What's Eric Eating Episode 283

Meet the team behind Houston's budding CBD cafe, coffee shop, and dispensary, plus hottest food news

The chef and co-owner of Wild are this week's guests.

Photo by Steven Cromer

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Adyson Alvis and chef German Mosquera join CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Wild, the coffee shop, cafe, and dispensary that has locations in Montrose and the Heights.

The conversation begins with Mosquera sharing how his culinary career began in San Antonio before he attended the Culinary Institute of America. Eventually, he made his way to Ruggles Green, where he quickly established his reputation for the restaurant’s diverse menu.

Alvis explains why he and his cousin Andrew Alvis claimed the former UB Preserv space for Wild’s second location. They tasked Mosquera with creating a menu inspired by tropical destinations that would also work well with THC and CBD. Sandler asks Alvis about the decision to add food to Wild’s offerings.

“As a brand, Andrew and I decided that a high end food program, especially with cannabis infusions, is something nobody else is and makes it a whole experience. You can come and eat dinner, you can come in the morning to get coffee and work or study, or you can hang out in a our Jungle Lounge and have cocktails. It’s a one-stop experience,” Alvis says. “We really felt that the Heights was missing good food for people who wanted to hang out and eat. Customers asked us constantly, do you have any food? I felt like it was a good direction to go.”

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: State of Grace owner Ford Fry opening Little Rey, a new taqueria near River Oaks District; Postscript HTX opening a female-friendly restaurant near River Oaks; and Pappas opening upscale seafood restaurant Little’s Oyster Bar.

In the restaurants of the week segment, Sandler and Clarkson discuss Th Prsv, the new restaurant that unites chef David Skinner of Eculent with chef Benchawan Jabthong Painter of Street to Kitchen. They find quite a bit to like about the tasting menu that traces the evolution of both Native American and Thai culinary traditions.

From there, they discuss Andiron, the new live fire steakhouse from The Pit Room owner Michael Sambrooks. The two friends recap some of the dishes they ate at Sandler’s birthday dinner there.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Listen to it Saturdays at 2 pm on ESPN 97.5.

openings podcasts news-you-can-eat

leaves and grains and pizzas

Fresh Houston restaurant groups serves up pizza and salads for Memorial

Photo by Michael Ma

Murray Hoffman, Edward Thompson, and Deets Hoffman are bringing Leaf & Grain to Memorial.

A rapidly-growing Houston restaurant group is opening two new concepts in Memorial. Salad-focused concept Leaf & Grain has claimed the former Texadelphia space near Memorial City Mall for its sixth Houston-area location as well as a pizzeria called Murray’s Pizza & Wine.

Initially, Leaf & Grain founder Deets Hoffman and business partner Edward Thompson intended to open a pizzeria in 2019, but they put those plans on hold due to the pandemic. Located at the same Village Towers development (9655 Katy Fwy) that’s home to Cajun favorite Treebeards, the Texadelphia space’s size dictated that it could be divided into both a new location of Leaf & Grain as well as an opportunity to bring the pizzeria to fruition.

Murray's Pizza Here's a sneak peak at Murray's sausage pizza.Photo by Michael Ma

Named for Hoffman’s wife, the restaurant will serve pizzas and small plates. For the first time, the group will also operate a restaurant that serves cocktails. Both the new Leaf & Grain and Murray’s are expected to open this summer.

"We’ve been trying to break into Memorial for almost a decade, and then we stumbled onto this opportunity serendipitously while doing a ‘Guest Chef’ collab at Belong Kitchen next door,” Hoffman said in a statement. “We fell in love with the space. The only complication was that it was twice the size of what we needed, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to open the pizza concept we had been working on, as well.”

Leaf & Grain serves salads, bowls, and sandwiches. Diners may build their own from a range of toppings that include six vegetable or grain bases, 19 standard toppings, 20 premium toppings, and 14 dressings. Preset choices include staples such as a Caesar salad and lemon-caper salmon bowl. Seasonal specials add variety and freshness to the menu.

The restaurant opened its first location in the Shops at Houston Center in 2017. Last year, it opened its fourth location in Tanglewood. A fifth location will open this summer in downtown’s Chase Tower (600 Travis St.).

openings news-you-can-eat pizza