6 best January food and drink events in Houston, from a star chef bash to brisket 101

Brennan's will host the Perfect 10 Gala.

Photo courtesy of Brennan’s of Houston

After a pause for holiday festivities, Houston’s restaurants, bars, and other organizations are back to hosting a lively roster of food events. January’s top options include a meal featuring some of the city’s top chefs, a brisket class, and the opportunity to eat haggis while drinking Scotch.

Now through January 31

30th Anniversary Specials at Gringo's Mexican Kitchen
All 15 locations of the popular Tex-Mex restaurant will serve a throwback menu in honor of the first location that opened in Pearland on January 11, 1993. Special menu items include the Sombrero combination plate (bean chalupa, cheese enchilada, beef enchilada, and queso chip), Fajitas Rancheros, and more.

Tuesday, January 17

Perfect 10 Gala at Brennan’s of Houston
Local restaurant publication Houston Food Finder has gathering a who’s-who of chefs, sommeliers, and bartenders for this Mardi Gras-themed dinner. The VIP welcoming reception features five bites by chefs David Skinner (eculent), Niki Vongthong (Hidden Omakase), Alex Au-Yeung (Phat Eatery), James Beard Award winner Hugo Ortega, and CultureMap Tastemaker Awards winner Benchawan Painter (Street to Kitchen). The six-course dinner includes dishes by Chris Roy (Winnie’s), Mark Holley (Davis St.), and Vanarin Kuch (Koffeteria). Tickets cost $185 for general admission and $245 for VIP.

Betty White Birthday Bash at Angel Share
Downtown’s charity bar will throw a special party in honor of the beloved late actress. Get happy hour pricing ($5 wells, $5 drafts, and $5 shot specials) from 4-7 pm plus $15 bottles of sparkling while they last. Patrons can also sip the Drink yo’ Face, a vodka-based cocktail with an image of White.

Angel Share drink yo face Drink Betty White's face at Angel Share.Photo by Taylor Hall

Wednesday, January 18

Brisket 101 at R-C Ranch
Learn to trim, prep, rub, and cook the signature meat of Texas barbecue during this class at the butcher shop that’s part of the Houston Farmers Market. Pitmaster Jeremy “JJ” Jeffers, owner of J Bar J Texas Pit BBQ in Brookshire and a partner in Alex Bregman’s Breggy Bomb, will share tips on wood smoke profiles, temperatures, timing, wrapping, slicing, and serving. The class also includes brisket samples, sandwiches, and the opportunity to purchase a R-C Ranch wagyu brisket for the discounted price of $75. Tickets, $100, are available online.

Saturday, January 21

Bobby Burns Supper at The Art of Cellaring
Chef Richard Knight (Feast, Hunky Dory) and sommelier Sean Beck (formerly with H-Town Restaurant Group) have teamed up for this dinner celebrating the life of the legendary Scottish poet who authored “Address to a Haggis.” The four-course menu includes the iconic dish along with cock-a-leekie soup and cranachan, a dessert made with toasted oats, fresh berries, and whipped cream. Beck’s pairings include wines and Compass Box whisky. Tickets, $88, are available by emailing seanpoursmagic@gmail.com.

Thursday, January 26

Bourbon, Bison & Brims dinner at Rainbow Lodge
The fine dining restaurant welcomes Rodeo season with this wild game dinner that features free-range meats and wild-caught seafood sourced from Beck & Bulow in Santa Fe, NM. Chef Mark Schmidt’s menu will include New Mexico bison, wagyu beef, wild-caught Alaskan sablefish, sustainable caviar, and North American elk. Festive Western attire is encouraged, $195.

news-you-can-eat

Houston's smallest restaurant?

Michelin-recognized Houston sushi chef fires up 4-seat Japanese skewer spot

Courtesy of Sip & Skewer

Diners sit in front of chefs cooking on a grill.

The team behind one of Houston’s Michelin-recognized sushi restaurants is opening an intimate new izakaya. Sip & Skewer is the newest concept from Hidden Omakase owner Tuan Tran and chef Marcos Juarez.

Opening Friday, February 13, Sip & Skewer is a four-seat restaurant devoted to skewered meats that’s located within Sushi by Hidden, the group’s affordable omakase restaurant in Rice Village. At Sip & Skewer, diners sit across from the chefs as they cook a 10-course, $90 meal on a Japanese binchotan grill.

“Sip & Skewer is small, loud, and intentional. The kind of hidden experience you’d find in Tokyo,” Tran said. “And with Chef Marcos guiding the team at Sushi by Hidden, this space is getting new energy from every angle.”

A four-seat restaurant within a 10-seat restaurant might seem kind of superfluous, but Tran explains that it’s part of a larger plan for his group of restaurants, which also includes West U. hand roll restaurant Norigami. It also builds on the success of Hidden Omakase, the Galleria-area sushi counter that earned a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“Sip & Skewer is part of a larger vision. It’s designed as a stepping stone toward our next concept, Kōri, a new hand roll and craft cocktail bar opening in the Heights. Our plan is to open Sip & Skewer directly next to our hand roll spot, creating a small alley of Japanese concepts that feed into one another,” Tran explains.

“This allows us to build awareness, train our team in a new format, and introduce guests to Japanese charcoal grilling in a very personal way before we scale the idea into a larger setting with Kōri. The four-seat format keeps overhead extremely low while serving as a live test kitchen and brand builder for what’s coming next,” he adds.

On a related note, Juarez and the other chefs at Hidden Omakase are dividing their time between all three restaurants. Tuam explains that it’s a deliberate strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience.

“The same team that works Michelin-recognized omakase service also runs the grill here, which keeps quality and execution consistent while allowing the chefs a creative outlet in a very different format,” Tran said. “Because Sip & Skewer is only four seats and reservations only, it does not require a dedicated full-time staff. It’s an extension of the team rather than a separate operation.”