little store, big help

New Second Ward grocery store delivers fresh and healthy staples to food-insecure neighborhood

The store packs a lot into 800-square-feet.

Courtesy of Little Red Box Grocery

Food-obsessed Houstonians may be flocking to Cafe Louie in the Second Ward for pastries and sandwiches, but the new restaurant isn't the only new arrival make life better for area residents. Its adjacent grocery store is equally worthy of attention.

The Little Red Box Grocery aims to combat the neighborhood's status as a food desert — an area that's designed by the USDA as having less access to healthy food and more access to unhealthy food — with fresh ingredients, meal kits, and pantry staples. Shoppers will find everything from fresh produce and cereal to dairy items and more on its shelves. Recently, the store started accepting SNAP/EBT (food stamps), which is critical in a neighborhood with a median household income of under $31,000, according to a release.

Owner Samuel Newman brings expertise from time at H-E-B, where he studied SNAP/WIC households, as well as from local non-profit Brighter Bites. He sees the 800-square-foot store as a benefit to the neighborhood.

“We wanted to build a store for everyone,” Newman said in a statement. “A true gathering spot for Second Ward residents, and a counterpoint to current neighborhood grocery offerings that are either inconvenient and/or offer high cost/poor choice, specifically when it comes to fresh produce and pantry essentials.”

Both Harris County and the Reinvestment Fund, a national non-profit that describes itself as “a mission-driven financial institution committed to making communities work for all people,” have provided Little Red Box with Healthy Food Financing Initiative funding. In addition, the store is working with the American Heart Association and New Hope Housing to build awareness and improve its offerings.

“The American Heart Association is a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives,” American Heart Association Greater Houston Gulf Coast senior vice president Mel Edwards said. “We are honored to collaborate with Little Red Box for expansion of a healthier food system, and to see SNAP benefits accepted as part of their business model.”

openings news-you-can-eat

birdie's in Houston

Award-winning Austin restaurant flies to Houston for one-night-only meal

Birdie's Arjav Ezekiel Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelly

Birdie's is coming to Houston.

Two top Texas restaurants are teaming up for a one-night-only pop-up that will feature creative cooking and thoughtful wine pairings. Houston’s Rosie Cannonball and Austin’s Birdie’s are uniting on Monday, September 14 for an evening they’re calling Birdie’s Cannonball.

Held at Rosie Cannonball, the event will feature a menu created by Birdie’s chef and co-owner Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and Goodnight Hospitality partner Felipe Riccio, who created many of Rosie Cannonball’s signature dishes and leads the kitchen at March, Rosie Cannonball’s Michelin-starred sister concept. Arjav Ezekiel, Birdie’s co-owner and a James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, will team up with Goodnight Hospitality partner and master sommelier June Rodil to select wine pairings for the night.

“This collaboration came together the way the best restaurant ideas usually do: over years of eating, drinking, traveling, talking shop, and saying, ‘We should really do something together,’” Rodil said in response to CultureMap’s request for comment on the collaboration.

“All of the Goodnight partners make a point of going to Birdie’s whenever we’re in Austin, because we genuinely love what Tracy and Arjav have built: the food, the people, and their fiercely independent spirit. Bringing our teams together feels less like a formal collaboration and more like finally hosting the dinner party we’ve all been meaning to throw,” she added.

Both restaurants have earned plenty of acclaim. In addition to Ezekiel’s Beard Award, Birdie’s has earned a Best New Restaurant award from Bon Appetit, been named Food & Wine magazine’s Restaurant of the Year in 2023, holds a spot on the New York Times’ list of “The 25 Best Restaurants in Austin Right Now,” and earned a Recommended designation from the Michelin Guide.

For its part, Rosie Cannonball and Goodnight Hospitality have earned their fair share of national attention, including a James Beard Award finalist nomination for Rodil, a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation for Rosie Cannonball, and Best New Restaurant awards from Esquire and Robb Report for March.

The evening will also serve as a homecoming for Malechek-Ezekiel, a native Houstonian and a graduate of the UH Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership. The meal will be her first time cooking professionally at a restaurant in her hometown.

Seats are priced at $200 per person, which includes food, tax, and tip. Reservations are only available to Sapphire Reserve credit card holders, as it is presented as part of Birdie’s sponsorship by Chase Sapphire. Find more details on OpenTable.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelly

Birdie's is coming to Houston.

news-you-can-eat chefs