What's Eric Eating Episode 219

Meet Houston's newest rising star chef, plus smokin' new BBQ in EaDo

Warren Luckett Reginald Scott Shakti Baum Oxtail Mash Up

Chef Reginald Scott, center, with Oxtail Mash Up organizers Warren Luckett and Shakti Baum.

Photo by Emile Browne Media

On this week's episode of "What's Eric Eating," chef Reginald Scott, the recent winner of the Oxtail Mash Up cooking competition, joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss his career. Formerly the executive sous chef at Kulture, Scott is currently engaged in a number of projects, including selling food at the Braeswood Farmers Market, consulting, and participating in the Black Chef Table pop-up series.

The conversation covers a range fo topics, including how Scott got started in the food business, how he conceptualized the winning dish — a suya-spiced, smoked oxtail with peanuts and crispy tripe puff — and his experiences working for James Beard Award nominee and Top Chef finalist Dawn Burrell at Kulture.

"I learned so much. I learned that the standard way of doing things is not standard anymore," Scott says about what he learned from Burrell. "The French way of doing things, I was trained under classic Italian chefs. It rattled my brain about what was 'normal.' She had a style that brought the African diaspora mixed with a lot of Asian influence . . . It broadened my mind to where [I thought] 'man, I can get creative with this.'"

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Matt Harris discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: all of the changes Chris Shepherd announced to his operations, including closing UB Preserv; the opening of the Post Market food hall at downtown's Post Houston development; and chef Martha Wilcox joining Indianola restaurant as its chef de cuisine.

In the restaurants of the week segment, the duo share first impressions of J-Bar-M Barbecue, the ambitious restaurant that's the new home of pitmaster Willow Villarreal and his fiancee, chef de cuisine Jasmine Barela. Then, they discuss a recent meal at Lao Sze Chuan, the acclaimed, Chicago-based Chinese restaurant that opened in Katy this summer.

-----

Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Saturday at 1 pm on ESPN 97.5.

podcasts chefs

moving swiftly

Historic Heights redevelopment adds ice cream shop and premium juice bar

Courtesy of Radom Capital

The Swift BLDG is expected to open in late 2026.

Two tenants are confirmed for The Swift BLDG, the new mixed-use project in the historic Swift & Company Packing Plant that’s located near the Heights Hike & Bike Trail. Earlier this week, Radom Capital and Triten Real Estate Partners announced they have leased space to the following:

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream: The New York-based ice cream shop
Leemoo: A premium juice bar

Founded in 2008 by Ben Van Leeuwen, Pete Van Leeuwen, and Laura O’Neill, Van Leeuwen makes ice cream with rigorously sourced, high-quality ingredients from around the world. Regulations require its packaging to be labeled “French ice cream,” because it uses too much egg yolk to be “regular” ice cream. Van Leeuwen also offers an extensive lineup of vegan flavors as well as sundaes, milkshakes, and ice cream sandwiches. It has three Houston locations, including in Radom’s Montrose Collective development.

Ben Van Leeuwen ice cream Ben Van Leeuwen founded his ice cream company in 2008.Courtesy of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

Leemoo is known for its smoothies, açaí bowls, and fresh-pressed juices that are made with house-made ingredients and carefully sourced produce. Crafted around balance, flavor, and performance, Leemoo seeks to deliver exceptional taste and everyday vitality, according to press materials. Like Van Leeuwen, Leemoo has a location in the Montrose Collective and has also signed on to Radom’s Greenside development near Memorial City Mall.

On track to open to the public in late 2026, The Swift BLDG will offer more than 35,000 square feet of office space along with 25,000 square feet of restaurant and wellness tenants, including Houston Tex-Mex restaurant Escalente’s and San Antonio-based Merit Coffee. The two companies previously partnered on M-K-T, the Heights mixed-use development that’s near the Swift project. Radom is known for a number of other Houston developments, including the Montrose Collective and the historic Tower Theater property and its adjacent buildings.

news-you-can-eat openings the-heights swift bldg