Fung's Kitchen BYOB Guide

Chris Shepherd suggests the best BYOB wines for a Chinese food feast

It's dangerous to go alone. Take Chris' guide with you.

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What’s happening team!

I hope your late summer has been great. Mine has been fantastic. We did a small Southern Smoke Festival in Napa Valley, my wife and I went to Chicago to see Metallica and got to meet some members of the band, and we just got home from a quick trip to Kauai with family and now I’m back at it!

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I want to start a discussion in this forum. I absolutely love going to restaurants and looking over the wine list to really see the personality of the restaurant coming through — seeing how the buyer puts their spin on what they think you should drink with that specific restaurant’s food. But what if there is no wine list?

It’s time to talk about BYOB restaurants! First, let's talk about the law. Can you take wine with you to any restaurant? The answer is no, not according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code. If a restaurant or club holds a mixed beverage permit — that means they serve liquor — the answer is absolutely no, you cannot bring in your own alcohol. So that removes most restaurants from the BYOB equation. Not even on your anniversary, birthday, or any other special occasion. The answer is still no, and restaurants that ignore those regulations risk major fines from the TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission).

If the restaurant holds a beer and wine license or doesn’t have a liquor license at all, the law allows you to bring your own wine, but it’s best to call and ask before you do. Don’t pull out a law book — just understand that restaurants may want you to order something from their list. Sometimes, the restaurant just doesn’t have the right glassware, or the owners might have a religious reason that they don’t carry alcohol. We need to respect the operators. We love them and are thankful they are running beautiful restaurants in our wonderful city.

If they allow you to bring in wine, always ask about their corkage fee. Generally, it’s $10-$15 per bottle. I would also check their list before you go; bring something they don’t have on their list.

Let’s walk through my BYOB thought process for just a second. I like to be prepared. First, I decide where to go. Let’s go with Fung’s Kitchen, because I love it and I just ate there. Second is how many people are going with you — we had five. I get the bag ready. I love a Yeti Hopper, the soft sided cooler is perfect for taking wine with you anywhere. I also have some frozen gel packs in the freezer so I throw them in the cooler. I make sure that there is a wine opener in there as well.

Five people means at least four bottles need to be packed — not because we will drink all five — but you need to have options just in case any of your wine is flawed. Nobody wants to bring one bottle and find out it’s corked.

Going to Fung’s is a food and wine lovers dream. Even at night, you can order select dumplings to start off, which are great with champagne from any producer you love. I always hit up Antonio Gianola at Houston Wine Merchant for a good recommendation. I also have been on a crisp Sauvignon Blanc kick for a while especially those from producers like Rocchioli or Ink Grade.

Then move into some of the live seafood items like a Dungeness crab in tamarind sauce, steamed spot prawns or shrimp, plus they just put a Lobster Mountain on the menu, and it’s magnificent.

Fung's Kitchen lobster mountain Behold the lobster mountainPhoto by Chris Shepherd

I feel like I just heard the record player come to a complete stop and the room went silent — yes, I said Lobster Mountain. What is that you say?

The mad geniuses at Fung’s have created a show stopping mountain of six beautifully seasoned fried lobsters and French fries stacked to the moon! I had no idea what we were getting into when I said “yes, I want that!” When it hit the table I feel like the earth shook and the everyone at the table jaws hit the floor. What an absolute spectacle and it wasn’t just pretty, it was delicious. [Editor’s note: As of August 22, the dish costs $168 but is subject to market pricing.]

This is a dish that you absolutely need to get your friends together and go try. It’s a must on the new bucket list. It’s just fun, and anytime something like this comes around you owe it to yourself to go try it and enjoy life. This is also where I tend to move into some killer Chardonnay from Hirsch Family Vineyards.

At this point, if you can take on a Peking duck, it’s time to get down with a great Pinot Noir from Sonoma or one of my favorite areas like Santa Barbara. Burgundy or Beaujolais work fantastic here as well. There is just something magical about roasted crispy duck with hoisin stuffed into a steamed bun with some Dragonette Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir — delicious.

If you really thought things through and read this thoroughly, then you might have packed some amaro in that bag. It’s time to pull that out because there is one more item that without a doubt needs to hit the table.

You can never — and I mean never — leave Fung’s without ordering the lava buns. Crispy but soft, light but dense, these warm buns filled with a warm, salted egg custard are one of the greatest desserts of all time. I would warn you to be careful and lean over the plate when biting into this bun because when I say “filled” I mean it’s loaded!

Now that we have started the conversation about BYOB restaurants, I see myself talking about this topic more regularly. I feel that understanding what to bring is crucial. If you prepare yourself with the right bottles, your meals will be so much more memorable and those wines that you have been collecting will shine so much more.

As a final thought, I would remind you to be able fully enjoy these type of meals is to always be responsible and use a ride share for the evening. I want you to be safe and have a blast! Til next time, cheers!

