Bottoms Up

Hungry Rodeo fans sip and savor at Roundup + Best Bites event

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

Photo courtesy of HLSR

Last month, more than 5,000 — yes, you read that right — Rodeo fans packed into NRG Center to sip and sample from nearly 100 Houston restaurants and food trucks at the 2022 Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition.

In addition to the amazing food, approximately 400 wines from the 2022 International Wine Competition were poured.

This annual event put on by the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is a fan favorite, with top chefs and world-class wines coming together to duke it out (in a friendly way) for the championship titles.

Here's the full list of winners:

People's Choice Award
First place: Cotton Culinary: Figgy Piggy
Second place: Guard & Grace, A Modern Steakhouse: Oak grilled Creekstone Farms Prime New York Strip with loaded baked potato

Tasty Tradition Award
First place: Joyce's Seafood & Steaks: White chocolate bread pudding
Second place: Taste of Texas Restaurant: Certified Angus Beef tenderloin and Megan’s mac & cheese

Trailblazer Appetizer Award
First place: Omni Houston: Pork belly skewer, Moroccan BBQ, carrot puree, chicharrone
Second place: Songkran Thai Kitchen: Thai steak salad (Neu Nam Tok)
Third place: Revival Market: Cauliflower crositini – cauliflower hummus, homemade giardiniera, za’atar, chives

Lone Star Entree Award
First place: Killen’s TMX: Brisket suadero taco with black garlic salsa guacamole and queso fresco, and charro beans with jalapeno sausage
Second place: Gus’ Fried Chicken: Fried chicken wing
Third place: Russo’s Italian Kitchen: Lobster maestro – lobster essence, bianco, talegio, capelietti, maine lobster, smoked pecan

Two-Steppin' Dessert Award
First place: Egghaus Gourmet: Texas pecan croissant
Second place: Ragin Cajun: Bread pudding with rum sauce
Third place: Ashley Cakes: Carrot cake

Rookie Award
Craft Creamery: R-C Ranch wagyu brisket ice cream sandwich

Trail Boss Food Truck Award
Cruisin Sushi: Cruisin Special Roll – fried roll inside chicken, zucchini, carrots, Monterrey cheese, Tampico, cream cheese and avocado, drizzled with homemade spicy mayo and eel sauce (homemade soy and jalapeno sauce on the side)

Outstanding Showmanship Award
First place: Eculent
Second place: Texas Harvest

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

Photo courtesy of HLSR

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

wave goodbye, Wooster's

Midtown bar with creative cocktails and craft taps will close in February

Photo courtesy of Wooster's Garden

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A staple Midtown cocktail bar will soon serve its last drink. Wooster’s Garden will close on February 12, co-owner Jeff Barati announced on Instagram.

He paid tribute to the bar in an emotional post about its legacy.

Since 2014, Wooster’s Garden has been so much more than a place to grab a cocktail – it’s been a second home, a meeting place, a celebration spot, a refuge after long days, and the backdrop to countless memories. Truly my favorite of all our concepts. So many great memories that are very difficult to put into words. I’m getting emotional typing this.

We’ve watched first dates and engagement parties turn into lifelong partnerships, strangers become regulars, and regulars become family. We’ve shared laughs, tears, milestones, cigar nights, and late nights. None of this would have been possible without the community that showed up night after night – your support, stories, and loyalty are what gave this Midtown haven a heartbeat.

Barati tells CultureMap that he and business partner Andy Aweida have leased the space to a new operator who will announce its plans soon. Still, he has some hope that Wooster’s will be revived in the future.

“Our tentative plan is to reopen elsewhere if we can find the right location,” he writes a in a text. “The staff wants to stay together and reopen.”

Opened in 2014 by the Kirby Group, Wooster’s Garden offered a compelling mix of craft cocktails paired with an extensive tap wall of beer and wine along with creative, upscale bar food. Its format and indoor-outdoor design served as a template for a number of the group’s later concepts, including Heights Bier Garten and Bayou Heights Bier Garten.

Closing Wooster’s Garden follows the Kirby Group’s recent decision to shutter Verde Garden, its Mexican-themed bar in Montrose’s Harlow District development. It will be replaced by Exilio Latin Flair, a pan-Latin restaurant from the owners of Bari Ristorante.

cocktails closings wooster's garden

Bottoms Up

Hungry Rodeo fans sip and savor at Roundup + Best Bites event

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

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Texas fave Blue Bell previews new high-protein frozen dessert

wave goodbye, Wooster's

Midtown bar with creative cocktails and craft taps will close in February