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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BOGO Banh Mi

Houston Vietnamese restaurant rolls out new Spring Branch outpost

Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

Saigon Hustle will open its new location on Thursday, October 10.

A rapidly growing Houston Vietnamese restaurant has big plans for National Banh Mi Day, which is this Thursday, October 10. Saigon Hustle will mark the occasion by opening its new Spring Branch location.

Located in a converted gas station at 1223 Witte Road, the new Saigon Hustle both preserves all of the things that have made the original Garden Oaks location a success for founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen and takes advantage of having twice as much space to add new menu items and a more complete dining experience.

Saigon Hustle Spring Branch rendering A rendering previews the restaurant's new location.Courtesy of Saigon Hustle

By going from just over 800-square-feet to 2,000, Saigon Hustle will be able to offer indoor seating for the first time. Total capacity is about 70 diners.

“The dine in is huge. We don’t have a lot of customer interaction [at Garden Oaks],” Ghaffar tells CultureMap. “We’re excited to have the customer facing side, interacting with them, watching them eat our food, without losing the drive-thru.”

A larger kitchen means that Saigon Hustle will be able to add pho to its menu for the first time. Diners will have their choice of chicken — made with sous vide chicken breast — or beef, which will come with the traditional round eye, brisket, and meatballs.

“There are so many people who come in expecting pho. When they can’t get it, they walk out,” Nguyen says.

As for the rest of the menu, it will include all of the banh mi, egg rolls, spring rolls, and rice dishes that have made the original a hit. Beverage options include both Vietnamese iced coffee and a tea bar that includes both milk tea and Thai-style iced tea.

Saigon Hustle Cassie Ghaffar Sandy Nguyen Saigon Hustle co-founders Cassie Ghaffar and Sandy Nguyen.Photo by Al Torres

Perhaps even more importantly, this new location is the first since Ghaffar and Nguyen partnered with Savory Fund, a venture capital firm that’s invested in a diverse range of concepts including Austin-based Detroit-style pizzeria Via 313. Originally, Saigon Hustle received a $1 million investment; since then, Savory has committed to helping it grow to as many as 40 units in Texas and the Midwest, Ghaffar and Nguyen say.

“Being a business person, this was the vision from day one. This [investment] has manifested the route we were aiming toward,” Ghaffar adds. “We’re very fortunate Savory believed in us and is helping us create a legacy for our families.”

Saigon Hustle will celebrate its opening with buy-one-get-one free banh mi sandwiches from 10 am - 3 pm on Thursday. Beginning Friday, October 11, it will open daily at 10 am.

news-you-can-eat openings spring branch