What's Eric Eating Episodes 360 and 361

Meet the live fire-loving chefs behind the hottest new restaurant in the Heights

Baso restaurant chefs Max Lappe and Jacques Varon

Chefs Max Lappe and Jacques Varon are this week's guests.

Photo by Eric Sandler

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” chefs Jacques Varon and Max Lappe join CultureMap editor Eric Sandler to discuss Baso. Located in the Heights, Baso is a Basque-inspired restaurant that prepares many of its dishes using a wood-fired hearth.

The conversation begins with both chefs explaining their paths to professional cooking. Eventually, they worked together at Angler, a seafood restaurant in Los Angeles. When Varon decided to return to his hometown of Houston to open Baso, he recruited Lappe to join him.

Baso has been building a following for the duo’s flavorful interpretation of Basque cuisine, including earning two CultureMap Tastemaker Award nominations for Best New Restaurant and Rising Star Chef of the Year. They discuss some of their popular dishes with Sandler, including their innovative caviar service, signature grilled pork chop, and roasted cabbage with lamb bacon. Sandler asks how they stay motivated when they've received so much attention so quickly.

“I get a lot of motivation from my friends at these Nordic restaurants or Japanese restaurants I’ve worked in. They say, you have to keep pushing the boundaries. If you don’t, people get bored, and you become another Chili’s. Keeping people on their toes makes me happy,” Varon says.

“Like Jacques was saying, I never trust when anyone says anything is good. It kind of freaks me out. I think, why is everyone lying to me? Why is everyone nodding their heads? I don’t believe it,” Lappe adds. “I don’t see us stopping pushing any time. I know we have a really long way to go. I think we’re alright for being new, but I won’t be okay with where we’re at a month down the line.”

On this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Monica Danna discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: chef Alex Padilla announcing his departure from The Original Ninfa’s; Chicago restaurant Portillo’s plans to open two Houston-area locations; and the opening of High Five Mini Bar at the Stomping Grounds in Garden Oaks.

In the restaurants of the week segment, Danna and Sandler discuss their recent meal at PostScript, the female-focused Upper Kirby restaurant that features a menu created by Houston chef Bryan Caswell. They share thoughts on its very pink interior as well as some of their favorite dishes. From there, they turn to a recent meal at Le Jardinier, the New York-based French fine dining restaurant at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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chefs interview the-heights podcasts

a CultureMap Exclusive

Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster

Courtesy of The Rice Box

A rendering previews The Rice Box's new location in Webster.

Houston’s Chinese takeout bar from the future is coming to the Bay Area. The sixth location of The Rice Box will open in Webster later this summer.

Located at 114 El Dorado Blvd, the new location will be called Rice Box Space Center after NASA’s headquarters at the nearby Johnson Space Center. Founder John Peterson tells CultureMap that it’s a bit of a homecoming for him and his wife/business partner, Jenny Vo, as they grew up in the area. As with every new location, the restaurant created a movie-style poster to announce its opening.

Rice Box Webster movie poster The Rice Box Space Center is expected to open later this summer.Courtesy of The Rice Box

For its first truly suburban location, Peterson plans to offer a more efficient pickup system for to-go orders. Dubbed The Rice Box Pickup Reactors, the system applies Rice Box’s sci-fi aesthetic to curbside ordering. As seen in the rendering above, the building will have six slots that drivers will pull into to get their orders.

“The goal is to have guests in and out with food in hand in around 90 seconds,” Peterson writes in an email. “It’s still pickup, but we’re trying to make that moment feel more intentional and more connected to the digital side of Rice Box instead of treating it like an afterthought. We’re looking at this opening as both a new store and a prototype for how Rice Box can work in more suburban markets without losing the part of the brand that makes it feel like us.”

Bay Area-area diners can expect the same menu as the Rice Box’s other locations. That includes staples such as General Tso’s chicken, sesame chicken, beef with broccoli, and orange peel beef. The restaurant also serves traditional Chinese-inspired fare such as Chongqing chicken, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and chow fun noodles.

Recently, Peterson rolled out a new version of Rice Box’s dumplings. Available in chicken, pork, or vegetable, each style of dumpling comes with a different wrapper that enhances the filling’s flavor. They’re also available either steamed or fried.

The Rice Box started as a food truck in the early 2010s. After moving to a permanent location in the Greenway Plaza food court, it has opened brick-and-mortar locations in the Heights, River Oaks, Rice Village, and Memorial.

openings news-you-can-eat the rice box

What's Eric Eating Episodes 360 and 361

Meet the live fire-loving chefs behind the hottest new restaurant in the Heights

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Houston's 'Chinese takeout bar from the future' touches down in Webster