What's Eric Eating Episode 187

Black Restaurant Week's national rise, plus Houston's best new pizza

On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," Warren Luckett joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Black Restaurant Week. This year's event takes place from April 2-11 with almost 100 bars, restaurants, food trucks, and caterers participating.

The conversation begins with Luckett explaining the motivation to establish Black Restaurant Week and describing the ways it has grown. Since being founded in 2016, Luckett and his partners have taken the event national, growing to 15 cities, and added high profile sponsors such as Pepsi, Maker's Mark, and Open Table. Sandler asks him about what BRW requires from sponsors to participate in the event.

"For us, we want to make sure they have real skin in the game, a vested interest in the longevity. Oftentime, through a lot of what's going on, you see it as a flash in the pan. We've committed our lives to this, it's what we find our purpose in. There are so many businesses that not only need it now, but for the next 15 to 20 years they need this support," Luckett says.

"From all the partnerships we've established, we try to find ways to provide resources, sustainability, for the businesses that participate. We want to take the good businesses and turn them into great businesses."

The conversation covers a number of other topics, including Luckett's picks for a few restaurants diners may want to sample during BRW.

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Linda Salinas discuss the news of the week. Their topics include the wave of recent new restaurants, including Chris Shepherd's new live fire restaurant; Ben Berg's all-day cafe, NoPo; Agnes, the Mediterranean restaurant created by the president of Becks Prime and a prominent real estate executive; and Blood Bros. BBQ opening in a Las Vegas food hall. They also discuss Night Moves Hospitality, a group with plans to open as many as four new concepts this year.

In the restaurant of the week segment, the two friends discuss their recent meal at Tiny Champions. Tune in to learn more about this pizza, pasta, and small plates concept from the owners of Nancy's Hustle.

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Black Restaurant Week co-founder Warren Luckett is this week's guest.

Photo by Fredis Benitez

Black Restaurant Week co-founder Warren Luckett is this week's guest.

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Later, Late August

Michelin-recognized Houston restaurant quietly closes after only 2.5 years

Photo by Rebekah Flores

Late August is now open at The Ion.

One of only two Black-owned Houston restaurants with a spot in the Michelin Guide has served its last meal. Late August, chef Chris Williams’s restaurant in the Ion mixed-use development, has closed for daily service but will remain open for private events through the end of the year.

Lucille’s Hospitality Group, the company behind Late August, issued the following statement about its closure as a full service restaurant:

Late August, in close partnership with the Ion, is transitioning its restaurant operations in the Ion District to focus on private catering and event services through Lucille's Hospitality Group, and other projects, including the Hospitality Group’s newest upcoming concept The Branch. The restaurant is grateful to the ION team and the Houston community for helping establish the space as a celebrated, Michelin-recommended culinary destination.

Late August will continue to honor previously booked events through the end of the year and remain a partner through catering services in the district. The restaurant space will transition to an event-focused model as part of the Ion's continued commitment to providing a dynamic mix of dining and retail experiences across the district. Lucille’s Hospitality Group is excited for what is next, and can’t wait for our community to check out its other concepts at Lucille’s or The Branch. If you’re interested in booking an event at Late August, you can reach out to catering@lhghouston.com.

Williams tells CultureMap that the decision to close the restaurant was triggered in part by Rice University’s plans to expand the Ion by adding the Arc, a nearly 200,000-square-foot research and technology facility that will replace a parking lot that’s adjacent to the Ion. Williams decided the construction would disrupt diners’ ability to access the building, which made closing it a more practical choice.

“We have 12,000 other restaurants,” Williams says about the number of choices that Houstonians have for where to eat dinner on any given night. “The idea of guests having to cross a major thoroughfare, we all agreed was not a sustainable path for us.”

Opened in 2024 by Williams and executive chef Sergio Hidalgo, Late August served an innovative menu that blended African and Mexican flavors. Last year, the chefs switched Late August from an a la carte menu to a tasting menu that better highlighted Hidalgo’s skills and the restaurant’s ingredients, many of which were sourced from Lucille’s 1913, the restaurant’s affiliated farm in Kendleton, Texas. The creative cooking helped Late August earn a Recommend designation from the Michelin Guide and a Best New Restaurant award from Esquire magazine.

“It was a great opportunity. We have zero regrets,” Williams says. “Just gratitude for the support and recognition we were able to get.”

While Hidalgo is leaving the company, many of the restaurant’s staff, including pastry chef Jennifer Parsons, will be transitioning to The Branch, a health-conscious new restaurant that’s opening soon at Midtown high-rise Forme. Details on that restaurant, including its projected opening date, will be released soon.

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