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Which style of restaurant would you like Chris's next BYOB guide to focus on? Send your suggestions to our Wine Guy via email at chris@chrisshepherd.is.

Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $11 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund. Catch his TV show, Eat Like a Local, every Saturday at 10 am on KPRC Channel 2.

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oh bevin

Houston bartender's new book celebrates cocktails and sexuality

Photo by Troy Ezequiel Montes

Bevin Biggers writes about sex and cocktails in her new book, Aphro.

“There's a lot of stigma about sexuality, especially with black women.”

Louisiana-born, Houston-based mixologist/multidisciplinary artist Bevin Biggers says as she’s flipping through the pages of her literary debut Aphro: A Cocktail Book on the Sexual Response Cycle. A veteran of Houston’s bar and restaurant scene, who has worked nightspots from Montrose to the Heights and collaborated with big-name alcohol brands (and who also isn’t afraid to call out shady establishments), Biggers has created a project that’s part cocktail manual and part Black, female sexuality manifesto.

“We already have a lot of other s**t going on and then, on top of that, it's sex, too,” says Biggers, while sipping on a drink at a Midtown watering hole. She points out that, when it comes to media representation, Black women have been stuck with many stereotypical caricatures/portrayals throughout the decades: maids, baby mommas, lesbians, jezebels, sistas who are just plain ol’ angry. But as for Black women who freely explore their sexuality with no shame or repercussions, the culture usually comes up empty.

“[White women] can be explorative and do all these different things. Black women do it and it’s ‘she’s a whore’ or whatever, right? So, all these caricatures kind of negatively impact how we live, and I talk about all of that here,” she says.

Aphro originally began a decade ago as a bar concept. After years of becoming a pro in the mixology game, even honing her craft-cocktail skills while living in New York (where she became a fan of the city’s Museum of Sex), she wanted to make it a full-fledged business. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been a good time to open a bar (“Bars are expensive,” she confirms).

Eventually, it morphed into a book project where Biggers drops sex talk, cocktail recipes, and surprising bits of African American history. “There's a lot of Black bartenders back in the day who freed their wives, their children, and themselves from slavery, using bartenderships,” she says.

The sex lives of African Americans during and after slavery is a subject Biggers has done extensive research on. Last November, she gave her Substack readers an Aphro taste when she posted a lengthy study on chattel slavery and its impact on the orgasm gap. “It's still a real cocktail book – there are still many pages of recipes,” she assures. “But, here, I talk about stereotypes, caricatures of black women, the orgasm gap, chattel slavery, and how things almost connect to current times.” She also included a questionnaire she sent women regarding orgasms. “I asked very specific questions, and I got a lot of f—ed-up answers, which was the whole point ”

Funded by a grant from Houston Arts Alliance, Biggers worked with Toronto-based Sure Print & Design to put Aphro into book form. She collaborated with local photographer Rosebeth Akharamen in serving up glorious color shots of the suggestively-named cocktails, made from “aphrodisiac ingredients,” Biggers had conceived.

Drinks range from “Late Night Cinemax,” (consisting of mezcal, corn puree, chipotle honey, coconut, and a popcorn garnish) to “Locally Deflower” (which includes Texas sized herbs and “delicate floral notes to evoke a softer intimacy”). These 20 recipes are the result of Biggers spending over a decade getting to know more about classic cocktails and modern bartending techniques.

“I come from Hiram Clarke, where it’s just Hennessy, Alize, Crown Royal,” she says. “And, then, when I came to start bartending, I was learning about Fernet and Montenegro and IPAs and good considerations of beers, and I was like, what the hell is all this? But I want to learn. I want to know what y'all know,” she says.

We also get seductive shots of Biggers herself, all glammed up in several swanky locations, including her own living room. “I didn’t see any of these photos when she took them because we were in a rush, because of the makeup artists, and I had to do my makeup all over again,” she says. “So, this was all trust, and she knocked it out the park.”

For Biggers, it’s all worth it if her fellow cocoa-colored beauties buy her book and start feeling more grown, Black, and sexy about themselves. “The inspiration is always being curious about this topic, but it was such a big deal in my community, of not wanting to be accused of being fast,” she says. “Even something that's mutual, it's always, what did you do to him? If it's kissing, it’s you kissed him, and it's not like, y'all kissed each other, you know. There was always punishment for something that's kind of natural. Then, when you're curious about something like that, you start to learn about it in dangerous ways… You learn through strangers, because your parents are not telling you anything about this stuff. You learn through movies. You learn through putting viruses on the f—ing computer, because you typed in the wrong thing, and now, the home computer, the family computer is f—ed up.”

Biggers ordered a limited run of Aphro volumes that she sells on her website, which also has related merch like color prints and an adult coloring book. She still has dreams of turning her book into a watering hole one day. Until then, she’ll continue her mission of instructing women (and men) on how to stir up your sex life – as well as a stiff drink.

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Biggers will host an Aphro book release party/talk at Los Perros Cafe on Friday, April 17, at 7 pm. RSVP here.

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