Rodeo Best Bites 2025

Top Houston restaurants lasso big prizes at Rodeo Best Bites Competition

Marsala-braised short ribs and sundried tomato spread on cayenne pepper toast took two of the top prizes at the Rodeo season’s food-and-wine-focused kickoff event. Held on the Sunday before the cook-off begins, the annual Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition drew a sold out crowd of more than 6,000 people to NRG Center.

More than 100 restaurants served food at the event. Attendees have the opportunity to taste almost 500 of the award-winning wines from the 2024 Rodeo Uncorked! International Wine Competition. The annual competition drew almost 2,900 entries from 20 countries, including 558 from Texas and 314 from Napa County, this year’s featured region.

While attendees enjoyed all the food and wine, a panel of judges made of chefs, media, and influencers awarded prizes in various categories. They recognized a range of dishes that included a pistachio tart from Cultivated F+B, the restaurant at the Lancaster Hotel; a Bayou Melt slide from Texas comfort food restaurant State Fare; and three desserts from Guzel Cakes, a bakery in Memorial. Once again, chicken tenders from Raising Cane’s took home one of the coveted prizes, and we’re certain it pairs well with Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut Champagne AOC, NV, the wine competition’s Grand Champion Best of Show.

Cotton Culinary regained its title of winning People’s Choice with a “Forager’s Feast,” while second place went to the crispy Thai shrimp from Davis Street at Hermann Park.

Some of the favorites from the non-winners included a chicken tikka slider from Red Dot Cuisine, a classic tamale from Henderson & Kane, a hot dog from Heights wine bar Padre’s, and the beef carpaccio pizza from Pizaro’s. Houston classic Brennan’s drew a long line for its savory crawfish cheesecake.

Best Bites serves as the unofficial kick-off to Rodeo season ahead of the trail rides and barbecue cook-off. Those who missed the festivities have the opportunity to sample some of the winning wines in the Rodeo's wine garden, and many of the bottles will be auctioned off at the Rodeo Uncorked! Champion Wine Auction & Dinner on Sunday, March 2.

Here’s the full list of winners:

People’s Choice

1st: Cotton Culinary — A Forager's Feast
2nd: Davis Street at Hermann Park — crispy Thai shrimp

Outstanding Showmanship

1st: SheShe Treats
2nd: Brothers Produce

Tasty Tradition Award

1st: Cultivated F&B — Pistachio tart with citrus and elderflower cremeux and strawberry macaron
2nd: Raising Cane’s — Chicken fingers, toast, and Cane’s sauce

Trailblazer Appetizer

1st: Robinette & Company Caterers — Sundried tomato spread on cayenne pepper toast topped with candied bacon
2nd: State Fare Kitchen & Bar — Bayou Melt Slider (smoked brisket patty, melted pepper jack cheese, zesty pico slaw and sweet and spicy jalapeno bacon jam)
3rd: Jamaica Paradise Kitchen — Paradise Bites

Lone Star Entrée

1st: North Italia — Braised short rib marsala
2nd: Merlion Restaurant — Shrimp Raad Prick (shrimp in Thai basil red curry sauce with cilantro and shallots, served over jasmine rice)
3rd: Grace Italian Kitchen — Boneless short rib with pancetta risotto and molasses bourbon glaze

Two-Steppin’ Dessert

1st: Guzel Cakes — Banana pudding cake, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla pudding with cookie butter
2nd: Hudson House — Key lime pie
3rd: Mostly Chocolate — House-made Turkish pistachio and sesame seed paste folded with crispy phyllo shreds cooked in brown butter

Rookie Award

The Cheesecake Queen — Key lime mini cheesecakes

Courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Cotton Culinary won the People's Choice Award.

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Coming soon to Fredericksburg

Houston restaurant vet serves up Roman-style eatery in the Hill Country

Photo courtesy of Bottega Salaria

Valerio Lombardozzi is opening Bottega Salaria in the former home of La Bergerie.

Valerio Lombardozzi’s culinary career has taken him to the world’s finest kitchens, including restaurants owned by icons like Alain Ducasse, Giorgio Locatelli, and Joël Robuchon. In Houston, he led La Table and Tavola, where he earned a reputation for being one of the city's most engaging front of the house personalities.

But his latest project might be his biggest accomplishment yet. The hospitality veteran is opening Bottega Salaria, a homey Italian osteria and artisan market, in the former home of La Bergerie at 312 E Austin St in his adopted home of Fredericksburg.

Lombardozzi says the restaurant, expected to arrive in winter 2026, fills a gap in the Hill Country dining scene, but, more importantly, it's a reflection of his personal history and time spent working at his family’s restaurant in Rome.

“[It’s about] where I grew up, how I grew up, and how I eat,” he shares.

The three-concept experience is inspired by Italy’s Via Salaria, the ancient route Italians used to transport salt from the Adriatic Sea to Rome. The menu acts as a sort of travelogue, borrowing from the different cultures along the road, and the way village fishermen and shepherds ate.

Lombardozzi is quick to say he didn’t want to open a chef-driven restaurant. Instead, the osteria will serve traditional Roman staples such as cacio e pepe, amatriciana, carbonara, saltimbocca with sage and prosciutto, and branzino carved tableside.

“I was one of the last to be exposed to the old generation of professionals who knew how to carve elegantly for the guests,” he says.

The adjacent bottega will stay open during restaurant hours, offering fresh pasta made on-site, house-made sauces, imported Italian pantry items, cheeses, salumi, breads, and biscotti. Patrons will be able to shop for individual items or put together custom gift baskets.

Outdoors, La Fraschetteria will debut a new hospitality experience in the U.S. The self-guided experience invites diners to grab wine directly from garden shelves, gather a spread of meats, cheeses, bread, or pasta, and linger around long communal tables lit by string lights.

Keeping the chit-chat going will be a thoughtful beverage program anchored by a primarily Italian wine list and imported beer. Lombardozzi says the cocktail menu might be a surprise, offering only gin and tonics, spritzes, and negronis. The latter has been made into a game where diners roll dice to determine the evening's combination of gin, vermouth, and bitters.

After dinner, guests can select an amaro from a rolling cart, sip grappa and limoncello, or sip a neat whiskey.

Lombardozzi shares that he wants Bottega Salaria to be just as comfortable for Fredericksburg locals as it is for destination travelers. Beyond daily service, Bottega Salaria plans community events such as garden wine nights with live music, Sunday movie nights, and hands-on cooking classes.

The space is designed for ease with a warm palette combining olive green and pomegranate reds. The decor blends heritage and modernity, bringing in objects like antique mirrors, plates, custom-made lamps, and even old tablecloths and curtains for an Old World feel.

"We’re not just opening a restaurant,” Lombardozzi says. “We’re creating a gathering place. A home for everyone who loves Italian food, culture, and the joy of sharing a meal with others.”

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