That's Amore!

Pioneering Mexican chef and chic speakeasy popping up at Houston hotel

[Update 5/30: This event has been rescheduled for August 25 and 26. Reservations are available via OpenTable.]

Houston diners won’t need a passport to explore Mexico’s culinary capital next month. On June 16 and 17, Four Seasons Hotel Houston will host From Oaxaca, With Love, a five-course experience that teams celebrated chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca with Oaxaca City cocktail bar Sabina Sabe and agave-spirits producer The Lost Explorer.

The evening begins with Sabina Sabe bartender Mike Prado greeting diners with a cocktail in Bandista, the hotel’s speakeasy bar and lounge. The libations promise to be divine, with Sabine Sabe currently ranked No. 54 Best Bar in North America, and Bandista sitting at No. 59.

From there, the party moves into a dining room filled with contemporary works supplied by Oaxaca Serrano Contemporary Art Gallery and underscored by live music.

Ruiz, whose flagship Casa Oaxaca earned a spot in Mexico’s inaugural Michelin Guide, built his reputation by elevating the dishes he learned as a child cooking alongside his mother on the family farm.

The chef stays close to his roots with recipes crafted using native ingredients such as chiles, corn, insects, and seeds purchased directly from local producers. Ruiz has long been considered an ambassador of the southern Mexican state — his enfrijoladas caused Noma’s famed Chef Rene Redzepi a moment of rapture.

For his Houston appearance, diners can expect a true taste of Oaxaca: think a mini tostada topped with heirloom chapulines, chicatanas, and gusanos de maguey (grasshoppers, flying ants, and agave worms); red snapper cured in a bright tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth; and a slow-braised short rib finished in a fruit-laced mole.

Prado will pair each course with cocktails such as the Pimiento Margarita, combining The Lost Explorer Tobalá mezcal with vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, and lime.

“It is our great pleasure to welcome chef Alejandro Ruiz and Sabina Sabe to Houston, Texas,” Tom Segesta, Four Seasons Hotel Houston’s general manager, said in a statement. "These dinners, featuring these awarded ambassadors of Oaxacan food and drink, are sure to be enjoyed by our local community and guests from around the world.”

The pop-up continues the hotel’s ongoing dinner-series format, which has previously spotlighted restaurants ranging from Emeril’s in New Orleans to Employees Only in New York and an Italian-American steakhouse from James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd.

From Oaxaca, With Love begins at 7 pm on Monday, June 16, and Tuesday, June 17. Seating is limited, with tickets priced at $250 per person plus tax and gratuity. Each reservation will receive a signed English-language copy of Ruiz’s cookbook The Food of Oaxaca: Recipes and Stories from Mexico's Culinary Capital. Reservations are available via OpenTable.

Those who wish to linger can book the hotel’s Advance Purchase offer, which discounts room rates by up to 25 percent when reserved three or more days ahead.

The menu features:

Starter Trio

Mini tostada with heirloom insects
Zucchini blossom stuffed with ricotta and roasted banana purée
Hoja santa “taco” with quesillo, beans, and wild mushrooms

Green Aguachile

Red snapper cured in tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth, Persian cucumber, red onion, cilantro, ginger-toasted peanuts
Cocktail: Pequeño Gigante – Madre Cuishe mezcal, hoja santa, ginger, lime, Oaxacan spices

Tortilla Soup

Tomato-pasilla mixe broth, crispy tortillas, fresh cheese, cream, pork cracklings, mint-celery garnish
Cocktail: Pimiento Margarita – Tobalá mezcal, Mistela vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, lime

Braised Short Rib

Anchamanteles mole, seasonal fruit relish, banana purée, crispy plantain
Cocktail: Agave Xerez – The Lost Explorer tequila, Palomino sherry, green apple, pear

Textures of Oaxacan

Chocolate Mousse, sponge cake, ice cream, tuile, passion-fruit jelly, cacao nibs
Neat pour of Tobalá mezcal
Traditional water-based hot chocolate infused with cacao flower

Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Houston

Four Seasons Hotel Houston is hosting a two-night pop-up dinner featuring chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca.

chefs news-you-can-eat hotels

Let's Get Boozy

Houston restaurant celebrates 3 years with new cocktail program

Photo by Luke Chang Jia Media

To celebrate its third anniversary, Jun has introduced a cocktail program to its menu with a newly-acquired liquor license.

