where to eat caviar now

Top 10 Houston restaurants crafting modern and traditional caviar creations

Once relegated to only the most premium fine dining restaurants, caviar is now served on menus throughout Houston. More than anything, what defines the city’s current caviar moment is that chefs want diners to enjoy the experience in non-traditional ways.

Yes, the familiar accompaniments are widely available — and remain popular — but many establishments have also distinguished themselves by swapping traditional blini and egg yolks for everything from potato dumplings to salmon skin chips to stroopwafels. Houstonians who want to order a full caviar service have plenty of options, but they can also get a more affordable taste via dishes such as a caviar tot or a caviar doughnut.

Yes, it’s still expensive (good ingredients always are) but the message is that caviar can be fun. Even fine dining institution Tony’s is loosening up a bit, serving its caviar with an optional shot of vodka that’s chilled in a block of ice.

a’Bouzy
Just like its wine list, the champagne-fueled River Oaks restaurant sells its caviar at a lower markup to make it more accessible. On the first Friday of every month, that includes selling caviar at cost. Usually, the restaurant’s caviar is served with blini and traditional accompaniments, but diners have the option of adding Pringles or chilled vodka to upgrade the experience.

Baso
The Basque-inspired restaurant in the Heights has been earning raves for its unusual caviar service. Instead of blini, the restaurant makes a classic stroopwafel that's filled with a caramel that’s infused with an umami-heavy combination of kelp, bonito, shiitake, and niboshi (dried anchovy). Served with Lucky Layla butter from Houston Dairymaids, diners have three caviar choices: Siberian osetra, golden, or grandeur. The result is a compelling sweet-salty combination that earned a shout out from chef Justin Yu during CultureMap’s Ultimate Date Night draft.

Berg Hospitality
Six of the company’s concepts offer traditional caviar service — Annabelle Brasserie, The Annie Cafe, B&B Butchers, Emilia’s Havana, Prime 131, and Turner’s. Diners may choose from four options: Berg Hospitality Reserve (Royal White Sturgeon), $160; Kaviari Paris Baeri, $140; Kaviari Paris Kristal, $160; and Kaviari Paris Oscietre Prestige, $190.

Caviar fans will want to keep their eyes on Turner’s Cut, the ultra-luxurious steakhouse that’s scheduled to open next month in the Autry Park mixed-used development. It will feature caviar carts loaded with Golden Osetra.

Katami
The Montrose-area Japanese restaurant offers caviar alongside its extensive sushi program. Both Kaluga and Osetra caviar are served in a sterling silver bowl where they’re paired with crispy salmon skin chips, cauliflower mousse, and chives. Upgrade the offering by adding Japanese uni.

Little’s Oyster Bar
Chef Jason Ryczek demonstrates his caviar enthusiasm by attending an invitation-only caviar camp where he selects the sturgeon that will be harvested for the restaurant’s caviar. Little’s pairs its caviar with potato dumplings, hush puppies, radish butter, onion jam, and chives. Recently, Ryczek added dressed oysters that are topped with hibiscus ponzu, green oil, and caviar.

March
As part of its Països Catalans menu that’s inspired by Catalan-speaking regions such as Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Alicante and Castelló in Eastern Spain, and the principality of Andorra, chef Felipe Riccio and his team have developed a caviar service that includes smoked egg yolk, creme fraiche topped with black walnut leek emulsion and leek ash, a white asparagus and caper relish, and spiced almond and duck skin crumble. It’s available as the first course both the six and nine-course menus, as well as a standalone caviar service in the restaurant’s lounge.

Navy Blue
No surprise that Aaron Bludorn’s Rice Village seafood restaurant serves caviar in a variety of ways. Splurge on Siberian or Osetra varieties that are served with either blinis or mini potato pancakes. Caviar can also be added to dishes such as oysters (available raw, roasted, or fried), chilled shrimp, or added to kampachi tartare. The truly caviar obsessed should sample the Apple and Eggs dessert — a bowl of green apple sorbet and creme fraiche gelato that’s topped with Siberian caviar.

PostScript
Many meals at the Upper Kirby restaurant begin with its signature caviar doughnuts, but chef Bryan Caswell also has a more extravagant option available. The restaurant’s caviar service allows diners to build their own bites with a selection of vessels that includes celery root crème fraîche, mini buckwheat waffles, deviled quail eggs, a drinkable cauliflower cocktail, or oyster crackers. PostScript’s caviar selection includes American ghost pepper caviar, Israeli Imperial Golden Osetra, Californian White Sturgeon, and Siberian Osetra from Poland.

Riel
The restaurant’s signature caviar potato tots are just one option for those looking to enjoy the delicacy. Potato fans may also opt for truffle pierogi that are sauced with a caviar beurre blanc. For true devotees, consider the eye-catching caviar board that’s loaded with house cultured butter, egg yolk, egg white, chives, capers, and buckwheat blinis. Riel offers a rotating selection of caviar that currently includes Diamond Osetra, Imperial Osetra, Royal Siberian, and Kaluga Hybrid.

