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    this weekend in dining

    These are the 8 best food and drink events in Houston this weekend

    Eric Sandler
    Apr 23, 2020 | 2:11 pm
    Perry's Steakhouse pork chop
    The Perry's pork chop costs $39 on Sunday night.
    Courtesy photo

    This weekend’s best pop-ups and restaurant discount deals include the return of a classic dish, care packages for hospitality workers, and the provisions to make blood orange margaritas. Most of these events feature curbside pickup or other procedures that promote social distancing, so put that mask on and get out there.

    Thursday, April 23

    Food truck pop-up at The Annie Café & Bar
    Get a taste of chef Robert Del Grande’s elegant cuisine, as prepared on The Annie’s food truck, at this pop-up taking place Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday’s menu includes Del Grande’s signature coffee-crusted filet mignon (served with choice of vegetable and soup or salad). On Friday, get prime rib, chicken paillard, and bacon-wrapped quail breast. Saturday’s lunch menu features barbecue ribs, chicken and dumplings, and a roast beef sandwich. Pre-order available via The Annie’s website. Hours are 4-8 pm Thursday and Friday and 12-4 pm on Saturday.

    Beef Wellington special at Tony’s
    Chef Austin Waiter will serve this classic dish — two, 10-ounce beef filets wrapped in puff pastry with mushroom duxelles and pâté — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The $95 meal feeds two and comes with bordelaise, a mixed green salad, and Italian-style vegetable medley. Tony’s regular to-go menu will also be available. Free delivery available within 5-miles for a minimum of $75. To order, call 713-622-6778, 3-8 pm.

    Friday, April 24

    Care Package Distribution at Ouzo Bay
    The River Oaks District restaurant will distribute food boxes with ingredients sourced in collaboration with local non-profit Urban Harvest, plus recipes that offer guidance with how to use them. The boxes are free to unemployed hospitality workers and first responders (2020 paystub or other proof recent of employment required), 10 am - 12 pm or until all are distributed.

    Curbside pop-up at La Grange
    The Mexican-themed, Montrose patio bar has been temporarily closed, but it will return for one night only with a menu of family-style meal packs. Get 3-pound fajitas packs (choice of beef, chicken, tilapia, or mixed), beer-battered fish and shrimp, quesadillas, and more. Beer, wine, and cocktails will also be available. To order, call 832-962-4745, 3-8 pm

    Taco and Margarita pop-up at Johnny’s Gold Brick
    The popular Heights cocktail bar has teamed up with A Comer Tacos and upcoming cocktail bar Night Shift to sell taco packs and blood orange margarita kits on both Friday and Saturday. Choose from chicken tinga, green chile pork, or the vegetarian rajas con queso (roasted poblano, corn, calabaza squash) tacos plus margarita ingredients with or without a bottle of tequila. Must order in advance online for pickup between 5-9 pm.

    Saturday, April 25

    Khói Barbecue pop-up at Baileson Brewing Company
    The Vietnamese-influenced barbecue pop-up will serve its signature smoked meats from 12-3. Some of the specialty items have sold out, but brisket, beef ribs, and pork ribs are still available. Order in advance online.

    Dumpling Magic cooking class
    Learn the secrets of dumplings from chef Evelyn Garcia (Decatur Bar, Kin at Politan Row) at this online cooking class that’s sponsored by I’ll Have What She’s Having. In addition, bartender Sarah Crowl (Penny Quarter) will teach participants how to make an original cocktail. Kits with ingredients have sold out, but participants may watch the presentation for $10.

    Sunday, April 26

    Pork Chop special at Perry’s Steakhouse
    On Sunday nights, purchase the restaurant’s signature pork chop — plus choice of salad and dessert — for just $39. Available at all locations. Order online for curbside pickup.

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    he finished the job

    Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    Photo by David Moir/Bravo
    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

    Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

    In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

    “Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

    Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

    CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

    CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
    Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

    CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
    TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

    I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

    CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
    TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

    Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

    CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
    TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

    A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

    [ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

    CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
    TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

    CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
    TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

    The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

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