Food for Thought

Sole survivors: Houston's top chefs reveal their favorite footwear for racingaround the kitchen

Guess which chef wears a pair of adorable cupcake decorated Toms.? Here she issandwiched between her fur babies, Maddie and Bela. (See image 7 in thisslideshow for answer)
Photo by Robyn Arounty
Who wears cowboy boots in the kitchen? (See image 8 in this slideshow for theanswer)
Courtesy Photo
Who wears Coppa Keds in the kitchen? (See image 9 in this slideshow.)
Courtesy Photo
Who's favorites are black Birkis (Birkenstocks)? (See image 10 in thisslideshow)
Guess who likes lace-ups? (See image 11 in this slideshow)
Courtesy Photo
Who has a lot of running around a kitchen to do? (See image 12 in thisslideshow)
Courtesy Photo
It's Vanessa O'Donnell, pastry chef who owns Ooh La La Dessert Boutique is theowner of the cupcake-emblazoned Toms shoes.
Chef Randy Evans is scootin' around the kitchen of Havein in his cowboy boots.
Photo by Michelle Watson/CatchLightGroup.com
Naturally, it's Brandi Key of Coppa Ristorante Italiano who wears the CoppaKeds. "I'm Coppa from head to toe," she says.
Brandi Key/Facebook
Birkenstocks are best for chef David Coffman in the Katsuya kietchen.
Recipe4Success/Flickr
Chef Monica Pope of Sparrow likes lace-ups.
Photo by Julie Soefer/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Branch Water Tavern's David Grossman is sporting Brooks Pure Cadence runningshoes ‘cause he’s running big time in that kitchen.
Photo by Kimberly Park

You’re in a busy kitchen for 12 to 14 hours. You’re on your feet. Standing, hustling through cramped spaces with food and who knows what on the floor under your feet. You are tired, your back hurts and you’re slamming dish after dish for hungry customers.

Oh, and did we mention the temperatures are sizzling and you’re sweating up a storm?

So what do you wear on your feet?

Frankly, I have no idea why Batali-endorsed shoes would be orange because I seriously doubt he went to UT. But, you know, whatever.

House slippers might feel nice, but they wouldn’t last a minute in a commercial kitchen.

The chef footwear of choice is often the Croc, a slip-on, slip-resistant rubber shoe that is designed to “lessen the stress of long working days by relieving pressure on your feet, legs and back.” One of the most chef-popular is the Croc Bistro in Mario Batali orange. Frankly, I have no idea why Batali-endorsed shoes would be orange because I seriously doubt he went to UT. But, you know, whatever.

Executive sous chef Tyler Malson of Hotel Icon’s Line and Lariat likes his Crocs because they’re easy to clean (they’re even dishwasher safe!) but not every chef, particularly in Texas, wears these clogs to work.

Clogs to the curb

As part of her recent transformation, award-winning chef Monica Pope not only turned t’afia into Sparrow Bar +Cookshop, but she also burned her apron and kicked her clogs to the curb, choosing to don a new leather apron and lace-up shoes for kitchen duty. They are Italian leather shoes from Aviito in New York’s SoHo.

Her favorite is a pair in blue leather with red laces but she also has a version in brown and mottled beige. I don’t know if it’s the new attire or what, but what she’s sending out of her kitchen is awesomely delicious.

And Birkis seem to be way more popular with Houston chefs than Crocs: even chef Jason Bessent at Houston Texans Grille loves his black Birkis.

Over in the kitchen at Katsuya by S+ARCK, chef David Coffman stays with the clog look but prefers Birkis to Crocs. His favorite Birkenstock is a simple black one. Chef Aquiles Chavez at La Fisheria also favors the Birkis, preferably in black or orange. (Perfect for Halloween, we assume.)

And Birkis seem to be way more popular with Houston chefs than Crocs: even chef Jason Bessent at Houston Texans Grille loves his black Birkis.

Jonathan Jones, executive chef of Monarch Bistro at Hotel ZaZa Houston says, “Black rubber Chef Clog made by Keen. When I am out I wear Red Genuine Patent Leather Snake Skin Stacey Adams Wingtips!”

Whoa, styling.

But there are other choices, some creative, some branded, some just plain Texas.

Creative footwear

For instance, take chef Vanessa O’Donnell, as creative as she is in the pastry kitchen with her sweets at Ooh La La, she is also fanciful when it comes to her shoes. She shows her love of all things cupcake even when it comes to footwear. Check out her adorable cupcake decorated Toms, shown in the picture sandwiched between her fur babies, Maddie and Bela.

And why not show a little restaurant pride and get your toes into some comfy sneaks while working the ovens and grills? That’s just what executive chef Brandi Key of Coppa Ristorante Italiano does.

As Key likes to say: “I'm Coppa from head to toe!”

Or maybe it’s just because Evans is a Texan and that’s the way he rolls, but his footwear of choice in the kitchen (and pretty much everywhere) is cowboy boots. But that wasn’t always the case.

And she is, check out her custom-made Keds she orders from Converse.com in navy and yellow leather with the Coppa name on them. Awesome.

