Foodie News

The surprises and snubs of the Houston Culinary Awards: Who's your chef?

Before StarChefs.com came calling, before the James Beard Awards rediscovered Houston restaurants, there were the My Table awards. For 15 years, editor/publisher Teresa Byrne-Dodge has given out the My Table Houston Culinary Awards to local chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers and more who make Houston dining interesting, exciting and excellent.

The 2011 awards finalists (as chosen by an esteemed panel of local foodies and writers) were announced on Wednesday, and online voting to determine the winners begins Monday. The 25 winners will be announced on Oct. 2 at the Hilton Hotel at the University of Houston. It's the most delicious gala of the year, catered by a crew of nominated chefs.

Among the most prestigious awards are many familiar names and a few surprises. For Restaurateur of the Year, the nominees are names of those who have dominated the Houston scene for years: Claire Smith, Harris & Chris Pappas, Marco Wiles, Mark Cox, Schiller-Del Grande, Tracy Vaught and Elouise Adams Jones.

For Chef of the Year, the honorees are split between those who have shown consistent excellence in their concepts— Mark Cox, Hugo Ortega and David Denis — and a few that wowed Houston with something new relatively recently, like Anita Jaisinghani with Pondicheri, Marco Wiles and Poscól, Randy Evans of Haven and Ryan Pera for his work at Revival Market.

In Up-And-Coming Chef of the Year, only given to those under 35, the field is so crowded that a few faves (like Justin Basye and Adam Dorris) were left off. The contenders? Brandon Fisch (formerly at Yelapa), David Grossman of Branch Water Tavern, Tony's Grant Gordon, Jason Chaney of The Barbed Rose, Jeramie Robison of Restaurant Cinq, Haven's Philippe Gaston and Rolando Soza of Bistro Alex. This much talent in town surely bodes good things for Houston's foodie future.

The Houston Foodie Star Awards also recognize everything from the favorite food truck to the favorite burger and favorite mixologist.

Who do you think got snubbed? (Randy Rucker? Jamie Zelko? Alex Padilla?) Who are your favorite nominees? Do you generally agree or disagree with the finalists?

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truffle masters recap

Street corn shines at Houston's truffle-powered chef competition

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.

One of Houston’s top Mexican restaurants took the top prize at this year’s Truffle Masters competition. Victoria Elizondo, chef-owner of Cochinita & Co., bested 24 other Houston chefs with Elotitos, corn brushed with chiltepin aioli, dusted with seven chile spice, and finished with shaved truffles and Parmesan.

“The team killed it last night,” Elizondo wrote on Instagram. “We won 1st place at @thetrufflemasters all while having fun and cooking with love! Food doesn’t need to be fancy, it just needs to be made with corazón!”

The attention couldn’t have come at a better time. As CultureMap reported last month, Cochinita & Co. is currently in the process of opening a second location in Lindale Park. Customers can invest in the project via the NuMarket platform in exchange for credits at the restaurant.

Second prize went to Camaraderie in the Heights for its black sesame and black truffle gelato, while Cocody, a French restaurant in River Oaks, took third place for its truffle-shaped Lollys Persillade Escargot Cromesquis, essentially an escargot lollypop with with black truffle and quail egg in the middle.

Montrose sushi restaurant Soto won People’s Choice with its Engawa fin muscle with truffle balsamic unagi sauce, kizami, and chocolate black truffle masago arare. Aniket Bhingare, a bartender at Michelin-starred restaurant Musaafer, won the cocktail competition with his Pour Me a Slice, made with truffle and herb-infused and a clarified mix of roma tomatoes, fresh basil, oregano, basil, and truffle oil.

Other standout dishes included a Yukon Gold potato with truffle brown butter from Michelin-recognized sushi restaurant Hidden Omakase, truffle s’mores from Israeli-inspired steakhouse Doris Metropolitan, beef tartare and truffle ice cream from fine dining sushi restaurant Katami, and Credence’s truffle duck sausage with plums and truffles. Maximo, a Mexican restaurant in West U., maximized (sorry) its truffle usage with a Cachetada de Barbacoa Taco, made with nixtamalized truffle tortilla, truffle-braised barbacoa, and sottocenere al tartufo cheese with black garlic-habanero salsa

More than 350 attended the sold-out affair, which took place at the Astorian events space in Sawyer Yards. The judging panel include both media members (such as this author) and hospitality pros. A portion of proceeds will be donated to the KNOWAutism Foundation.

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.