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    Color us hungry

    John Palmer creates a bold palette for the pleasure of diners at Ciao Bello

    Shelby Hodge
    Jun 14, 2010 | 11:24 am
    • Artist John Palmer worked early mornings to complete the mural before dinersarrived.
      Photo by Shelby Hodge
    • The late lunch crowd got a taste of last-minute touch ups.
      Photo by Shelby Hodge
    • At 22 feet long and 10 feet high, the mural required more than a few ups anddowns on the ladder.
      Photo by Shelby Hodge
    • No marinara in the paint pots, please.
      Photo by Shelby Hodge
    • Palmer's first work at Ciao Bello was on the back wall, once a vast expanse ofgray.
      Photo by Shelby Hodge

    As tradition holds, when venerable restaurateur Tony Vallone creates a casual restaurant, he infuses the environment with color and visual chicanery. No exception is his relatively new Ciao Bello, where abstract artist John Palmer has just finished a vibrant mural depicting, in an impressionistic style, an Italian plaza.

    The project has been one of the most challenging in Palmer's 11-year career. He's had to paint from 3 a.m. until 10:30 a.m., picking up his paint pots and wrapping up his brushes just in time for the arrival of luncheon guests at the Tanglewood area eatery. No mixing marinara and golden acrylics, thank you.

    At 22-feet long and 10-feet high, "La Piazza" is one of the largest canvasses that Palmer has tackled and as he said recently, while covered in splashes of deep red and blue paint, the strangest hours he has ever had to work.

    Palmer and Vallone first hooked up a few years ago when Vallone, who has long had an eye for popular artwork, purchased some of Palmer's paintings for his signature restaurant Tony's. The artist was then the logical choice when Vallone decided to brighten the previously dark location of Jimmy Wilson's Seafood and Chop House which he and son Jeff Vallone took over in late October and re-opened as Ciao Bello.

    Palmer's first commission at Ciao Bello was to create paintings for the dark interior walls of the restaurant.

    When Vallone decided to enclose the patio with glass doors and air-condition the space, he felt the back wall, a dark charcoal gray, needed livening up. He called on Palmer.

    "I did four studies for Mr. Vallone," Palmer recalled as he rushed to finish the mural in just a few days, in time for a chichi engagement dinner party on the patio. "There were challenges. He is tough and he knows exactly what he wants."

    Eventually, they agreed on "La Piazza" and Palmer scrambled to finish it not only in time for the dinner party but also in time for his flight to Berlin where he will spend two weeks working with a painter there.

    unspecified
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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.

    chefsinterviewq&atop cheftristen epps
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