Foodie News

Houston Chef's Table: Soma Sushi's Jason Hauck is anti-brunch, pro-Feast

No one knows Houston restaurants better than the people who run them, own them, and work in the kitchens. In this continuing series, CultureMap is asking our favorite foodie personalities around town where they go for great eats when they're not working.

Jason Hauck has worked at some of the best restaurants in Houston — Quattro, Ouisie's Table, Aries and Rainbow Lodge — and now he's becoming a major name in his own right with the inventive French-Asian fusion at Soma Sushi. Fresh off Soma serving several hundred hungry arts hounds at the Saint Arnold Brewing Company viewing party for gunpowder artist Cai Guo-Qiang's explosion, Hauck tells CultureMap his go-to spots on Washington Avenue, his favorite funky stops and where he brought dad.

Hauck also reveals his strong feelings on a certain Sunday tradition.

Restaurant for a special occasion: Catalan, just because they're down the street from us and I know Chris (Shepherd) and I know how amazing his food is.

Restaurant to take out-of-towners to: The last person I had in from out of town was my dad, and we made sure we took him to Goode Co. Barbecue, Feast, and Anvil. He loved Feast, we had a grand time. Richard (Knight) was there and he really went out of his way to make our meal special.

Favorite meal: Right now what I'm into is finding all the funky spots on Bellaire, like Sinh Sinh, Tan Tan, all the Asian grocers, we just go around sampling things like steamed buns,and fish stomach soup.

Breakfast/Brunch favorite: I refuse to do brunch. I have been on the service industry side of the brunch shift, and I am not going to promote it — I have nothing good to say about it.

Breakfast is all about the breakfast taco, we have been raiding El Tiempo Market — they always have the funky stuff, pig's ear, tripe, chicharrónes. And Laredo Taqueria is just great, they make all their stuff from scratch and are really good at what they do. If you go at lunchtime there's a line around the block.

Dessert: Wherever Rebecca Masson is making dessert. If I can find her trail of caramel and follow it to wherever she's at, I'm happy.

Other articles in the Houston Chef's Table series:

Lee Ellis loves Les Givral

Sugar hooker Rebecca Masson can't get enough of Catalan's Cake

Beachy L.J. Wiley digs the special occasion simple flavors at Dos Brisas

David Grossman goes for Vic & Anthony's crab cake, Yelapa late nights & some Bootsie

Jeramie Robison appreciates Kata Robata's sushi, Beaver's bangin' meatloaf & foodie chicks

Tony Mandola finds breakfast magic at Sunrise Taquitos

Philippe Schmit craves a Picnic romance & Stella Sola's French toast

Benjy Levit is torn between Indika's salads and Hank's Ice Cream

Flora & Muse's David Luna likes to hang with his fishing buddy and hit the Blue Nile

Asian Bistro's Gigi Huang seeks out spicy fried chicken at a Dive

Houston Chef's Table: Hugo Ortega believes in a Goode tradition

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truffle masters recap

Street corn shines at Houston's truffle-powered chef competition

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Marcus Benedict, Daniella Johner, and chef Luis Roger of MAD and BCN.

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.