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    Downtown Ramen Joint Closes

    Ramen joint closes; will return as new bar in emerging downtown entertainment district

    Eric Sandler
    Aug 28, 2014 | 11:23 am

    Downtown izakaya Goro & Gun served its final meal Tuesday night. Rising star chef J.D. Woodward has resigned his position as Goro's executive chef. On Wednesday night, Goro's curtains were drawn and a sign that simply reads "Intermission" hung in the window.

    After what owners Brad Moore and Ryan Rouse promise will be brief amount of time, the space at 306 Main will reopen with a new name (and some new decor) as a bar under the direction of Goro's current general manager Alexander Gregg, who was recently named one of 10 bartenders to watch by Beverage Media.

    Gregg tells CultureMap that he's seen people walk up to Goro, look in and leave. "Ooh, that's a restaurant. We want a bar," he's heard them say.

    Woodward took over at Goro after founding chef David Coffman's sudden departure only a couple of months after opening. He stabilized the menu and introduced signature dishes like the "phat ass ham hock" and crispy duck for two, but a summer slowdown in pedestrian traffic in the area put too big a dent in food sales.

    "I no longer have the budget to run a food program that is indicative of my standards or ability," Woodward writes in a statement. "I would like to thank Ryan Rouse and Brad Moore for the opportunity. I have no regrets about my time there. I think we took a food program that was on the ropes and made it into something we could all be proud of."

    When Joshua Martinez, the person who originally defined Goro's concept as a ramen shop and cocktail bar, left the restaurant in May to focus on upcoming fried chicken restaurant The Chicken Ranch, Moore told CultureMap he anticipated moving into more of a bar direction. "We think it could certainly act more like a bar. If you think people are perceiving it as a bar, good, we’ll take it." The decision to close Goro and revamp the space completes that transformation.

    While a new downtown restaurant district could emerge a few blocks south with El Big Bad, Springbok and the imminent openings of Prohibition and Main Kitchen and 806 Lounge at the J.W. Marriott, the partners think most patrons view the 300 block of Main as an entertainment destination rather than for food. Bad News Bar, The Pastry War and Little Dipper have established themselves as bars on the block, which will soon be joined by another bar called The Nightingale Room.

    The Original OKRA Charity Saloon is just around the corner on Congress. While recently opened The Honeymoon offers food, it's a breakfast and lunch-oriented menu that matches the coffee shop atmosphere created by the presence of Boomtown Coffee's roasting operation in the space.

    Gregg tells CultureMap that he's seen people walk up to Goro, look in and leave. "Ooh, that's a restaurant. We want a bar," he's heard them say, which further influenced the decision to change directions.

    For Rouse, it's a chance for him, Gregg and Moore to do what they know. "What we do best is bars," he says.

    "Losing J.D. is one of the hardest things we've ever done," Rouse adds, but he notes that the new bar will have a prep kitchen unlike any other in the city. It will allow Gregg to expand his syrup business and recently launched hand cut ice program as well as provide new abilities for the Moore and Rouse's other concepts on the block, Bad News Bar and The Honeymoon. They declined to offer many details about Gregg's new direction until the bar is ready to open.

    Woodward isn't sure what the future holds, but he plans to take a week or two off "and hang out with my kid . . . I can tell you one thing for sure — I won't be cooking ramen," he adds with a laugh.

    "Me and Brad and Ryan are still buddies," Woodward tells CultureMap. "I'm setting them up with a couple guys to get their food program up at Grand Prize with Sandy Witch leaving.

    "I had a really good time there," Woodward says. "I had a really good run."

    Goro & Gun has closed and will reopen as a bar soon.

    Goro & Gun intermission closed sign
      
    Photo by Eric Sandler
    Goro & Gun has closed and will reopen as a bar soon.
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    news/restaurants-bars

    That's Amore!

    Pioneering Mexican chef and chic speakeasy popping up at Houston hotel

    Brianna Griff
    May 23, 2025 | 10:00 am
    Chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca
    Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Houston
    Four Seasons Hotel Houston is hosting a two-night pop-up dinner featuring chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca.

