Montrose staple gets new life

Cherished Montrose Italian restaurant gets major makeover thanks to new owners

One of Montrose’s most enduring restaurants has gotten a jolt of energy courtesy of new owners who want to it last for another 20 years. Melissa and Robert Salim are the new owners of Sorrento Ristorante.

Courtesy of Sorrento

Sorrento has added a number of new dishes to its menu.

A trial attorney by day, Robert Salim tells CultureMap that he and his wife Melissa had been long time regulars of Sorrento. Abbas Hussein, the restaurant’s former owner, approached them in November about buying the business. After some negotiations, they agreed on a price and officially took over December 1. Salim says Hussein was ready to move on, but he thinks Sorrento still has a lot to offer Houstonians, specifically a veteran management team and experienced servers who offer first rate customer service.

“I like the atmosphere of Sorrento’s. It’s a real warm family,” Salim tells CultureMap. “It hasn’t lost that 22-year charm. The basic concept is still very alive and well.”

Drawing on his experience as an investor in Austin restaurants such as Red Ash, J Carver’s, and Boulevard, Salim worked with the restaurant’s chef and management team to freshen up both the interior and the menu, including investing over $40,000 into upgrading the HVAC system.

“We put in new carpet. We ordered 120 new chairs that are going to be delivered Friday,” Salim says. “We repainted several portions of the restaurant. New barstools are coming this week.”

On the culinary side, the biggest change is that Sunday brunch — complete with a piano player — is coming back soon. For the first time, diners have the option to order takeout for select dishes that will withstand travel. Salim also invested in adding 300 bottles to the wine list.

Diners will find a number of new dishes on the menu. They include a number of pizza, chicken Milanese, and luxurious dishes such as Dover sole and veal chops. Additions to the dessert menu include cannoli and key lime pie.

In addition to bringing back brunch, Salim plans to initiate a new offering that will grow the restaurant’s weekday business. The new wine list will support monthly wine tastings.

“The nice thing about it is they’ve had a steady base for 20 years. It’s not like a new restaurant that you just have to get some business in there. The restaurant is not going to fail. The food is fantastic,” Salim says.

“We just want to make it a a little more fun, a little more lively. I think it’s got the potential to be a fun place to go to.”

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New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review

Courtesy of ChòpnBlọk

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Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published Tuesday, December 16, the New York Times has awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

Written by chief restaurant critic Tejal Rao, the review touts many of the same qualities that the Times already praised when it included ChòpnBlọk on its list of America’s 50 best restaurants.

Rao writes that she usually avoids restaurants that serve food in bowls, but she’s impressed by the way that chef-owner Ope Amosu has put a West African spin on the concept.

“For inspiration, Ope Amosu looked to the kind of chain restaurants that were built to scale, where flavors are often subdued to appeal to the broadest possible audience, focus-grouped to death. But the delight of ChòpnBlok is in its sure sense of self, its lively, multidimensional cooking and clear, delicious vision for modern food from the Black diaspora,” Rao writes.

She singles out specific dishes, including the Nigerian red stew with short rib, the Black Star bowl with shrimp, and the signature Motherland, made with chicken, greens, and plantains. “It’s utterly simple, but draws you in for more with the mouthwatering twang of not-too-much MSG — an international shortcut to building umami that tends to be used carefully, and layered with other forms,” she writes.

The review also touches on the way Amosu switched the restaurant from counter service to full service — described as “warm, informal, and quick with the jokes” — and his time working at Chipotle to learn the basics of the restaurant operations.

A two-star review is only the latest instance of ChòpnBlọk receiving national attention. In addition to the Times 50 best list, Esquire recently named it one of America’s best new restaurants. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand designation for 2025. Amosu earned a semifinalist nomination for Best Chef: Texas in the 2025 James Beard Awards.

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