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    Meet the Tastemakers

    Houston's 10 best restaurants showcase city's dynamically diverse, world-class, and Michelin-worthy dining

    Eric Sandler
    Apr 7, 2023 | 11:55 am

    Our coverage of the nominees in the 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards has reached the final two categories. First up are the 10 nominees for Restaurant of the Year.

    Kata Robata uni chawanmushi
      

    Photo by Julie Soefer

    Kata Robata's signature uni chawanmushi.

    These restaurants are a diverse lot. In terms of their settings, one is a humble-looking, hidden sushi counter in an office building, while another is a seafood restaurant in a food hall — a sharp contrast from March, which occupies a purpose-built space that's decorated with museum-worthy art. Some have beverage programs with extensive wine lists and spirits from around the world, while others are BYOB. A few of them serve a fewer than 50 people in an evening, while others may serve hundreds throughout lunch, brunch, and dinner.

    They’re united by a commitment to serving consistently excellent food that utilizes high quality ingredients — many of them sourced from local farms and ranches. These nominees also set high standards for the service they offer their customers. When those elements are combined correctly, they create memorable experiences that keep us coming back again and again. That's why our panel of local restaurant industry experts has selected them for this recognition.

    We’ll find out who wins next week at the Tastemaker Awards ceremony on Thursday, April 13. Tickets are sold out.

    Bludorn
    This Montrose-area restaurant’s mix of French and Gulf Coast influences has been a hit since it opened in 2020. While Houstonians have discovered a surprisingly large appetite for staples like lobster pot pie, baked Alaska, and short rib ravioli, executive chef Aaron Bludorn and chef de cuisine Chase Voelz continue to evolve the menu with additions such as a jollof rice-inspired crab rice originally created for a collaboration dinner with New Orleans chef Serigne Mbaye — one of many guest chef meals that always brings a little extra energy to the restaurant. Beyond the food and warm service, the restaurant also regularly raises money for the Southern Smoke Foundation, World Central Kitchen, and other worthy causes.

    Golfstrømmen
    Located in downtown’s Post Market food hall, this seafood restaurant is led by Norwegian chef Christopher Haatuft in partnership with James Beard Award and Top Chef winner Paul Qui. Haatuft brings his passion for sustainability to the restaurant’s menu, which draws upon Gulf Coast, East Coast, and globally-sourced fish and shellfish. While it’s possible to eat an inexpensive meal built around dishes like fish nuggets and a snitter (a Norwegian, open-faced sandwich), the biggest culinary thrills are in expertly prepared bluefin tuna, whole red snapper, and luxurious shellfish platters. While the setting may lack some of the drama of our other nominees, the artful blend of European, Japanese, and Texas influences makes it must visit for serious diners.

    Hidden Omakase
    True to its name, this Galleria-area sushi restaurant is unmarked (first time visitors should look for the storefront decorated with Japanese comic books). Once seated at the intimate, U-shaped counter, chef Niki Vongthong and her team lead diners on a 12-15 course progression that includes both nigiri and composed plates. Hidden Omakase’s use of dry-aged fish, its carefully made housemade sauces, and chef Vongthong’s incorporation of her Thai heritage — we recommend paying extra for her duck larb hand roll — into the menu all help make for a memorable meal.

    Kata Robata
    Part of what makes this Upper Kirby sushi restaurant so compelling is its breadth. From familiar fare such as the $12 katsu don lunch special and lobster mac and cheese to an elaborate omakase that utilizes fish flown in from Japan, Kata Robata caters to just about every taste. Daily specials showcase seasonal ingredients, and an extensive beverage list features includes a wide range of sake, spirits, wine, and beer. To borrow a term from baseball, it's a five tool player — the rare unicorn that does everything well all the time. No wonder it's constantly packed for lunch and dinner seven days a week.

    Le Jardinier
    This restaurant in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston offers a vegetable-forward menu that mixes locally-sourced, seasonal produce with luxurious ingredients like French white asparagus, Ora King salmon, and Dover Sole. Its elegant dishes are delivered with service worthy of its sister locations in New York and Miami that each hold one Michelin star. A dining room that features the dramatic, wall-sized tapestry Color Flash for Chat and Chew, Paris Texas in Seventy-Two and a view of the museum’s sculpture garden enhances the restaurant’s refined atmosphere.

    March
    What sets March apart from other Houston restaurants is how carefully choreographed every aspect of its meals are. From a sip of vermouth in the lounge to the final mignardise, the March experience is precisely calculated to attend to its diners’ needs. The recently introduced Greek menu demonstrates extensive research and precise technique with its modern interpretations of classic dishes such as spanakopita, moussaka, and souvlaki. Similar effort goes into sourcing the right wine pairings for each dish. If Michelin inspectors ever make their way to Houston, we predict they'd recognize March with at least two stars.

    Neo
    This ultra-exclusive omakase counter evolved into a complete restaurant over the past year. Renovations upgraded the kitchen’s capacity — paving the way for Neo to serve diners six nights per week and for reservations to be available via Tock. Chefs Paolo Justo and Luis Mercado took the next step in their careers, too, collaborating with former Pujol head chef Alex Bremont on a series of sold out dinners that blended Mexican and Japanese techniques. While the specific pieces of what nigiri the chefs serve may vary depending on what’s ready in the dry-aging case or which local produce the chefs are employing, the highly personal service and intimate atmosphere are constants.Expect both chefs' recent travels to manifest as ever more exciting new dishes.

