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    Foodie News

    Houston Restaurant Week Diary: The Grove reminds us that size matters

    Sarah Rufca
    Aug 12, 2010 | 10:50 am
    • Quail skewers were small but delish
      Photo by Sarah Rufca
    • The cheeseburger at The Grove is a sight to behold
      Photo by Sarah Rufca
    • Perfectly light chicken tacos
      Photo by Sarah Rufca

    Editor's note: During the three-week extravaganza that Houston Restaurant Week has become, CultureMap's resident foodie — associate editor Sarah Rufca — is writing a diary of her culinary experiences around the city. This is her second entry.

    It's not terribly often that I take my own advice, but after compiling a list of the downtown spots offering lunch menus during Houston Restaurant Week, I knew I had to stop in at The Grove on my way to the National Business Travel Association (NBTA) convention (to hear Sir Richard Branson and otherwise screw around for a couple hours).

    Unsurprisingly, I wasn't the only one with the idea. Between business lunchers, restaurant week-ers, conventioneers and a couple of spiffy gaggles of flight attendants, the restaurant was hopping.

    Among the dozen or so choices for the appetizer course — plenty of rich-looking salads and spreads — we ordered the Dustin’s Farm deviled yard eggs topped with chorizo and tapenade, the smoked Texas quail skewers, and the queso and tortilla chips, served with salsa and guacamole.

    After hearing about the queso at The Grove for what seems like forever, I now understand the love. It had the kind of thick, stick-to-the-chip texture that makes queso so satisfying without the gumminess of processed versions. The only thing keeping it off my mental 'best quesos' list is a lack of heat — I could have used some cilantro and jalapeño mixed in along with the diced tomato.

    Next to a chunky but cloyingly sweet salsa and a guacamole, which was both bland and suffused with too much lime, the queso was a clear winner. Another point: It was enough of an appetizer to feed a whole trio.

    Next to the queso plate, the other apps were tiny, but full of flavor. The quartet of deviled eggs were a perfectly cooked juxtaposition of textures: Creamy yolk, crunchy chorizo, etc. The quail "skewers" should have been called quail bites served with extended toothpick.

    I don't take issues with the size of the plate, it was fair considering the price, but the word skewer implies more than one item per skewer in my worldview. The only true disappointment was the pineapple bourbon dipping sauce served with the quail, which tasted nothing like either pineapple or bourbon, and more closely resembled a bad peanut sauce served at a Thai place.

    For entrees, while we considered a burger trio made of the bacon cheeseburger, the shrimp burger with fennel and a lamb burger with tzatziki, in the end I traded the lamb burger for a lighter selection — the pulled rotisserie chicken tacos with corn relish and queso fresco.

    The burger was an immediate winner, cooked precisely, served with crisp bacon and boldly sans condiment (minus a side of ketchup), to show off (we presume) the juicy flavors of the meat.

    The shrimp burger was not as impressive, especially considering how amazing the version across town at corporate sibling RDG is. Made of tiny shrimp rather than a patty of the bigger, more luscious entree versions, it was a tasty, fennel-y mess — not that there's anything wrong with that. The tacos were simple, yet perfect: Just the right mix of tender chicken, bright cheese and a dash of corn sweetness.

    The only real drag to the meal was service. To be fair, the dining room was swamped when we arrived, but the waitress seemed to be in a sour mood. It could just have been me, but I wondered if the $20 max order made us less important than the suits at the next table.

    But as far as the food (and the view) was concerned, this was a a meal that was hard to beat.

    Other diary entries:

    III Forks breaks out the halter tops & the cream corn

    unspecified
    news/restaurants-bars

    and the winner is...

    Innovative Houston chef is the city's newest James Beard Award winner

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 17, 2025 | 6:00 am
    James Beard Awards 2025 Thomas Bille Belly of the Beast
    Photo by Getty Images for James Beard Foundation
    Thomas Bille is Houston's newest James Beard Award winner.

