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.

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Domo Arigato

Award-winning Texas ramen shop sets opening date for Meyerland location

Courtesy of Ramen Tatsu-ya

Ramen Tatsu-ya's Meyerland location opens on Saturday, October 31.

Houstonians had to wait seven years for a second location of Ramen Tatsu-ya, but the Austin-based restaurant’s third Houston outpost is coming much more quickly.

The restaurant’s Meyerland location will open on Saturday, October 31, in the former Boston Market location at 4672 Beechnut St.

Known for its signature tonkotsu broth, which takes up to three days to prepare, chefs Tatsu Aikawa and Takuya Matsumoto opened the original Ramen Tatsu-ya in 2012. It quickly earned wide acclaim, including a spot on Bon Appetit’s list of America’s Best New Restaurants of 2013.

Since then, the restaurant has grown to six locations in Austin and two in Houston — a Montrose store that opened in 2017 and a Town & Country outpost that debuted in December 2025. More could be on the way.

“There's certainly room and good trade area dynamics to support more Ramen Tatsu-Ya locations in Houston,” CEO Todd Coerver writes in an email. “I have no magic number or timeline in mind for such growth. A lot will depend on the performance of the newer locations we are opening in Houston. Community reaction will dictate the answer to how many, how fast.”

In addition to its noodles, Ramen Tatsu-ya also serves small plates such as its signature Sweet and Sour Yodas (aka, Brussels sprouts), karaage, and gyoza. They can be paired with a full range of drinks, including beer, sake, frozens, and non-alcoholic sips such as lemongrass-cucumber limeade and strawberry-yuzu lemonade.

The company operates three other concepts: Domo Alley-Gato Tatsu-Ya, a casual patio bar; Tiki Tatsu-Ya, a tiki bar and restaurant; and Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, a Texas-inspired izakaya that holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. Could they be headed to Houston, too?

“I wouldn't rule out the possibility for a version of Kemuri to expand to Houston one day. But we are really just focused on Ramen Tatsu-Ya at the moment,” he writes.

Ramen Tatsu-ya will celebrate its Bellaire grand opening with free t-shirts for the 25 customers, the chance to win free ramen for a year, a free popsicle with purchase for anyone in costume, and a DJ set from 6-8 pm. It will also give out treats to trick-or-treaters.

“We’re excited to bring a new location to the Bellaire area,” Coerver added in a statement. “And having our grand opening on Halloween gives us a chance to really ratchet up the fun!”

Ramen Tatsu-ya is only the latest addition to the Bellaire/Meyerland area. The second location of Tex-Mex restaurant Candente opened in late 2025. Pudgy’s Fine Cookies and Underground Creamery will open their second location across the street from Ramen Tatsu-ya this Sunday, October 25.

Courtesy of Ramen Tatsu-ya

Ramen Tatsu-ya's Meyerland location opens on Saturday, October 31.

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