Flavor country

New smokehouse restaurant to feature four types of barbecue and vegetarian friendly options

After years of perfecting their own backyard recipes, foodies Brian Lewis and Lisa Kuhfeldt decided to take barbecue manners into their own hands.

With their new Oak Leaf Smokehouse — which just opened on Telephone Road in the old Pete's BBQ space — the husband-and-wife team hopes to expand the dialogue about a American culinary tradition with one of the Houston's most extensive BBQ menus.

"We want people to know there's more than one type," Kuhfeldt says of the menu.

"We want people to know there's more than one type," Kuhfeldt tells CultureMap. "We're concentrating on the Texas variety right now, but will be adding Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City sauces as we move forward."

But as much expertise as Oak Leaf will bring to the city's food scene, it was only a decade ago that barbecue was a bit of a marital sticking point for the couple.

"We both love food, but I honestly never really liked barbecue," Kuhfeldt notes.

"I always found it too smoky or too salty or too sweet, but Brian made it his mission in life to get me to enjoy it . . . Eight years later, I absolutely love barbecue and we have our own restaurant."

"We're concentrating on the Texas variety right now, but will be adding Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City sauces as we move forward."

In addition to spreading the gospel of BBQ, Oak Leaf is upping the ante in the sides department as well — offering beans, slaw, potato salad and corn pudding that are all vegetarian and gluten-free.

"When we first started going to BBQ places, I'd always head for the sides. At most restaurants, though, the side dishes are an afterthought. Here we're making sure nothing will ever come out of a tub while reaching out to customers who don't eat meat or gluten."

The sides are carefully-crafted almost as small plates — think purple cabbage slaw with Fuji apples or a uniquely warm German-style potato salad — allowing herbivores to piece together a veritable feast of non-meat options.

Located at 1000 Telephone, Oak Leaf is currently open everyday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A grand opening is expected in the next month, during which the restaurant's full line of regional barbeque will be released.

While specializing in Texas-style BBQ, Oak Leaf will serve variations from the Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City.

Oak Leaf Smokehouse, February 2013, menu

Photo by Adrienne Raquel

While specializing in Texas-style BBQ, Oak Leaf will serve variations from the Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City.

unspecified

NYT hearts HOU

2 Houston restaurants make New York Times best dishes of 2024 list

Aga's Restaurant & Catering/Facebook

Aga's goat chops make the list.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Houston restaurants. Two of the city’s most-well regarded eateries make the paper’s new list of The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.

They are:

Horchata Berlinesa at Ema, a Mexican breakfast and lunch restaurant in the Heights that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide
Goat Chops at Aga’s, the essential Pakistani restaurant in Southwest Houston

Priya Krishna, one of the Times two interim food critics, writes the entries for both Houston dishes.

She describes eating Aga’s goat chops as a “deeply primal pleasure” and appreciates the fajitas-style presentation of serving the chops on a sizzling platter. “The warmth of the spices runs deep, and the chops are tender to the bone. Eat with your hands, letting the fiery marinade stain your fingers a delightfully,” Krishna writes.

That sentiment is shared by Houston food influencer and Burger Bodega owner Abbas Dhanani. In his guide to Houston’s 25 best halal restaurants, Dhanani called Aga’s “the best Pakistani restaurant … in the nation. Any Pakistani that travels to Houston has almost certainly been to Aga’s.”

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by EMA HTX (@emahtx)

Moving on to Ema, Krishna hails the Horchata Berlinesa, a doughnut filled with horchata-flavored pastry cream, as “a seamless marriage of European and Mexican confectionery.” Krishna praises the filling for its “subtle, cinnamon-laced flavors of horchata” that serve as a contrast to the sweetness of the sugar-crusted dough.

One other dish on the list is also available in Houston. Atlanta restaurant Little Sparrow makes the cut for its French onion soup, which writer Kim Severson calls “the perfect soupe à l’oignon gratinée.” Since Little Sparrow is part of Ford Fry’s Rocket Farm restaurant group, that French onion soup is also available at River Oaks restaurant State of Grace, which switched to a European-inspired menu and more refined service model earlier this year.

Chefs Ford Fry and Bobby Matos discussed the changes at State of Grace on an episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast. Hear that interview here.

Only one other Texas restaurant made the Times list — the Suadero taco at Paprika, a food truck in Austin. Earlier this year, the paper included three Texas restaurants, including Houston-area soul food concept Viola & Agnes, on its annual list of “our 50 favorite places in America right now.”

Aga's Restaurant & Catering/Facebook

Aga's goat chops make the list.

news-you-can-eat new york times lists media