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    Tastemakers 2015

    Houston's top chefs: Meet 7 kitchen masters who make dining out in the Bayou City special

    Eric Sandler
    May 11, 2015 | 4:27 pm

    Time now to consider the CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Awards Chef of the Year nominees. These are the men and women who lead some of the city's most dynamic kitchens. Collectively, they've earned national press and possess Michelin-starred resumes, which is why our group of restaurant industry insiders has nominated them for the award.

    Of course, in a city bursting with so much culinary talent, choices have to be made. These seven nominees are all outstanding, but, realistically, we could swap them out and have an almost equally accomplished group.

    Come celebrate all of our nominees at the Tastemaker Awards party Wednesday May 13. Advance tickets have sold out, but 50 general admission tickets will be available at the door.

    Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan, The Pass & Provisions
    Known affectionately around town as the Tweezer Twins for their attention to detail, Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan have already earned recognition from their Tastemakers panel when The Pass & Provisions won Restaurant of the Year in 2014. Now they're up in the chef category, where the committee recognizes the difficulty of keeping both concepts operating at a high level. The Pass features both a vegetarian and an omnivore menu that changes about four times per year, while Provisions makes some seasonal adjustments of its own.

    On any given night, diners will find both chefs in the kitchen working with their cooks to turn out each plate of food. It's sort of refreshing to see Gallivan tending the oven and making each pizza or order of shisito peppers. No wonder they picked up their first James Beard semifinalist nomination this year.

    Jose Hernandez, Radio Milano
    Diners familiar with Jose Hernandez's work at Philippe, La Balance and Etoile know the man is fluent in French cuisine, but, at Radio Milano, he shows he's equally adept at Italian cooking and taking on the challenge of proving that an independent restaurant can thrive at chain-loving CityCentre. The chef seems to have found a permanent home, and his handmade pastas have won raves from diners and critics alike.

    Sample the full range of his skills with a multi-course tasting menu that features items that aren't on the regular menu; he's even dabbled in reviving aspic. Look for it to evolve as Hernandez builds a rapport with his new customers.

    Manabu Horiuchi, Kata Robata
    If a chef's chef is the person who prepares the food other chefs most like to eat, then Manabu Horiuchi is Houston's cheffiest chef. From his post at the sushi counter at Kata Robata, Hori-san (as he's universally known) serves a who's who of Houston's top culinary talent screamingly fresh seafood in simple ways that subtly enhance each fish's natural flavor.

    Next month, we'll get to see the non-sushi side of Hori-san's skillset when he and chef Philippe Gaston launch Izakaya in Midtown. Expect raw items, small plates and innovative cocktails. And, of course, a lot of chefs in the dining room.

    Bobby Matos, Ciao Bello
    As the executive chef of Tony Vallone's casual, neighborhood restaurant, Bobby Matos is responsible for upholding the same standards as at fine dining restaurant Tony's and west Houston steakhouse Vallone's. Even though Ciao Bello is more affordable than those restaurants, Matos consistently delivers well-executed cuisine that respects Italian traditions while appealing to local diners. The butternut squash pansoti is one of the city's best pasta dishes, and the thin, Roman-style pizzas are a legitimate deal on Sunday evenings when they only cost $10.

    Matos collaborates directly with Vallone on special wine dinners that highlight the cuisine of one region of Italy. Diners also got to see another side of the chef's skills at a Kipper Club dinner in November where he united with Rising Star chef nominee Patrick Feges and fellow Chef of the Year nominee Erin Smith for a smoke-filled, sold out extravaganza.

    Ryan Pera, Coltivare
    At Coltivare, Ryan Pera has brought the same respect for ingredients that he established at Revival Market to an Italian-inspired menu of wood fired pizzas, wood roasted meats and produce sourced from the restaurant's 3,000 square-foot garden. In the year since it opened, Coltivare has become a legitimate destination for the Heights and beyond.

