texas cities — Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Dallas — and the statewide Travel Texas agency. Reporting by Matthew Odam in the Austin American-Statesman suggests the agreement will be renewed in some form, ensuring that Texas restaurants have Michelin recognition to aspire to.

While the Guide’s track record in Texas has been mostly positive, a selection doesn’t guarantee financial success. Two Houston restaurants included in the Guide — Afro-Mexican restaurant Late August (Recommended) and Southern comfort-food restaurant Killen’s (Bib Gourmand) — both closed this year. In Austin, one-Star Olamaie closed in July after 12 years in business.

Beyond the criteria referenced above, Michelin’s process is largely opaque to both the restaurants it reviews and the general public. Dining anonymously helps ensure inspectors receive the same treatment as any other customer, which is undeniably beneficial.

Still, tweaks to other aspects of Michelin’s process could further enhance its credibility. Michelin won’t disclose how many inspectors are assigned to Texas, how many visits the inspectors make to a restaurant before deciding on a designation, which restaurants it visits that don’t make the Guide, or whether it revisits restaurants from year to year to ensure standards are being maintained.

Renewal could be an opportunity for the tourism bureaus to insist on changes. For example, almost all of the Houston selections are in Harris County, shutting out potentially worthy suburban restaurants like Amrina, Charolais, and Xalisko in The Woodlands and Ishtia in Kemah. The Guide has shown a willingness to go beyond a city’s main county for barbecue restaurants such as Burnt Bean Co. (Seguin), Barbs-B-Q (Lockhart), and Killen’s Barbecue (Pearland), which is in Brazoria County, but not for other types of cuisine. Houston First, the city’s tourism agency, could partner with its sister organizations in those places to require Michelin to at least consider these establishments.

As the Guide continues to expand its presence across America, it’s important that Texas restaurants remain on an equal footing with their peers in other states. That means maintaining the state’s relationship with Michelin and pushing for better, more thorough coverage in the years to come.

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