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    Chef Departs Hip Hotel

    Popular chef leaves stylish hotel restaurant, but where will she land next?

    Eric Sandler
    Nov 25, 2015 | 8:49 am

    Since it opened last year, part of the appeal of Main Kitchen at the stylish JW Marriott Houston Downtown hotel has been the presence of executive chef Erin Smith, but that time has come to an end. The chef turned in her resignation on Friday. Rather than have her work two more weeks, the hotel decided to make it her last day.

     

    The Houston native came to the JW after well-regarded stints at Plonk! Bistro and the Clumsy Butcher group, where she created the opening menu for Blacksmith; her resume also includes stints working in New York for celebrity chefs Mario Batali and Thomas Keller. At Main Kitchen, she earned a CultureMap Tastemaker Awards Chef of the Year nomination for her use of local and seasonal ingredients

     

    "There isn't any juice or gossip," regarding her departure Smith writes in a text message. "I've been considering leaving for awhile but wanted things to be going more smoothly before I left . . . It was a great experience."

     

    Although she hasn't decided on her next move yet, Smith thinks Main Kitchen did overcome the problem of attracting diners from outside the hotel, which has always been a challenge for high-profile local chefs working at hotels. Instead, she faced a slightly different challenge — balancing the needs of appealing to hotel guests who want familiar fare while traveling with more adventurous locals.

     

    "I feel like Houston supported Main Kitchen," Smith writes. "You want everyone (hotel guests and local patrons) to be happy, and that can be a challenge. Main Kitchen has a very loyal Houston crowd, and I've had the pleasure of getting to know many of them."

     

    Executive sous chef Jelle Vandenbroucke has replaced Smith as the executive chef. The Belgian native brings experience at two-star Michelin restaurants as well as with a number of Four Seasons properties to the role.

     

    "Erin was instrumental in Main Kitchen's concept and part of the pre opening team," said Natalie Wiseman, vice president of sales and marketing for the hotel in a statement. "We wish her all the best on her future endeavors. We are repositioning the restaurant with new exciting menus in January."

     

    While Smith ponders her next move, diners might find her assisting her fiance Patrick Feges at Southern Goods in the Heights. The restaurant led by former Underbelly sous chef Lyle Bento and business partner Charles Bishop has been busy since its well-publicized opening this summer.

    Erin Smith's time at Main Kitchen has come to an end.

    Chef Erin Smith JW Marriott Houston Downtown January 2014
      
    Photo by Morris Malakoff
    Erin Smith's time at Main Kitchen has come to an end.
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    What's Eric Eating Episode 476

    Award-winning Houston chef dishes on season 4 of hit show The Bear

    CultureMap Staff
    Jul 15, 2025 | 6:00 am
    The Bear cast photo
    The Bear/Facebook
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    On the most recent episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” James Beard Award-winning chef Justin Yu joins CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss season four of The Bear, the FX series set in a Chicago restaurant. It’s become an annual tradition for the two men.

    (Spoilers ahead for all episodes of season four of The Bear.)



    In season four, which debuted on June 25, the show’s eponymous restaurant is struggling to find its footing after a review in the Chicago Tribune criticized the inconsistencies of chef Carmy Berzatto’s constantly-changing menu. The stressful environment leads chef de cuisine Sydney Adamu to contemplate leaving for a new restaurant. Yu relates to the other chef’s desire to hire Sydney away from The Bear.

    “This constantly happens in the restaurant business. We become both friends with and fans of people working under other people. You envision opening something new and having that person work for me. How do we get them to move over,” Yu says. “The ability to create is one thing. Money is a big thing. The promise of work-life balance is one thing. Those are ways to get people to move from one place to another.”

    The duo also take up the topic of sous chef Tina Marrero’s struggles to get the timing down on the pasta course that’s part of The Bear’s tasting menu. Sandler asks Yu about encouraging cooks to improve their skills

    “It’s trust but also training and the ability to have them understand what each dish means, the way it should taste and why, and how fast or slow it should go. A long time ago when we were being trained, we were told to cook the food and not given a reason for why it should be done that way. Whereas, we try our very best these days to explain the reasoning behind having a dish with fewer components so it can be plated up more quickly to get another turn on a table.”

    Listen to the full episode to hear Yu’s thoughts on Carmy’s decision to step away from The Bear. He also provides an update on some big changes come to the menu at Theodore Rex, his restaurant in downtown Houston’s Warehouse District that earned a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide.

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