Want to support local farmers, eat an amazing meal and help out neighbors in need all at once? Check out the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up the week of September 28 – October 2, where participating restaurants will be serving special menus of fresh, local Texas ingredients, with some eateries even donating a portion of the proceeds to a local food bank. A complete list of participating restaurants can be found at the Go Texan Restaurant Round-Up Web site, but we recommend the pasta dishes at Frank's Chop House with chef Frank Butera's homegrown heirloom tomatoes, the special Go Texan menu at Hugo's including Costillas de Jabalí (Central Texas wild boar rack with mole coloradito and black bean tamales, acelgas and asparagus) and Camarones Envueltos (Gulf shrimp stuffed with jalapeño and Chihuahua-style cheese from Beaumont, wrapped in Texas smoked bacon and topped with a morita pepper salsa negra), and the special prix fixe Texas food and wine pairings at Mockingbird Bistro.
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.
