What's Eric Eating Episode 97

What's brewing with this beer-minded Houston chef, plus a first taste of reopened Reef

On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," chef Matt Marcus joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss his career. It's a free-flowing conversation that begins with Sandler congratulating the chef on the recent birth of his daughter; then, the two men talk about the times they've been confused for each other (some people think they look alike).

Marcus begins by explaining how making burgers on a hot plate in military school ultimately led him to Brennan's and the Culinary Institute of America. After working at Michelin-starred restaurants, he partnered Ryan Soroka and Alex Vassilakidis to launch the Eatsie Boys, one of Houston's first gourmet food trucks. The chef credits a victory in the Saint Arnold Brewing Company One Pot Showdown and the support of then Houston Press food editor Katharine Shilcutt for giving the truck a promotional boost that helped it evolve into a short-lived cafe in Montrose.

Currently, Marcus serves as the culinary director for 8th Wonder Brewery, a role that sees him overseeing the Eatsie Boys food truck and helping organize various events. Sandler asks if he misses cooking in a restaurant.

"Everyday. I miss cooking," Marcus says. "I'm hoping, and who knows what's in the future for me. I want to cook again. I cook everyday for my wife, but I'd love to feel the heat of the kitchen again. I do miss it . . . The dream with 8th Wonder is to open a restaurant someday . . . maybe that will be the step to get to that place."

Prior to Marcus joining the show, Felice Sloan of Swanky Maven joins Sandler to discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: the closing of Indika, Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue making plans to open a burger joint, and the imminent arrival of seafood restaurants Ouzo Bay and Loch Bar in River Oaks District.

In the restaurants of the week segment, the duo recount their recent experience at Tropicales, the new all-day cafe from Blacksmith owner David Buehrer. In particular, they're impressed by the stylish interior, Cuban sandwich, and a custom cocktail that bar manager Aaron Lara whips up for Sloan. Sandler also shares some first impressions of Reef, chef Bryan Caswell's newly reopened seafood restaurant in Midtown.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Saturday at 5 pm on ESPN 97.5.

Matt Marcus is this week's guest.

Courtesy photo

Matt Marcus is this week's guest.

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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