Foodie News

Underbelly, Uchi & more: It's a Goode evening for winners at the HoustonCulinary Awards

Chris Shepherd with his Houston Culinary Award for Restaurateur of the Year
Photo by Sarah Rufca
My Table editor and publisher Teresa Byrne-Dodge, with Levi Goode, reads theproclamation from the mayor declaring Oct. 7, 2012, as Jim Goode Day.
Photo by Sarah Rufca
The winners of the 2012 Houston Culinary Awards
Photo by Sarah Rufca
The dinner was prepared by an all-star line-up of chefs, including crews fromUchi, Vic & Anthony's, Fluff Bake Bar and Greenway Coffee & Tea.
Photo by Sarah Rufca

It looks like 2012 will go down as the year of the Anvil empire at the My Table Houston Culinary Awards.

The bar and restaurant concepts owned by or associated with the Montrose bar took home several big awards in front of a fun, foodie crowd of 320 at the Hilton Hotel at the University of Houston on Sunday night.

Underbelly was recently named one of the best new restaurants in the country by Esquire, so it came as no surprise when it came up as a big winner, nabbing awards for Restaurateur of the Year for chef/owner Chris Shepherd and Service Person of the Year for manager Matthew Prigden.

To complete the Anvil-associated domination, co-owner Bobby Heugel took home Favorite Mixologist, while Ninfa's on Navigation was awarded a Houston Culinary Award for Houston Classic.

Underbelly's beer-centric conjoined twin, Hay Merchant, was named Favorite Pub or Bar under the more casual Foodie Star Awards. To complete the Anvil-associated domination, co-owner Bobby Heugel took home Favorite Mixologist, while Ninfa's on Navigation (which Heugel and partners Kevin Floyd and Michael Burnett recently signed on to manage) was awarded a Houston Culinary Award for Houston Classic, a restaurant in business for 10 or more years.

But Anvil, Underbelly & Co. weren't the only big winners in the room. Uchi earned two big awards, with a win in Best New Restaurant and Monica Glenn named Pastry Chef of the Year. Tiny Boxwood's won two Foodie Star Awards, for Favorite Breakfast and Favorite Outdoor Dining, while Bernie's Burger Bus was named both Favorite Food Truck/Cart and Favorite Burger.

Randy Evans of Haven took home Chef of the Year and Eatsie Boys' Matt Marcus was named Up-And-Coming Chef of the Year, another new milestone for a food truck at the Houston Culinary Awards.

The Legends of Houston award was given to Jim Goode, the founder of the Goode Company family of restaurants and accepted by his son, Levi Goode.

After My Table editor and publisher Teresa Byrne-Dodge read a proclamation from Mayor Annise Parker naming Oct. 7, 2012, Jim Goode Day in Houston, Goode talked about how his father started the original Goode Co. Barbecue on Kirby with $6,000 and thanked his extended family for all the sacrifices they made to succeed in the restaurant industry.

Check out the full list of Houston Culinary Awards and Foodie Star Awards winners:

2012 Houston Culinary Awards

Restaurateur of the Year — Chris Shepherd, Underbelly

Chef of the Year — Randy Evans, Haven

Up-and-Coming Chef of the Year (age 35 or younger) — Matt Marcus, Eatsie Boys

Outstanding Wine Service — 13 Celsius

Pastry Chef of the Year (includes breadmakers) — Monica Glenn, Uchi

Outstanding Bar Service — Truluck's Steak & Stone Crab

Service Person of the Year — Matthew Prigden, Underbelly

Houston Classic (a restaurant in business for 10 or more years) — Ninfa's on Navigation

Best Interior Design — Américas River Oaks

Best New Restaurant (must have opened since June 1, 2011) — Uchi

2012 Houston Foodie Star Awards:

Favorite Bakery — Slow Dough Bread Co.

Favorite Barbecue — Pappas Bar-B-Que

Favorite Breakfast — Tiny Boxwood's

Favorite Burger — Bernie's Burger Bus

Favorite Coffeehouse — Paulie's

Favorite Houston Food Blog — Eating Our Words

Favorite Mom & Pop Ethnic — Mai's Restaurant

Favorite Food Truck/Cart — Bernie's Burger Bus

Favorite Late Night Spot — BB's Cafe, Montrose

Favorite Mixologist — Bobby Heugel

Favorite Outdoor Dining — Tiny Boxwood's

Favorite Supermarket — Whole Foods Market

Favorite Pub or Bar — Hay Merchant

Favorite Sweets/Ice Cream — Hank's Ice Cream Parlor

Favorite Wine Seller — The Tasting Room

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What's Eric Eating Episode 584

Beard Award-winning Latin chef dishes on big Houston move and menu overhaul

Courtesy of Exilio Latin Flair

James Beard Award winner Douglas Rodriguez is the executive chef of Exilio Latin Flair.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” chef Douglas Rodriguez and Bari Hospitality Group co-owner Pedro Teyuca join CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss Exilio Latin Flair, the company’s pan-Latin restaurant in Montrose.

Opened in April in the former Verde Garden space, Exilio recently recruited Rodriguez to serve as executive chef and revamp its menu. Known as the “Godfather of Nuevo Latino Cuisine,” the chef brings an impressive resume to his role, including winning Rising Star Chef in the 1996 James Beard Awards, competing on season one of Top Chef Masters, and earning a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide for Nikos, a Greek restaurant in Durham, NC. As he explains in the episode, he and Bari co-owner Tommy Nally first developed the idea for Exilio when they worked together in Vegas, so he jumped at the opportunity to bring the restaurant to life.

Rodriguez just rolled out a new menu for Exilio that includes a total revamp of the restaurant’s ceviches and entrees. Specific dishes include tuna watermelon ceviche, mixto seafood ceviche with leche de tigre, Colombian-style chicken empanadas, snapper Veracruz, and a smoked ribeye.

“The sauce is made with panca peppers (Peruvian red pepper), watermelon juice, yuzu juice. Then it’s slices of tuna and slices of watermelon. I kind of single them,” Rodriguez says about the tuna watermelon ceviche. “The sauce has red onion, Thai basil, tarragon, a herb you don’t usually find in a ceviche. It’s very light, refreshing, herbaceous — hits a lot of different areas in the palate for a simple, two ingredient dish.”

The chef adds that he’s been getting to know Houston through its restaurants. He cites Mala Sichuan and Hugo’s as two places that have impressed him. He also hails Love Croissants, whose owner, chef Omar Pereney, worked for Rodriguez prior to moving to Houston.

“I have a long list of places to explore, and I’m excited that this is a big food city,” Rodriguez adds. “I haven’t been to Maximo yet. That’s at the top of my list. I’m excited to be here and get people into the restaurant to try the food.”

For his part, Teyuca provides an update on Bari’s plans to open a second location in The Woodlands later in September. He also shares exciting news about the company’s plans to add a sushi bar to the lounge above Georgia James, the Montrose steakhouse it purchased from Underbelly Hospitality in 2024.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 8 am on ESPN 97.5.

Courtesy of Exilio Latin Flair

James Beard Award winner Douglas Rodriguez is the executive chef of Exilio Latin Flair.

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