But even Keds aren’t enough for a busy chef on the run. Just ask David Grossman at the hot Branch Water Tavern. When he’s crankin’ out his chicken fried oysters, bacon-wrapped Gulf shrimp and Harris Ranch New York strip steaks, he’s sporting Brooks Pure Cadence Running Shoes. ‘Cause he’s running big time in that kitchen.

And then there’s Randy Evans of Haven. Maybe it’s because this farm-to-fork chef spends so much time out in his garden or hunting farmers markets, or maybe it's because his restaurant was built with repurposed wood and equipment. Or maybe it’s just because he’s Texan and that’s the way he rolls, but his footwear of choice in the kitchen (and pretty much everywhere) is cowboy boots. But that wasn’t always the case.

“I started cooking in professional kitchens in 1995 and have worn all sorts of footwear,” Evans explains. “I started with Doc Martens, the sole always split due to the grease, then went to Knapp work shoes and I felt like an old man. I moved to Wolverine work boots but they were way too heavy.

"I switched to Birkenstocks, they were great, but did not support my step. I then started wearing Troentorp Bastad wooden clogs. I lived in them and wore them until the fire at Brennan’s. They were in my office and were lost in the fire.

"So finally I decided to wear Lucchese boots with a crepe sole. They are light, comfortable, and sturdy. I have three pairs I wear; black ostrich, brown pigskin and tan goatskin. My favorites are the ostrich!”

And that’s just how Texas chefs roll.

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Chris Cusack explains

Houston bar owner speaks out about surprise arrest for health code violations

Photo by Sergio Trevino

Chris Cusack owns two locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse.

Certainly one of the most unusual interactions between a restaurant and City of Houston officials took place on Wednesday, May 6 when Betelgeuse Betelgeuse owner Chris Cusack was arrested for health code violations at his location on Washington Avenue.

News of the arrest spread quickly across social media over the weekend. Now, Cusack is ready to tell his side of the story.

Cusack, whose time operating restaurants in Houston goes back more than 15 years to Down House and its affiliated restaurants such as Hunky Dory and D&T Drive Inn, tells CultureMap the problem began on Monday, May 4 when a health department inspector came to Betelgeuse Betelgeuse and asked to see the restaurant’s grease trap.

The only problem is that location has never had a grease trap. Prior to becoming Betelgeuse Betelgeuse, it was Liberty Station, a pioneering bar in Houston’s craft beer and craft cocktail scenes. In the early days, Betelgeuse served food from a food truck. More recently, it prepares its food next door at The Bell and Crane. Cusack acknowledges he didn’t share this information with the inspector.

“Usually I’m a charmer with the health department, but I was a little defensive. She kept asking me. I said, ‘ma’am, we don’t make food here,’” he explains. “The tone wasn’t my finest moment, but there was no name calling or anything like that. She said, ‘where does the food come from?’ I said, ‘it doesn’t matter where it comes from. It’s produced in a commercial kitchen.’”

Cusack says he knew there would be a follow up, but he was shocked when the inspector returned two days later with more colleagues from the health department, TABC inspectors, and Houston Police Department officers.

“I got somewhere between 21 and 25 citations,” Cusack says about the return visit. He got dinged for everything from graffiti in the bathroom to a missing Harris County tax stamp on the photo booth he leases from a vendor (it has both State of Texas and City of Houston stamps, Cusack says).

One inspector told Cusack he needed a food dealer’s permit. He showed the inspector that a food dealer’s permit had been issued for the restaurant's address under the former food truck’s LLC but not to the LLC that operates Betelgeuse Betelgeuse. Cusack says he had renewed the food truck’s permit in March, but that wasn’t good enough for the inspector. In Cusack’s telling, he was arrested for not having the permit, since it was also flagged as missing in an inspection from October 2025. He's the only person he knows who has ever been arrested for a misdemeanor violation of the health code.

Cusack says he spent 21 hours in the Harris County Jail. When he got out, he says he was contacted by a more senior official within the Health Department. Once Cusack confirmed he owned both LLCs, he was told he could reopen. Both locations of Betelgeuse Betelgeuse have been operating normally since Friday, May 8.

Cusack maintains he never knew about the October 2025 inspection, which is why he renewed the food dealer’s permit for the food truck’s LLC rather than applying for one under Betelgeuse Betelgeuse’s LLC. “There’s no paper trail that shows I was given this information,” he says. “I did not get the email [from the Health Department].”

As for why things got so out of hand, Cusack theorizes he was a victim of Houston Mayor John Whitemire’s crack down on “reckless behavior” on Washington Avenue and stepped up enforcement on bars generally that led to the temporary closure of near northside cocktail bar Rabbit’s Got the Gun.

Cusack says he’s a “huge supporter” of efforts to reduce crimes like street racing, drug dealing, and sex trafficking along Washington and in its surrounding neighborhoods. Still, he feels targeting by the city for being impolite to a health inspector.

He plans to fight both the arrest and the citations in court. “I want the charges dropped, and I want it expunged completely from my record. That’s the first thing, and I’m going to try very hard to do it,” he says.

“That’s going to end up costing thousands of dollars just to deal with the sheer volume,” he adds.

CultureMap contacted Mayor Whitmire’s office. A representative said the mayor was not aware of the situation and has no comment on an open investigation.

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