Snuffed out

Celebrity-backed Houston barbecue restaurant flames out in CityCentre

Ayesha Curry and Michael Mina partnered to create International Smoke.

Photo courtesy of International Smoke

A celebrity-backed restaurant in CityCentre has served its last rib trio. International Smoke, a restaurant that united celebrity chef Michael Mina and lifestyle guru Ayesha Curry, has closed.

Mina Group, the California-based hospitality empire that opened the restaurant in July 2018, provided the following statement in response to CultureMap's request for comment about the closure:

International Smoke Houston will be closing its doors, effective immediately. We are grateful to all of our staff and guests for all of their support in the time that we’ve been open. We look forward to welcoming our guests at one of our other International Smoke restaurant locations in in San Francisco, Del Mar (just north of San Diego, CA), and Aventura (just north of Miami, FL), as well as the newest addition in Las Vegas, slated to open before the end of the year.

International Smoke seemed to have a lot of potential when it opened last year. Its celebrity founders created a menu that offered a global perspective on live fire cooking: blending everything from Curry's cornbread with Thai red curry butter to pork belly bao buns and a Korean-style smoked beef short rib. Veteran chef E.J. Miller (Riel, SaltAir Seafood Kitchen) gave the restaurant local credibility.

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Unfortunately the last rib has been smoked at International Smoke Houston. It was a fantastic ride guys. Thank you! Nothing but love. #thehardpart #smokeemifyougotem #smokeupjohnny #houston #texas

A post shared by E.J. Miller (@chef_ej_miller) on

Dec 10, 2019 at 3:34pm PST

Despite the best efforts of Rockets fans to slam the establishment with one star reviews before it opened (Curry's husband, NBA all-star Steph Curry, plays for rivals the Golden State Warriors), the restaurant earned some local praise, including a CultureMap Tastemaker Award nomination for Best New Restaurant a spot on Houston Chronicle critic Alison Cook's 2019 list of the city's top 100 restaurants.

Although it did manifest some signs of success, International Smoke doesn't appear to have connected with the broader dining public. Billed as a global barbecue restaurant, the establishment made the decision not to serve anything that resembled Texas barbecue. Chef Miller once referred to it as "the b word." For Texans, "barbecue" refers to such a specific style of cooking that its omission seems to have been to International Smoke's detriment.

The space's future is unknown at this time, but it could get snapped up quickly. CityCentre management provided CultureMap with a statement that reads in part: "Opportunities around our central plaza – especially those with patio dining – are at a premium. We’re regularly fielding inquiries from restaurateurs who would love to have a home on the green, and you can expect to see a new concept that complements the current line-up of dining and beverage offerings there very soon."

closings

fit to print

New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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