A taco tuesday to remember

Rising star Mexican chef collaborates with artisan tortilla maker on 2-night taco pop-up

Alex Bremont will be popping up at Tatemó on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Courtesy of Alex Bremont

This week one of Houston’s most talked about Mexican restaurants will host a two-night pop-up with a chef who has led the kitchen at one of the world's best restaurants. Tatemó, chef Emmanuel Chavez’s corn-obsessed restaurant and tortilleria, will host chef Alex Bremont for a taco pop-up that’s taking place this Tuesday and Wednesday, July 19 and 20, from 7 pm until 10 pm (or sell out).

Bremont served as head chef at celebrity chef Enrique Olvera’s acclaimed Mexico City restaurant Pujol. During his five year tenure, the restaurant earned a consistent spot in the top 20 of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, including its current ninth place ranking.

The chef also has Houston ties, having lived here for 10 years between 2004 and 2014. Bremont worked at a number of local restaurants, including the Hyatt Regency downtown, South American restaurant Samba Grille, and Oxheart, the downtown restaurant where chef Justin Yu earned his James Beard Award.

Bremont tells CultureMap that he had never cooked Mexican food professionally prior to working at Pujol. Instead, he brought experiences from American fine dining restaurants and a year at Martin Berasategui, a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain.

“It was challenging at the beginning,” Bremont says about his time at Pujol. “I feel really happy when I say I was hired as the chef de cuisine who didn’t know much about Mexican cooking, but it gave me a different perspective on how to approach things. That’s what helped me when we wanted to improve our cooking and our techniques, the way we approached menu planning and creativity.”

As he prepares for his next project in Mexico City, Bremont is taking the opportunity to reintroduce himself to Houstonians. Working in collaborating with Chavez, he’s created a menu of five dishes that combine Tatemó's artisan tortillas made with nixtamalized corn with seasonal ingredients, including some sourced from the Urban Harvest farmers market.

Beetroot tostada with chintextle, black garlic, and macadamia
Cauliflower taco with encacahuatado and xnipec
Huitlacoche taco with black truffle and avocado
Eggplant taco with hoja santa, guacachile, and chicatanas
Wild mushroom taco sudado with black beans and chile mulato

All of the dishes are vegetarian except for the flying ants on the eggplant taco.

“I’m excited to cook with chef Emmanuel, who is doing something really special with corn in Houston,” Bremont says. “We want to keep it sort of simple because it’s the first pop-up that we’re going to do. I would say this won’t be the only one. We want to test the waters.”

-----

Tatemó is located at 4740 Dacoma St., Ste F.

news-you-can-eat tacos chefs

bring on barnaby's

Favorite Houston comfort food spot picks Garden Oaks for 10th location

Courtesy of Barnaby's Cafe

Barnaby's Cafe is coming to the Stomping Grounds this fall.

Earlier this week, real estate developer Bryan Danna promised “big news…very soon” about a new tenant for the former LuLoo’s Day & Night space at his Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks. That news is that Houston favorite Barnaby’s Cafe has claimed the space for a new location that will open later this year.

When a Barnaby’s decal appear on the restaurant’s door a couple of days ago, news of the restaurant’s imminent arrival spread quickly on social media. It will be Barnaby’s tenth location, joining outposts in Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, and more.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,250-square-foot space at the Stomping Grounds. It will offer a to-go window for people hanging out in the development’s green space as well as a gated, dog-friendly patio. Houston artist Roberto Cervantes will contribute works to the restaurant’s interior.

Founded in 1992 by restaurateur Jeff Gale, Barnaby’s is known for its wide-ranging and affordable menu of classic American fare, including salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and dinner entrees. Customer favorites include the Lebanese chicken fattoush salad, chipotle black bean burger, baby back ribs, and green eggs, which are scrambled with spinach and artichoke hearts. Dogs can snack on a special “puppy menu” of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, or scrambled eggs over brown rice.

Stomping Grounds green space A to-go window will expedite orders for people in the Stomping Grounds' green space.Courtesy of Stomping Grounds

“Bringing Barnaby’s to Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been on my wish list for more than a decade, so I’m incredibly grateful that Jeff Gale and his team saw Stomping Grounds as the right fit,” Danna said in a statement. “Jeff and I go back to his first Heights location, which was one of Barnaby’s first big moves north of Montrose, and I have always respected what he and his longtime team have built. Thirty years in the restaurant business is a serious accomplishment. You do not make it that long unless you know how to take care of people, build loyalty, and become part of the neighborhood.”

When it opens this fall, Barnaby’s will be open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. It will join other restaurants at the Stomping Grounds, including Fat Cat Creamery, Tex-Mex restaurant La Mex, Bollo Woodfired Pizza, casual sushi restaurant Himari, Little Sister Cake Shop, and High Five Mini Bar. Earlier this week, casual Vietnamese restaurant Pho Prime announced that it had claimed the space formerly occupied by The Pho Fix for a new location that will also open this fall.

news-you-can-eat openings stomping grounds barnaby's cafe