    Houston diners won’t need a passport to explore Mexico’s culinary capital next month. On June 16 and 17, Four Seasons Hotel Houston will host From Oaxaca, With Love, a five-course experience that teams celebrated chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca with Oaxaca City cocktail bar Sabina Sabe and agave-spirits producer The Lost Explorer.

    The evening begins with Sabina Sabe bartender Mike Prado greeting diners with a cocktail in Bandista, the hotel’s speakeasy bar and lounge. The libations promise to be divine, with Sabine Sabe currently ranked No. 54 Best Bar in North America, and Bandista sitting at No. 59.

    From there, the party moves into a dining room filled with contemporary works supplied by Oaxaca Serrano Contemporary Art Gallery and underscored by live music.

    Ruiz, whose flagship Casa Oaxaca earned a spot in Mexico’s inaugural Michelin Guide, built his reputation by elevating the dishes he learned as a child cooking alongside his mother on the family farm.

    The chef stays close to his roots with recipes crafted using native ingredients such as chiles, corn, insects, and seeds purchased directly from local producers. Ruiz has long been considered an ambassador of the southern Mexican state — his enfrijoladas caused Noma’s famed Chef Rene Redzepi a moment of rapture.

    For his Houston appearance, diners can expect a true taste of Oaxaca: think a mini tostada topped with heirloom chapulines, chicatanas, and gusanos de maguey (grasshoppers, flying ants, and agave worms); red snapper cured in a bright tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth; and a slow-braised short rib finished in a fruit-laced mole.

    Prado will pair each course with cocktails such as the Pimiento Margarita, combining The Lost Explorer Tobalá mezcal with vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, and lime.

    “It is our great pleasure to welcome chef Alejandro Ruiz and Sabina Sabe to Houston, Texas,” Tom Segesta, Four Seasons Hotel Houston’s general manager, said in a statement. "These dinners, featuring these awarded ambassadors of Oaxacan food and drink, are sure to be enjoyed by our local community and guests from around the world.”

    The pop-up continues the hotel’s ongoing dinner-series format, which has previously spotlighted restaurants ranging from Emeril’s in New Orleans to Employees Only in New York and an Italian-American steakhouse from James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd.

    From Oaxaca, With Love begins at 7 pm on Monday, June 16, and Tuesday, June 17. Seating is limited, with tickets priced at $250 per person plus tax and gratuity. Each reservation will receive a signed English-language copy of Ruiz’s cookbook The Food of Oaxaca: Recipes and Stories from Mexico's Culinary Capital. Reservations are available via OpenTable.

    Those who wish to linger can book the hotel’s Advance Purchase offer, which discounts room rates by up to 25 percent when reserved three or more days ahead.

    The menu features:

    Starter Trio

    • Mini tostada with heirloom insects
    • Zucchini blossom stuffed with ricotta and roasted banana purée
    • Hoja santa “taco” with quesillo, beans, and wild mushrooms

    Green Aguachile

    • Red snapper cured in tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth, Persian cucumber, red onion, cilantro, ginger-toasted peanuts
    • Cocktail: Pequeño Gigante – Madre Cuishe mezcal, hoja santa, ginger, lime, Oaxacan spices

    Tortilla Soup

    • Tomato-pasilla mixe broth, crispy tortillas, fresh cheese, cream, pork cracklings, mint-celery garnish
    • Cocktail: Pimiento Margarita – Tobalá mezcal, Mistela vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, lime

    Braised Short Rib

    • Anchamanteles mole, seasonal fruit relish, banana purée, crispy plantain
    • Cocktail: Agave Xerez – The Lost Explorer tequila, Palomino sherry, green apple, pear

    Textures of Oaxacan

    • Chocolate Mousse, sponge cake, ice cream, tuile, passion-fruit jelly, cacao nibs
    • Neat pour of Tobalá mezcal
    • Traditional water-based hot chocolate infused with cacao flower

    Chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca
      

    Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Houston

    Four Seasons Hotel Houston is hosting a two-night pop-up dinner featuring chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca.

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