What's Eric Eating Episode 284

Houston's red-hot restaurateur Ben Berg dishes on his 9 hotly anticipated new concepts

Ben Berg is this week's guest.

Photo by Leah Wilson

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” Berg Hospitality Group founder Ben Berg joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss his growing company. Currently, Berg operates eight Houston-area bars and restaurants, but that number will double by the end of 2023.

With that in mind, Sandler and Berg go through all of them with the restaurateur describing each concept and providing an updated timeline for each. They are:

Annabelle’s, an French-inspired brasserie
Benny Chows, a Cantonese-inspired Chinese American restaurant
Buttermilk Baby, a retro-styled soda fountain
Canopy Social, a rooftop bar
Dune Road, a New England seafood restaurant
La Table, a fine dining French restaurant
Prime 131, a live fire steakhouse
Tavola, a Roman-style Italian restaurant
Turner’s Cut, a luxurious steakhouse

Sandler asks Berg what the company is doing to prepare itself for all this growth.

We’ve invested a lot in people. We’ve brought in a lot of hires who have a lot more experience than I do, or, at least, some of them have years more experience. It’s kind of exciting,” he says.

“In the past two years, we’ve created the Berg Hospitality mission, our values. We’re in this position now, three years ago we had 13 or 14 group employees. Right now, we have 32. It’s merging these personalities, getting the strategy correct, and creating an infrastructure to support the stores.”

Listen to the full interview to hear Berg discuss the other styles of restaurant he’d like to do one day. He also shares the one Houston restaurant he’s been visiting regularly.

Prior to the interview, Sandler and co-host Linda Salinas discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: new owners acquiring Weights + Measures, New York City-based coffee shop and cafe Citizens’ plans to open in Montrose; and Bobby Heugel adding daytime coffee service to Refuge.

In the restaurant of the week segment, Salinas and Sandler share first impressions of Ojo de Agua, the Mexico City-based all-day cafe that just opened in River Oaks District.

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no cap

Chef-backed nonprofit will train the next generation of Houston hospitality

Courtesy of Culinary Careers Program

Aaron Bludorn has been involved with Culinary Careers Program for many years.

A culinary training program founded by one of America’s most prominent celebrity chefs is coming to Houston. Culinary Careers Program (C•CAP) will launch in Houston with a sold out dinner this Wednesday, September 16.

Founded by multiple time James Beard Award winner Marcus Samuelsson, Culinary Careers Program is a national workforce development nonprofit that partners with public schools to provide under-resourced students with the skills they need to succeed in jobs in the hospitality industry.

The nonprofit provides education, job training, apprenticeships, scholarships, and career opportunities that both help students find good jobs and supply restaurants with well-trained, highly-motivated employees.

To date, Culinary Careers Program has reached close to 400,000 students across the United States and awarded $79 million in college scholarships.

Houston chef and restaurateur Aaron Bludorn became involved with C•CAP when he served as executive chef of Cafe Boulud in New York City. He’s leading the charge to bring the program to Houston by hosting a sold out fundraiser at Bar Bludorn this Wednesday in collaboration with chef Nick Wong (Agnes and Sherman) and Leonard Botello IV (Truth BBQ).

“It’s so important that C•CAP comes to Houston. I think it’s very similar to, if we’re going to get good at soccer in the United States we need to focus on youth soccer and getting kids interested early,” Bludorn tells CultureMap.

“For Houston to continue to become a major culinary city in the United States, it’s important to focus on the next generation of chefs. C•CAP gives that opportunity to high school students to have on the job training while still being in school.”

As the owner of a growing group of restaurants, Bludorn recognizes that businesses need a steady stream of people. C•CAP participants arrive with basic skills that allow them to get up to speed more quickly than other applicants.

“It provides chefs with young talented cooks that have been vetted and given proper training. You’re not taking a guess on someone,” Bludorn says.

Botello IV’s participation shows that C•CAP is adapting to Texas. Students will have the opportunity to work at Truth BBQ, a Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient that Texas Monthly ranks as the state’s 10th best barbecue joint.

“There will be opportunities to become a chef or a general manager, but also to learn barbecue and get your foot in the door at a place like Truth and become a pitmaster. That on-the-job training is the most valuable,” Bludorn says.

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