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    Grab your kleenex

    A falafel and a Beastie Boy spell the end of Houston's Rebecca Masson on TopChef: Just Desserts

    Sarah Rufca
    Sep 29, 2011 | 12:42 am
    • Rebecca Masson

    It wouldn't be Top Chef: Just Desserts without an opening dose of drama, right? So since no one else has managed to break a limb, we open with jokes about an ice sculpture challenge and Sally Camacho ribbing about how dangerous Katzie Guy-Hamilton would be with a chainsaw, and Katzie not liking that at all.

    Yes, we're talking about Sally, who held the hand of clumsy, incompetent Craig Poirier for four episodes, and Katzie, who for all her spastic mess won the last two challenges. So while this is a stupid fight, at least it gets us annoyed reaction shots and voiceover trash talking from the two whenever the other presents or gets positive feedback.

    The quickfire challenge is to make a dessert out of some very non-dessert-like items: Root vegetables. Some of these chefs don't even recognize ingredients like celery root — Megan Ketover doesn't even know what her burdock root is after host Gail Simmons tells her. (I'm with you, girl.)

    Houston's Rebecca Masson says in the voiceover that she only knows how to do pastry, but this is the woman who beat out some of Houston's best savory chefs to win the Houston Chowhounds 'Shroom Throwdown, so we aren't worried. Rebecca (with potato) makes a version of a Wendy's frosty and fries, with French fries, chocolate sauce and malted milk ice cream.

    Then she tells the judges she can't cook at all, which doesn't go over particularly well. (Rebecca, save honest confessions for the confessional!) Whether its the fries or the lack of cooking knowledge, Rebecca gets called out as one of the judge's least favorites.

    Then she tells the judges she can't cook at all, which doesn't go over particularly well. (Rebecca, save honest confessions for the confessional!)

    Among the other chefs, Megan makes a five-spice burdock root fritter and candied burdock compote, Katzie makes a soy milk panna cotta with turnip chips, Carlos Enriquez presents a disastrous celery root in three textures with peanut butter, and Orlando Santos makes a peach and radish crumble.

    Chris Hanmer gets disqualified for garnishing with his jicama after time is called, and while Matthew Petersen is close with his pretty and clever caramelized parsnip cake with banana puree and caramelized hazelnuts, Sally gets the win, $5,000 and immunity for her mango pudding with turmeric and curried popcorn. Cue the eye roll from Katzie!

    For the elimination challenge, Gail introduces Adam Horowitz from the Beastie Boys and everyone geeks out. But the atmosphere gets more serious when Ad-Rock brings out a shelf full of weird non-pastry foods and liquors that have been featured in Beastie Boys lyrics — think pork and beans, peas, ravioli, Chivas and other things no one should ever make dessert with.

    After each chef picks two, Gail ups the ante with some sabotage: Each chef must choose a third weird ingredient to give to another chef. For example, while Rebecca chooses ham and 40s, she also gets falafel from Sally. Great. Thanks a lot, Sally.

    Chris, who randomly chose pesto pizza, pork and beans and ravioli, is worried. Orlando, who picks rums, gets a little drunk from tasting his own food.

    The next day the eight chefs serve their Beastie Boys food at a street art festival. Marcel Vigneron from season two of Top Chef shows up (he's a friend of Sally's) and reminds everyone what a dick he is. Sorry, Sally, but I seriously hate that guy.

    I'd heard Rebecca had someone sign her cast during filming and that Top Chef is so leery of spoilers they had the cast cut off her before she left to keep the secret.

    Some of the foods sound good, and others not so much. Carlos makes a popcorn panna cotta (I've had this before and it's pretty good) with spicy cucumber air and bacon caramel, Orlando makes a coffee, strawberry and rum arfait with green peas and gets knocked for using pre-made cookies. Megan makes a Chivas whiskey pudding cake that the judges declare dry and crumbly with a Brass Monkey sorbet and caramelized onions, and Sally presents a sweet potato prosciutto cake with toffee sauce, cheddar ice cream and a crispy chicharrón that Ad-Rock goes nuts for.

    Katzie makes something of a mess by serving sweet pomme frites with a trio of sauces and some sugar shakers — judge Johnny Izzuni describes it as "all over the place." Chris somehow pulls his ingredients together with a pork and bean brownie, pine nut ice cream and naked ravioli. Finally Matthew presents a cornbread and mashed potato cheesecake with whiskey caramel and a gravy foam that freaks everyone out (in a good way, mostly) with how gravy-ish it is. Richard Blais would approve!

    I'd heard Rebecca had someone sign her cast during filming and that Top Chef is so leery of spoilers they had the cast cut off her before she left to keep the secret. Today we find out that it was Ad-Rock who did the signing as Rebecca geeked out and then served a falafel panna cotta with ham pecan brittle and 40 oz. ice cream. Johnny is immediately overwhelmed by the garlic in the panna cotta and Gail asks for more beer flavor.

    When it comes to the judging, everyone is nervous, and Rebecca, Katzie and Megan — last week's winning team — are called out to the judges' table first. However this week that's not a good thing, and they are the least favorites. Chris, Sally and Matthew are called out as the best, and Matthew's so-crazy-but-it-worked gravy and cheesecake earned the win.

