Whoops
Michelin Guide removes shuttered Houston Vietnamese restaurant
Kau Ba has been removed from the Michelin Guide.
Make that 30 — not 31 — Houston restaurants listed in the Michelin Guide. In a press release issued Thursday, November 14, the Guide announced that it had removed Montrose Vietnamese restaurant Kau Ba from the list of Bib Gourmand recipients.
The reason: "Upon further investigation, our team has discovered the restaurant has been permanently closed since our Inspection team's visits occurred," the statement reads.
As has been widely noted in local media, Kau Ba closed earlier this month. The restaurant’s Instagram account now belongs to Alora, which is described as “a fresh Peruvian-Vietnamese fusion concept inspired by travels to Saigon.” It is expected to open soon.
Open since 2018, Kau Ba served an innovative take on Vietnamese fare created by Nikki Tran. The restaurant built on the notoriety Tran had achieved after being featured in two Netflix series: Somebody Feed Phil and Ugly Delicious. It earned considerable acclaim, including a spot in the Houston Chronicle’s top 100 restaurants as recently as 2023 and a nomination for Best Neighborhood Restaurant in the 2021 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.
The restaurant went through a number of iterations during its tenure. For three-and-a-half years, Tran partnered with Aya Sushi owners Minette Corpuz and Bruce Kish to oversee operations, but they parted ways in February 2023.
In an email sent to Houston Public Media, Tran expressed regret over Michelin's decision.
“But we understand and respect Michelin’s decision to remove Kau Ba from its selection,” Tran said to HPM. “Exercising an abundance of caution from a legal position, I am not able currently to share further details of our situation but I do hope to follow up soon with more information.”
“Until then, on behalf of the entire Kau Ba team, we want to thank the entire culinary community for the recognition and support,” Tran added. “Kau Ba is proud of the dishes we created and look forward to sharing very soon what’s next.”
Removing Kau Ba hasn’t been Michelin’s only change to the Texas guide. In Dallas, it replaced The Charles with the similarly named Mister Charles on the list of Recommended restaurants, CultureMap Dallas reports.
“This was an internal error caused by our geolocation process. The problem will be corrected in the most expeditious manner,” a Michelin spokesperson said.
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This article has been updated with chef Nikki Tran's statement to Houston Public Media.