    This week Pera will oversee Revival's transition to a full-service restaurant with the launch of dinner service that trades on strengths in charcuterie, seasonal salads and high-quality proteins. Soon, he and partner Morgan Weber will offer some ideas about a modern ice house at 8-Row Flint.

    Erin Smith, Main Kitchen
    During stints at both Plonk! Bistro and as a culinary director the Clumsy Butcher group, Erin Smith established her reputation for carefully prepared cuisine that respected both local and seasonal concerns. As chef for the restaurant within the high profile JW Marriott hotel downtown, Smith brings those same values, along with her resume as a veteran of Thomas Keller's New York restaurant Per Se, to an effort to create a hotel restaurant that attracts local diners as well as guests. It's a colossal undertaking, but one Smith has risen to meet. The result is a modern, steakhouse-style menu with pizzas, hearty vegetable dishes and enough red meat to keep business travelers happy.

    Justin Yu, Oxheart
    ​Houston may having the reputation of being a meat-and-potatoes kind of place, but Justin Yu has spent three years teaching us to eat our vegetables — and the results have been delicious. Perhaps no chef in Houston is more obsessed with sourcing the best possible ingredients than Yu, which is why he's been named a Food & Wine best new chef, earned two finalists nominations for the James Beard Award: Best Chef Southwest and landed a coveted slot as one of two Houston representatives on the Eater National list of the country's 38 most essential restaurants. Yu even got to grow a little bit this year by introducing Oxheart-style bar snacks at Public Services Wine & Whisky, the downtown concept he co-owns with sommelier Justin Vann. If only he'd resurrect the Moneycat brunch.

    Erin Smith, Main Kitchen.

    Chef Erin Smith JW Marriott Houston Downtown January 2014
      
    Photo by Morris Malakoff
    Erin Smith, Main Kitchen.
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    family-friendly outdoor bar

    Massive, German-inspired beer garden coming to new Energy Corridor project

    Eric Sandler
    May 13, 2025 | 5:31 pm
    Katy Beer Garden outdoor patio
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    The new beer garden will be similar to Katy Beer Garden.

    One of Houston’s most successful bar operators is bringing his talents to the Energy Corridor. Steven Salazar is opening Ashford Beer Garden at the Ashford Yard mixed-use development.

    Slated to open in early 2026, Ashford Beer Garden will build on the success Salazar has had with Katy Beer Garden, the project he opened last summer at The Dryer, a mixed-use development on the property of Katy’s historic Cardiff Rice Dryer. Like KBG, Ashford Beer Garden will be large — roughly 21,000 square feet — divided into a 10,000-square-foot indoor beer hall with a companion cocktail bar and a 11,000-square-foot outdoor beer garden that’s shaded by trees.

    “We’re sticking with that Bavarian charm,” Salazar says about his vision for Ashford Beer Garden. “Bring your family. It’s really relaxed. The kids are playing. You have multiple generations hanging out. It’s worked well in Katy. We’re excited to bring it to a new area.”

    Of course, the new project will make some improvements on the original. Most importantly, Ashford will have a full kitchen (KBG mostly relies on food trucks and a nearby food court). Salazar says he’s looking for a chef to lead the kitchen.

    In response to customer demand for private event space, Ashford Beer Garden will also have a larger second floor patio than KBG does. The beer garden will have a larger screen to make it easier for people to watch sports.

    Located on the site of a former Schlumberger campus near the intersection of Dairy Ashford Rd. and Briar Forest Dr., Ashford Yard is a 12.7-acre development that will include apartments, restaurants, and retail tenants. Salazar says he found his values aligned with the projects developers, Houston real estate firms Market Square Companies and Tenon Property Company.

    “We have a similar vision of quality for the community and creating a space and having great neighbors. Not being a strip center but a true development that’s above and beyond what the area has to offer,” Salazar says. Later, he adds, “It seems great for us to be surrounded by companies such as Shell and Baker Hughes and all these great neighborhoods."

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