"What's Eric Eating" ventures to The Woodlands this week, as Fielding's Culinary Group CEO Cary Attar and culinary director Edel Goncalves join CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss their three restaurants: Burger-oriented Fielding's Wood Grill, Mediterranean-inspired Fielding's Local Kitchen + Bar, and Fielding's Rooster, a chicken-obsessed restaurant slated to open next month.
Attar and Goncalves share how they entered the restaurant business before joining forces to help create Hubbell & Hudson, a food destination that opened with both a gourmet grocery store (since shuttered) and a restaurant that remains one of The Woodlands' most acclaimed dining options. After leaving H&H, the two men established Fielding's to bring more chef-driven eateries to the chain-dominated suburb.
Since Fielding's Rooster opens August 7, the conversation focuses on that concept, with Attar and Goncalves sharing the restaurants that inspired Rooster's menu and describing the dishes diners can expect to eat there. They also hint at their future plans, including the possibility of opening in Houston.
Before the interview segment, restaurant consultant Nathan Ketcham and Sandler discuss the news of the week. Topics includes MLB Capital's plans to transform the Houston Farmers' Market on Airline and the upcoming Heights burger battle that will occur once Hopdoddy, Bernie's Burger Bus, and The Burger Joint all open locations there.
In the restaurant of the week segment, the duo discuss their experience trying Ellis Brothers BBQ pop, a new project from Cherry Pie Hospitality owner Lee Ellis and pitmaster Gilbert Arismendez that diners can sample at both State Fare and Lee's Fried Chicken & Donuts. Sandler also shares some thoughts from his recent meal at pitmaster Patrick Feges' pop-up at Holler Brewing Co, which previews the restaurant that the he and his wife Erin Smith Feges are going to open at some point in the near future.
Co-host Nathan Ketcham has strong opinions about In-N-Out Burgers' fries.
