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    Love Letter to Houston Restaurants

    National critic pens love letter to Houston restaurants: Someone else gets it

    Eric Sandler
    Apr 15, 2016 | 3:08 pm

    Another national critic understands how awesome Houston's food scene is. On Thursday, Bill Addison, Eater's food critic who travels the country from his home in Atlanta, dropped a self-described "love letter to Houston's extraordinary restaurant culture" that goes beyond the big names and shows what makes eating here so special.

     

    "As a nation, we know the culinary greatness and variety we have in our best gastronomic cities: Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. I'm not convinced, though, that enough of America grasps the glory of Houston, the city that easily rounds out the country's top five food destinations," Addison writes in the lead paragraph of his article titled "18 Reasons Your Next Meal Should be in Houston. Later, he continues his praise: "in my near-constant travels, no city more constantly astounds me on every visit than Houston. Its extraordinary breadth (more than 10,000 restaurants) and the remarkable blend of cultures — the crossroads geography of this place lays its culinary foundation."

     

    Addison's article shows the depth that comes from years of visits (he used to work for the Dallas Morning News) that he supplemented with a recent, week-long catch up trip. Like Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema, who also ranked Houston as the country's fifth best food city after traveling the nation, Addison got outside the loop to Chinatown, Hillcroft, and beyond. It stands in stark contrast to a recent New York Times article titled "Houston's Culinary Bragging Rights" that profiled four high-profile, inside the Loop restaurants but did little to showcase the city's culinary diversity.

     

    The list of 18 dishes blends classics like fajitas at Ninfa's and barbacoa at Gerardo's — also featured on CultureMap's list of 10 Houston dishes to eat before you die — with more modern favorites like the Korean goat and dumplings at Underbelly and bone marrow pho at Pho Binh by Night. He even hits a range of recent arrivals like Helen, Foreign Correspondents, and Chinatown's Uyghur Bistro.

     

    Count Ronnie Killen as the list's big winner for landing both the chicken fried steak at Killen's Steakhouse and a five meat plate from Killen's Barbecue on the list. Oxheart, the only restaurant on Addison's list of the country's 38 essential restaurants, also gets some love for the dumplings that chef Justin Yu and cook Samuel Chang first developed for its dinner at The Restaurant at Meadowood.

     

    Snubs are a little trickier to sort out, but let's just say that Addison's view of Houston dining is pretty cutting edge. Old-school fine dining destinations like Tony's, Da Marco, and Mark's are nowhere to be found, and Addison writes that he was "disappointed" by a visit to Pondicheri.

     

    Both Sietsema and Addison sit on the James Beard Award committee that determines the semifinalists for the restaurant and chef awards. As the praise mounts, Houston's restaurant community will begin to earn the national respect it deserves, as demonstrated by the nominations of Helen Greek Food & Wine and The Pass. If the city keeps the momentum going, it may even start to win a few. Wouldn't that be fun?

     

    The list of 18 dishes includes fajitas at Ninfa's on Navigation.

    The Original Ninfa's on Navigation fajitas
      
    The Original Ninfa's on Navigation/Facebook
    The list of 18 dishes includes fajitas at Ninfa's on Navigation.
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    Matcha News

    TikTok star Keith Lee crafts matcha latte for Hill Country flood relief

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jul 11, 2025 | 9:30 am
    Keith Lee and matcha drink
    Instagram
    Keith Lee hoists his special matcha drink.

    The devastating floods that swept across Central Texas on July 4 are bringing out all kinds of charitable endeavors — and that includes a limited-edition beverage from Texas-based TikTok food influencer Keith Lee.

    Lee, a social media sensation whose online food reviews have benefited hundreds of small restaurants, is partnering with La La Land Kind Cafe on a special drink: Called the La La Land X Keith Lee Latte, it's a matcha drink in which 100 percent of the proceeds will go towards Kerr County flood relief.

    La La Land is the coffee chain founded in Dallas in 2019 with a mission to provide opportunities for fostering youth and individuals in need. It has three locations in Houston, along with 10 across Dallas-Fort Worth and six in Southern California.

    The new Keith Lee Latte will consist of double ceremonial matcha, with secret syrup, matcha cloud, a whole fresh strawberry, flaky salt, and matcha powder. (See Lee enjoy the latte in the video below.)


      
     
     
     
     
     
     
    View this post on Instagram
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    A post shared by Keith Lee (@keith_lee125)
     


    Matcha is the Japanese green tea powder that has experienced a surge in popularity, appearing in everything from drinks like the matcha latte to desserts like matcha mousse.

     Keith Lee Latte Keith Lee Latte is a matcha drink.Instagram 

    Lee, who relocated to Dallas in 2024, has been on a matcha kick ever since he tried it in Chicago, which he says "led me down a rabbit hole," and it has become his trademark drink. In May, he visited seven cafes across DFW in search of the perfect matcha in town, and that included La La Land, where he ordered a matcha with almond milk.

    He also has a charitable history, including a special visit he made to Taste Project in Fort Worth to donate $4,000 to support the nonprofit's mission to fight food insecurity.

    The Keith Lee Latte will be available at all La La Land cafes beginning Friday July 11, for a limited time only. From July 11-27, 100 percent of all proceeds will support flood relief efforts in Kerr County — "a community in our home state that’s hurting," La La Land Cafe says.

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