And The Winners Are

Raise a toast to delicious winners of Rodeo Uncorked! & Best Bites Competition

More than 5,000 foodies flocked to NRG Stadium on February 19 for the Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition, the Rodeo season's food and wine-focused kickoff event.

Hosted by the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the annual competition brought together signature dishes from renowned Houston-area culinary establishments, with more than 110 of the region's premier restaurants serving tasty tidbits at the event.

These were skillfully paired with an impressive selection of nearly 450 award-winning wines from the 2024 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition, including the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion.

If you missed the festivities, you still have the opportunity to sample some of the winning wines in the Rodeo's Champion Wine Garden, presented by Frost Bank. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo runs through March 17, 2024.

Without further ado, here are the Best Bites winners:

People’s Choice Award
1st place: Grazia Italian Kitchen
2nd place: Cotton Culinary

Outstanding Showmanship Award
1st place: Eculent
2nd place: Sheshe Treats

Tasty Tradition Award
1st place: Messina Hof Harvest Green Winery & Kitchen – Mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, and Gruyere cheese
2nd place: Cultivated F+B – Raspberry white chocolate and vanilla verrine

Trailblazer Appetizer Award
1st place: Pier 6 Seafood – Wood-grilled coconut shrimp
2nd place: Goode Co. – Campechana
3rd place: Loro – Curried brisket rice

Lone Star Entrée Award
1st place: Raising Cane’s – Chicken fingers on garlic butter Texas toast with Cane’s sauce
2nd place: The Capital Grille – Kona-crusted dry-aged sirloin finished with a shallot butter sauce and au gratin potatoes
3rd place: Grazia Italian Kitchen – R-C Ranch smoked wagyu chuck eye pancetta risotto topped with a blueberry-rosemary garlic port reduction

Two-Steppin’ Dessert Award
1st place: Egghaus Gourmet – Strawberry tres leches croissant
2nd place: 1848 Handcrafted Heritage Ice Cream – Buckshot Caramel stracciatella with praline ethiope and whiskey caramel swirl
3rd place: Guzel Cakes – Perfect Love: Vanilla pudding cake with strawberry cheesecake

Rookie Award
Money Cat – BistecBao: Filipeno-inspired bao with braised beef chuck, calamansi aoili, pickled red onion, cilantro, and chicharron

The 2024 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition champions included:

Grand Champion Best of Show: Beau Joie Brut Champagne AOC, NV
Reserve Grand Champion Best of Show: Smith-Madrone Riesling, Spring Mountain District, 2018
Top Texas Wine: Meierstone Vineyards The Airship Red, Texas High Plains, 2021
Top Red Wine: Marchesi di Barolo DOCG, 2018
Top White Wine: Perissos Vineyards and Winery Winemaker’s Reserve Pape Blanc, Texas High Plains, 2022
Top Sparkling Wine: Champagne Telmont Reserve Brut Champagne AOC, NV
Top Dessert Wine: Quady Winery Essensia Orange Muscat, California, 2020
Top Region Wine: TerraNoble CA1 Andes Carmenere, D.O. Colchagua Valley, 2020
Top Value Wine: Animus Vinho Verde DOC, 2022
Top Wine Company: Nice Winery
Top Region Wine Company: E & J Gallo Winery
Top All-Around Winery: Winebow Import
Top Texas Winery: Kiepersol

The 21st annual wine competition featured 2,985 entries from 22 countries. In addition, 539 entries came from Texas wineries and the 2024 featured region, Chile, had 161 entries.

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo promotes agriculture by hosting an annual, family-friendly experience that educates and entertains the public, supports Texas youth, showcases Western heritage, and provides year-round educational support within the community.

Since its beginning in 1932, the Rodeo has committed more than $600 million to the youth of Texas and education. For more information, visit rodeohouston.com and follow @RodeoHouston online via Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube for all the latest news.

Photo courtesy of HLSR

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Heights restaurant celebrates Lunar New Year with epic barbecue collab

Agnes and Sherman Khoi Barbecue Lunar New Year dinner

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

For many members of Houston’s Asian community, February is a time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. At Agnes and Sherman, the Asian American diner in the Heights, Lunar New Year provided the restaurant with its first opportunity to host its first collaboration since it opened in April 2025 with Khói Barbecue, the Houston pop-up that puts a Vietnamese spin on traditional Texas barbecue.

“We have always admired what Khoi Barbecue has done in the Houston scene,” Agnes and Sherman co-owner Lisa Lee tells CultureMap. “We think, very similar to us, they are presenting something that is thought of as traditional and really making it their own through family history and helping people to see another side of barbecue.”

Created by Agnes and Sherman chef and co-owner Nick Wong and Khói Barbecue founder Don Nguyen, the three-course menu included appetizers such as smoked duck wonton soup, sichuan lamb sausage, cha lua mortadella, and bun bo hue pig’s head torchon. The entree course included smoked brisket, smoked duck breast a l’orange, and char siu pork ribs. Dessert featured a cafe sua da panna cotta paired with a traditional whole orange and a fortune cookie.

The dinner drew a who’s-who of members of Houston’s restaurant community, including former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and nominees such as Raffi Nasr (Craft Pita), Ashley Lai (Dumpling Haus), KK Nepomuceno (formerly of Refuge), Annie Hoshiko (Subo), Josh Deleon (Underground Creamery), Christina Au (Blacksmith), and Omar Arellano (March).

A portions of proceeds benefited Asian Texans for Justice, an AAPI political organization devoted to promoting civic engagement, advocacy, youth leadership development, and coalition building. “This organization does critical work to educate the public and fight for issues that affect the community,” Lee says.

Beyond the celebration, the dinner marked an important moment in the restaurant’s evolution. The whirlwind first year has come with considerable acclaim, including an enthusiastic review in Texas Monthly and a Recommended designation from the Michelin Guide. With operations flowing more smoothly, Lee explains that she and Wong felt it was time to revive the collaborations they participated in prior to the restaurant’s opening.

“When we opened the restaurant, one of the tenets is being part of the community. It’s one of our core values,” Lee says. “We needed to make sure we were sustainable first before we started to branch out. If we can do more, we want to.”

Next up, Agnes and Sherman will host a pop-up with Food Mahjong Club, a New York City-based organization that’s held pop-ups in Chinatown. Taking place March 2, it will feature a mahjong tournament and food and drink specials. Details will be released soon.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Agnes and Sherman owners Lisa Lee and Nick Wong with Khoi Barbecue's Don Nguyen and Theo Nguyen.

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