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

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.”

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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

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

better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

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