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    texas bbq for texans

    New Texas-inspired restaurant fires up steaks and barbecue in Garden Oaks

    Eric Sandler
    Sep 6, 2022 | 9:42 am
    Cherry Block Smokehouse food spread
    Cherry Block Smokehouse is now open in Garden Oaks.
    Photo by Becca Wright

    An eagerly anticipated new restaurant has opened in Garden Oaks. Cherry Block Smokehouse officially opens to the public today (Tuesday, September 6) for daily lunch and dinner service.

    Located in Revive Development's Stomping Grounds project (1223 W 34th St.), Cherry Block Smokehouse is an evolution of proprietor Felix Florez's Texas-focused restaurant at downtown's Bravery Chef Hall, Cherry Block Craft Butcher & Kitchen. A companion restaurant to Cherry Block Market, Florez's retail butcher shop in Katy, the counter service smokehouse serves Southern-inspired fare made with Texas-sourced proteins, many from Falcon Lake Farms, Florez's meat distribution company that raises and harvests animals. Described as "Texans for Texans," the approach gives Cherry Block a level of vertical integration that allows it to offer a steakhouse-style experience at a lower price point than other restaurants, according to a release.

    Executive chef Jordan Economy (Dak & Bop, Salt & Time) and chef de cuisine Melissa Hart (Common Bond) worked with Florez on the restaurant's menu. Diners will find items from the food hall days, including steaks and gumbo, alongside new options such as crawfish egg rolls, seafood cocktails, and a Cuban sandwich made with ham that's smoked in-house.

    As its name implies, the restaurant also serves a full range of pecan-smoked Texas barbecue with options such as beef brisket, pork ribs, smoked sausages, and baked potatoes topped with smoked meats. The signature roast beef debris po' boy has been joined by a range of options that include pork belly, catfish, and shrimp. More dishes will roll out over time.

    "We are just getting started, there is so much more to come like brunch and daily specials,” Florez said. “The team is getting the basics down right now, but once we start running, we’ll take flight soon after.”

    One thing that hasn't changed is Cherry Block's cheeseburger. The twin-patty burger gets topped with Havarti and cheddar cream mac sauce, red wine demi-glace, American cheese, Duke's mayo, lettuce, and tomato. As part of its crowd funding campaign through the NextSeed platform (now Republic), the restaurant promised one free burger per week to people who invested at least $1,000. That offer, and a well-timed CultureMap article, allowed Cherry Block to raise almost $400,000 towards its construction costs.

    Diners may pair their meals with beer, cocktails, or wines selected by Florez, who has worked as a sommelier at Brennan's of Houston. The restaurant also offers a small retail market stocked with Texas-made products.

    Overall, the 2,600-square-foot restaurant offers banquette seating for groups, bar seating, and picnic tables on a covered patio that's adjacent to the Stomping Grounds' green space. Local firm Gin Design Group created a Texas-themed environment that's decorated with ranch accessories and Florez family photographs.

    It joins Fat Cat Creamery and Rooster & Rice, a Thai-inspired concept from California, at the Garden Oaks development. Later this fall, they'll be joined by LuLoo's Day & Night, an all-day concept from the owners of Blood Bros. BBQ and pastry chef Alyssa Dole.

    “Our long-time relationship with curating restaurants for the Garden Oaks neighborhood, led us to cultivate the Stomping Grounds with locally-focused operators like Felix and Cherry Block," Revive vice president Monica Danna said. "Cherry Block’s format of a 'counter service steakhouse' casual enough for weekly family dining was the perfect fit for this community-focused development.”

    Cherry Block Smokehouse is now open in Garden Oaks.

    Cherry Block Smokehouse food spread
      
    Photo by Becca Wright
    Cherry Block Smokehouse is now open in Garden Oaks.
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    news/restaurants-bars

    he finished the job

    Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    Photo by David Moir/Bravo
    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

    Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

    In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

    “Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

    Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

    CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

    CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
    Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

    CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
    TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

    I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

    CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
    TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

    Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

    CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
    TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

    A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

    [ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

    CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
    TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

    CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
    TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

    The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

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