    Add another Houston chef to the city’s growing list of James Beard Award winners. Thomas Bille, chef-owner of Belly of the Beast in Spring, earned Best Chef: Texas at the James Beard Foundation’s Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony.

    Held at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on Monday, June 16, Bille was one of five finalists for the award, along with fellow Houstonian Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemo), Emil Oliva (Leche de Tigre in San Antonio), Regino Rojas (Purépecha in Dallas), and Michael Anthony Serva, (Bordo in Marfa). Neither of Houston’s other finalists — Mexico City-inspired cafe Casaema (formerly known as Ema) for Best New Restaurant and fine dining tasting menu restaurant March for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program — earned awards in their categories.

    A Los Angeles native who moved to the Houston area to be closer to his wife’s family, Bille took a winding path to his James Beard Award. He opened the first iteration of Belly of the Beast in 2020 as a chef-driven taqueria that was known for its ceviches and birria tacos. He then spent about a year at Chivos, an ambitious but short-lived Mexican-American restaurant in the Heights.

    In late 2023, he and his wife Elizabeth opened a new version of Belly of the Beast in a Spring shopping center. It showcased a broader array of Bille’s skills, with a wide-ranging menu that pulled from global flavors — lamb shank rendang, anyone? — that included meat, seafood, and pastas. The new restaurant quickly earned wide acclaim, including a Bib Gourmand in the 2024 Michelin Guide and CultureMap Tastemaker Award nominations for both Restaurant of the Year and Chef of the Year.

    “I feel a depth of gratitude,” Bille tells CultureMap in a text message. “Knowing that my wife and I were able to reopen on our own terms. Gratitude for my family, staff, and guests to give us love and support. It is much appreciated.”

    In an interview from the ceremony shared by the James Beard Foundation, Bille paid tribute to his wife, Elizabeth, for her role in the restaurant’s success.

    “The risk that my wife and I took to open this restaurant is more than worth it. My wife left her industry, she was a national director for nonprofit organization,” he said. “I said, ‘We’re going to reopen Belly of the Beast. I need you with me side-by-side the whole time.’ The first iteration she held down her job and supported us. With her at my wide, I’m able to focus on the kitchen, on the food, and mentoring my cooks. Able to see the bigger picture instead of just being in the weeds all the time.”

    Bille is the second Houstonian to win Best Chef: Texas, joining Street to Kitchen chef-owner Benchawan Jabthong Painter, who won in 2023. Since the category of Best Chef: Texas has only been awarded since 2022, Bille is the first man to earn the title. Prior to being its own region, the James Beard Foundation included Texas in the Southwest, where chefs Robert Del Grande (Cafe Annie), Chris Shepherd (Underbelly), Justin Yu (Oxheart), and Hugo Ortega (Hugo’s) all won awards.

    The only other Texas finalist to win his category was Arjav Ezekiel of Birdie's in Austin, who became the first winner of Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, one of three beverage-oriented categories the foundation added for 2025.

    In addition to Bille and Ezekiel, Texam Chad Houser, founder of Cafe Momentum in Dallas, received the Humanitarian of the Year Award. Toni Tipton-Martin, a Houston-based author, scholar, and journalist, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Houstonian Alba Huerta, who won Outstanding Beverage Program for her bar Julep in 2022, presented one of the night’s awards.

    “It’s with deep celebration that we congratulate the 2025 Restaurant and Chef Award winners — distinguished culinary, beverage, and hospitality leaders whose talent and vision are shaping our dining landscape,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO, James Beard Foundation, in a statement. “These outstanding professionals are the epitome of ‘Good Food for Good,’ elevating our industry’s standards and redefining what’s possible in American cuisine.”

    James Beard Awards 2025 Thomas Bille Belly of the Beast
      

    Photo by Getty Images for James Beard Foundation

    Thomas Bille is Houston's newest James Beard Award winner.

    awardsjames beard awardchefsthomas billebelly of the beast
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