What's Eric Eating Episode 10

Restaurant designer and BBQ news are hot topics on What's Eric Eating podcast

On this week's episode of CultureMap's podcast "What's Eric Eating," food editor Eric Sandler mixes things up a bit. Rather than interviewing a chef or restaurant owner, this week's guest is interior designer Gin Braverman of gin design group.

While not all diners will recognize her name, they know her company's work, which includes Oxheart, Public Services, Camerata, Axelrad, twin downtown bars The Commoner and The Boulevardier, Ruggles Green in The Woodlands, and more. Braverman recounts how she moved from a child who constantly rearranged the furniture in her house to one of the city's most sought after names in interior design. The conversation also touches on the challenges of blending her style with her customers' requirements, how social media has shaped design decisions, and some of her favorite spaces around town.

Finally, Sandler and Braverman dive a little more deeply into two of her upcoming projects: Goode Company Kitchen & Cantina, the company's evolution of its taqueria concept that draws upon the Goode family's roots in South Texas, and Eunice, celebrity chef John Besh's upcoming restaurant in Greenway Plaza that takes its inspiration from executive chef Drake Leonards' childhood in South Louisiana. She's also working with Master Sommelier David Keck on Goodnight Charlie's, his honky tonk that's currently under construction on lower Westheimer.

Prior to Braverman's arrival, Urban Swank bloggers Shanna Jones and Felice Sloan join Sandler to discuss the news of the week. The trio touch on all the recent barbecue-related news, including Truth Barbeque's announcement that it will open in Houston, Ray's Real Pit BBQ Shack's upcoming move to a larger location, and Blood Bros. BBQ's plans to move from pop-up to a brick and mortar restaurant in Bellaire. They also touch on news that Dallas-based concert venue the Rustic is coming to downtown, Agricole Hospitality's ambitious plans to open three concepts in EaDo, and whether Underbelly's move to a seafood-oriented menu provides them with sufficient incentive to revisit the Montrose restaurant.

In the restaurant of the week segment, they discuss the separate visits they made to Roka Akor, the recently opened Japanese steakhouse near River Oaks, and Sandler describes his first impressions of 85°C Bakery Cafe, the Taiwanese bakery in Chinatown that's already long lines.

Subscribe to "What’s Eric Eating?" on iTunes or listen to it on 1560 AM every Saturday at 11 am.

Designer Gin Braverman is this week's featured guest.

Courtesy of gin design group

Designer Gin Braverman is this week's featured guest.

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a major award

Michelin-recognized Houston diner makes Bon Appetit best new restaurants

Photo by Jenn Duncan

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The hits just keep on coming for Houston restaurant Agnes and Sherman. Bon Appetit has named the Asian American diner as one of its best new restaurants of 2026.

Published Monday, April 24, the list includes 19 restaurants in 12 states and Washington, D.C. that opened between March 2025 and March 2026. In addition to Agnes and Sherman, Texas is represented by Le Calamar, a French-Texas bistro in Austin.

Editorial operations manager Kate Kassin hails Agnes and Sherman for signature dishes such as a wedge salad that’s topped with youtiao croutons, lap cheong, and ginger-scallion ranch and the signature cheeseburger fried rice that’s made with shredded iceberg lettuce, two slices of American cheese, sauce, and sesame seeds.

“It’s a mishmash of two iconic dishes in their own genres but, together, something wholly emblematic of the food that owners Nick Wong and Lisa Lee are putting forth,” Kassin writes.

Opened in April 2025, Agnes and Sherman puts an Asian spin on the classic American diner. Its received significant regional and national praise, including being named Texas Monthly’s best new restaurant of 2026, as well as earning a James Beard Award finalist nomination for Best New Restaurant and a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

Good Morning America recently featured the restaurant during a weeklong series on diners. During the segment, Wong and Lee announced they'd recently become engaged.

At Le Calamar, Kassin finds first-rate stuffed chicken wings that are cooked on a Japanese binchotan grill. “Likewise, Wagyu hanger steak au poivre boasts a floral sauce that blends black, white, and Tellicherry peppercorns with garlic, brandy, cream, and ginger; it is a dynamic update on the classic,” she writes.

Le Calamar opened in May 2025 in the former Underdog space. A nominee for best new restaurant in the 2026 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards, the restaurant is known for its chic interior, warm service, and dishes such as gnocchi and and raw oysters with fennel mignonette.

While Bon Appetit recognizes restaurants are facing challenges ranging from rising costs to AI disruption, the magazine takes an optimistic tone in the article’s introduction.

“The restaurants we found the most exciting are, of course, delicious, but they were also fearless about challenging the playbooks by betting on community and creativity. These are the traits that help evolve modern American cuisine,” it writes.

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