    While Megan's dessert was dry and disconnected and Katzie's was easy and messy, nothing could help Rebecca overcome her garlicky falafel panna cotta. "It was nasty, yo," opined Ad-Rock, sealing the deal, and Rebecca was sent packing.

    Does it suck for Rebecca to go home because she messed up on falafel? You bet. But as we learned with Amanda Rockman's departure last week, one mistake can be the end for a great chef.

    And Rebecca exits like with knew she would, with class and humor and a round of applause from her competitors. "I still love the Beastie Boys but I hate falafels right now," she says.

    Us too, Rebecca. Us too.

    Are you going to keep watching Top Chef: Just Desserts with all the Houston chefs out of the running? Now that Rebecca is out, who do you think will win?

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    And the winners are...

    Houston restaurants have a historic night with 2 James Beard Award wins

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 15, 2026 | 9:03 pm
    2026 James Beard Awards
    Courtesy of HoustonFirst Corporation
    Houston was well-represented at the 2026 James Beard Awards

    Houston had a historic night at the James Beard Awards. Held on Monday, June 15, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Two of Houston’s six finalists took home prizes for both national awards and Best Chef: Texas.

    They are:

    • Emerging Chef: Adrian Torres, Maximo
    • Best Chef Texas: Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, Jūn

    Houston’s other finalists were: June Rodil (March) for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service; Ope Amosu (ChòpnBlọk) for Best Chef: Texas; Agnes and Sherman for Best New Restaurant, and Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught (H-Town Restaurant Group) for Outstanding Restaurateur.

    Other Texas nominees included: Tavel Bristol-Joseph (Nicosi, San Antonio) and Maggie Huff (Lucia, Dallas) for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker and Mixtli in San Antonio for Outstanding Restaurant.

    The other nominees for Best Chef: Texas were: Scott Girling (Osteria il Muro in Denton), Gabe Padilla and Melissa Padilla, (Cafe Piro in Socorro), and Finn Walter (The Nicolett in Lubbock).

    James Beard Awards Lindsey Brown Chris Shepherd Southern Smoke Foundation Lindsey Brown, center, and Chris Shepherd, right, at the Impact Awards. Photo by Max Flatow

    In addition, the Houston-based Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit that provides emergency assistance and mental health services to hospitality workers, received an Impact Award at a separate ceremony on Sunday, June 14.

    Tonight’s two wins firmly establish Houston as Texas’ premier culinary destination. They follow Thomas Bille of Belly of the Beast in Spring winning Best Chef: Texas in 2025 and Benchawan Jabthong Painter (Street to Kitchen) winning the same category in 2023, meaning the city’s chefs have now won three of the last four awards in that category. Torres is only the second Houstonian to win a national award, following Southern-inspired cocktail bar Julep’s win for Outstanding Bar Program in 2022.

    Although he’s only 27 years old, Torres has frequently found himself in the national spotlight since took over as Maximo’s executive chef in 2025. Since then, he’s been named a Rising Star by StarChefs magazine, earned a Bib Gourmand designation for Maximo from the Michelin Guide, and won the 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

    “I am proud to be the son of immigrants. I am proud to be an immigrant. And I am proud to be a DACA recipient,” Torres said to applause from the crowd of culinary professionals.

    “Tonight, the headline is that a brown kid from the Northside, raised by parents who sacrificed everything for the chance at a better life, is standing on this stage accepting one of the highest honors in this industry,” he added.

    James Beard Awards Evelyn Garcia Henry Lu Jun Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu won Best Chef: Texas.Photo by Casey Giltner

    After establishing themselves by serving casual fare at pop-ups and farmers markets, Garcia and Lu opened Jūn in 2023. Billed as a New Asian American restaurant, it features a wide-ranging menu that includes charred cabbage with tofu Caesar dressing, carrots with everything salsa matcha, and the signature fried chicken that’s seasoned with shrimp paste, ginger, and Thai chili. In 2025, they opened Third Place, a daytime concept in the Jūn space that showcases pop-ups from both established and up-and-coming chefs.

    Like Torres, Lu also celebrated his immigrant parents. “I want to thank our immigrant parents who lived the American dream and put us where we are today. They invested so much in us. Everything we are today is because of them,” he said.

    “Houston, I love you so so much,” Garcia said as she and Lu accepted their award. “Our amazing city is made from creatives from first generations like we are. It is a city of dreams and hopes. What has taught me anything with Jun is there’s room for everyone, there’s a space to tell our story, that it’s meant to be heard, and that there’s a reason why we’re here.”

    Considered the Oscars of the food world, the awards recognize excellence by chefs and other culinary professionals in a wide range of categories from Outstanding Chef to Best New Restaurant. In 2025, the James Beard Foundation added three new categories to recognize the beverage side of hospitality: Best New Bar, Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service.

    Winners must also have “demonstrated commitment to racial and gender equity, community, sustainability, and a culture where all can thrive,” according to the organization’s website.

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