West Texas inspired

Ben Berg's rodeo steakhouse cowboys up with Texas artist's paintings

Acclaimed restaurateur Ben Berg has once again blessed Houstonians with his heralded pop-up The Ranch Saloon + Steakhouse, bestowing Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo attendees an on-site fine dining experience unlike any other. What’s fun about the restaurant’s immersive decor is that it’s personal to its proprietor.

Berg Hospitality shares an extensive history with award-winning interior designer Gail McCleese of Sensitori, but The Ranch is the one spot that Berg handles all by his lonesome — in the span of just five weeks. Planning begins in July because, as Berg tells CultureMap: “The rodeo is not going to wait for us.”

The pure, unadulterated gusto that Berg brings to his restaurants — a group that includes B&B Butchers, Annabelle Brasserie, Buttermilk Baby, and Turner’s Cut — makes it somewhat difficult to remember that he is a New York native. His Wagyu-Excelente beef comes straight from Gearhart Ranch in West Texas, which inspired the interior for his rodeo pop-up.

“Once you enter there, you’re supposed to enter a different world,” Berg says. The multitude of dimly-lit chandeliers are not just for looks: “The original idea was twilight, just like at the ranch,” he adds. “Everything we do, we want to take you out of feeling like you’re at NRG Park.”

Berg chose to drape, quite literally, the walls of “The Ranch” in fabric printed with scenic photos taken from his personal experiences at Gearhart Ranch: “Those are real cowboys out there,” says Berg. “I did the ‘round-up’ with the whole cowboys and everything. All the cowboys, all that stuff — that’s all from the ranch.” For added authenticity, the bandanas are all “stuff we picked out,” as well.

For a dash of added fun, popular Texas (and native Houstonian) artist Laura Goodson collaborated with Berg on a collection of her ongoing series of cowboys, cowgirls, and bandits. Starting with 93 pieces of original works — the largest collection of her work ever shown — spanning paintings, sculpture, and her newly-created neon collection, a dining experience at “The Ranch” is very much like dining in an art gallery. Goodson doesn’t have prints made of anything, so all of her works are true originals — 10 of which sold opening night.

“The Ranch is nothing short of amazing,” says Goodson. “Ben puts on a good show every night — it’s almost unavoidable. I love watching the shock on impact; it’s on another level.”

Goodson has also found herself taking numerous commissions from patrons who want to see themselves reflected in her contemporary, monochromatic, western artworks. A self-proclaimed “masterful improviser,” Goodson makes it easy to see how diners walk away with works that start at $300, but can easily end at $3,600.

If your party indulges in pre-dinner drinks from one of Berg’s now famous “margarita trees” beneath a Goodson original, you have to take it home, right? At that point, it’s a friend! With a Goodson original practically at every table, a party of four becomes five—Hey, Cowboy!

Later this month, many rodeo-folk will find themselves taking the short jog to Round Top, Texas, for the spring antiques show. Goodson recently set up shop in her eponymous art gallery on Henkel Square, next to the enormously popular Italian restaurant Lulu’s.

The Ranch Saloon and Steakhouse Houston Rodeo Berg tapped Round Top’s “Modern Marla” boutique for her Veuve Cliquot-forward flair. Say cheese!Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Just across the park from Goodson’s new Henkel Square gallery in Round Top is renowned purveyor of luxury vintage attire Modern Marla. Berg tapped proprietor Marla Hurley to outfit the very Instagram-friendly photo room at The Ranch with aesthetically-pleasing vintage decor and accoutrements extremely fitting to a Texas ranch — complete with a tobacco-brown Chesterfield sofa. If the ever-so-popular #theranchatrodeo Instagram is anything to go off of, the move has proven to be a success. If you don’t have a photo in the booth or a Goodson original on your Instagram story, did you even go?

Photo by Daniel Ortiz

Since opening day, many of the 93 works have been purchased by collectors.

On Thursday, March 13, The Ranch will host a live painting by Goodson that’s so enormous it requires scaffolding. If OpenTable has any of Berg’s 250 seats available, it’s a do-not-miss component of a visit to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Otherwise, there is a 200 person walk-up bar available for those willing to wait. Good luck!

rodeohouston ben berg news-you-can-eat visual-art laura goodson

Houston's smallest restaurant?

Michelin-recognized Houston sushi chef fires up 4-seat Japanese skewer spot

Courtesy of Sip & Skewer

Diners sit in front of chefs cooking on a grill.

The team behind one of Houston’s Michelin-recognized sushi restaurants is opening an intimate new izakaya. Sip & Skewer is the newest concept from Hidden Omakase owner Tuan Tran and chef Marcos Juarez.

Opening Friday, February 13, Sip & Skewer is a four-seat restaurant devoted to skewered meats that’s located within Sushi by Hidden, the group’s affordable omakase restaurant in Rice Village. At Sip & Skewer, diners sit across from the chefs as they cook a 10-course, $90 meal on a Japanese binchotan grill.

“Sip & Skewer is small, loud, and intentional. The kind of hidden experience you’d find in Tokyo,” Tran said. “And with Chef Marcos guiding the team at Sushi by Hidden, this space is getting new energy from every angle.”

A four-seat restaurant within a 10-seat restaurant might seem kind of superfluous, but Tran explains that it’s part of a larger plan for his group of restaurants, which also includes West U. hand roll restaurant Norigami. It also builds on the success of Hidden Omakase, the Galleria-area sushi counter that earned a Recommended designation in the Michelin Guide.

“Sip & Skewer is part of a larger vision. It’s designed as a stepping stone toward our next concept, Kōri, a new hand roll and craft cocktail bar opening in the Heights. Our plan is to open Sip & Skewer directly next to our hand roll spot, creating a small alley of Japanese concepts that feed into one another,” Tran explains.

“This allows us to build awareness, train our team in a new format, and introduce guests to Japanese charcoal grilling in a very personal way before we scale the idea into a larger setting with Kōri. The four-seat format keeps overhead extremely low while serving as a live test kitchen and brand builder for what’s coming next,” he adds.

On a related note, Juarez and the other chefs at Hidden Omakase are dividing their time between all three restaurants. Tuam explains that it’s a deliberate strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience.

“The same team that works Michelin-recognized omakase service also runs the grill here, which keeps quality and execution consistent while allowing the chefs a creative outlet in a very different format,” Tran said. “Because Sip & Skewer is only four seats and reservations only, it does not require a dedicated full-time staff. It’s an extension of the team rather than a separate operation.”