Heights restaurant Jūn has an additional reason to celebrate its third anniversary this year: liquor is officially on the menu.

The Heights restaurant, led by owners Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu, has built a loyal following and earned major recognition since its 2023 opening, including a 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards nomination for Restaurant of the Year and two James Beard Award semifinalist nods.

But one complaint has remained consistent throughout the years.

“People will give us one star because we don't have the whiskey they want or we don't have a martini,” Lu tells CultureMap. “They're like, ‘Food is great. Service is amazing. We'll never come back here.’”

That’s about to change.

With a newly acquired liquor license, patrons can pair dishes like mussels with sour chorizo or tandoori-marinated lamb belly with drinks like the Pink Lady — a reimagining of the Texas classic White Lady made with beet-infused gin, citrus, and egg white.

Several drinks are closely tied to Lu and Garcia’s own stories, including the Post/Shift, an homage to the spicy margarita that Lu has sipped nightly at 9 pm for the past 15 years. The Jūn iteration adds ginger and tamarind, with mezcal as the spirit.

“We want to bring in things that are special to us, like the artwork in (Jūn), the food, the pottery — it all means something,” Lu says.

Other creations include the Good Old Fashion Fun, Very Dirty Martini, and The Bronx, a play on The Manhattan.

Before opening in 2023, Lu and Garcia looked into obtaining a liquor license but learned that installing a fire sprinkler system would be required due to an undefined occupancy limit. The pair planned to move forward with the installation, until they learned the wait time was at least a year.

“We're a legitimate mom and pop restaurant — I cannot delay this project for a year. We wouldn’t have opened,” Lu recalls saying.

After chatting with an industry colleague who had recently secured a license, Lu decided to revisit the process. With construction complete and an established occupancy limit, the restrictions had changed and a liquor license was easy to obtain. Jūn was in business.

When Jūn opened, Garcia and Lu developed a low-ABV “cocktail” program focused on wine and sake, emphasizing flavor through smoke and infusions of herbs and spices.

“We ran with what we had and we were really proud of it,” Lu says. “It really spoke of the creativity that this whole team strives for.”

That approach to flavor development carries into the expanded program, such as the carajillo, Jūn’s twist on the beloved coffee cocktail. The addition of smoked sake to the tequila-forward drink nods to the restaurant’s earlier beverage program.

“It gives it this well-rounded, beautiful, smoky flavor,” Lu says. “It's very homey. It's very reminiscent of a warm summer day.”

To mark both the restaurant’s third anniversary and the addition of liquor, Lu and Garcia are inviting the community to a celebration on Tuesday, March 31.

Attendees will find food by chefs Suu Khin of Burmalicious, Nina Fonte of Aleng Nina, and Ivan Chavez of Chavos BBQ, all regular pop-up participants at Third Place, Jūn’s daytime cafe and coffee concept.

A live sketch artist will capture portraits of guests for a group composite illustration that will hang on the restaurant’s wall. A photo booth, mariachi band, and live DJ are a part of the festivities, with drag bingo occurring later in the evening. The event begins at 6 pm. Tables are first come, first served, and RSVPs are required through OpenTable.

Jūn is open Wednesday through Monday from 5 pm to 10 pm at 420 East 20th Street, Suite A. Cocktails are not being served at Third Place.

To celebrate its third anniversary, Jun has introduced a cocktail program to its menu with a newly-acquired liquor license.

Photo by Luke Chang Jia Media

To celebrate its third anniversary, Jun has introduced a cocktail program to its menu with a newly-acquired liquor license.

news-you-can-eat the-heights cocktails

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Let's Get Boozy

Houston restaurant celebrates 3 years with new cocktail program

To celebrate its third anniversary, Jun has introduced a cocktail program to its menu with a newly-acquired liquor license.