Foodie News

The artichoke finally gets its due: New menu at Backstreet Café focuses on thequirky green

Backstreet Café's delish shrimp-stuffed artichoke bottom
Photo by Paula Murphy
Artichoke salad
Photo by Paula Murphy
A disappointing asparagus risotto
Photo by Sarah Rufca
Fried baby artichokes and marinara
Photo by Sarah Rufca
A creamy (but not heavy) spinach and artichoke dipartichoke
Photo by Sarah Rufca

Seasonal menus and local ingredients have been all the rage for years, but never before have I seen a menu devoted to my favorite vegetable — the bitter, beautiful, buttery artichoke.

The selection of a dozen or so artichoke-inflected entrees and appetizers is on offer at Backstreet Café through the end of April. It's Backstreet's first time presenting a spring menu devoted to the quirky green, replacing the usual focus on crawfish before May, when tomatoes get their turn.

I started with the spinach and artichoke dip (daringly referred to as the "best ever") and the fried baby artichokes, two appetizers that have a tendency to get very heavy under normal circumstances. However the dip was fresh, and except for the melted cheese on top there was no heavy cream base, giving the spread a lighter and more delicious character.

The fried artichokes were lightly breaded and crunched nicely. They reminded me more of fried squash than anything, which I find interesting since I wouldn't say that squash and artichoke are generally the most similar flavors. Combined with the marinara dipping sauce, it was a decent combination, but I didn't think the frying did much to bring out the artichoke flavor I was craving.

My favorite dish of the day was the shrimp-stuffed artichoke bottom, a buttery, zesty, delicious dish that was admittedly more about the shrimp (and the breadcrumbs and the lemon) then the artichoke, but was amazing nonetheless.

The only dish that didn't work for me was the asparagus risotto. That's admittedly partly because in my glance at the menu I was assuming it was artichoke and not asparagus, but I like asparagus too. I didn't like it on the risotto though. Unlike Backstreet's delightful cauliflower risotto, the slightly al dente rice just didn't gel with the asparagus flavor, and with the baby green beans mixed in and only a light dusting of shaved parmesan cheese to add richness, I couldn't escape the feeling of a kid being forced to eat her bland vegetables.

But despite that, there's a lot to like on the artichoke menu, from the simple steamed whole artichoke to a creamy baby artichoke chowder or artichoke flatbread.

It's nice to see the quirky artichoke, so often a supporting player, take center stage and shine.

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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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