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    down in the park

    Fresh new restaurant with lakefront view blooms in Hermann Park

    Eric Sandler
    Nov 10, 2020 | 10:35 am

    A new healthy eating concept has sprouted up in Hermann Park. Ginger Kale quietly opened last week.

     

    Located in the former Pinewood Cafe next to McGovern Lake and near the entrance to the Houston Zoo, Ginger Kale is the latest project from Ordinary Concepts, the emerging restaurant group that recently opened Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Hustle as a cloud kitchen in Blodgett Food Hall.

     

    Ordinary Concepts managing partner Cassie Ghaffar tells CultureMap that Ginger Kale aims to operate as a "fine fast" concept serving food that’s both healthy and delicious. Working with a consulting firm, the company took the menu it created for an upcoming cafe concept and adapted it to park goers. The result covers a range of options that starts with salads, breakfast tacos, and hot and cold sandwiches, as well as more trendy options like toasts, chia pudding, acai bowls, and cold-pressed juices.

     

    Ghaffar gets namechecked in Cassie’s Signature Salad, a variation on tabbouleh that combines parsley, cucumber, cherry tomato, candied pecans, and a sumac vinaigrette over a mix of romaine and cabbage. Other highlights include taro blueberry chia pudding, snickerdoodle cookie, Pearsuit of Happiness juice (pear, pineapple, cucumber, lime, turmeric), and a sea salt-honey latte.

     

    “We wanted to bring a concept to the park that wasn’t the typical park style food,” Ghaffar writes in an email. “We took a park menu and spruced it up with better food, better coffee, and better pastries. We were lucky to have been given this chance to not only showcase our menu earlier than expected, but to have the incredible view and inherited patrons made it even sweeter.”

     

    To renovate the petite, 1,400-square-foot space, the company worked with Gin Design Group, the local firm behind concepts such as Eunice, Axelrad, and Traveler’s Table. Elements include concrete booths, custom chairs and barstools, and a macramé wall art installation by local artist Nancy McElligott.

     

    “Ginger Kale is possibly the only restaurant in Houston with a lakefront view,” Gin Design Group founder and creative director Gin Braverman said in a statement. “As such, we wanted to purposefully limit the interior finish palette to five natural elements — concrete, wood, rope, leather, and brick — in order to allow the park’s natural setting to remain the prime focus.”

     

    Finally, let’s discuss the restaurant’s name, which sounds like two ingredients in one of those cold-pressed juices. Ghaffar explains that she came up with the name three years ago without a specific application in mind. She and her partners have been waiting for the right opportunity to deploy it.

     

    “We just loved the play on words so we secured the social handle, domain, and logo, and never touched it again,” she writes. “Three years later, we walk into the space and said, ‘THIS IS IT, PULL THE NAME OUT OF ARCHIVE.’”

    Ginger Kale is now open in Hermann Park.

    Ginger Kale merchandise shelves
      
    Photo by Claudia Casbarian
    Ginger Kale is now open in Hermann Park.
    openingsparksnews-you-can-eat
    news/restaurants-bars

    hola, mayahuel

    Netflix chef's modern Mexican restaurant opens in Houston this month

    Eric Sandler
    Jul 7, 2025 | 6:45 pm
    Mayahuel restaurant
    Photo by Bethany Ochs
    Mayahuel's menu combines seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn.

    The countdown is on to Houston’s newest modern Mexican restaurant. Mayahuel will officially open for dinner on Friday, July 18.

    Located in the Autry Park mixed-use development, Mayahuel united Culinary Khancepts — the hospitality group behind Liberty Kitchen, State Fare, and Leo’s River Oaks (among others) — with star chef Luis Robledo Richards. Known locally for his short-lived taqueria Comalito, Richards is the pastry chef behind Mexico City’s celebrated Tout Chocolat. His resume includes serving as a judge on the Netflix series Sugar Rush: The Baking Point and being named the Best Pastry Chef in Latin America by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

    At Mayahuel, Richards will feature dishes made with seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn that’s imported from Mexico. At opening, it will be a tidy group of 16 savory dishes — divided into starters, “Tacos y Masa,” and entrees, as well as a separate tasting menu. The restaurant takes its name from the Mexica goddess of the maguey plant, which only blooms once, to emphasize its connection to Mexico’s land and culture.

    “At Mayahuel, we’re not just preparing food — we’re honoring time, place, and process,” Richards said in a statement. “Our ingredients are chosen only when they’re at their best. We don’t force nature to fit our schedule — we follow its lead.”

    Dinner at Mayahuel could begin with dishes such as bread and tortillas served with miso and salsa matcha butters, a bluefin tuna tostada with uni cream and yuzu aioli, salmon aguachile, or a beef carnitas croquette. The “Tacos y Masa” section includes beef cheek and shrimp tacos, a duck confit tamal, and a squash blossom tetela. Entree choices include filet mignon with mole negro, cochinita with black bean puree and tortillas, and sea bass with potatoes and salsa Veracruzana.

    Brunch is a more casual affair built around items such as chilaquiles, French toast, enfrijoladas, and a Mexican take on eggs Benedict topped with salsa roja hollandaise.

    Large format desserts each take inspiration from one of three ingredients — vanilla, coffee, or cacao. Priced at $28 each, the menu describes them as “a thoughtful, interactive finale that honors tradition through technique, seasonality, and imagination.”

    Pairings include cocktails made with agave spirits, fresh juices, and house made syrups. Notably, all tequilas will be additive-free, which means some prominent brands may not be featured behind Mayahuel’s bar.

    The restaurant occupies an approximately 5,100-square-foot space that’s divided into a 16-seat bar, a 40-seat dining room, an eight-seat chef’s table, a 36-seat, second floor dining room, and a 34-seat patio. It joins other concepts in Autry Park such as French restaurant Annabelle Brasserie, sushi spot Doko, fine dining steakhouse Turner’s Cut, Vietnamese restaurant Annam, and a still-unnamed concept from Austin’s Emmer & Rye Hospitality.

    “Mayahuel is about creating a sense of place and story,” Culinary Khancepts founder Omar Khan said. “It’s a natural evolution for our group — rooted in culture, crafted with care, and designed to be as memorable as it is welcoming.”

    Mayahuel will be open for happy hour and dinner Monday-Saturday and brunch on Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

    Mayahuel restaurant
      

    Photo by Bethany Ochs

    Mayahuel's menu combines seasonal ingredients and heirloom corn.

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