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.

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

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Pivot to catering

Houston barbecue joint will soon shutter due to $72,000 of unpaid rent

Fainmous BBQ/Facebook

Fainmous BBQ is asking for help.

Unpaid rent is forcing a Houston barbecue joint to shutter its brick-and-mortar location, but the restaurant’s popular catering business will live on. In an emotional social media post, Jamie and Karen Fain shared that Fainmous BBQ, their restaurant in Sawyer Yards, will soon close due to unpaid rent of $72,000.

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A post shared by Fainmous BBQ (@fainmousbbq)

Widely considered the only East Tennessee-inspired barbecue restaurant in Houston, Fainmous moved from its original location in Westbury to Sawyer Yards in 2019. In a 2025 article in the Houston Chronicle, the Fains explain the location didn’t pan out the way they thought it would, prompting them to focus on catering. When the restaurant reopened for dine-in, it offered barbecue sandwiches for as little as $8, but it hasn’t been sufficient to pay back the rent they owe.

The social media post also discusses their challenges with other tenants at the property. With the unpaid rent due by Sunday, February 15, the restaurant's time at the development appears to be coming to an end.

Lovett Commercial, which owns the property, provided CultureMap with a statement about the situation:

We’re aware of the recent fundraising effort and the public conversation surrounding it. Like many businesses, we experienced significant impacts during COVID, particularly related to development timelines and operations. With that context in mind, ownership has worked extensively and in good faith with Fainmous BBQ over a prolonged period, providing meaningful flexibility on rent, including a structured payment plan that ultimately was not fulfilled.

The accumulation of several years of incomplete payments has contributed to the current outstanding balance and situation. Our priority remains finding a responsible and equitable resolution for all involved, and we remain hopeful that a constructive path forward can be achieved.

For the Fains, the path forward is to leave. Towards that end, the couple have started a GoFundMe to facilitate their exit from Sawyer Yards and a move to a new catering kitchen. So far, it has raised approximately $2,000 out of $3,500 requested.

closings news-you-can-eat barbecue