get your frk on

Buzzy brunch restaurateur rises opens new Midtown bakery serving scratch-made sweet and savory treats

One of Houston’s brunch leaders is getting into the bakery business. Taste Kitchen + Bar chef-owner Don Bowie has quietly opened Sugar Frk.

Located in the former Fluff Bake Bar space at 314 Gray St., Sugar Frk unites Bowie with pastry chef Tramaine Covington, an industry veteran whose resume includes Cloud 10 Creamery, according to press materials. Together, they’ve created a menu that includes decadent doughnuts, creative cookies, breakfast pastries, and more.

“[I opened Sugar Frk] to elevate the dessert offerings in the city and highlight minority pastry chefs that are under represented in the industry,” Bowie writes in an email. “This project has been really fun to create and launch and creating a fun family night out/date night spot in Midtown is something we know the community will love.”

Open beginning at 7 am Monday-Friday and 9 am on Saturday and Sunday, the menu starts with breakfast pastries that include sweet and savory danishes as well as a chicken apple sausage and cheese kolache.

The all-day menu includes eight different doughnuts in flavors range from maple glazed with candied pecans and peanut butter glazed topped with chocolate cookies to items filled with lemon curd or a s’mores riff with a fudge glaze and a marshmallow filling that Bowie cites as his personal favorite.

In addition, Sugar Frk sells cookies such as double chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and brown butter-brown sugar. Customers can also order custom cakes.

“Each item is treated like a gourmet dessert with ingredients made from scratch and thought put into the visual aesthetics of each item,” Bowie explains. “We put the same energy into decorating a donut as we do a cake. Sugar Frk isn’t just a bakery — it’s a dessert bar perfect for date nights and friend gatherings.”

Beverage options start with a lineup of espresso drinks and brewed teas. Those coming by for dessert after dinner may opt for a frozen daiquiri in flavors such as espresso martini, strawberry cheesecake, and banana pudding.

Sugar Frk is currently in its soft opening. It will celebrate its grand opening this weekend, July 14-16.

Photo by JRMH Photos

Sugar Frk offers a range of cookies and doughnuts.

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better than blini

Houston pizzeria unveils indulgent caviar pizza for the holiday season

Courtesy of Pizaro's Pizza

Get the Holiday Decadence pizza through the end of December.

One of Houston’s most well-regarded pizzerias is giving diners a way to splurge this holiday season. For a limited time only, Pizaro’s Pizza is topping one of its Neapolitan-style pies with caviar.

Called the Holiday Decadence, it’s a personal-sized, 8-inch, Neapolitan-style pizza topped simply with Pizaro’s housemade mozzarella cheese and seasoned with a little furikake. Alongside, the restaurant provides diners with lemon zest crème fraîche, a small bottle of prosecco, and a one-ounce jar of paddlefish caviar from Houston’s DR Delicacy. Priced at $59, it’s either an indulgent treat for one person or an extravagant appetizer for two.

Pizaro’s co-owner Nicole Bean tells CultureMap she sees the new pizza as an improvement on the caviar special the restaurant tried two years ago, which used its thicker, Detroit-style pizza.

“This year, we simplified things,” she says. “We made it more affordable. We added more caviar. The feature is the caviar, focusing on having a whole, one-ounce container either for yourself or to share with one other person.”

In this configuration, the pizza crust essentially serves as an oversized blini, with the furikake boosting the caviar’s oceanic flavors. Serving the caviar in the jar allows diners to add as much or as little to the pizza as they want. Introduced last week, Bean says the restaurant hasn’t sold that many caviar pizzas yet, but that doesn’t surprise her.

“People are a little hesitant with it being caviar and the $60 price point,” she says. “It’s not for everybody. It’s for people who are curious and want to try it or really love caviar and want to try it every way they can.”

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The restaurant always uses its monthly specials to experiment beyond familiar toppings like pepperoni and mushroom. Next month, Bean and her brother, co-owner Matt Hutchinson, will present dueling pies — his topped with crispy prosciutto, sautéed onions, and balsamic drizzle and hers a simple tomato pie, anchovies optional but strongly encouraged.

“The fun thing about pizza is you can literally do anything with it,” Bean says. “I want people to try different things on pizza. It can be decadent. It can be upscale. It can be fresh and new.”

The Holiday Decadence is available at both Pizaro’s locations through December 31. Find more details at the Pizaro’s Pizza website.

news-you-can-eat pizza caviar