houston's star chefs

Houston's hottest rising star chefs shine at prestigious awards gala

A national organization that seeks to identify future culinary leaders shines its spotlight on Houston this week. StarChefs, an organization dedicated to celebrating up-and-coming culinary talent, will host a gala Tuesday, December 10 to celebrate its 2019 class of Houston rising stars.

The winners, listed below, constitute a mix of prominent names in Houston’s contemporary restaurant scene as well as promising culinary talent who may still be flying a little under the radar while they work for more prominent chefs and restaurant groups. StarChefs’ managing partner Will Blunt tells CultureMap that the organization spent over three weeks interviewing 70 candidates for its class of 17 announced winners (plus two more that will be revealed Tuesday night).

By coming to the city to meet with candidates for interviews, photoshoots, and tastings, StarChefs sets itself apart from other national awards or lists. These winners might go on to earn more prominent industry awards such as Food & Wine Best New Chef or a James Beard Award.

“Often the StarChefs Rising Stars Award is the first major award or national recognition a young chef, sommelier, bartender, or artisan may receive,” Blunt tells CultureMap in an email. “Because StarChefs is on the ground in restaurants interviewing and tasting with hundreds of chefs and other industry professionals across the country every year, we have insights into the hospitality industry on a micro level. No other publication in the country has been able to do this kind of grassroots work.”

Because the organization is returning to Houston for the first time since 2011, it had a lot of ground to cover. In the rising star chefs category, that means the class includes a mix of veterans like Bobby Matos (State of Grace, La Lucha) and Drake Leonards (Eunice) are paired with newer talents like Kaitlin Steets (Theodore Rex) and Natasha Douglas (Better Luck Tomorrow). While it might have made more sense to recognize someone like Matos earlier in his career — he led Tony Vallone’s casual Italian restaurant Ciao Bello before moving on to Ford Fry’s Houston restaurants in 2015 — Blunt explains the organization didn’t want to punish worthy talents just cause it’s been a little tardy about returning.

Regardless of age or experience, Blunt writes that certain qualities unite all of the winners. “What makes the winners standout, besides delicious food and cocktails etc., is leadership, community participation, and vision. The winners are pushing Houston hospitality forward and are models for others in their city and nationally.”

Back in 2011, the organization did a fairly good job of identifying the chefs and other culinary professionals who are leaders in the scene today, including rising star chefs like Chris Shepherd (then at Catalan), Manabu Horiuchi (Kata Robata), and Seth Siegel-Gardner (then at Kata Robata, recently of The Pass & Provisions). Bobby Heugel (Anvil, etc) earned an award for mixologist, and Sean Beck (Caracol, Hugo’s, etc) won the rising star sommelier award.

Asked to identify which of this year’s winners he thinks is most likely to become the next Shepherd or Heugel, Blunt writes that all of them have potential.

“It’s a toss up because this class is so strong, and they have such great examples in their forebearers like Hori-san or Bobby,” he states. “Each of the 2019 StarChefs Houston Rising Stars has that potential. That’s why we picked them. We believe in them as leaders.”

On Tuesday night, the winners will gather for a gala awards ceremony featuring dishes prepared by the winning chefs paired with cocktails prepared by and wines selected by the rising star bartenders and sommeliers. At the event, the organization will present two additional awards: Arts of Presentation and Mentor.

We’ll predict that former rising star winner Shepherd earns the mentor title. Buy tickets online to attend the event ($85 general admission, $125 VIP).

2019 StarChefs Houston Rising Stars Award Winners

Chefs

Natasha Douglas: Better Luck Tomorrow and Penny Quarter
Drake Leonards: Eunice
Bobby Matos: State of Grace and La Lucha
Kaitlin Steets: Theodore Rex
Nick Wong: UB Preserv

Game Changer Chef

Jonny Rhodes: Indigo

Community Chefs

Patrick Feges and Erin Smith: Feges BBQ

Pastry Chef

Meredith Larke: Uchi Houston

Concept

Jasmine Chida: Sweet Cup Gelato & Sorbet Originale

Bartenders

Tommy Ho: Anvil Bar & Refuge
Westin Galleymore: Underbelly Hospitality

Artisan Baker

Mathieu Cabon: Magnol French Baking

Artisan Roaster

Benji Aguilar & Kaitlin O’Brien: Xela Coffee Roasters

Restaurateur

David Keck: Goodnight Hospitality

Sommeliers

Andres Blanco: Caracol
Lindsay Thomas: Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

Erin Smith and Patrick Feges.

Courtesy of StarChefs

Erin Smith and Patrick Feges.

chefs awards

better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

Courtesy of Pizaro's Pizza

Get the Holiday Decadence pizza through the end of December.

One of Houston’s most well-regarded pizzerias is giving diners a way to splurge this holiday season. For a limited time only, Pizaro’s Pizza is topping one of its Neapolitan-style pies with caviar.

Called the Holiday Decadence, it’s a personal-sized, 8-inch, Neapolitan-style pizza topped simply with Pizaro’s housemade mozzarella cheese and seasoned with a little furikake. Alongside, the restaurant provides diners with lemon zest crème fraîche, a small bottle of prosecco, and a one-ounce jar of paddlefish caviar from Houston’s DR Delicacy. Priced at $59, it’s either an indulgent treat for one person or an extravagant appetizer for two.

Pizaro’s co-owner Nicole Bean tells CultureMap she sees the new pizza as an improvement on the caviar special the restaurant tried two years ago, which used its thicker, Detroit-style pizza.

“This year, we simplified things,” she says. “We made it more affordable. We added more caviar. The feature is the caviar, focusing on having a whole, one-ounce container either for yourself or to share with one other person.”

In this configuration, the pizza crust essentially serves as an oversized blini, with the furikake boosting the caviar’s oceanic flavors. Serving the caviar in the jar allows diners to add as much or as little to the pizza as they want. Introduced last week, Bean says the restaurant hasn’t sold that many caviar pizzas yet, but that doesn’t surprise her.

“People are a little hesitant with it being caviar and the $60 price point,” she says. “It’s not for everybody. It’s for people who are curious and want to try it or really love caviar and want to try it every way they can.”

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Imani Guillory (@the_imani_experience)

The restaurant always uses its monthly specials to experiment beyond familiar toppings like pepperoni and mushroom. Next month, Bean and her brother, co-owner Matt Hutchinson, will present dueling pies — his topped with crispy prosciutto, sautéed onions, and balsamic drizzle and hers a simple tomato pie, anchovies optional but strongly encouraged.

“The fun thing about pizza is you can literally do anything with it,” Bean says. “I want people to try different things on pizza. It can be decadent. It can be upscale. It can be fresh and new.”

The Holiday Decadence is available at both Pizaro’s locations through December 31. Find more details at the Pizaro’s Pizza website.

news-you-can-eat pizza caviar