Tony’s
Since returning as chef-partner two years ago, Kate McLane has made caviar a staple of Tony’s offerings. The restaurant carries five different kinds of caviar and serves them five different ways:

Photo by Zach Horst

March changes its caviar service for each season.

Classic: Yukon gold blinis, red onion, creme fraiche, and egg yolk.
Bread and Butter: A Russian-inspired take of brioche slices paired with Maison Le Gall, a cultured butter from Normandy

Pasta Portonova: A tableside preparation in which an ounce of caviar is tossed with fresh tagliarini and a horseradish fish fumet
The Ocean's Cup: Inspired by the pairing of oysters and caviar, this preparation features warm Prestige oyster froth with squash blossom frito misto

Potato Robertson: One ounce of caviar served atop a tiny baked potato that is filled with Robuchon-style mashed potatoes

“We do caviar flights all the time now,” McLane adds. “Listed on the website are a few types of flights, but we mix and match in the moment, too, so guests can pick and choose what they would like to try.”

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welcoming willow's

Houston barbecue power couple sets opening date for new East End tavern

Willow's Smokehouse and Tavern Jasmine Barela Willow Villarreal

Photo by Eric Sandler

Jasmine Barela and Willow Villarreal will open Willow's Smokehouse & Tavern on Thursday, August 13.

One of this year’s most eagerly anticipated new barbecue joints will make its debut this week. Willow’s Smokehouse & Tavern will open this Thursday, August 13.

Located next to Eastwood Station at 4109 McKinney, Willow’s Smokehouse is the latest project from pitmaster Willow Villarreal and his partner Jasmine Barela. It’s the culmination of more than a decade in the barbecue business.

Villareall began his barbecue career with pop-ups at bars such as Grand Prize and Big Star Bar. He worked with Roegels BBQ owner Russell Roegals to operate the barbecue concession at the Typhoon Texas water park before launching a food truck that earned an enthusiastic three-star review from former Houston Chronicle food critic Alison Cook.

J-Bar-M Barbecue in EaDo recruited the couple to lead its opening team in November 2021 — earning a nomination in the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards for Rising Star Chef of the Year and a glowing review from Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn — but the couple departed in April 2022 after conflict with the restaurant’s owner.

Since then, they’ve been working on opening their own restaurant. For the past couple of years, they’ve been transforming a 100-plus year old building into a neighborhood bar and restaurant that will serve Villarreal’s take on modern Central Texas-style barbecue alongside tavern fare such as burgers, smoked-and-fried chicken wings, a fried chicken sandwich, and smoked crab dip.

“We wanted a bar with really good food and some barbecue on the menu. It has a wood ceiling with that sense of cozyness and warmth,” Barela says about why the couple decided to include “tavern” in the restaurant’s name.

“We would like to be a place for the neighborhood,” Villarreal adds. “That’s why we have wings and burgers. Barbecue has gotten so expensive. You can get a drink and a bite to eat at an affordable price.”

Of course, Willow’s wouldn’t fulfill the requirements of being a “smokehouse” with Villarreal’s barbecue. Diners can expect brisket, pork ribs, two kinds of house made sausage, turkey, pulled pork, and smoked chicken. Once things are dialed in, plans call for adding additional sandwiches to the menu.

“It’s Central Texas barbecue. I don’t feel like I need to change anything,” Villarreal says about the menu. “It’s what we’ve been cooking. It’s what our fans know.”

Barela is bringing a range of sides, including her signature marinated tomatoes, as well as cole slaw, mac and cheese, cornbread, and potato salad — fear not, her popular cauliflower au gratin will be added in time. Desserts include banana pudding and pies made with an all-butter crust.

Bartender Zack Palmer (Bad News Bar) created the restaurant’s cocktail menu, including two frozens that are sure to be signatures — the Summer of George, a nod to Barela’s Seinfeld fandom that’s made with Big Red, and the Cabana Boy, an homage to Mountain Dew Baja Blast made with tequila, orange, passion fruit, and bergamot.

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To preserve the building’s historic feel, the couple sourced most of its furniture second-hand. Barela says she found items on websites such as OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace, while others came from thrift stores, estate sales, and the Round Top Antiques Fair.

“I wanted to stay true to the character of the building. I didn’t want it to feel too polished,” she says.

Once seated, diners will find vintage signs on the walls, an Iron Maiden pinball machine for entertainment, and a jukebox that the couple stocked with a range of music, not just Villarreal's heavy metal favorites. While the building has a relatively small footprint, an upstairs dining room and a patio that’s shared with Eastwood Station provide plenty of seating.

“It feels really good,” Villarreal says about finally opening the restaurant. “It’s also scary. This has to be for the long haul. We really want to be a place for the neighborhood.”

Photo by Eric Sandler

Jasmine Barela and Willow Villarreal will open Willow's Smokehouse & Tavern on Thursday, August 13.

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