What's Eric Eating Episode 243

Meet the gem behind downtown's bustling bakery, plus a first look at The Heights' newest patio bar

Heights & Co. opens May.

Photo by Alex Montoya

On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," baker Nicole Morris joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Lucy Pearl's. Located in downtown's Post Market food hall, Lucy Pearl's sells Southern-inspired cakes, cookies, pies, and other desserts.

Morris begins the conversation by explaining how she created Lucy Pearl's by adapting recipes passed down from her mother, Sherry Lucille, and aunts. After building a following at area farmers markets, she made the leap to the food hall when it opened last year. Morris reports that things are going well; she can sell 100 or more of the bakery's most popular cakes each week, typically a slice at a time.

Sandler asks the baker why the food hall location appealed to her. She explains that she appreciated the market-style atmosphere and the diversity. A prime location on a corner helped, too.

"I like that they allowed me to build it out with a counter," Morris says. "Growing up, a lot of our life decision conversations were made at the kitchen table over a piece of cake or a piece of pie . . . To have that counter with an open kitchen, you have that connection . . . We interact with the customer from the minute they walk up to the counter. It gives you that nurturing feeling that I think a lot of restaurants lose."

Listen to the full interview to hear Norris share the stories behind some of our most popular flavors as well as her future plans.

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Linda Salinas discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: the winners of the 2022 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards; Austin bar Nickel City's plans to open a Houston location; and James Beard Award winner Robert Del Grande's transition to Chef Emeritus at The Annie Cafe and Turner's.

In the restaurant of the week segment, Salinas and Sandler discuss their recent meal at Heights & Co., the new patio bar from Savoir operating partner Brian Doke. They find a lot to like about the new concept, including its well-executed cocktails and appealing menu of classic comfort food.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Saturday at 1 pm on ESPN 97.5.

Baker Nicole Morris is this week's guest.

Courtesy of Lucy Pearl's

Baker Nicole Morris is this week's guest.

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Houston's smallest restaurant?

Michelin-recognized Houston sushi chef fires up 4-seat Japanese skewer spot

Courtesy of Sip & Skewer

Diners sit in front of chefs cooking on a grill.

The team behind one of Houston’s Michelin-recognized sushi restaurants is opening an intimate new izakaya. Sip & Skewer is the newest concept from Hidden Omakase owner Tuan Tran and chef Marcos Juarez.

Opening Friday, February 13, Sip & Skewer is a four-seat restaurant devoted to skewered meats that’s located within Sushi by Hidden, the group’s affordable omakase restaurant in Rice Village. At Sip & Skewer, diners sit across from the chefs as they cook a 10-course, $90 meal on a Japanese binchotan grill.

“Sip & Skewer is small, loud, and intentional. The kind of hidden experience you’d find in Tokyo,” Tran said. “And with Chef Marcos guiding the team at Sushi by Hidden, this space is getting new energy from every angle.”

A four-seat restaurant within a 10-seat restaurant might seem kind of superfluous, but Tran explains that it’s part of a larger plan for his group of restaurants, which also includes West U. hand roll restaurant Norigami. It also builds on the success of Hidden Omakase, the Galleria-area sushi counter that earned a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“Sip & Skewer is part of a larger vision. It’s designed as a stepping stone toward our next concept, Kōri, a new hand roll and craft cocktail bar opening in the Heights. Our plan is to open Sip & Skewer directly next to our hand roll spot, creating a small alley of Japanese concepts that feed into one another,” Tran explains.

“This allows us to build awareness, train our team in a new format, and introduce guests to Japanese charcoal grilling in a very personal way before we scale the idea into a larger setting with Kōri. The four-seat format keeps overhead extremely low while serving as a live test kitchen and brand builder for what’s coming next,” he adds.

On a related note, Juarez and the other chefs at Hidden Omakase are dividing their time between all three restaurants. Tuam explains that it’s a deliberate strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience.

“The same team that works Michelin-recognized omakase service also runs the grill here, which keeps quality and execution consistent while allowing the chefs a creative outlet in a very different format,” Tran said. “Because Sip & Skewer is only four seats and reservations only, it does not require a dedicated full-time staff. It’s an extension of the team rather than a separate operation.”