What's Eric Eating Episodes 298 and 299

Meet the design guru dazzling diners at Houston's most eye-catching restaurants, plus our visit to Pastore

Designer Gin Braverman is this week's guest.

Photo by Andrea Mendoza

On this week’s interview episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” designer Gin Braverman joins CultureMap food editor Eric Sandler to discuss Gin Design Group. The Houston-based firm is responsible for creating some of the city’s most eye-catching restaurants, including Eunice, The Lymbar, and Mala Sichuan in the Heights.

Braverman begins the conversation by providing an inside look at some of her recent projects, including The Lymbar, Jun, and the bungalows at La Colombe d’Or. She also previews some of her upcoming projects such as Late August and Nonno’s Family Pizza Tavern, the new restaurant from the Nobie’s team that channels Gen X nostalgia.

From there, they move on to recent design trends. Sandler notes that the days of minimalism seem to have waned in favor or a more luxurious style. Braverman explains her philosophy when it comes to balancing the most popular aesthetic on Pinterest with something more timeless.

“Once something is a trend, it’s very easy to be on trend. You see it and you develop it into your own interpretation,” Braverman says. “But for me personally that’s easy. I’d rather just ignore what’s super trendy and go for something a little more unique. Of course, incorporating things that make people feel like the design is fresh and current but trying not to look so mainstream.”

On this week’s other episode, Sandler and co-host Mary Clarkson discuss the news of the week. Their topics include: Thai restaurant Street to Kitchen moving to the former Cafe Louie space; Omar Pereney opening a retail outpost of Love Croissants at Weights + Measures in Midtown; and Fielding’s Culinary Group bringing a new restaurant to a luxury apartment development in River Oaks.

In the restaurant of the week segment, Clarkson and Sandler review their visit to Pastore, Underbelly Hospitality’s recently opened Italian seafood restaurant. Listen to the full segment to hear their favorite dishes from chef Jeff Potts’s menu and why they’re so impressed by the employees who are working there.

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a spoonful of sugar

New Mexican eatery sweetens Houston with 150 spirits and bold flavors

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

A Dallas-based Mexican restaurant is coming to Houston. Mexican Sugar will open its first Houston location in Montrose this December.

Located next to Georgia James in the Regent Square mixed-use development, Mexican Sugar will occupy a two-story, 13,000-square-foot building. All that room offers seating for 375 as well as two private dining rooms with full audio-visual capabilities. Both the upstairs and downstairs patios will have a view of nearby Buffalo Bayou Park.

Its part of FB Society, the Dallas-based hospitality group behind Whiskey Cake, Sixty Vines, and Haywire, the Texas-inspired comfort food restaurant that opened its first Houston-area location earlier this year. Mexican Sugar has three locations in the Dallas area: Plano, Las Colinas, and Uptown Dallas.

In a release, Mexican Sugar touts its use of seasonal ingredients. It also makes its tortillas by hand. Menu highlights include skirt steak, lobster fundido, and a bone-in pork chop. At brunch, look for options such as cajeta French toast, Benedictos Rancheros, and vanilla-cinnamon pancakes.

Agave fans will find plenty of choices courtesy of more the 150 tequilas and mezcals. They’re available in individual pours as well as in flights that allow customers to compare the flavors of the different spirits.

“Our goal is to create a dining experience that blends bold Mexican flavors with our signature style of hospitality that stays two steps ahead,” Justin Beam, Mexican Sugar’s director of operations, said in a statement. “We’re excited to offer Houstonians an immersive Mexican experience in a fresh, light, and approachable way.”

Courtesy of Mexican Sugar

Mexican Sugar is coming to Regent Square in December.

news-you-can-eat openings mexican sugar