    Riel
    Six years in, Riel remains as vital as its ever been, a testament to the discipline and focus of chef-owner Ryan Lachaine and his team. Asking this restaurant’s fans to pick their favorite dish from the menu of elevated comfort food is bound to cause an argument. When someone says butter burgers, someone else might say caviar tots — but wait, what about the truffle pierogi or the kimchi carbonara pasta or the cabbage rolls. Thankfully, the shareable format means a group of friends can get all of their favorites at every meal. Finish your meal with a shot of bourbon for the full Riel experience.

    Squable
    As it prepares to celebrate its fourth anniversary this month, Squable maintains its status as one of Houston’s most consistently delicious restaurants. Chef Mark Clayton’s European-inspired menu blends staples like the marinated mussels on toast and the signature French cheeseburger with seasonal items that keep things fresh. General manager Terry Williams oversees a beverage program that includes both an eclectic, globally-sourced wine list and a spirits selection worthy of its sister concepts Anvil and Better Luck Tomorrow. A recent upgrade to its patio has made this Heights restaurant an even more comfortable place to dine.

    Xin Chao
    Texas barbecue meets Vietnamese techniques at this restaurant that unites Masterchef winner Christine Ha with Saigon House’s Tony Nguyen. The dynamic duo earned a James Beard Award Best Chef: Texas finalist nomination in 2022 for their menu, which features dishes such as Viet-Cajun roasted oysters, beef rib fried rice, fried chicken that’s marinated in lemongrass and buttermilk, and a wagyu flat iron steak served in the style of bo luc lac. A full menu of creative, Asian-influenced cocktails (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) enhances the food.

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    he finished the job

    Houston chef Tristen Epps dishes on his Top Chef victory — and what's next

    Eric Sandler
    Jun 13, 2025 | 9:05 am
    Top Chef Tristen Epps
    Photo by David Moir/Bravo
    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

    Houston has played a leading role in America’s culinary scene, but the city has never been home to a Top Chef winner — until last night. In the final episode of season 22, chef Tristen Epps earned the title and a $250,000 cash prize.

    Epps secured his victory by remaining true to the Afro-Caribbean cuisine that helped him secured an impressive four Elimination Challenge wins and $35,000 in additional prize money from two Quickfire wins and as a member of the team that won the show’s signature Restaurant Wars challenge. His four-course menu took a panel of celebrity judges on a journey that also referenced the finale location of Milan, Italy.

    In particular, Epps wowed the panel with his second course — Chicken “Durango” with injera shrimp toast and shellfish jus — that referenced both the Ethiopian chicken stew doro wat and the Italian dish pollo durango, a sly nod to the history of imperialism between the two countries. He finished his savory offerings with Oxtail Milanese Crepinette with Carolina Gold rice grits, curry butter, and bone marrow gremolata, which earned praised from the panel.

    “Historically, we’ve been underserved oxtail,” Top Chef alum and James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet said during the episode. “Tristen took the time to pull it, create that beautiful, huge, maybe too big, portion of oxtail. And cover it with that gremolata. He did not forget the bone marrow. That’s very, very smart.”

    Throughout Top Chef’s run, Epps has been holding a series of pop-ups devoted to everything from hot dogs to steakhouses. Now, he can turn his attention to Buboy, a tasting menu concept that will celebrate the Afro-Caribbean cuisine he championed throughout his time on the show.

    CultureMap caught up with Epps on Friday morning for a brief chat about his victory and what’s next.

    CultureMap: What do you remember from the day you cooked that final dinner?
    Tristen Epps: It was an extreme amount of focus. A lot of writing in my notebook. I didn’t want to laugh. I didn’t want to cry or do anything except finish the job, regardless of whatever the outcome would have been. I remember wanting to call my mom. I really wanted to talk things out so I could calm myself down and stay within my focus. Once I got into cooking, I felt so much at ease. It’s my happy place. It’s my serenity.

    CM: How did you feel when you saw Gregory Gourdet on the panel? Did you feel like you had an advocate in the room?
    TE: I’ve cooked with gregory before, a long time ago. It was really fun. I loved what he was doing.

    I felt like I had kind of an advocate. I was worried my food wold be too spicy or too overpowering [for the European chefs]. Seeing Gregory was really good, especially with what I was doing.

    CM: Other chefs, including Gregory Gourdet and Houston chef Dawn Burrell, have done well on the show with Afro-Caribbean cuisine but they didn’t win. How important was it to you to finish the job and use those flavors to win the title?
    TE: To me that was super important. There’s adventurous people who make phenomenal food. They’ll go once because it’s interesting, bu they’re usually skeptical. When you don’t nail it, they say, that’s why I go to the regular places that are familiar.

    Finishing the job was really important to me. People have come up short on this. I wanted to get this right for everyone who’s made that step forward and created the ladder.

    CM: What have your last 12 hours been like since the episode aired? Have any celebrities reached out to you?
    TE: A lot of calls, a lot of good luck. A lot of everything. It’s been amazing.

    A lot of past Top Chef winners reached out to me, giving me a lot of support and telling me what they did after they won.

    [ESPN football commentator] Mina Kimes did, which was really cool.

    CM: What are your plans for the prize money?
    TE: It’s going to go to Buboy. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, it can go a little faster.

    CM: You’ve been holding a series of pop-ups that range from tasting menus to hot dogs? What’s next?
    TE: Part of getting the restaurant open has been introducing myself to all of Houston. These pop-ups represent my interests and my fun. They’re the things that Buboy is going to represent. It can be fun, it can be a conversation, it can be educational, it can push the limits of cuisines we know. It’s an expression of culture in whatever way I see fit that day.

    The hot dog concept will probably be a separate venture, but who’s to say there’s not a hot dog at the end of that meal?

    Top Chef Tristen Epps
      

    Photo by David Moir/Bravo

    Kristen Kish, Tristen Epps, Gail Simmons, and Tom Colicchio.

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