Chris Shepherd's Southern Salad

Chris Shepherd cooks up some southern flavor for buzzy new salad spot

Sweetgreen Chris Shepherd Southern Chop Bowl

Yes, that's pimento cheese.

Courtesy of Sweetgreen

One thing that separates Sweetgreen from other healthy-eating restaurants is its popularity with high profile chefs. The California-based restaurant has collaborated with a number of famous names, including Dan Barber (New York’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns), David Chang (Momofuku), and Jessica Koslow (Sqirl in Los Angeles), Michael Solomonov (Zahav in Philadelphia), Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese in San Francisco), and Nancy Silverton (Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles).

“The chef collaborations for us have been an amazing way that we’ve been able to tell really cool stories and have some fun with our menu,” Nicolas Jammet, co-founder and chief concept officer, said in a recent episode of CultureMap’s “What’s Eric Eating” podcast. “It’s a great opportunity for us to tell a really cool story around our food.”

In Houston, the restaurant enlisted James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd to create the Southern Chop Bowl. Shepherd tells CultureMap he considered several possibilities for his creation — such as a Mediterranean option from the most recent version of One Fifth or something in the steakhouse style of Georgia James — before developing something that utilized some of Sweetgreen’s signature ingredients with a Southern twist.

“I wanted something they could produce every day,” Shepherd says. “Overall, we want something that will speak to people here and be very familiar with the ingredients and the flavor combinations.”

A riff on the classic Caesar, the salad includes blackened chicken thighs, apples, raw corn, tomatoes, shredded cabbage, red onions, organic arugula, and chopped romaine. Then Shepherd adds some Southern flavors with pimento cheese, pecans, and a vinaigrette made with Steen's Cane syrup. Priced at $11.95, Sweetgreen will donate $1 from every bowl sold to the Southern Smoke Foundation’s Emergency Relief Fund, which provides financial assistance to people in the food and beverage industry.

“At the end, it was what do I want to eat,” he says. “It’s exactly what I wanted it to be. I’ll walk across the street to get it all the time.”

Shepherd's creation will be available at both Houston locations beginning October 10 or one day earlier via the restaurant's app.

The Montrose location will celebrate its grand opening Saturday, September 21, from 12:30-3:30 pm with music, a live mural painting by Ohni Lisle, “customizable swag,” and more. RSVP online. [Update: The event has been postponed.]

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the more things change

Houston's essential Jewish diner looks better than ever after refresh

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

It’s tricky to renovate a restaurant that’s as essential to its community as New York Deli. A staple of Houston’s Jewish community for almost 50 years, the tiny restaurant near Meyerland will serve as many as 400 people during a busy Sunday brunch.

Still, the time had come, as the tape on the deteriorating banquettes and peeling wallpaper illustrated. With the restaurant’s lease up for renewal, co-owner Michael Saghian saw an opportunity for some updates.

“I couldn’t be the new guy who ruined the place by moving it,” he tells CultureMap. “We worked out a deal with the landlord [to stay] and did a big refresh.”

The most noticeable change is the removal of the restaurant’s front door and vestibule. Instead, diners enter through the restaurant’s companion bagel shop. Separate entrances made sense when the bagel shop was certified kosher by local religious authorities, but now that designation only applies to the Bellaire location that opened in 2020. Not only is the new setup easier for people with mobility issues to navigate, it allows more light into the dining room, brightening the place considerably..

Saghian and co-owner Riana Sherman worked with interior designer Erin Hicks on the refresh. Tables, chairs, and banquettes are all new, but the color scheme remains the same. The process yielded 10 more seats, and the furniture is a little more durable, too.

“People have flipped chairs because they’re so lightweight,” Sherman says. “We got a sturdier chair.”

Behind the scenes, an expanded kitchen allows for the restaurant’s cooks to work faster and more efficiently. An additional egg cooker should cut down the amount of time people wait for their food to arrive.

“The kitchen had one of everything. Now we have two of everything. We can pump out a lot more food,” Saghian says.

Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers such as the “bagel girls,” a group of woman who’ve eaten breakfast at the restaurant since the ‘80s. A piece of old wallpaper has been framed and hung on the wall, too, as a nod to the space’s history.

New York Deli interior changes Photographs on the walls honor longtime customers.Photo by Sergio Trevino

Photo by Sergio Trevino

The dining room has more light than ever.

Saghian says he suffered from sleepless nights as he worried about people’s reactions to the changes, but so far his customers have been effusive.

“It still feels like an old school diner,” Saghian says. “It has pieces you remember. Even the new stuff is old school.”

While the physical environment is new, the staff remains the same. To ensure he kept the same team of cooks and servers, Saghian paid their wages for the two weeks the restaurant was closed for renovations.

Even more importantly, the prices are the same. That’s something that will make even the oldest regulars happy.

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