On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” chefs Evelyn Garcia and Henry Lu join CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Jūn, their restaurant in the Heights. The chefs celebrated their restaurant’s first anniversary in February.

The conversation begins with Garcia, who reached the finals of Top Chef’s Houston season, recalling how she and Lu settled on Jūn’s location in the Heights. Lu shares the various factors that inspired the life long New Yorker to move to partner with Garcia and move to the Bayou City.

From there, the chefs discuss the lessons they’ve learned from their first year in business. Sandler asks what they’ve done to build a solid group of neighborhood regulars.

“Our atmosphere that we created, the staff is so welcoming, so knowledgeable. We work on this mentality where you don’t have to ask for a manager. Our staff has all the answers,” Lu says. “They can adjust your experience. We try to make sure it felt like a second home to any diner. Everyone feels seen, which is really nice. Our staff says people see themselves in the food, which is wild, because our food is such a personal story, yet other people see themselves in it, too.”

“That has a lot to do with finding people that care. We ask a lot from them. In the style of service and the way we position our team, I know it’s not very [familiar] in Houston, but it makes sense in our building and the kind of experience we’re trying to create,” Garcia adds.

Listen to the full episode to hear the chefs’ reaction to earning a semifinalist nomination for Best New Restaurant in this year’s James Beard Awards. They also discuss their monthly guest chef dinners that feature both Houston chefs and some of Garcia’s fellow Top Chef alumni.

In this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include Emmanuel Chavez earning a James Beard Award finalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas; Pinkerton’s Barbecue opening a second Houston location in Upper Kirby; and Ben Berg’s plans to open three new restaurants in downtown.

In the restaurants of the week segment, the friends discuss their meal at Bar Bludorn, the newly opened tavern in Memorial from the team behind Bludorn and Navy Blue. They also share thoughts on Magdalena Trattoria & Pizzeria, the new Italian restaurant from longtime Da Marco general manager Nicolas Nikic.

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